From GTALUG

Contents 1 MythTV 2 MythTV Linux Distributions 3 MythGTA Mailing List 4 GTA TV Providers 4.1 Over the Air Television 4.2 Cable Companies 4.3 Satellite TV 5 Schedules Direct 6 Local Presentations on MythTV 7 External Links 7.1 Software 7.2 MythTV Friendly Hardware 7.3 Paid MythTV Friendly Information 7.4 Documentation 7.5 Support Files 7.6 TV Providers 7.7 Vendors of note with a GTA presence 7.8 Related Articles by Local Authors

MythTV

MythTV is an open source software Personal Video Recorder. It lets you build a box similar to the commercial TiVo or ReplayTV systems, but considerably more powerful - and more easily customized and modified. The "more powerful" part includes things like being able to:

• Auto detect and auto skip almost all commercials automatically
• Play music (MP3/OGG)
• Play video
• Play games (both Linux specific games and thanks to MAME, old video arcade games)
• See a weather forecast
• Talk on the phone with a software based SIP phone
• See an on-screen list of upcoming TV shows and select what show(s) you want to record by name or time
• Set rules on how many of a particular show are recorded and how long shows are kept
• Parental control option allowing a parent to block the recording of certain shows

Further the amount of disk storage available to MythTV can be as much as your budget or the Linux kernel can support. The number of channels you can record from at the same time is limited only by the hardware you have installed.

Further MythTV is built on a client/server model, so while most MythTV boxes have both the client and server programs running on the same machine, they don't have to be. So, you could say have a master server with client running in the family room with client machines running in the bedrooms, for TV through out the house.

MythTV Linux Distributions

It used to be to set-up a MythTV machine you had to install your favourite Linux distribution, then the various programs MythTV depended on such as MySQL and LIRC, then you could install MythTV. Now there are Linux distributions specifically aimed at making installing MythTV painless. Which of the MythTV oriented Linux distributions is best can be argued. Still a suggestion would be to go with which ever distribution is closest to the one you are most familiar with, so:

• Anyone already familiar with Centos, Fedora or RedHat should look closely at Fedora based Mythdora.
• Anyone already familiar with Debian, or Ubuntu should look closely at Ubuntu based Mythbuntu
• Anyone already familiar with Arch should look closely at Arch based LinHES

If you are not familiar with any of the above Linux distributions a suggestion would be to join the mailing list noted below and ask for opinions. All of the above have strengths and weaknesses, which the supporters of each distribution are likely to happily share with you. So the question will be, can you live with a particular distribution's weaknesses and/or which strengths do you need.

MythGTA Mailing List

There is a greater Toronto, ON area MythTV oriented mailing list. To get on or off the list:

Please send an e-mail to:

mythtv-request@ss.org

Leave the subject line blank.

And in the body of the message, place only:

"subscribe" to subscribe or "unsubscribe" to unsubscribe, without the quotes.

You will get back an e-mail that offers additional information.

GTA TV Providers

Over the Air Television

This is the route to go if you want modest range of excellent quality HDTV channels. The quality of HD program display can be and often is better than that offered via satellite or on cable.

With a good antenna, tuner and location you can get all the broadcast stations in the GTA (Toronto, Hamilton and Buffalo). Depending on your antenna, tuner and location in the GTA you may be able to receive stations out of Rochester, NY.

Points to be aware of include you want the antenna to be as high as possible, you want line of sight to the transmitter locations. Most TV antennas are directional, so normally you want the antenna pointing at the TV transmitters. TV signals can reflect off tall buildings and cliffs, in unusual cases the best direction to point a TV antenna is at the strongest reflection. MythTV can control some selected TV rotors, devices that change the direction a TV antenna is pointed, so the antenna can alter position based on the channel being watched.

When shopping for over the air hardware keep in mind that some MythTV compatible HDTV tuners do not handle analog TV properly, so you may not be able to get over the air analog with some cards, this will become less of an issue over time as analog TV is shut down.

