Mailing List Archive

On Wed, 2023-05-17 at 15:14 -0400, Daryl McDonald wrote:
> Is there a correlation between Mythtv recognizing my HDHR's and their
> need for a firmware update? Until I did an update they would both
> error out, and be unavailable to myth, unless I restarted the
> Backend. Since the update they are immediately available, no errors.
> How often does Silicon Dust offer updates? I'd rather not use a
> failed recording to prompt updating my devices.

I've never had a problem like that with down-rev firmware on a
HDHomeRun box.

David

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On Wed, May 17, 2023, 5:20 PM David Hampton via mythtv-users <
mythtv-users@mythtv.org> wrote:

> On Wed, 2023-05-17 at 15:14 -0400, Daryl McDonald wrote:
> > Is there a correlation between Mythtv recognizing my HDHR's and their
> > need for a firmware update? Until I did an update they would both
> > error out, and be unavailable to myth, unless I restarted the
> > Backend. Since the update they are immediately available, no errors.
> > How often does Silicon Dust offer updates? I'd rather not use a
> > failed recording to prompt updating my devices.
>
> I've never had a problem like that with down-rev firmware on a
> HDHomeRun box.
>
> David
>

I usually don't know it's down-rev'ed until I query the web address for the
HDHR. Mythtv works regardless.

Jim A

On Wed, May 17, 2023 at 6:46?PM James Abernathy <jfabernathy@gmail.com>
wrote:

>
>
> On Wed, May 17, 2023, 5:20 PM David Hampton via mythtv-users <
> mythtv-users@mythtv.org> wrote:
>
>> On Wed, 2023-05-17 at 15:14 -0400, Daryl McDonald wrote:
>> > Is there a correlation between Mythtv recognizing my HDHR's and their
>> > need for a firmware update? Until I did an update they would both
>> > error out, and be unavailable to myth, unless I restarted the
>> > Backend. Since the update they are immediately available, no errors.
>> > How often does Silicon Dust offer updates? I'd rather not use a
>> > failed recording to prompt updating my devices.
>>
>> I've never had a problem like that with down-rev firmware on a
>> HDHomeRun box.
>>
>> David
>>
>
> I usually don't know it's down-rev'ed until I query the web address for
> the HDHR. Mythtv works regardless.
>
> Jim A
>
> _______________________________________________
> OK, thanks guys, It just seemed very weird.

On Wed, May 17, 2023 at 7:18?PM Daryl McDonald <darylangela@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Is there a correlation between Mythtv recognizing my HDHR's and their need for a firmware update? Until I did an update they would both error out, and be unavailable to myth, unless I restarted the Backend. Since the update they are immediately available, no errors.

That is usually related to a network issue, not the
firmware reboot (itself). Especially consumer grade
(crappy(*)) routers that are trying to be "helpful"
can result in devices that are not found until they
(re)announce themselves at reboot time.

I have never experiences the symptoms you
have described. FD: All my networking equipment
is business and/or enterprise and/or DC and/or
ISP targeted, which provides extensive
configurability and visibility into the network.

> How often does Silicon Dust offer updates? I'd rather not use a failed recording to prompt updating my devices.

SD upgrades their firmware on a somewhat
random schedule (based on what they need
and when they need it).

There is a topic on their forum that you can
subscribe to get get notifications of updates
(but you have to visit that topic after notification
in order to reset the notification state, and it
includes more then just device firmware). You
should, perhaps, ask SD to create an email
notification list you can subscribe to (like most
PC manufacturers have for BIOS updates).



