Lineup Change Alert - QAM Scan Notifier

[wtg]

HDHomeRun users: Below is a program I use to notify me via email when when my cable provider's QAM lineup changes and I thought others might be interested in it. Probably not of much use to an ATSC user and I'm not sure about dvbt and dvbc users.

The script works by running the HDHomeRun's command line scan utility (hdhomerun_config.exe) to get the list of current unencrypted channels, reformats the data for processing and compares the current results to the previous run's output. If any changes are detected, it emails you.

Here's an example of what an email looks like when a new channel is discovered and a couple disappear from the line-up (a screenshot from my phone).


Instructions for setup are included in the attached zip file. Let me know if you find the script useful. I've had it running for about 2 years and as annoying as it is to have lineup changes, it's at least nice to know about them before you lose a week of scheduled recordings.

If you have any ideas yourself on how to improve it, by all means share them.
Tim

qam_scan.1.8.zip

Release Notes
1.0 - Initial release
1.1 - Added support for other ports, besides 25.
1.2 - Added -testmail flag; support for multiple attachments; better handling of email failures; changed status messages to write to stdout instead of directly to screen so output can be redirected.
1.6 - Converted email body to HTML table
1.7 - Added ability to ignore complete channel, regardless of PID; fixed bug with empty email being sent when there were no changes detected.
1.8 - Fixed bug with multiple lineup changes in email introduced in 1.6.

[johnsonx42]

interesting, and very nice work. I could see some use for ATSC, since they do make occaisional changes. too bad I don't have a HDHomerun.

btw, nice to see you're still workin' the Palm Pre. so many have given up...

[wtg]

interesting, and very nice work. I could see some use for ATSC, since they do make occaisional changes.

Thanks. It does work for ATSC scanning but as they don't juggle as much, I'll be a little surprised if it is used by anyone for it.
[quote=johnsonx42]nice to see you're still workin' the Palm Pre. so many have given up...[/QUOTEI still love my Pre even if it is long in the tooth, thanks to its great homebrew community and being one of the few smartphones small enough for a front pocket in jeans. Not sure what I'll move too if it dies.