Regarding analog TV, since June 12, 2009 there have been no high powered analog stations in the US. A small number of low powered US analog TV stations are still in operation, including channel 15 (WBNF-CA) in Buffalo NY (which can be received in some parts of the GTA). In Canada all high powered analog stations are to shut down in favour of digital TV stations in August of 2011.

Cable Companies

Rogers

The largest name in the GTA, Rogers covers Toronto, and a number of other communities in the GTA.

Rogers Analog Cable

There are no GTA wide issues here. In most areas you are talking about a good solid analog signal. Set your TV tuner card(s) for standard US style analog cable TV and everything should work nicely.

Rogers Digital Cable

This is ugly. In the US, cable companies are required to offer all local digital channels unencrypted, generally referred to as 'clear QAM' (with the option of encrypting specialty and premium channels). In Canada the cable companies are allowed to encrypt all digital channels, and since July of 2007 this is what Rogers has done. There are a limited number of ways to obtain a digital signal which can be recorded, from a set top box.

To get any digital channels from Rogers in any form into your MythTV box you will need a Rogers set-top box (STB), one box for each intended recording setup. If you wish to record 2 channels at once from Rogers digital, you will require 2 set top boxes.

The best option: A few Rogers STBes have an enabled firewire port. With the enabled firewire port boxes you can control the box via firewire and get true HDTV into your MythTV machine. For this to happen you will need the appropriate Rogers STB and a Linux supported firewire port installed in your MythTV machine. It is unclear whether a US sourced STB (with firewire enabled) will work with Rogers digital, even if the model numbers are the same.

The next best option is to feed Component (three wire) output from the STB output to a Hauppauge HD-PVR, which converts the 3 analog signals into a digital stream, which you can record. Like the first option, this gives you true HDTV into your MythTV machine. In addition, you will need an IR blaster (that can mimic a Rogers STB box remote control) to control the STB from MythTV. The idea being that the IR blaster controls the Rogers box (to change channels and start recordings) and you read the result via the HD-PVR. As at New Year 2010, the HD-PVR has dropped down to near $200 on sale. The HD-PVR is fully supported by MythTV.

If you can not use the firewire option and do not wish to use an HD-PVR, you can feed the digital box S-Video or Composite output to a MythTV compatible analog tuner. This will only get you Standard Definition analog signals. As with the last option, in addition, you will need an IR blaster (that can mimic a Rogers STB remote control) to control the STB from MythTV. The idea being that the IR blaster controls the Rogers box and you read the result via the analog card which remains set to the same channel throughout. With the analog card you do not get HDTV, only Standard Definition. Any analog card or USB dongle which works with Rogers analog cable, can be re-used in this configuration.

A further note on Set-Top-Boxes. Both Rogers and Bell offer STB's which include a hard drive. Apparently all of these boxes, encrypt the recorded stream on the hard drive so that it cannot be played back, except through the STB. The boxes may or may not enforce a time limit on the period for which you can retain (and thus replay) that content. Getting content from the hard drive to your MythtTV machine still involves the three options set out above.

Cogeco

The number two cable provider in the GTA...

Cogeco Analog Cable

As with the other GTA cable companies there shouldn't be any major issues with analog cable, just set your TV tuner card(s) for US style analog cable and everything should work.

Cogeco Digital Cable

According to Remote Central at least as of July 2009 Cogeco offered a reasonable range of unencrypted digital TV channels. Set your HDTV tuner card(s) for the QAM-256 digital format and things should work. The channel numbers assigned by your MythTV box will have no real resemblance to the Schedules Direct listings. You will have to manually map the channel numbers MythTV comes up with to the Schedules Direct numbers (an annoyingly time consuming process).

For the specialty / premium channels that Cogeco doesn't offer unencrypted, the problems, and solutions are the same as faced by all Rogers Digital Cable clients, namely:

* Get a Cogeco compatible Firewire enabled set-top box (STB) and a Linux supported Firewire port in your MythTV box.