(*) Consumer grade is almost universally crap.
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On 5/17/2023 3:14 PM, Daryl McDonald wrote:
> Is there a correlation between Mythtv recognizing my HDHR's and their
> need for a firmware update? Until I did an update they would both
> error out, and be unavailable to myth, unless I restarted the Backend.
> Since the update they are immediately available, no errors.
> How often does Silicon Dust offer updates? I'd rather not use a failed
> recording to prompt updating my devices.
>
> Daryl

One thing I've noticed with my latest HDHomeRun FLEX 4K, is that signal
strength and symbol quality can drop by almost half every few months and
just power cycling it restores SS and SQ. I don't recall having that
problem with my older HDHR models.
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On Thu, May 18, 2023 at 5:22?PM faginbagin <helen.buus@gmail.com> wrote:

> One thing I've noticed with my latest HDHomeRun FLEX 4K, is that signal
> strength and symbol quality can drop by almost half every few months and
> just power cycling it restores SS and SQ. I don't recall having that
> problem with my older HDHR models.

Be sure you have a LTE filter (LTE interference
can result in really inconsistent results which
can also be transitory in nature).

If you use the SD app (or equivalent) and
monitor the numbers, and see continuous
significant variations in SS/SQ there may
be obstructions the Fresnel zone which
need to be addressed.
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On 5/18/2023 7:19 PM, Gary Buhrmaster wrote:
> On Thu, May 18, 2023 at 5:22?PM faginbagin <helen.buus@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> One thing I've noticed with my latest HDHomeRun FLEX 4K, is that signal
>> strength and symbol quality can drop by almost half every few months and
>> just power cycling it restores SS and SQ. I don't recall having that
>> problem with my older HDHR models.
> Be sure you have a LTE filter (LTE interference
> can result in really inconsistent results which
> can also be transitory in nature).
>
> If you use the SD app (or equivalent) and
> monitor the numbers, and see continuous
> significant variations in SS/SQ there may
> be obstructions the Fresnel zone which
> need to be addressed.

I'm not sure what happened to my tuner could be called transitory. As I
recall,over a few days, recordings on one channel in particular had lots
of errors, getting increasingly worse to the point of total failure (0
byte recordings). When I used the HDHR config gui, I could see the SS/SQ
numbers were way down, and when I compared a channel scan using:
hdhomerun_config ${device} scan ${tuner} tuner${tuner}-scan.out
to one done months earlier, I could see SS/SQ changes to other channels
as well. So the problems persisted for at least 48 hours until I power
cycled and SS/SQ were restored to the months earlier levels.  Not what
I'd call transient. Or am I missing something?

If it still sounds like LTE interference, what are your thoughts on
brand names for LTE filters? I see channel master has one for $25 and
Philips has one for < $10. Both are 5G LTE filters.
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On Thu, May 18, 2023 at 9:09?PM faginbagin <helen.buus@gmail.com> wrote:

> On 5/18/2023 7:19 PM, Gary Buhrmaster wrote:
> > On Thu, May 18, 2023 at 5:22?PM faginbagin <helen.buus@gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >> One thing I've noticed with my latest HDHomeRun FLEX 4K, is that signal
> >> strength and symbol quality can drop by almost half every few months and
> >> just power cycling it restores SS and SQ. I don't recall having that
> >> problem with my older HDHR models.
> > Be sure you have a LTE filter (LTE interference
> > can result in really inconsistent results which
> > can also be transitory in nature).
> >
> > If you use the SD app (or equivalent) and
> > monitor the numbers, and see continuous
> > significant variations in SS/SQ there may
> > be obstructions the Fresnel zone which
> > need to be addressed.
>
> I'm not sure what happened to my tuner could be called transitory. As I
> recall,over a few days, recordings on one channel in particular had lots
> of errors, getting increasingly worse to the point of total failure (0
> byte recordings). When I used the HDHR config gui, I could see the SS/SQ
> numbers were way down, and when I compared a channel scan using:
> hdhomerun_config ${device} scan ${tuner} tuner${tuner}-scan.out
> to one done months earlier, I could see SS/SQ changes to other channels
> as well. So the problems persisted for at least 48 hours until I power
> cycled and SS/SQ were restored to the months earlier levels. Not what
> I'd call transient. Or am I missing something?
>
> If it still sounds like LTE interference, what are your thoughts on
> brand names for LTE filters? I see channel master has one for $25 and
> Philips has one for < $10. Both are 5G LTE filters.
>

I have a Channel Master amplifier / splitter (cannot speak to an
interference reducer), but it is a top quality product - just speaking to
the manufacturer's quality.

