NextGen TV

[bnewt]

it seems like the ota stations in my area are beginning the switch over to the nextgen signal
they are advising everyone to rescan this afternoon
I am not totally familiar with this upgrade, has Dish allowed for this change in their product line?
If so, what will we the consumer have to do to take advantage of this higher quality signal, other than have a 4K tv?

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

DISH has no plans for a Nextgen OTA tuner at this time.

 

[Bruce]

it seems like the ota stations in my area are beginning the switch over to the nextgen signal
they are advising everyone to rescan this afternoon

Reads more like a re-mapping issue, a rescan would not do you much good if you do not have the new tuner.

I am not totally familiar with this upgrade, has Dish allowed for this change in their product line?
If so, what will we the consumer have to do to take advantage of this higher quality signal, other than have a 4K tv?

Just because we are changing to ATSC 3.0 does not mean you are going to get a 4K Signal, right now, not one Broadcaster (Cable or OTA) offers their channels in 4K.

The majority of 4K Content is thru streaming services except for very limited Live Sporting events you can get with Satellite/Cable/OTT providers.

 

[bnewt]

DISH has no plans for a Nextgen OTA tuner at this time.

does anyone have a 3.0 ota tuner that can be purchased & plugged in via usb

 

[Jim5506]

Rescan is because the stations are moving channels around willy-nilly . Some are adding a 3.0 channel which you can't receive without a 3.0 tuner and moving their 1.0 programming to another transmitter and probably another channel (RF) with maybe the same virtual channel number.

 

[MikeD-C05]

it seems like the ota stations in my area are beginning the switch over to the nextgen signal
they are advising everyone to rescan this afternoon
I am not totally familiar with this upgrade, has Dish allowed for this change in their product line?
If so, what will we the consumer have to do to take advantage of this higher quality signal, other than have a 4K tv?

TABLO has a next gen quad tuner that you can record up to 4 shows at a time.

www.tablotv.com

 

[thomasjk]

TABLO has a next gen quad tuner that you can record up to 4 shows at a time.

www.tablotv.com

Unfortunately it still doesn't appear to be generally available because of DRM. Still shows as available for Pre order.

 

[NashGuy]

does anyone have a 3.0 ota tuner that can be purchased & plugged in via usb

No ATSC 3.0 tuner that can plug in via USB has come to market. There are only two external 3.0 tuner devices I'm aware of.

One is from HDHomeRun. Actually they have more than one device with ATSC 3.0 tuners. Their Flex 4K just has tuners while their Scribe 4K has tuners plus a built-in DVR. Both plug into your internet router and then you use an app on your smart TV or streaming device to watch live and recorded OTA TV. You can add DVR features to the Flex 4K by combining it with a computer or other device. These HDHomeRun devices are very flexible and have a proven track record.

The other external ATSC 3.0 tuner currently available is the ZapperBox, which connects directly to your TV via HDMI.

For a lot of reasons, I would not recommend the ZapperBox. It costs too much, only serves a single TV, and does not yet support DVR recording (although they say that feature will get added in the future). Plus it comes from a small company with no track record. But some folks may like that it plugs directly into a TV and comes with a traditional remote with number buttons.

 

[primestar31]

Their Flex 4K just has tuners while their Scribe 4K has tuners plus a built-in DVR

The Flex 4K also has a USB3 port, to which you can plug in a powered drive and use their $35 a year DVR solution. Personally, I use one with the Channels Dvr server running on a Raspberry Pi 4b with a 4TB WD Usb3 drive, and it runs perfectly.

 

[NashGuy]

The Flex 4K also has a USB3 port, to which you can plug in a powered drive and use their $35 a year DVR solution. Personally, I use one with the Channels Dvr server running on a Raspberry Pi 4b with a 4TB WD Usb3 drive, and it runs perfectly.

Wow, nice, I didn't realize that the Flex 4K could run HDHomeRun's DVR service without involving an external computer or NAS as is necessary with the DVR services from Channels and Plex.

Are you sure that the USB hard drive must be powered on its own rather than being able to draw power through the USB cord from the Flex 4K?

 

[primestar31]

Are you sure that the USB hard drive must be powered on its own rather than being able to draw power through the USB cord from the Flex 4K?

Pretty much, yes. You may get away with using a small laptop drive, but the power brick that comes with the HdHomerun is only 1 amp. I certainly wouldn't take a chance on using any drive that doesn't provide its own power.