Channels & viewing

[renojim]

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@Dman1 wrote:

Roku support needs to see this and fix their platform. 

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I sincerely doubt that will ever happen.  You're assuming they'll acknowledge there's something wrong with their platform.

[atc98092]

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@Dman1 wrote:

Here is what Silicondust said about Roku streaming devices. 

"There really is not a good answer for getting broadcast TV into a Roku device because Roku is not designed to do that, and their system is severely locked down to prevent it from being used to do things it wasn't designed to do.
- Silicondust Support"

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I don't know why they say that. The HDHR app on my Ultra works almost as well as the one on my Shield. The only noticeable difference is the Shield responds faster to channel changes, but that's solely because the Shield is more powerful. The only problem I have with OTA on the Roku is that some ATSC 3.0 channels cannot be watched because they are implementing DRM on those channels. But the Shield is exactly the same with those channels, so that's not specific to Roku. I could easily have multiple Roku devices playing OTA channels at the same time.

In my opinion, SD simply doesn't like programming the Roku, and perhaps they're looking for an excuse to drop it from their support. 

[Dman1]

Does anyone have a simple solution to just watch OTA television live, I can figure out something later to record and save it.  The Roku using the antenna connection on the rear of my television is not a reliable method.  I would like the solution to be around $100, if possible.  As a reminder, I tried the latest Tablo and had a terrible experience with it.  I appreciate your help and suggestions!!

[atc98092]

I'm uncertain what you mean by not using the antenna connection on the TV. Is it because of poor reception in your area, or is it no means of connecting an outside antenna to the TV's antenna port? If it's a signal issue, then you're dead in the water as there's no streaming source of every local OTA station. There are some online providers that offer a handful of your local stations as part of their streaming TV service (Fubo, Sling, YouTube TV) but you would need to confirm directly with the provider that they provide your local stations, and not a network station from somewhere else in the country.

If you have adequate signal strength in your area, but running coax to each TV is not reasonable (and I completely understand if it is) then a network tuner is your only other option. The SiliconDust HDHomeRun Flex Duo is $109 on Amazon and provides two independent ATSC 1.0 tuners, so you could watch two different channels on two TVs or the same channel on multiple TVs at the same time. But it depends on having enough signal strength in your area. 

OTA reception is not as straightforward as it was with analog broadcasting. With analog, you might get a marginal but still watchable image. Maybe a little snow in the image and less than perfect audio, but still acceptable to watch. With today's digital broadcasting, that is no longer the case. If you have the minimum acceptable signal, then you have a perfect picture and clear sound. If you are right at the edge of minimum acceptable, you get some digital artifacts in the picture and sound, which may or may not be tolerable. Drop below that minimum signal, you get nothing. I'm in the greater Seattle area, and I have about a dozen stations within what is considered a reasonable range. However, the station that gives me the biggest problem with quality reception is actually the closest to my home. It's only 20 miles away, but there's just enough terrain between the antenna and my home that it's not always strong enough to eliminate the artifacts. I will say that my HDHomeRun Flex receives a stronger signal than any of my TV tuners, but the Flix is also closer to my antenna than any TV, so a shorter coax run.

I've never used a Tablo tuner, so I can't offer any opinions about what you experienced. I know the HDHR has worked well on my network for 2+ years without any issues. It's in the garage within 5 feet of the antenna hanging in my garage ceiling, and also next to the network switch that feeds my home, so it get's the best possible OTA signal. I've never experienced the issues you described with the Tablo, but you will need to determine what works best for your situation.

It's also possible to create a HDMI broadcast system through your home, but that cost would far exceed adding a network tuner, and you are then locked into the same content on every TV, with no option to select a different channel to view.