Setting up HDHomeRun for QAM in Vista Media
The HDHomeRun is a network-based dual-ATSC tuner device. While the fact that you can keep the tuners outside the PC box is intriguing, the real power of the HDHR is that it was the first ATSC tuner to create a BDA-wrapper to allow you to record unencrypted-QAM in Vista Media Center (it also works with Windows Media Center 2005).
The instructions are a bit lacking, so I’ve done a detailed step-by-step. Part one is setting up the tuners with the HDHR Setup application. Part two is setting up Vista Media Center. Check out part one after the break.
1. Run the HDHomeRun Setup program:
2. Select the source as Digital Cable, and the Application as Vista MCE or Windows MCE (yes, it makes a difference):
3. Switch to the Lineup tab, and click the Edit button next to Digital Cable Channels:
4. Click the Scan button. After awhile (maybe 5-10 minutes), all of the digital channels will show up. In my screenshot, I had already selected the channels I wanted to keep.
5. Click the Advanced button to show the Guide Number column. The columns displayed are:
- Tune: The actual Cable channel (as if you were tuning via a QAM-ready TV)
- View: Launch the channel in VLC
- Guide Name: The call sign of the station
- Guide Number: The equivalent broadcast channel of the station
- Remap: HDHR’s mapping to be used by Vista Media Center
- Enabled: Whether to have the channel available to Vista Media Center
6. Click the Zap2It Website button to open a channel guide.
7. HERE IS WHERE YOU DO SOMETHING: Go through each “Guide Name” and determine if it represents a channel you want to keep by looking up the call sign in the Zap2It website (literally, Ctrl-F the webpage). If you do find a channel you want to keep, manually enter the Guide Number from the Zap2It website and check the Enabled button. If you don’t want the channel, uncheck the Enabled button.
That’s it for the HDHR setup. Now you need to do the guided setup in Vista Media Center, which I’ve detailed here. If you want to know what all of this fiddling actually did, check it out here.