How to record over the air television?

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jymbee

jymbee

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I remember reading here about some systems that can record OTA television to a HD where you can watch your recorded shows later-- but can't seem to find any of the products mentioned. Anyone doing this that can recommend a particular system?
 
Certain TIVO models do that.  Our current one (a Bolt) records OTA or cable.
 
I use Tablo at home to record movies/shows that I enjoy.  I connect to Tablo from my laptop and use Tablo Ripper to convert from Tablo's format to something I can watch on my laptop.  I take the laptop with me when on a camping trip and connect it to my 40 inch RV TV with an HDMI cable.

Tablo            https://www.tablotv.com/products/
TabloRipper  https://community.tablotv.com/t/tablo-ripper-automatically-download-new-recordings/2803
 
It's not OTA, but when we had Comcast cable, we used a DVR (Digital Video Recorder) that they supplied. Both Dish and DirecTV satellite services also offer such things. Other units such as the TIVO also offer this (including OTA), as Jeannine mentioned, at least with a subscription fee.

On many units, it's still possible to hook up a VCR (if you have one), and record on tape, or possibly a DVD recorder, but that won't be in High Def, only in the old Standard Definition.
 
I record in NTSC using older REPLAYTV units but then most of the shows I watch were older NTSC shows. not modern ATSC (HD) shows.

TiVo has OTA recorders. and a whole bunch of other companies.  You can get a Win-TV box for your computer (Replay edition is nice) and record on a dedicated computer. but you may not be able to play back on the TV less you feed it with the HDMI feed on the computer. Use a laptop with like a 450 Gig HD and a wireless Keyboard and rodent (mouse) (or bigger) with the Win-TV box...

I've recorded that way back in the NTSC days  Had a co-worker who really liked a specific show we could not watch at work so I set the computer to record. burned it to DVD-RW and took it to work She'd watch on the work computer and then leave the DVD in my box so I'd re-write it later.
 
How about something like this? A simple an inexpensive digital tv tuner box with optional output to a USB stick.

https://www.amazon.com/Mediasonic-HOMEWORX-HW130STB-Converter-Recording/dp/B01EW098XS
 
Jeannine said:
Certain TIVO models do that.  Our current one (a Bolt) records OTA or cable.
Click to expand...

Thanks. We've been Tivo users for quite a few years. Using the Bolt + Minis now but for cable not OTA. Actually looking for something that does not require an Internet connection and ongoing fees.
 
That looks quite interesting. Definitely will check it out. Does the router need to connect to the Internet or can it just be used as a local Intranet type connection without connecting to the Net?

davismills said:
I use Tablo at home to record movies/shows that I enjoy.  I connect to Tablo from my laptop and use Tablo Ripper to convert from Tablo's format to something I can watch on my laptop.  I take the laptop with me when on a camping trip and connect it to my 40 inch RV TV with an HDMI cable.

Tablo            https://www.tablotv.com/products/
TabloRipper  https://community.tablotv.com/t/tablo-ripper-automatically-download-new-recordings/2803
Click to expand...
 
I use a USB TV tuner plugged into our laptop PC. If you have a laptop IMO this is the perfect solution. This setup allows recording/watching either at home or watch/record in the RV. It takes 10 seconds to disconnect in the house and 10 seconds to reconnect in the RV. The laptop is plugged into the large screen TVs. Using a wireless mouse and miniature keyboard I can sit in my recliner and surf the net across the room without my reading glasses. That is what I'm using right now. I also have a streaming service running on the laptop to replace cable so I'm saving $150 per month by cutting the cable.

The USB tuner came with software to schedule recordings and a player to watch them. It also broadcasts over the internet. That came in handy when my wife was in the hospital so she could watch our recordings on her IPad. It is a dual channel tuner so you can watch one channel while recording another or record two shows at once or do picture in picture. There are many brands of TV tuners with different features. I chose this one because there are no monthly costs and comes with everything you need but the antenna and cables.

Edit: I should add no internet or router connection is needed unless you want to broadcast your signal over the internet. Or if you want to use it with Windows Media Center or similar software. You can record/watch anywhere as long as you have an electric source.

https://www.amazon.com/Hauppauge-WinTV-DualHD-Tuner-Windows-1595/dp/B015IL0FIW
 
It is amazing how many great solutions there are to the OPs problem. Personally I use YouTubeTV since it is cheap and has an unlimited DVR. Unfortunately that is not an option for the OP but I thought I would mention it for other people reading this thread.
 
