It seems amazing to me that I never see published test reports comparing tuner sensitivity. Instead, the reviews I've seen compare features and software interfaces, which mean nothing to me compared to knowing how good the tuner is in the first place. I'm 25-30 miles from the transmitters in my area, have a good rooftop antenna with new coax and no splitters of any kind. I get a great picture on most channels, but there are a few channels that I can pick up on my 2 year-old LG TV that I can't receive on my HDHomeRun Connect DUO HDHR5-2US. I am wondering if a newer, better tuner is available that would work with my PLEX server or perhaps a Channels server if I went that route. Incredibly, I can't seem to find any reviews where someone takes all the most popular tuners and hooks them up one by one to the same antenna and says, "This model received a clear picture on 25 channels, but this other model got 29 channels". We have several strong ATSC 3.0 channels in my area, but I really just want a more sensitive tuner that's able to pull in as many channels as my LG TV. ATSC 3.0 would be icing on the cake, but it's not important if the tuner can't pick up weak channels as well as my TV tuner. Do any of you have comparison info regarding different brands/models of TV tuners that could work with a Plex or Channels DVR server? Please forgive me if this is the wrong place to ask this question.
What is the most sensitive tuner available?
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LG tvs have exceptionally good tuners.
My brand new Hd Homerun 4k Flex Atsc 1.0/3.0 tuner seems to have very good tuners, and my 1 year old TCL Roku tv 50S535 seems to have a very good tuner also.
My brand new Hd Homerun 4k Flex Atsc 1.0/3.0 tuner seems to have very good tuners, and my 1 year old TCL Roku tv 50S535 seems to have a very good tuner also.
Yes, I've really been thinking about that one, but I wonder if maybe the reality is that none of these outboard tuners can pick up as many channels as the built-in tuner on a good TV. Also, I wonder if maybe there's a splitter inside all these multi-tuner boxes that reduces the signal strength in order to send it to the 2-4 individual tuners inside. Perhaps a single tuner is just more sensitive than a box or dongle with more than one tuner. Seems like I read you can put several single tuner PCI cards inside a desktop PLEX server. Or, I suppose I could just watch the couple of missing channels using the TV set instead of the HD Homerun I have, but I'm just so spoiled from recording shows on the PLEX so I can watch them without the commercials. I saw a comment from you in another thread that seemed to say the 4K Flex can record streaming tv with Channels. That sounds really cool, and might make the HD Homerun 4K Flex worthwhile whether it has a better tuner than my TV or not. Did you buy the Flex 4K basically to get the ATSC 3.0 capability? Is the picture quality that much sharper? It's a bit pricy.
NO, it's CHANNELS Dvr server that records streaming channels. It doesn't need any OTA tuner at all to do that feature.
Yes, I bought it for the ATSC 3.0 capability. Our 3.0 station has NOT lit up as of yet. However, the picture quality on my 1.0 stations seems to be better, while using the Firestick 4k MAX as the client to watch through Channels server.
I found an internal picture on-line of the 4 tuner design of the Silicon Dust Quattro. There is an MMIC preamp ahead of the four tuners. I would guess that it is an NXP BGU7044. That chip has a noise figure of 2.8 db and a gain of 14 db. The split to 4 tuners end would up overriding the noise of the tuner IC’s by about 7 db, The resulting system noise figue would be. roughly 3.5 db. That’s slightly better than most TV sets.
What seems to be missing in the design is any filtering of out of band signals.
That sounds very cool. I guess I'll have to set up a CHANNELS server alongside my PLEX server to compare them. For streaming channels, I mostly watch BritBox and Acorn mainly because British shows are often a bit cleaner than network TV, which I personally find pretty disgusting. But live streaming TV would also be nice, especially for sports. Being able to record streaming live TV to skip the commercials would be worthwhile.
