How I cut the cord

Yes, I have done it.  I have cut the cord.  I have cancelled my subscription to Bell TV (Satellite) and don’t regret it.

I still have a PVR, still have a live HD signal, Here’s my story.

Background

Originally I had a BellTV tuner/PVR.  Device worked fantastic, no problems at all.  

A few of my devices (Blu Ray Player, etc) were also DLNA compliant so I was used to storing media on a server for various clients to access.

When Netflix came to Canada I wanted to give it a try.  None of my devices were Netflix ready so I bought a Roku for sole purpose of streaming Netflix.  Turns out the little box does a whole lot more.  One of the  “channels” it offers is Plex.  (https://plex.tv/)   With Plex I was exposed to addtional channels that I could watch on my TV.  

With all these new streaming services I found that I was watching less and less off the traditional satellite feed and those shows that I did watch were typically available over the air in my location. Since my ISP package had a large cap, I was not getting hit on my internet bill.

I had previous used some YouTube instructions and home built a HD antenna for about $10 and was quite impressed with number and quality of the local channels.  So I knew I could watch live tv but would miss the PVR.  I look at the PVR like electric garage door openers and heated car seats; there is no going back.

Later I was talking about the Roku and Plex to friends at work.  The responded by telling me about XBMC as a media player.  Played with it for a while on my PC desktop and it seemed pretty powerful with access to a lot of content.

Many internet reviewers were  suggesting the Raspberry Pi as a host for XBMC, saying it worked really well.  Eventually I read about the HD Homerun Tuner and how the HomeRun could feed live TV to the Pi.  This seemed really encouraging.  Finally I read about how XBMC now has PVR plugins including mythtv.  This set the ball rolling.

It looked like I could buy / build the parts I needed.  I figure the break even was a few months if I cancelled my BellTV.  After that I could go back to Satellite / Cable if I wanted.  I was really interested if I could put together a system that would work.

My current system  

So here are the pieces of my system ( amazon links at bottom )

HD TV Tuner   :  HDHomeRun

PVR Backend:  MythBuntu running on old dell PC

PVR Frontend / XMBC Host :  Raspery Pi running OpenElec

Roku for Netflix / Plex etc

Plex Backend:  also running on the same old dell PC as PVR

TV Listings Software:  Schedules Direct

TV Antenna : Homebuilt

The antenna is now in my attic and I ran the cable to the HDHomerun which is in my basement next to my modem, routers, NAS, etc. The HDHomeRun just plugs into the router.

This feeds HD OTA channels to my network including my MythTV box and PI directly.

Then I also built a MythTV box.  And by built I mean I took an old PC and put mythbuntu on it.  This now sits in my server room (furnace room) and is the backend of the PVR. It receives streaming TV channels from the HD Homerun.

I bought the Raspberry PI which came with a bunch of different OS.  One was OpenElec which runs on the pi and only app is XBMC.  It comes with the mythtv pvr frontend client which I configured to talk to the backend in the basement.

The last piece was the TV listings. I recently purchased a years subscription to SchedulesDirect ($25 / year) for full TV listings that gives the system a very accurate on screen programming guide.

Oh yeah, I also had an old Windows Media Centre remote around the house which I used to control XBMC.  I have also ordered a new remote.

So here are all the pieces, purchased off Amazon

HD Homerun Tuner: http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B00D3E7Q9S/ref=oh_details_o05_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

RaspberryPi : http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B0096M7IJY/ref=oh_details_o03_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Mythbuntu:  http://www.mythbuntu.org/

New Remote: http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B00CKSWBB6/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The MythTV hardware was free as it was just an old PC I had lying around the house.

Getting the Homerun setup was very easy as was installing OpenElec on the PI.

The MythTV setup was not obvious but after watching some youtube videos I got it going.  The trickiest part was setting up the Pi Frontend to talk to the MythTV.

Now it all just works.  I would still call it a "hobbiest" system as it does need to be rebooted once in a while (the pi).  But it really does work quite well and picture and sound are top notch.

Conclusion

I’m still watching TV the way I used to.  Go to the PVR and see what was recorded.  Setting up new recordings right from the on screen program guide.  Watching live HD OTA TV.

Most of the U.S. networks shows that I watch are also broadcast by Global, CTV, City, etc which I get just fine.  The content in Neflix gets better all the time as well.

Now the big unknown in all of this is live sports.  More and more sports content is moving to specialty channels.  There is no Sportsnet or TSN with my setup.   But more major league sports are starting to offer streaming services so I may look into those in the future.