-Greg

> On May 19, 2023, at 12:49 PM, Greg Oliver <oliver.greg@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> On Thu, May 18, 2023 at 9:09?PM faginbagin <helen.buus@gmail.com <mailto:helen.buus@gmail.com>> wrote:
>> On 5/18/2023 7:19 PM, Gary Buhrmaster wrote:
>> > On Thu, May 18, 2023 at 5:22?PM faginbagin <helen.buus@gmail.com <mailto:helen.buus@gmail.com>> wrote:
>> >
>> >> One thing I've noticed with my latest HDHomeRun FLEX 4K, is that signal
>> >> strength and symbol quality can drop by almost half every few months and
>> >> just power cycling it restores SS and SQ. I don't recall having that
>> >> problem with my older HDHR models.
>> > Be sure you have a LTE filter (LTE interference
>> > can result in really inconsistent results which
>> > can also be transitory in nature).
>> >
>> > If you use the SD app (or equivalent) and
>> > monitor the numbers, and see continuous
>> > significant variations in SS/SQ there may
>> > be obstructions the Fresnel zone which
>> > need to be addressed.
>>
>> I'm not sure what happened to my tuner could be called transitory. As I
>> recall,over a few days, recordings on one channel in particular had lots
>> of errors, getting increasingly worse to the point of total failure (0
>> byte recordings). When I used the HDHR config gui, I could see the SS/SQ
>> numbers were way down, and when I compared a channel scan using:
>> hdhomerun_config ${device} scan ${tuner} tuner${tuner}-scan.out
>> to one done months earlier, I could see SS/SQ changes to other channels
>> as well. So the problems persisted for at least 48 hours until I power
>> cycled and SS/SQ were restored to the months earlier levels. Not what
>> I'd call transient. Or am I missing something?

If there are a lot of trees between your antenna and the location of the broadcast towers, and if it is breezy, the signal can become erratic. I have had this problem at our last house where the leaves moving would upset the signal. During the wintertime with the leaves off the trees there is less of an effect from the wind and barren trees. I only include this as information as additional things that can upset receiving signal.

Also depending where you are, there can be tropospheric effects on the quality of the signal you are receiving. An excellent resource for seeing the
Current effects from tropospheric disturbances is here:

https://www.dxinfocentre.com/tropo.html
When you see the conditions for today, there is a ‘monster’ in the Gulf of Mexico and off of the southeast coast of the US that rears its ugly head as the weather changes!

From what you have described, it doesn’t sound like you have a problem with your ability to receive a good signal, just having problems with the signal getting to your antenna . How far are the broadcast antenna from your location?

If you want a good resource for signal pickup, I would suggest the following site:

https://www.digitalhome.ca/forums/over-the-air-ota-digital-television.81/?

There is a lot of information as well as several knowledgable people on the forums.

Regards

On Fri, May 19, 2023 at 5:34?PM Jay Harbeston <jharbestonus@gmail.com> wrote:

> If there are a lot of trees between your antenna and the location of the broadcast towers, and if it is breezy, the signal can become erratic. I have had this problem at our last house where the leaves moving would upset the signal. During the wintertime with the leaves off the trees there is less of an effect from the wind and barren trees. I only include this as information as additional things that can upset receiving signal.

Yes, Fresnel zone interference can be a problem,
as can multipath (ATSC 3.0 improves both of
these to some extent because of it's improved
modulation schemes, but you can't break the
laws of RF physics).

In some cases the only solution is either a tower,
a much better antenna, or a Stihl (when it is
your vegetation).
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