Back to tuners, ever since I cut the cord a couple of weeks ago, I've become obsessed with getting as many OTA channels as possible with my existing antenna. I'll bet there are other cord cutters out there who also want to know if they could get more channels with a different tuner. OTA is very interesting--a hobby, in fact. I'm rediscovering a ton of (clean) older shows that I like, and I can still get the local news just like before. And the server in my old desktop PC allows me to record my shows and skip the commercials. But I'd still hear some comparisons of tuners, like, "I used to have tuner X, and received 42 channels well. But recently, I bought a new tuner Y, and with that tuner I received 44 channels very clearly when I hooked it into the exact same setup."
That's helpful to know. Do you definitely get more channels with that preamp? I know it sounds like a dumb question, but I didn't have great luck with the cheap junk WalMart preamp I tried in a different setup a couple of years ago. Maybe a good quality preamp with filters would help me get those channels I can already get on the TV, with the exact same setup, but cannot receive on the HD Homerun.
Want to know something even cooler?
Since the Hd Homerun tuners are network based, you can have MORE than one. Get another one on a separate antenna pointed a different way then your present antenna. IF you have channels/towers in another direction that is, that are worth having. That second tuner will scan in those channels, and ADD them to the guide!
P.S.: Oh yeah, IF the second antenna and tuner picks up some of the same channels as your first tuner, in Channels Dvr, you can individually CHECK (block) those in the "Manage Lineup" section, and they won't show in the guide.
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Last year after the repack, I had to add a LTE filter to my setup. Already had a FM filter in use, on input to my drop amp. Both from CM $19/ea shipped fast. Highly recommend both. Cleared up my interference problems.
www.channelmaster.com
www.channelmaster.com
LTE/5G Filter
The Channel Master LTE Filter works with all TV antennas to remove growing LTE signal interference from the broadcast signal your antenna receives.
www.channelmaster.com
FM Filter
The Channel Master FM Filter improves over the air TV antenna signals by filtering out FM signal interference.
www.channelmaster.com
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I think I'll try this filter route first. I'm on the east coast of Florida. It's very flat, and the towers are all due south of me. I imagine there are dozens of cell towers and radio stations between me and those TV towers. I liked the idea of a preamp until I realized I'd have to run another 90 feet of coax to power it. I'm not saying I would never try that, but I think I'll try the filters first. Thanks for sharing what worked for you.Last year after the repack, I had to add a LTE filter to my setup. Already had a FM filter in use, on input to my drop amp. Both from CM $19/ea shipped fast. Highly recommend both. Cleared up my interference problems.
LTE/5G Filter
The Channel Master LTE Filter works with all TV antennas to remove growing LTE signal interference from the broadcast signal your antenna receives.FM Filter
The Channel Master FM Filter improves over the air TV antenna signals by filtering out FM signal interference.
Preamps power run off the SAME coax that brings in the signal using an injector. I.E.: there's only a single coax needed. They do NOT need a separate "power" wire.
Think of it as "power over ethernet", (POE) and perhaps you'll understand that better.
By the way, our ATSC 3.0 lighthouse (WBSF) lit up promptly at 10am on this past Tuesday. Pretty flawless, and I now have 4 ATSC 3.0 channels scanned into Channels. All working fine, using a Raspberry Pi 4b I bought from Comptech as the dedicated server. I have a WD Elements 4Tb USB 3.0 drive that contains the image, and all the shares needed.
I also now have 1,181 .m3u streaming channels running, and they ALL have epg data! They are all also recordable, and it all works flawlessly, even though I'm STILL trying to figure out all the capabilities of Channels Dvr software. It's amazing, that's for sure.
Friday I hooked up my Evoca Scout. The smart, simple way to watch TV!
It is not available in many markets yet but works great for me.
In Denver and Colorado Springs they carry Altitude and AT&T Rocky Mountain (Avalanche, Nuggets and Rockies). This was the only way I could find to get Rockies Baseball without cable, DirecTV or a VPN. They also carry NFL Network and other sports and outdoor related streaming services.