* Alternatively, get an IR blaster that can mimic your Cogeco STB remote control and feed the output of the STB into a Hauppauge HD-PVR box.

* Alternatively, get an IR blaster that can mimic your Cogeco STB remote control and feed the output of the STB into a conventional Linux supported analog TV tuner card.

Compton Communications

Compton Communications coverage area is Port Perry, Uxbridge, Coppins Corners, Goodwood & Epsom Ontario.

Compton Analog Cable

Full analog is available, as with the other cable companies set your TV tuner card(s) for US style analog cable.

Compton Digital Cable

Full Digital is available

Video On Demand is available

*GPON (Gigabit Passive Network) available is some areas up to 2.4Gb

Compton was the first to launch the Motorola GPON with RF Return network in North America.

Satellite TV

Satellite TV takes advantage of that fact that a spacecraft in orbit 35,786 km (22,236 mi) above the equator will take 24 hours to orbit the Earth, this in turn means that the spacecraft will appear to be hovering in one spot. Once a directional dish antenna is pointed at a particular satellite it can be left in that position for the multi-year life of the satellite. Given the low power of the signal, any obstructions, be it human made structures, or natural such as cliffs, between you and the satellite will block the signal. Further, exceptionally bad weather will also block the signal.

Bell TV

Formerly known as Bell ExpressVu. Does use 20" dishes in the GTA. 500+ video channels are available.

More to come here.

Shaw Direct

Formerly known as StarChoice.

More to come here.

Free To Air Satellite

Some broadcasters have decided it is in their best interests to offer programs via satellite without encryption. This means a mix of regular network TV programs from small market TV stations, religious channels, government agencies and specialty language channels.

The free to air satellite (FTA) services use lower power transmitters, which means you will need a larger dish antenna than the pay services, you should be looking for a 32"+ dish antenna, Beside the dish antenna you will need a satellite receiver and for anyone north of the equator a view of the southern horizon. Very desirable, but not required are motors designed to adjust the position of the dish, so you can switch between satellites without leaving your couch. There are a few Linux supported PCI FTA satellite receiver cards. There are also FTA receiver boxes that need both an IR blaster and a Linux supported TV card to work with MythTV.

Schedules Direct

Schedules Direct is a not for profit company that offers TV listing data for open source software projects such as MythTV, for a modest yearly fee. Schedules Direct offers complete listing data for effectively every TV/cable station Canada and the United States. They also provide incomplete data for some nations outside Canada and the United States, such as several nations in the Caribbean. Schedules Direct allows you to set-up up to 4 different listings sources, so you could get listing data for over-the-air TV, cable company and two satellite services at once all tied to one account.

Until August of 2009 "Schedules Direct" didn't offer digital over-the-air listings for Canadian Postal Codes. The work around for those in the GTA was to set-up an over the air location in US ZIP code 14174 (Youngstown, New York), which made it possible to get listing data for the Buffalo, New York HDTV channels and most of the Toronto HDTV channels.

Since mid-August of 2009 digital TV listings have been available for Canadian postal codes. If you see any errors or omissions please report them to Schedules Direct.

Local Presentations on MythTV

Colin Smillie did a talk on MythTV for TLUG

Paul Mora did a NewTLUG talk on MythTV

Colin McGregor did an InstallFest for MythTV

Colin McGregor did a TLUG Presentation on MythTV

External Links

Software

• MythTV.org - Main site.
• LinHES - Arch-based MythTV installer, replacement for KnoppMyth a Knoppix-based MythTV installer.
• MiniMyth - For doing lightweight frontend only boxes.
• MythBuntu - Ubuntu-based MythTV installer.
• MythDora - Fedora-based MythTV installer.

