Blend EPG/channels from cable and OTA?

[HarryH3]

With the new prime time season kicking off, (Currently have 64 pending recordings!), some nights we're (uh, my wife is) running out of tuners on the HD HomeRun Prime. I'd like to make the OTA channels available via an HD HomeRun. But I'd also like for the OTA channels to be invisible to the EPG. Is that possible? The show info is already in the cable guide that I get from SD, but I'd like to set up NPVR so that it can decide which tuner to use, with a priority to use the OTA tuners first, then use the HDHR Prime to schedule other shows, including channels that are available via both cable and OTA. Hopefully this makes sense.

For example:

Cable channel 605 CW is OTA channel 39
Cable channel 608 PBS is OTA channel 8
Cable channel 609 FOX is OTA channel 26
Cable channel 611 CBS is OTA channel 3
Cable channel 612 NBC is OTA channel 2
Cable channel 613 ABC is OTA channel 13

Is there way to configure it so that the OTA channel numbers don't even show up in the guide, yet the OTA tuners will be in the mix from both devices? I looked around in the wiki and did a few searches in the forum, but I'm not sure what terminology to even use for this. :o

Has anyone already does this that can share their configuration, or at least point me in the right direction?

Thanks!

[2leftfeet]

Yes, I do it and it is quite easy. In my case, in addition to a Prime, I have HDHR Connect and Quatro. All are "blended, as you say", into one common epg. I use Schedules Direct for epg data for both cable and OTA channels in my area. Nextpvr makes it very easy and seamless. I also do some channel merging of OTA and cable channels, where possible and I also do some number re-mapping to clump OTA cable channels together and separate from cable-only channels.

I prioritize the tuners in settings/devices, to make sure the OTA tuners are selected first to make sure that cable-only channels are available when needed. Even my wife likes it! When the epg is displayed, all channels (OTA & cable) are presented in the order I defined, the OTA channel numbers were changed and ordered relative to what the cable channels are. No one viewing the epg really knows whether the channel is from OTA or cable. Sub did a great job providing the capability for you to do what you want.

[pkscout]

You might take a look at this wiki entry:

http://www.nextpvr.com/nwiki/pmwiki.php?...on.BulkMap

It looks like there's an option there to merge any channels with the same name. Oh, and this wiki entry to help you find the Bulk Map tool:

http://www.nextpvr.com/nwiki/pmwiki.php?...n.Channels

And here's a wiki page on changing the priority of a device:

http://www.nextpvr.com/nwiki/pmwiki.php?...on.Devices

I'd agree with 2leftfeet. Prioritize the OTA tuner higher so that the HDHR prime is available for cable only channels except in emergencies.

[HarryH3]

Thanks for the pointers. I did finally figure out that "Bulk Map" is what I needed to complete the merge. (It had been many years since I used that button for anything! I suppose that's a testament to how solid NPVR is.) I scanned for OTA channels, then disabled the 95% of them that I wasn't interested in (Home shopping, religious, non-English language, etc.). Then I stumbled across the Bulk Map button and found where it says something to the effect that channels WITH THE SAME NAME will be merged. I just edited the names of the OTA channels to match the names of the cable channels and boom. Those channels now have 5 sources (2 OTA tuners and 3 cable tuners) and I moved the OTA channels to the top of the priority list on the Devices page. Yesterday I was able to record 5 shows simultaneously, while also viewing a show at the same time. The CPU didn't even break a sweat. Now I have to buy or build a better antenna. Even though I'm only 21 miles from the tower, signal quality on some of the channels hovers in the 45-65% range.

As an aside, sending a big thumbs down to SiliconDust for removing the icon for the signal viewer from the start menu. Grrr. For those that would like to monitor the signal strength, signal quality, symbol quality, etc., you just tune to a channel, open C:\Program Files\Silicondust\HDHomeRun\hdhomerun_config_gui.exe and select the tuner. Real time data will appear in the window.

[2leftfeet]

Thanks for the pointers. I did finally figure out that "Bulk Map" is what I needed to complete the merge. (It had been many years since I used that button for anything! I suppose that's a testament to how solid NPVR is.) I scanned for OTA channels, then disabled the 95% of them that I wasn't interested in (Home shopping, religious, non-English language, etc.). Then I stumbled across the Bulk Map button and found where it says something to the effect that channels WITH THE SAME NAME will be merged. I just edited the names of the OTA channels to match the names of the cable channels and boom. Those channels now have 5 sources (2 OTA tuners and 3 cable tuners) and I moved the OTA channels to the top of the priority list on the Devices page. Yesterday I was able to record 5 shows simultaneously, while also viewing a show at the same time. The CPU didn't even break a sweat. Now I have to buy or build a better antenna. Even though I'm only 21 miles from the tower, signal quality on some of the channels hovers in the 45-65% range.

As an aside, sending a big thumbs down to SiliconDust for removing the icon for the signal viewer from the start menu. Grrr. For those that would like to monitor the signal strength, signal quality, symbol quality, etc., you just tune to a channel, open C:\Program Files\Silicondust\HDHomeRun\hdhomerun_config_gui.exe and select the tuner. Real time data will appear in the window.

You can actually manually merge any channel with any other channel, independent of its name (although the results may be screwy). With the control key pressed, select whatever channels you want merged. After you have selected the "to be merged" channels, right click your mouse and a list of the target merged channels appear and select which of those channels you want to have the main identity - done. I do this when I merge an OTA channel (Ex. ch 69.1) with its cable counterpart set as main identity (in my case ch 515). In the EPG, shows channel 515, but will always try to tune to OTA 69.1 first.