More than one HDPVR to the same DVR?

[Joram]

While researching something else, I came across the following statement in a post on The Green Button:

I'd hate to go back to the multiple HDPVR route alone. 

This suggests that the writer had already done it, but I've never heard of such a thing: Is it really possible to attach more than one Hauppauge HDPVR to the same cable DVR, and have each HDPVR capture a different channel?

I asked the Brave Browser, and here's what it reported:

can i use more than one hd pvr with the same dvr

**Yes**, it is possible to use multiple HD-PVR devices with a single DVR setup, particularly when using software like **SageTV** or **NextPVR**.

*  **Software Configuration**: In SageTV, you can configure the system to recognize and utilize multiple HD-PVR units, allowing them to tune to different channels simultaneously.
*  **Channel Scanning**: Users have reported success by ensuring that **mc2xml** (used for TV guide data) is correctly configured; specifically, using a single token allows the system to handle multiple tuners without conflicts that might arise from separate guide downloads.
*  **Tuning Independence**: Once configured, each HD-PVR can blast to its own channel independently, enabling the recording or viewing of different programs at the same time.
*  **Limitations**: While multiple tuners allow for simultaneous recording, some legacy single-tuner DVRs or specific converter boxes may only allow one recording at a time, necessitating multiple hardware units to avoid conflicts.

As we know, this could be an AI hallucination, but then there's that TGB post. Has anybody successfully done this in NextPVR? Would it require three computers in addition to three HDPVRs? Would it work for a set-top box as well as for a DVR?

[mvallevand]

Yes I have done it but don't fully understand the concern. NextPVR supports multiple tuner devices and you can have PC with multiple HDPVR on different USB ports attached to different STBs that can be controlled by a blaster with DRM free HDMI.

Martin

[Joram]

Martin, thanks for the reply. When you did this, what was your setup like?

The key seems to lie in the part you wrote about "multiple HDPVR on different USB ports attached to different STBs" (emphasis added). So it would involve connecting more than one STB/DVR, each with its own HDPVR, to the same computer? The AI seemed to be saying it could be a single DVR (since it has multiple tuners) to multiple HDPVRs, and then to a single computer.

That's the theoretical concern ("is it even possible?"). The practical concern ("how hard would it be to do?") would be that having more than one STB/DVR for the same PC would present issues with physical space availability. Right now I'm more interested in the theoretical concern: one DVR to multiple HDPVRs to one PC?

[sub]

It’d absolutely need to be multiple set top boxes. You can only have a set top box out one thing at a time over HDMI (even if it has multiple tuners)

The only issue I’m aware of with multiple HDPVR devices is that you can only use the IR Blaster on one of them (driver limitation), so you end up having to use external blaster to control the STB.

[mvallevand]

You keep asking the same question https://forums.nextpvr.com/showthread.php?tid=66959 expecting different results, that is the definition of insanity.

I did this on Linux with an Extra and Windows with NextPVR. I've discussed my system often enough too, I don't use the HDPVR's blaster.

Martin

[Joram]

It’d absolutely need to be multiple set top boxes. You can only have a set top box out one thing at a time over HDMI (even if it has multiple tuners)

The only issue I’m aware of with multiple HDPVR devices is that you can only use the IR Blaster on one of them (driver limitation), so you end up having to use external blaster to control the STB.

Thanks @sub, I appreciate the straight and non-sarcastic reply.

Knowing this, the scenario is ruled out, as there is simply not enough physical space in/around the TV furniture for so many STBs (plus, Wife would object to the added rentals).

[Joram]

You keep asking the same question https://forums.nextpvr.com/showthread.php?tid=66959  expecting different results, that  is the definition of insanity.

Had I thought that it was the same question -- even if I had remembered that thread from the spring -- I might not have posted again.

[mvallevand]

Unfortunately, I do have to remember your posts and your constraints of one full NextPVR system per TV and no LAN etworking. In my home I don't even need anything at the main TV, NextPVR is accessible on the smart TVs apps. Your conditions are unique.

Martin