MythTV Friendly Hardware

Tuners

• Hauppauge - Most of Hauppauge's HVR series digital tuners, are supported by the V4L project and thus under MythTV. The no longer manufactured PVR series (PVR-150, 250, 350 and 500) are considered to be the gold standard in Linux supported analog only tuners. The Hauppauge HD-PVR model 1212 HD-PVR converts and compresses Component (YCrCb) analog input to digital. This is now often the only way in which HDTV output from a set top box can be recorded. Fully supported by MythTV. Details on the Wiki. The WINTV-HVR-950Q USB dongle does both analog and digital reception in a small package. The WIN-HVR-1600 and 2250 are dual tuner analog/digital cards which work with NTSC and ATSC/QAM signals.
• PCHDTV - Very Linux friendly HDTV tuner cards.
• SiliconDust - Builds the HDHomeRun, a HDTV tuner to Ethernet box.

Cases

Cases for home theater use, combining the requirements of style, capacity and quiet operation are hard to find. Only a few manufacturers have expended the necessary effort in this area.

• Antec - Builder of a few home theater PC cases, in various styles. Antec is now the exclusive North American channel for Soundgraph iMon (infrared remote control) hardware, under the 'Veris' trademark.

• Silverstone - Some great home theater PC cases. Versions are available with Soundgraph iMon IR remote and VFD display, fully supported by LIRC and MythTV.

• Thermaltake - Some great home theater PC cases. Versions are available with Soundgraph iMon IR remote and VFD display, fully supported by LIRC and MythTV.

Paid MythTV Friendly Information

• SchedulesDirect - Full TV schedule data for Canada, the USA and partial data for some other nations.

Documentation

• MythTV Wiki - The MythTV Wiki.
• MythPVR - A MythTV fan site.
• MythTV User Mailing List - The main MythTV users mailing list. Two warning about this list, it is high volume, 100+ messages per day is not unusual, and it is international, so some hardware/software issues do not apply to anyone in Canada (or the United States).

Support Files

• TV logos - MythTV allows you to add channel logos to the listings display. Here is a source for those logo image files.
• Game files - MythGame allows you to run MAME (Multi-Arcade Machine Emulator) games. Here is a free source of some MAME games.

TV Providers

Greater Toronto Area - Over the Air Information

• GTA HDTV Channels - A list of GTA area digital TV channels with transmitter data, such as location and output power. Remote Central is a great resource for information about *everything* related to TV hardware, OTA reception, satellite reception, and remotes.
• FreeToronto.tv - Information about free TV, analog and digital, in the GTA.
• Canadian OTA Station List - A listing of all OTA television stations in Canada, by Province and Municipality. Shows the present status of operational stations, and the anticipated parameters of digital channels after the switchover. Especially useful as it shows the actual transmission channel (rather than the branded virtual channel) and location.
• AntennaMap.com - Enter your your postal code and this site will calculate such things as distance and bearing to various local transmitters.

Cable TV

• Rogers - Toronto and some other areas of the GTA
• Cogeco - Some parts of the GTA outside Toronto
• Compton Communications - Port Perry, Uxbridge, Coppins Corners, Goodwood & Epsom, ON

Satellite TV

• Dish Pointer - Information on where to point your satellite dish, enter your postal code, drag the pointer to where you plan to put the dish and go. Supports a list of both pay and free to air satellites. Lets you find out the maximum hight an nearby obstruction can be without blocking the signal.
• Bell TV
• Shaw Direct
• Free To Air Satellite

Vendors of note with a GTA presence

• Canada Computers - Good source of TV tuner cards and of home theater PC cases. Several locations in the GTA.
• Save and Replay - Carries a great selection of OTA antennas and satellite receivers as well as the mounting hardware you will need, as well as otherwise hard to (locally) find tuners such as the HDHomeRun. Very knowledgeable about OTA specifics. South Brampton - CourtneyPark/410.
• Tiger Direct - Good source of home theater PC cases and of TV tuner cards. Several locations in the GTA.

Related Articles by Local Authors

• Linux Journal - Colin McGregor's 2005 take on MythTV. This article is also available here. Warning: some of the material in this article is now out of date.
• Linux Journal - Colin McGregor's 2006 take on building a MythTV compatible IR detector.