Plex DVR with Cable

General Discussions
1

To avoid giving Time Warner any more money than I have to, I use the HD HomeRun Prime with a cable card (and switched video adapter due their lack of bandwidth). All of this is managed via Windows Media Center on my HTPC and Xbox 360’s around the house as WMC extenders. This allows me a whole-home DVR setup and works pretty well.

WMC is no longer supported by Microsoft and it would be nice to not need to use an Xbox 360 at each TV as Netflix, Plex and everything else non-MS only run at 720p on them.

Will Plex Pass work on cable content that is flagged 0x02 (copy once)? Most TW channels are 0x02. Everyone can do 0X00 (copy freely) and that’s nothing special. WMC has previously been the only computer based software that is Cable Labs certified and can do 0x02. Can Plex DVR do 0x02 or is it just another run of the mill recorder? I’d be happy to do a $149 lifetime PlexPass membership if it can actually do 0x02. My guess is it won’t and probably never will. :frowning:

2

Good Guess. Probably accurate as well.
Complete happiness with Plex DVR will likely only be achieved via an antenna - wherein the programs arrive without restrictions placed on them.

Here’s how to install WMC under Windows 10:

There is still some life left in that wrinkled carcass. WMC and MCEBuddy are still working well here after almost a decade of honorable service.

3

I tried back when they first released the ability to install WMC on Win 10 and it didn’t work well. I didn’t follow up on it much after. One big hurdle was getting it to connect to a WMC extender. I may play with it this winter and see if I can get it to work - for no other reason than wanting Win 10 on my HTPC.

4

I’m unsure what a WMC extender can do for you that MCEBuddy can’t do better.

WMC is used to schedule the recordings and the WTV recordings go into the Recorded TV folder. MCEBuddy monitors the Recorded TV folder, picks up new recordings decides whether they’re TV Shows or Movies, renames the files for use with Plex and places the files into their proper structure in the appropriate Plex library… automatically.

That pretty much bypasses the need for any extenders at all… doesn’t it?

MCEBuddy can deliver your WTV files untouched, or it can convert them to a format that will direct play while cutting out the commercials. It can cut out the commercials and leave the file untouched - apart from a few frames around the cut. There are lots of ways to customize the final operation, but I think it’s pretty safe to say that Buddy melds WMC operations seamlessly into your Plexiverse.

It’s been working like a charm here for many years.

5

Copy-Freely - Yes
Copy-Once/DRM - No

6

@JuiceWSA said:
I’m unsure what a WMC extender can do for you that MCEBuddy can’t do better.

That’s great for 0x00 content. MCEBuddy can’t handle 0X02 (copy once) content. Since most of the content is 0x02, it is useless.

7

Yea I keep forgetting that little ‘detail’. All my material arrives via antenna without the restrictions.

8

Other than the Big Bang Theory, some sports and the Simpsons, there’s not much I watch on the networks. Isn’t that all you get via off the air?

9

Some cable companies only mark pay channels (HBO, SHOW, PPV, etc) as protected. Just depends on who your provider is.

10

@brucethevideobug said:
Other than the Big Bang Theory, some sports and the Simpsons, there’s not much I watch on the networks. Isn’t that all you get via off the air?

Well… I guess it depends where you are and what you watch.

Let’s take a typical metropolitan area in the US - say Washington, DC:

ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, PBS - for the big networks. Believe it or not those major networks are responsible for a LOT of programming that Millions of people pay incredible amounts of cash to watch - when the RF from those TV Towers is altering their DNA as it passes through their house and flesh absolutely free without any restrictive measures whatsoever.

Then let’s move on to independents (top to bottom):
Univision (not high on my list either, Hombre), WDCA (every conceivable popular comedy sitcom known to the human race - in re-runs), WWTD (Amen and pass the ammunition), WNVC (14 channels of international native language and English language broadcasting from around the world - and some of the best darn news offered without a US agenda on the planet), WWPX (Ion - and no I didn’t).

That’s just the ‘line of sight’ - you’re getting those on the fillings in your teeth, or with a coat hanger. Also be aware that those major networks and independents have multiple sub-channels they either own or rent to other broadcasters like:
Movies! (If you like vintage movies - and who doesn’t - these guys show 'em 24/7), Grit (He-Man television - Westerns, Actioners, etc), AntennaTV (Vintage TV), MeTV (more niche broadcasting)… and that’s just what I can remember off the top of my head.

I lived near DC my entire life, but recently retired to a canyon out of range, but when there I had the tuner card in my PC working over-time day and night while the sibling and SIL had theirs working over-time day and night and between us had our MCEBuddys in a conversion nearly 24/7 pumping more programming than we could ever watch (still trying to watch it) into our Plexiverse.

I now live in the aforementioned canyon and only have access to two channels from Public Broadcasting. There is more documentary and quality programming for adults and children than I could ever watch (I try, Dammit!) as I still keep my tuner card and MCEBuddy engaged every day - not all day, but I am recording something nearly every day. The sibling and SIL and I are in a constant download or upload or remote access to our servers in an attempt to watch something so we can delete it and make room for MORE! IT’S ALIVE! (lol) (all commercial free - when MCEBuddy and ComSkip gets done with it). The sibling and SIL take care of the major networks, I have PBS covered with a magnum signal. The translator is 3 miles from here, but since the tower got hit by lightning 3 years ago they’ve been running between 5 and 80 Watts so I aimed a DB8 at it and have my meters pinned. If they ever fix that transmitter I’ll have to move the antenna inside and aim it at Denver.

I am a ‘Cable Never’ baby-boomer (cough, wheeze), but with an antenna and ‘Other’ there is nothing I’m missing out on… Nothing.

It is conceivable that with an antenna and a service like Sling, or P-Vue one could slash that cord and miss nothing - except the pain and suffering of being bled dry by pay TV costs. Some people enjoy not paying to watch advertising so much they’ll take extraordinary measures to bypass Pay TV costs:

A thing of beauty… eh?
(Trees? What Trees?)

:smiley:

11

I realized I also like Gotham, so maybe my tastes aren’t as elite as I thought.

12

How 'bout:
NCIS (Regular Unleaded, High Test, Diesel, Kero… ect), Grey’s Anatomy, Criminal Minds, Elementary, Blue Bloods, The Blacklist, Bull (2016), Lethal Weapon, Family Guy, The Big Bang Theory… and those are just the ones I like enough to know about… and can remember right now. Some of those shows are going well past 10 years and that’s not because somebody has an Uncle at the Network.

… and let’s not forget all those Sunday Marathons watching one Football Game after another as if in some sports induced trance… then Thursdays too.

Many folks have been stuck on Cable for so long they’ve forgotten that there is a LOT of quality, sought-after programming that is being thrust into the atmosphere for the taking, absolutely free and without restrictions.