[mythtv-users] Schedules Direct Service for OTA Coverage

R. G. Newbury newbury at mandamus.org
Mon Dec 31 05:08:50 UTC 2012


On 12/23/2012 01:08 AM, Joseph Fry wrote:
>
>         I have a channel lineup for my area based on Antenna coverage. I
>         also
>         have a amplified directional antenna that picks up some
>         programming that
>         would normally be outside the normal reception scope of the average
>         Antenna. Is there a way to extend the channel list of schedules
>         direct
>         to include channels that would normally be just outside the
>         range of the
>         average user? Or can I setup specific channels to preform EIT
>         gathering
>         while populating the other channels using schedules direct?
>
>         At one point I considered dropping schedules direct, but the
>         amount of
>         Guide data that I obtain is very good! Much better than what the
>         cable
>         provider gives their cable boxes. I'm a big fan of getting 2
>         weeks worth
>         of guide data!
>
>         Maybe I can add more than 1 lineup? Or merge 2 lineups into a master
>         lineup? One from this area and another from where my directional
>         antenna
>         is pointed. So far I haven't had any channel conflicts or
>         anything and
>         the reception is great. I added a 24db gain General Electric
>         drop amp to
>         the mix and now I get 49 stations OTA. Including 2 different
>         ABC's from
>         2 area's.
>
>         Anyhow, I didn't know if anyone has ran into any issues like
>         this and
>         knew a good solution to fix it. Thanks!
>
>     Yes, you can have more than one line up.. Just choose the area you
>     are receiving the extra channels from.. It's never a good idea to
>     mix EIT with SD,from what I have read in the past, they don't play
>     well together..
>
>
> I think the question is, "how do you create a video source containing
> both lineups".  The input connections page in setup only allows you to
> link a single source to each tuner, and each source only allows you to
> select a single lineup.

The answer is: you don't. Myth presumes that all of the channels in a 
source can be tuned by any tuner using that source. If a tuner can only 
receive some of the channels, then some of your recordings will fail, 
because myth will attempt to use that tuner to record a show on a 
channel that that tuner cannot receive. So of course, each source only 
allows a single lineup, and each tuner 'sees' only a single source. It 
is a necessary restraint, but one which users sometimes do not wish to 
grasp.

Someone commented that he thought lineups are 'silly'. An SD lineup is a 
subset of the channels which SD (actually Tribune Media) thinks you can 
receive at your position (generally taken as the geographic centre of 
your zipcode/postalcode). You do not need to include all of the 
available channels in your lineup, and in fact, some of them may not be 
receivable at your location, or not receivable *by you*.

You can have 4 lineups on SD. Note that that implies 4 tuners. Even if 
you do the reverse splitter trick and feed the same type of source, say 
OTA, into a single tuner, you need to be able to find and specify as 
your location, a location where ALL of the channels are considered to be 
receivable by the SD system and then use that location as your zipcode 
position. If there is no such location, then you cannot create a lineup 
containing all of the channels which you desire.

Another route is to ask SD to create such a possible lineup by adding 
channels to an existing lineup: this is a form of bug report, telling SD 
that the actual footprint of an OTA station is larger than previously 
thought. A lot of that went on after the digital changeover!)

Note that the zipcode you use for any one OTA lineup can be anywhere you 
want. I live in Mississauga, Ontario. I have 2 OTA lineups, one of which 
is 'located' in Youngstown, New York and one located in downtown 
Toronto. The first includes all the Buffalo stations, and the other all 
of the Toronto stations. There is some overlap, but I make sure there 
are no duplicates. This DOES mean separate tuners. Only my cable lineup 
is tied to the postal code where I actually live.

It sounds like your best bet is a add another tuner, and set up an SD 
lineup for each antenna. That's what I do. An HDHomerun provides 2 
separate tuners for about $130.00 and adds lots of capability.

Geoff







> This seems like a common scenario using SD with OTA channels, I know
> many people who receive channels from two separate cities on the same
> antenna, and SD may not contain a single lineup with all of those
> channels. It would be nice if SD had the option to merge two lineups, or
> if a video source could have more than one lineup.
>
> Is there a trick to this I am not aware of?  It doesn't effect me, but I
> am curious.
>



-- 
              R. Geoffrey Newbury			
            Barrister and Solicitor
       Suite 106, 150 Lakeshore Road West
          Mississauga, Ontario, L5H 3R2

         o905-271-9600 f905-271-1638
           newbury at mandamus.org


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