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Recording and downloading terrestrial channels


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Old 27-06-2016, 15:27
tdenson
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I currently have a VM Tivo, BTVision, and a latest gen Apple TV. However, I do a lot of travelling and would like to download programs I have recorded at home for consumption abroad. What's the simplest way of achieving this. None of the above have the facility to record and then have a way of getting the recording to a computer for playback. I am only interested in the main 4 terrestrial channels, although I suppose any setup would automatically get all Freeview channels anyway. Also, I would want it to get it's feed from the internet, not off-air. I don't particularly want a fancy user interface, just the ability to record to a local storage device accessible from a PC.
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Old 27-06-2016, 15:39
nigelb1972
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have a look at a Slingbox, should be exactly what you are looking for..

http://www.slingbox.com/en-GB
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Old 27-06-2016, 16:09
tdenson
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As it happens I already have a Slingbox. I should have explained a bit more - I do not want to have to stream the content at the remote location. Places I travel to tend to have poor internet connections. What I currently do if I want to watch something that exists locally at my house is to use FTP to transfer it to where I am, and then play the downloaded file. The advantage of this is that FTP clients tend to have good recovery mechanisms from failed connections, and also I can start watching while it is still transferring.
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Old 27-06-2016, 21:58
in_focus
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Humax and Topfield PVRs had the ability to transfer recordings from the hard drives using a PC or laptop via a USB port. They could then be replayed using VLC player on the PC or laptop screen or a TV if it has a suitable connections.

Topfield freeview PVRs are no longer made and I'm not sure if the latest Humax machines can still do this.
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Old 27-06-2016, 22:03
Stig
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I currently have a VM Tivo, BTVision, and a latest gen Apple TV. However, I do a lot of travelling and would like to download programs I have recorded at home for consumption abroad. What's the simplest way of achieving this. None of the above have the facility to record and then have a way of getting the recording to a computer for playback. I am only interested in the main 4 terrestrial channels, although I suppose any setup would automatically get all Freeview channels anyway. Also, I would want it to get it's feed from the internet, not off-air. I don't particularly want a fancy user interface, just the ability to record to a local storage device accessible from a PC.
Can't you just use a phone or tablet with the iPlayer app etc? I just plug my iPad into a TV using an HDMI cable.
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Old 27-06-2016, 22:46
tdenson
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Can't you just use a phone or tablet with the iPlayer app etc? I just plug my iPad into a TV using an HDMI cable.
The point is I don't want to stream. I want to download to local storage at my home, and then use FTP to transfer the content to my laptop wherever I am abroad. Typically I have very slow and erratic internet connections when travelling. The advantage of FTP is that FTP clients tend to be very good at resuming after a failure, and also streaming will be constantly interrupted by buffering problems.
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Old 27-06-2016, 23:22
mooghead
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Funny how things have come full circle. The question is.. can someone tell me the modern equivalent of a video recorder?..
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Old 28-06-2016, 11:21
rjb101
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Humax and Topfield PVRs had the ability to transfer recordings from the hard drives using a PC or laptop via a USB port. They could then be replayed using VLC player on the PC or laptop screen or a TV if it has a suitable connections.

Topfield freeview PVRs are no longer made and I'm not sure if the latest Humax machines can still do this.
You could do lots of clever things with the humax HDR T2 with custom firmware. Not sure if they're still available though, maybe 2nd hand or refurbished.
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Old 28-06-2016, 18:08
tdenson
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You could do lots of clever things with the humax HDR T2 with custom firmware. Not sure if they're still available though, maybe 2nd hand or refurbished.
As it happens I used to have both a Topfield (my TV still has a source labelled "Toppy") and a Humax. I used to download programs from the Topfield but it was rather a techie process and a bit flakey. I'm just looking for a modern alternative that is simple cheap and effective.
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Old 28-06-2016, 18:10
tdenson
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Funny how things have come full circle. The question is.. can someone tell me the modern equivalent of a video recorder?..
Yes, you are right. That is exactly what I'm looking for. Don't want any fancy facilities, just look like an 80's VCR but recording to disk.
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Old 28-06-2016, 20:08
Stig
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The point is I don't want to stream. I want to download to local storage at my home, and then use FTP to transfer the content to my laptop wherever I am abroad. Typically I have very slow and erratic internet connections when travelling. The advantage of FTP is that FTP clients tend to be very good at resuming after a failure, and also streaming will be constantly interrupted by buffering problems.
The iPlayer app can download for offline viewing.

You can do it the hard way. I have a PC with DVB-T and DVB-S tuners. You can record the TV programs and the transfer them to whatever PC you want.
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Old 29-06-2016, 00:09
barbeler
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Yes, you are right. That is exactly what I'm looking for. Don't want any fancy facilities, just look like an 80's VCR but recording to disk.
I'm afraid no such thing exists.
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Old 29-06-2016, 00:13
gomezz
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As it happens I used to have both a Topfield (my TV still has a source labelled "Toppy") and a Humax. I used to download programs from the Topfield but it was rather a techie process and a bit flakey. I'm just looking for a modern alternative that is simple cheap and effective.
When my Toppy stopped worked I switched to used my Humax Foxsat HDR with the custom firmware to record programmes to transfer to my laptop which is an easier process than it was on the Toppy as it uses a web-based interface: Right-click on the recording and select Download. I assume the custom firmware on the Fox T2 is similar (assumes the PVR is connected to your router of course, mine is via an ethernet switch while the laptop connects wirelessly).
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Old 29-06-2016, 14:56
tdenson
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I'm afraid no such thing exists.
I'm hoping to prove you wrong
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Old 01-07-2016, 07:21
voteout
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Yes, you are right. That is exactly what I'm looking for. Don't want any fancy facilities, just look like an 80's VCR but recording to disk.
Many cheap Freeview boxes (and TVs for that matter) have a save to USB function.

