February 14, 201610 yr So I'd like to save OTA shows to my UnRaid NAS so I can access that media from Plex. I've never used or configured MythTV or TV HeadEnd and never had any experience with TV Tuner Cards. I know my way around UnRaid and Plex and consider myself tech savvy but this side of things is a little bit overwhelming since there is a plethora of different ways to accomplish what I am asking with only a few that provide files I can easily work with. That being said any input would be greatly appreciated. I live in the States and need directions in terms of a Tuner Card or box (Hauppauge or HDHomeRun box?). MythTv or another solution. My end goal is to have files I can easily move around and play. No proprietary files such as those that are recorded using Tablo or ChannelMaster DVRs. I want simplicity in the sense that I record the shows using OTA available media to a format that Plex can easily use. Also, if possible, that the files are named accordingly with the show use standard TV show labeling, ie. S01E01. Is there any set ups that any of you have configured in this way?
February 16, 201610 yr I have 2 of the standard HDHomeRun that give me 4 channels. They output the signal in the native broadcast format, .mpg. They can be accessed anywhere on the network since they are connected via ethernet. The HDHomeRun Extend can output in H.264. I use mine with EyeTV on a MacMini so EyeTV makes it own file package based on .mpg but the files can be play with VLN. I think the file format depends on the software you use. And since they are not in the server there is less heat and they won't use and PCIe slots that may be used for additional SATA controllers & etc.
February 18, 201610 yr Author I have 2 of the standard HDHomeRun that give me 4 channels. They output the signal in the native broadcast format, .mpg. They can be accessed anywhere on the network since they are connected via ethernet. The HDHomeRun Extend can output in H.264. I use mine with EyeTV on a MacMini so EyeTV makes it own file package based on .mpg but the files can be play with VLN. I think the file format depends on the software you use. And since they are not in the server there is less heat and they won't use and PCIe slots that may be used for additional SATA controllers & etc. You mentioned that the HDHomeRun you have is able to output to a .mpg format and that the Extend could output to H.264. Are you able to export or determine where you would like the file to ultimately end up? I want all of TV shows to end up in the TV Shows media folder and accordingly, if possible, to be able to appropriately rename the file to the standard format used for TV shows with Title of show, season and episode and episode name. Is any of this capable with the HDHomeRun devices?
February 18, 201610 yr What you're asking I believe is in the hands of the software you use. As I said I use EyeTV (Mac Only) and within that I can select where it is saved..EI: "TVShows/EyeTV Archive/", which is on my UnRaid NAS. While the HD HomeRun came with software I don't/can't use it on the Mac. You should go to the Silicon Dust website and the Forums to check it out. From what I read the Extend can be set by software to output in different formats. EyeTV does extract the show name (and saves it with the name as part of the file name), episode name, date, details about the show and etc. which can be displayed on screen. EyeTV also saves it as .mpg but within it own package that saves position in the show when you play, stop and come back later to finish and also a image clip/preview picture. So it's all up to the software. I'm sure there are a few software options for PC, if that's what you are using. Also check out AVS Forums http://www.avsforum.com/forum/index.php, it's a good resource for HTPC info and questions.
February 20, 201610 yr I don't use Plex, but I do have an older HDHomeRun (HDHR3-US) tuner on my network. I run a Windows 7 VM in unRAID and use Windows Media Center to record shows in WMC native format wtv. I then use MCEBuddy to covert the wtv files to MKV without any processing except commercial removal. MCEBuddy will also move the converted file to my unRAID share where I have access to it from any devices on the network. The resulting mkv file contains the original video in whatever format that WMC records (usually H.264). You can also choose for MCEBuddy to transcode (I believe it uses Handbrake) to other formats.
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