I need some advice:
I recently killed my satellite sold my apple tv and now I am going the mac mini route. I am going to get the very basic cable for $10 bucks a month. My wife wants dvr capability. I have looked into getting the HDHomerun. I am not sure and can't find any info if I need a HD tuner from the cable source to record in hd from the homerun box.
Please let me know what you guys think about the product and what I will need to record in HD!
thanks a million
The HDHomeRun has dual ATSC/QAM tuners. So there's no need for anything external tuners.
As for what you'll be able to record ... that depends on your cable system. In my opinion there are 5 different types of channels and you may/may not be able to record them.
1. Analog SD (NTSC) - many/most cable systems are slowly dropping their analog channels from their systems. The quality is mediocre to poor and they take up bandwidth. In your case, it's moot since the HDHomeRun won't be able to tune to these channels anyways.
2. Digital SD - basic (clearQAM) - many/most cable systems will put their basic Digital-SD in the clear. These will be your broadcast networks, PBS, home shopping, local community channels. Since they are usually in the clear, the HDHR can record them.
3. Digital SD - extended (clearQAM and encrypted) - this one is more murky. Some cable operators pass these in clearQAM, some don't. If your system is converting to all digital and they are using the small Digital tuners (Motorola DCT-700), then chances are that these stations are clear. This will include channels like ESPN, Spike, FX, etc.
4. Digital HD - basic (clearQAM) - now we're getting to what you want to know. Most providers will pass the local network's HD channel in the clear. Sometimes, one or two cableHD channels slips in as well. On my system, we get 9 HD channels in the clear (ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, CW, MyTV, PBS-12, PBS-39 are local stations and UniversalHD for some reason). The HDHR can record these.
5. Digital HD - extended (encryptedQAM) - most, if not all, providers will encrypt their extended/premium HD channels. So you won't be able to record stuff like ESPN-HD, NickHD, DiscoveryHD, etc., unless they let them pass through (like UHD in my situation).
Take a look at SiliconDust's website. They have a page where you can plug in your zip code and it shows you what channels pass through. It'll be helpful when you set it up so you know which channels are at which channel assignments.
http://www.silicondust.com/hdhomerun/channels_us
EDIT - keep in mind that depending on your level of service (Lifeline Basic in your case), they may or may not come out and install a line filter to prevent certain frequencies from getting through. That might shut down some of the Digital SD extended channels. It all varies, though.
