Building a OTA DVR that is also a Linux box running KODI (XBMC)

[twindham]

Approximate Purchase Date: Late 2015 or Early 2016


Budget Range: Up to $500


System Usage from Most to Least Important: OTA DVR, KODI (XBMC) for streaming free content (not pirating).


Parts Not Required: I already have a nice long range antenna hooked directly to my TV at the moment.


Preferred Website(s) for Parts: any


Country: USA


Parts Preferences: I think I want a bare bones mini PC so that I can add in the necessary RAM and an SSD. I like the look of the Gigabyte Mini PCs that already come equipped with Bluetooth and WiFi. My only worry is that I'm not clear on how well my video capture mechanism would work with one of those. Will I need a Coax to USB type thing that captures my OTA signal for recording?

I'd also like tips on a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse that I would use to control this thing.

I'm also looking to install Linux as the OS for this. I'm not an expert with Linux, but I'm not a total noob when it comes to using Linux.

Overclocking: No


SLI or Crossfire: Open to suggestions


Monitor Resolution: I have a 65" Samsung LED TV 1080p. Not 4k


Additional Comments: I'm really looking for advice about doing the OTA DVR functionality and KODI in one mini pc like this. Is it a common thing to do? I've been searching the internet and haven't found much on this exact thing. Instead I'm finding forums and articles about one or the other... not both in one.

 

[getochkn]

It was a lot bigger when anyone could take their coax cable from the wall for cable tv and then plug in a tv-tuner card. Then the tuner card could tune to the channel, record it, some had 2-3 inputs for more channels, etc. Then came cable boxes, and not being able to receiver a channel without coax anymore.

that moved the PC-DVR based systems to using HDMI capture cards, BUT many system use HDCP protection which HDMI won't allow to be copied. Ebay based HDMI capture cards can do this, but then you need an IR blaster to be able to change the channels on the cable box to be able to tell it what channel to record.

Haven't seen much lately on it all, but there are probably digital tv tuner cards now that could take the coax and tune to the channel. XBMC, now Kodi, has PVR software built in, but it usually runs in conjunction with other software on the backend.

Doing all this on Linux, I dunno. Maybe check out the Kodi forums, as ask there.

 

[twindham]

that moved the PC-DVR based systems to using HDMI capture cards, BUT many system use HDCP protection which HDMI won't allow to be copied. Ebay based HDMI capture cards can do this, but then you need an IR blaster to be able to change the channels on the cable box to be able to tell it what channel to record.

Is the content that is coming over the air using HDCP to protect their content from being recorded?

Just to clarify, I'm not trying to record any content that is coming into my house via a pay cable service like Time Warner, or UVerse. Only the content that is freely available over the air.

 

[getochkn]

OTA shouldn't be as much of an issue, but you would still need a digital tuner capture device to get the signal decoded.

 

[Wolfshadw]

You'll be good to go with just about any ATSC TV Tuner card.

-Wolf sends

 

[twindham]

You'll be good to go with just about any ATSC TV Tuner card.

Thanks Wolf,
I'm thinking of getting an HDHomeRun device and connecting it to my home router via wired Ethernet. I'm having trouble deciding on the HDHomeRun Connect and the HDHomeRun Extend. The main difference between the two is that one does transcoding while the other doesn't. Do you know much about these devices? If so, which one do you recomend?

 

[Wolfshadw]

Don't know too much about those. The question is how much do you watch TV away from your computer? If you have non-wired devices you'll want to watch TV on, then go with the extend. If not, then just go with the connect.

-Wolf sends