I have a Chinese HD unit for just this task. They cost around £10-15, and record to USB pretty much like VHS used to do with tape.

The files created can be played on any laptop with VLC installed -- and 64GB USB drives are dirt-cheap these days (less than a tenner) and hold as much as the first generation DVRs used to.

If you want a network-capable unit, buy one of the Linux-based recorders which are normally used for, ahem, naughty purposes. These are effectively a full PC with command-line functions, and setting them up for FTP is a doddle. These start at around £50 or so.
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Old 01-07-2016, 09:56
AlanO
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The iPlayer app can download for offline viewing.

You can do it the hard way. I have a PC with DVB-T and DVB-S tuners. You can record the TV programs and the transfer them to whatever PC you want.
BUT - the iPlayer app downloads expire after a time, so may not be the solution.

If it's iPlayer stuff you're after, then there is a piece of free software named 'Get iPLayer' - however you need to be technically minded to use it. But that downloads programmes from the iPlayer website to your PC for future use (and they don't expire)..
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Old 01-07-2016, 14:27
tdenson
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BUT - the iPlayer app downloads expire after a time, so may not be the solution.

If it's iPlayer stuff you're after, then there is a piece of free software named 'Get iPLayer' - however you need to be technically minded to use it. But that downloads programmes from the iPlayer website to your PC for future use (and they don't expire)..
Funny you should say that. I have been using Get iPlayer for ages, however just recently it stopped recording certain of my favourite programs and that is what prompted me to seek another solution. However, to clarify, Get iPlayer is a bit of a misnomer as it provides more than just iPlayer material e.g. ITV programs. Also, it's not particularly techie to use - unless it's because I use it on a Mac and it's more complicated on Windows ? It often is the case that the Windows version of something is more complicated to set up. I find it amusing that this is the case with Microsoft Software - the Mac version of things seems to "just work". A good example is just try setting up a Yahoo mailbox on Windows Outlook, it's very fiddly, do it on the Mac version of Office and it's a doddle.
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Old 01-07-2016, 14:37
AlanO
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Funny you should say that. I have been using Get iPlayer for ages, however just recently it stopped recording certain of my favourite programs and that is what prompted me to seek another solution. However, to clarify, Get iPlayer is a bit of a misnomer as it provides more than just iPlayer material e.g. ITV programs. Also, it's not particularly techie to use - unless it's because I use it on a Mac and it's more complicated on Windows ? It often is the case that the Windows version of something is more complicated to set up. I find it amusing that this is the case with Microsoft Software - the Mac version of things seems to "just work". A good example is just try setting up a Yahoo mailbox on Windows Outlook, it's very fiddly, do it on the Mac version of Office and it's a doddle.
If it's stopped working, then check for a new version.

What I meant by techie, is that it doesn't have a pretty UI (at least not on Windows) so you're faced with entering commands manually, which if you're not technically minded takes some getting used to.

I don't know why setting up a Yahoo mailbox on Windows should be a particular problem - most of the recent Windows mail programs have the IMAP settings already for the most popular mail providers. Normally all you have to do is type in the e-mail address and password and it all works.
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Old 01-07-2016, 15:27
chrisjr
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Funny you should say that. I have been using Get iPlayer for ages, however just recently it stopped recording certain of my favourite programs and that is what prompted me to seek another solution. However, to clarify, Get iPlayer is a bit of a misnomer as it provides more than just iPlayer material e.g. ITV programs. Also, it's not particularly techie to use - unless it's because I use it on a Mac and it's more complicated on Windows ? It often is the case that the Windows version of something is more complicated to set up. I find it amusing that this is the case with Microsoft Software - the Mac version of things seems to "just work". A good example is just try setting up a Yahoo mailbox on Windows Outlook, it's very fiddly, do it on the Mac version of Office and it's a doddle.
You mention Outlook on a Mac. Well I am on a Mac at the moment and have an issue with a load of duplicate e-mails I want to weed out. On the Windows version there is a Clean Up option on the toolbar next to Delete that will do just that. Doesn't exist on the Mac version.

From what I can tell unless you pay for some third party tool to do it the only way to remove duplicate messages in Outlook Mac is to trawl through the Inbox and do it manually! So what was that about Mac versions "just working"?
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Old 01-07-2016, 15:48
spiney2
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The humax 1800 or 2000 terrestrial (tv aerial) pvr will record the free to air channels, and progs can easily be transferred to a memory stick. Then converted into wharever viewing format u want, for any device, using a pc.
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Old 01-07-2016, 15:51
spiney2
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Note, sometimes a don't decrypt flag is also transmitted, but it can be removed using the ''foxy'' pc utility program.
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Old 01-07-2016, 15:55
spiney2
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For using ''foxy'', u also need an ethernet switch, to connect your pc and humax together. But then, u can transfer any hd recording, as well as all sd ones.
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Old 01-07-2016, 16:01
spiney2
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Best video format converter is Freemake, it can handle anything and is very quick. Feed in the Humax video.ts recording directly, via memory stick, probably for convert to mp4 format using Freemake. Including subtitles if you want. Then watch on pc, phone, whatever ......
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Old 01-07-2016, 16:10
spiney2
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Freemake also requires ''microsoft net framework 4'' in order to work, use google to find a copy to download ......
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Old 01-07-2016, 16:15
spiney2
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iwisoft video converter should also work on MOST video.ts files off the humax, and is self contained without needing extra stuff adding, but it cant add any transmitted subtitles to picture ......
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