[kwlug-disc] Cutting the cord

[Jason Locklin]

* In regards to two antennas: It's tricky, but it can work, it's called 
"stacking" in OTA parlance: 
http://overtheair.saveandreplay.com/Antenna_Stacking_Ganging.asp

Generally, it's tricky to keep signals from both antennas from 
interfering with each other because of being just slightly out of 
phase, but it can work with a little patients. One exception, being, 
that if you are combining signals from two different frequency bands. I 
have a VHF/UHF coupler that I plan on using to add a VHF dipole which 
bypasses my amp, so that the local CTV on channel 6 stops overloading 
things. The coupler only allows VHF signal from one antenna, and UHF 
from the other, so there is no issues with phasing.

If you are going the PVR route, such as with MythTV, and you are having 
trouble with your stacked antennas, you could run two lines down to two 
tuners. It will be slightly more expensive, but you will get much 
better performance, and double your simultaneous recording ability.

* Regarding TV guide information: All the Channels are broadcasting 
guide information now, but only for 12-25 hours ahead. This works fine 
with MythTV because I can set automatic recordings and even automatic 
searches to enable recordings. If you have a PVR that requires manual 
scheduling, it would be a pain, as you can only see a day's worth at a 
time. I did have a Schedules Direct membership for a while because 
Global didn't used to broadcast guide data at all. It was generally 
more accurate and had about a month of data.

* Regarding XBMC and MythTV: I have been using XBMC as a frontend for 
MythTV for a couple years. It has never worked very well for me, and I 
usually end up switching to the MythTV frontend to watch recordings. I 
just have a script that alternatively starts the two programs, so when 
I exit MythTV, XBMC starts, and vise versa. It's a bit slow, and  I 
thought of putting them on two different virtual desktops and using the 
window manager to flip back and forth instantly, but because they both 
use graphics acceleration, there was issues. I also thought of running 
two X-servers and switching back and forth, but I never got around to 
trying that.