I had been looking at the Hauppauge products and that does look like one of the better options for what I'm trying to do. Sounds like we have a similar setup when on the road-- HDMI out on the notebook to the TV and control with the wireless mouse and small Logitech Bluetooth keyboard. Adding the Hauppauge just might be the missing link.  :))

TheBar said:
I use a USB TV tuner plugged into our laptop PC. If you have a laptop IMO this is the perfect solution. This setup allows recording/watching either at home or watch/record in the RV. It takes 10 seconds to disconnect in the house and 10 seconds to reconnect in the RV. The laptop is plugged into the large screen TVs. Using a wireless mouse and miniature keyboard I can sit in my recliner and surf the net across the room without my reading glasses. That is what I'm using right now. I also have a streaming service running on the laptop to replace cable so I'm saving $150 per month by cutting the cable.

The USB tuner came with software to schedule recordings and a player to watch them. It also broadcasts over the internet. That came in handy when my wife was in the hospital so she could watch our recordings on her IPad. It is a dual channel tuner so you can watch one channel while recording another or record two shows at once or do picture in picture. There are many brands of TV tuners with different features. I chose this one because there are no monthly costs and comes with everything you need but the antenna and cables.

Edit: I should add no internet or router connection is needed unless you want to broadcast your signal over the internet. Or if you want to use it with Windows Media Center or similar software. You can record/watch anywhere as long as you have an electric source.

https://www.amazon.com/Hauppauge-WinTV-DualHD-Tuner-Windows-1595/dp/B015IL0FIW
Click to expand...
 
SeilerBird said:
It is amazing how many great solutions there are to the OPs problem.
Click to expand...

Amazing indeed! That's one of the reasons I posted here after so many searches coming up with a dizzying number of options & configurations. Always better to hear from actual users than relying on the manufacturers hype or user "reviews" which I don't put a great deal of faith in myself.
 
Tom said:
Thanks for sharing Tom. I had no idea that option existed.
Click to expand...
You are welcome Tom. I have been using YTT for almost two years now and I am really in love with the service. It is basically cable TV done right. Only 70 channels but they are all good channels. Not 1000 channels, mostly empty, and lots of religious, foreign, or shopping channels like cable does. The channels are located in a logical order, first the local channels, then sports, then news, then movies, etc. And if you start watching a program it remembers it and stores the rest of the program so you can return where you left off. The only bummer is they keep raising the price. It started at $35, then went to $40 and now $50. But it spoiled me really quickly.
 
Aye Tom, I looked at their offering after you posted that. It's not going to work for us, but I can see it would be a good option for some folks.
 
jymbee said:
That looks quite interesting. Definitely will check it out. Does the router need to connect to the Internet or can it just be used as a local Intranet type connection without connecting to the Net?
Click to expand...

The Tablo is connected to my OTA antenna and my local area network.  I can access the Tablo via any device that is on my router wired or wireless (PC, tablet, phone, etc).  So to answer your question, the Tablo would HAVE to connect to the local router but not necessarily the internet. 

The Tablo streams the OTA connection to all your local devices.  If you have a Roku there is a specific private Tablo channel that you can add to make access easier to your smart TVs.  You just hang a small hard drive (I use a 1TB) off the Tablo and all your recordings are placed there.  My wife loves Law and Order.  We have over 90 episodes that she can watch at will and skip the commercials.

The TabloRipper app packages the collected movies shows etc to a hard drive to play when you're offline and away from your local network in some austere location in the beautiful outdoors.

The Tablo DOES connect to the internet to access the channel guide specific to your location.  This is not an absolute requirement, however.

Hope this helps!
 
UTube TV is a great option if you have internet at your spot. For 2 1/2 years I've used DirecTv Now which is changing its name to AT&T Now. But it also has shot up from $35 to $50. I'm considering Philo TV which has 58 good channels with unlimited DVR for $20 per month. Runs on a PC or Mac browser, IOS, Android, Roku, and Fire TV.

https://try.philo.com/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=search&utm_campaign=philo&utm_term=philo-1042&utm_content=MVBrandPhiloMisspellingPhrase&contentId=&gclid=CjwKCAjwk93rBRBLEiwAcMapUdQ9JGZtpnDqIH5JnzvERbNftZnHLpV1bf_0BF-vAvuhUlqHlCWW_hoCXRkQAvD_BwE

 
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