OTA is via Antenna and is ATSC 3.0 where available. ATSC 1.0 otherwise. My guide shows 121 channels.
$30.00 a month including receiver rental. Great alternative to Comcast or DirecTV for a lot lower price.
Pricing is guaranteed for 2 years. Free guide that integrates the locals and goes out for a week.
I am receiving ABC, NBC, FOX and CW in ATSC 3.0 using a Televes Diganova Boss antenna and picture quality is great.
Since the receiver is only $5.00 a month I figure is is a good way to to get started with ATSC 3.0 without purchasing a lot of expensive gear at this point and get the Rockies for the WAF (Wife Acceptance Factor).
Supposedly a DVR is in the works.
I am keeping my OTA Tivo and mini's at this point until the future of Next Gen ATSC 3.0 becomes a little clearer.
It is not available in many markets yet but works great for me.
In Denver and Colorado Springs they carry Altitude and AT&T Rocky Mountain (Avalanche, Nuggets and Rockies). This was the only way I could find to get Rockies Baseball without cable, DirecTV or a VPN. They also carry NFL Network and other sports and outdoor related streaming services.
OTA is via Antenna and is ATSC 3.0 where available. ATSC 1.0 otherwise. My guide shows 121 channels.
$30.00 a month including receiver rental. Great alternative to Comcast or DirecTV for a lot lower price.
Pricing is guaranteed for 2 years. Free guide that integrates the locals and goes out for a week.
I am receiving ABC, NBC, FOX and CW in ATSC 3.0 using a Televes Diganova Boss antenna and picture quality is great.
Since the receiver is only $5.00 a month I figure is is a good way to to get started with ATSC 3.0 without purchasing a lot of expensive gear at this point and get the Rockies for the WAF (Wife Acceptance Factor).
Supposedly a DVR is in the works.
I am keeping my OTA Tivo and mini's at this point until the future of Next Gen ATSC 3.0 becomes a little clearer.
Amplifiers are not signal magnets sucking in channels from miles away. Pre amplifiers are placed close to the antenna and are intended to stop a marginal signal from losing strength overa cable run. Distribution amplifiers try to make up for the loss of signal that takes place when you split a signal to reach multiple TVs.
They may help you from losing a signlbut if you are close to the transmitters they will not do much-----and they might even overlaoda tuner.
Well, I made some progress! After some research, I found out that the stations I want are 39-40 miles away--not 25-30 like I thought before. So, I changed my old antenna, an Antennas Direct Clearstream 2V, for an Antennas Direct Clearstream 4V. The new antenna is basically the same antenna, but "times 2". That change alone allowed me to receive several of the stations that I specifically wanted on my HDHomeRun Connect DUO HDHR5-2US but could only receive on my LG TV's tuner. It also improved stability of the other channels that were kind of "iffy" before.
I also installed the Channels DVR on my PC server, and it is certainly nice. The graphics are pretty impressive. I want to try integrating streaming providers into the program guide, but I haven't had the time to really figure it out. The fact is that I don't really watch that much TV, but I'm addicted to this OTA hobby, and now I want more, more, more free OTA channels! And an HD Homerun 4K Flex. And a good preamp. All I have to do is figure out how to get all those additional purchases past my beautiful loving wife.
I also installed the Channels DVR on my PC server, and it is certainly nice. The graphics are pretty impressive. I want to try integrating streaming providers into the program guide, but I haven't had the time to really figure it out. The fact is that I don't really watch that much TV, but I'm addicted to this OTA hobby, and now I want more, more, more free OTA channels! And an HD Homerun 4K Flex. And a good preamp. All I have to do is figure out how to get all those additional purchases past my beautiful loving wife.
It's easy, just don't tell her upfront. Get it all done, and slowly get her used to using it. Answer questions if asked, but DON'T volunteer anything about costs.
Besides, these are ONE-TIME costs, versus monthly FOREVER with cable. So, if you think of it that way, they pay for themselves VERY quickly! Use that for explanation, IF asked!
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