Integrating OTA and Pay TV Services Using Tvheadend: Part 3 HDHomeRun Configuration
In part 1 we discussed how a streaming video server can improved your viewing experience and why Tvheadend + node-ffmpeg-mpegts-proxy + Kodi is an optimal solution. In part 2, we covered installation and configuration of the components. In this article, we'll step through configuring Tvheadend for use with an HDHomeRun.
Before we dig in, let's cover some terminology. Borrowing from the Tvheadend documentation:
Assuming Tvheadend and the support components were installed as described in the previous article. the configuration interface is available from a web browser at http://IPADDRESS:9981. If Tvheadend was installed on a machine with a desktop environment, you can use http://localhost:9981 as the configuration URL in a browser on the local machine.
When you first access the Tvheadend web interface, you'll be be greeted with the first screen of the configuration wizard.
Select your language and click 'Save & Next'. Tvheadend will restart and you'll see the same question. Click 'Save & Next' again and you'll see the next screen.
Leave Allowed network blank to allow access from all networks. Enter Admin credentials and User credentials. Click 'Save & Next'.
The setup wizard is great for initial configuration, especially if you have a fairly simple setup with, for example, a single HDHomeRun. We're going to walk through a more complicated setup and also want to demonstrate the full Tvheadend configuration interface, so on each of the remaining wizard screens simple click 'Save & Next' without entering any information.
The final screen of the wizard will display. Once you click 'Finish', your credentials are saved and you are left in the Tvheadend web interface.
Notice the tabs across the top, one for each of the major functionality categories. As you click on those tabs, additional tabs appear in the header below the primary tabs and status/configuration information is shown in the main content area.
This is the what you'll see when you click on the top-row configuration tab (Configuration-General-Base). Most of these settings are fine at their default values, but go ahead and choose Expert in the User interface level drop-down and then click save just below the tabs. This will make sure you can see all of the options on each configuration page. While you're at it, you might want to click on the two small up arrows in the lower right status bar area. This will show the Tvheadend log which displays useful status information and possible problems as we proceed with configuration.
It's time to configure our content sources. We'll start with an HDHomeRun ATSC-T tuner because Tvheadend fully supports these devices and makes configuration fairly simple. If you don't own an HDHR, you might want to skip ahead to the section on configuring a set-top-box and HDMI encoder.
Choose Configuration-DVB Inputs-Networks, then click Add. You'll see the Add Network dialog.
Choose ATSC-T and you'll see the ATSC-T network configuration dialog. In case you're curious, ATSC is the broadcast standard used for over-the-air reception in the USA and some other regions and the -T designates terrestrial as opposed to -C for cable.
Name your network whatever you like and choose us-ATSC-center frequencies-8VSB in the pre-defined muxes drop-down. !!!Does the EIT time offset net to be set? Click Create
Choose Configuration-DVB Inputs-TV adapters. You should see your HDHomeRun which was automatically discovered. Please note, the HDHomeRun must be on the same subnet as your Tvheadend server or Tvheadend will not find the HDHR and configuration will not be possible.
Click on the HDHomeRun listed in the adapter tree, select ATSC-T for Network type, and click save. Now click on one of the tuners under the HDHomeRun folder in the adapter tree.
The pre-defined muxes your chose when creating the network, were the frequencies of all ATSC broadcast channels used in the US. Those frequencies are listed as the mux names. The Scan result tells you whether the on-going scan has located any services on that particular frequency and Services field tells you how many services were on that frequency.
Once the scan completes, choose Configuration-DVB Inputs-Services.
If youre HDHomeRun was able to receive signals from your antenna, you should see a list of service names with various status information. One problem though, notice the Channel field is blank for all services? That's because we now need to map Channels to the services we've found. Click on Map services drop-down arrow and choose Map all services.
The tags will come in handy later, so let Tvheadend create them for you. Click Map services and Tvheadend will map all of the services to channels, then take you to Status-Service Mapper to show you the count of Mapped services. Go back to Configuration-DVB Inputs-Services.
Nice! Now we see all of our services mapped to channels of the same name.
You now have a fully-functional Tvheadend server. You can schedule recordings under Digital Video Recorder-Upcoming / Current Recordings. You can stream live video to a Kodi front end after you enable and configure the Tvheadend PVR add-on. You'll even see a little bit of guide data furnished by the EIT (event information table) that is sent over-the-air along with the live video. To really enhance your experience, however, you'll need to set up Tvheadend to use the EPG data provided by Schedules Direct. If you're only using an HDHomeRun, you can skip ahead to that article. If you're also using a set-top-box and an HDMI encoder, we'll walk through that set-up in the next article.
Before we dig in, let's cover some terminology. Borrowing from the Tvheadend documentation:
- A network is the software definition of your carrier network. Broadly, it lays out what sort of network it is (such as ATSC-T or IPTV) and how it gets scanned.
- Networks then have muxes. These include the carrier frequencies that exist on the over-the-air channels that are used to transmit multiple digital signals. These signals are multiplexed together, hence the name mux.
- Muxes then carry services. These are the individual streams of data. For IPTV streams, a mux typically carries a single service. For ATSC-T streams, a mux typically carries multiple services.
- And finally, services are mapped to channels such as PBS or Discovery.
Assuming Tvheadend and the support components were installed as described in the previous article. the configuration interface is available from a web browser at http://IPADDRESS:9981. If Tvheadend was installed on a machine with a desktop environment, you can use http://localhost:9981 as the configuration URL in a browser on the local machine.
When you first access the Tvheadend web interface, you'll be be greeted with the first screen of the configuration wizard.
Select your language and click 'Save & Next'. Tvheadend will restart and you'll see the same question. Click 'Save & Next' again and you'll see the next screen.
Leave Allowed network blank to allow access from all networks. Enter Admin credentials and User credentials. Click 'Save & Next'.
The setup wizard is great for initial configuration, especially if you have a fairly simple setup with, for example, a single HDHomeRun. We're going to walk through a more complicated setup and also want to demonstrate the full Tvheadend configuration interface, so on each of the remaining wizard screens simple click 'Save & Next' without entering any information.
The final screen of the wizard will display. Once you click 'Finish', your credentials are saved and you are left in the Tvheadend web interface.
Notice the tabs across the top, one for each of the major functionality categories. As you click on those tabs, additional tabs appear in the header below the primary tabs and status/configuration information is shown in the main content area.
This is the what you'll see when you click on the top-row configuration tab (Configuration-General-Base). Most of these settings are fine at their default values, but go ahead and choose Expert in the User interface level drop-down and then click save just below the tabs. This will make sure you can see all of the options on each configuration page. While you're at it, you might want to click on the two small up arrows in the lower right status bar area. This will show the Tvheadend log which displays useful status information and possible problems as we proceed with configuration.
It's time to configure our content sources. We'll start with an HDHomeRun ATSC-T tuner because Tvheadend fully supports these devices and makes configuration fairly simple. If you don't own an HDHR, you might want to skip ahead to the section on configuring a set-top-box and HDMI encoder.
Choose Configuration-DVB Inputs-Networks, then click Add. You'll see the Add Network dialog.
Choose ATSC-T and you'll see the ATSC-T network configuration dialog. In case you're curious, ATSC is the broadcast standard used for over-the-air reception in the USA and some other regions and the -T designates terrestrial as opposed to -C for cable.
Choose Configuration-DVB Inputs-TV adapters. You should see your HDHomeRun which was automatically discovered. Please note, the HDHomeRun must be on the same subnet as your Tvheadend server or Tvheadend will not find the HDHR and configuration will not be possible.
Click on the HDHomeRun listed in the adapter tree, select ATSC-T for Network type, and click save. Now click on one of the tuners under the HDHomeRun folder in the adapter tree.
Click Enabled and select the network you created in the Networks drop-down. Click Save. Repeat for the remaining HDHomeRun tuners. Open the Tvheadend log window by clicking on the small up arrows in the lower right portion of the page. You'll see various status messages scrolling by as Tvheadend steps through the pre-defined muxes scanning for services. The scan will take some time. While you're waiting, select Configuration-DVB Inputs-Muxes.
Once the scan completes, choose Configuration-DVB Inputs-Services.
If youre HDHomeRun was able to receive signals from your antenna, you should see a list of service names with various status information. One problem though, notice the Channel field is blank for all services? That's because we now need to map Channels to the services we've found. Click on Map services drop-down arrow and choose Map all services.
The tags will come in handy later, so let Tvheadend create them for you. Click Map services and Tvheadend will map all of the services to channels, then take you to Status-Service Mapper to show you the count of Mapped services. Go back to Configuration-DVB Inputs-Services.
Nice! Now we see all of our services mapped to channels of the same name.
You now have a fully-functional Tvheadend server. You can schedule recordings under Digital Video Recorder-Upcoming / Current Recordings. You can stream live video to a Kodi front end after you enable and configure the Tvheadend PVR add-on. You'll even see a little bit of guide data furnished by the EIT (event information table) that is sent over-the-air along with the live video. To really enhance your experience, however, you'll need to set up Tvheadend to use the EPG data provided by Schedules Direct. If you're only using an HDHomeRun, you can skip ahead to that article. If you're also using a set-top-box and an HDMI encoder, we'll walk through that set-up in the next article.
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