I was inspired by Blog Oklahoma to take part in the #blogmonth challenge this month and post here daily. I know I’ll fail because October has 31 days and I’m completely unable to tend to my devices that much. But I’ll do the best I can.
To begin this journey, I wanted to start elsewhere on the Blog Oklahoma website considering they’re who got me into this whole mess. Their post on cord-cutting hit all the good points on streaming services but left out anything on local TV options.
And we’re in Oklahoma, where weather reigns. Local weather updates are pretty important.
Whether it’s the local news and sports, national broadcasts, syndicated TV shows, or the other channels available over-the-air (OTA), even the great expanses of rural Oklahoma offer some semblance of television options…
…if only it could be streamed.
That’s where my inner dork has managed to save the day, and actually offer a better and more affordable product than the local cable company can provide. Because not only do I legally have access to a dozen channels for free that I actually use throughout the year (and a few more I don’t use), I can also set guide-based recordings and pause live TV.
From there, a few pieces of software allow for those streams to be easily watched from any smart TV, phone or computer on my home network. With some more complex configurations, the stream can be watched from a web browser nearly anywhere with internet access.
At the heart of my current setup is a roughly 12-year-old laptop that belonged to my late step-grandfather. It’s been running nearly nonstop for about two years, save for twice when I had to replace fans. Adding a laptop cooling tray has helped the situation tremendously considering laptops aren’t designed for 24/7 use like this.
In the past I’ve used a Raspberry Pi 3B+ to serve as my TV server, but the low-powered lightweight computer soon became too limited for some more advanced features I wanted to use. Even then, the tiny computer served my family’s needs for over three years.
The laptop currently runs a stripped-down version of Linux along with tvheadend, open-source software that can tune and broadcast OTA signals over my local network using regular internet streaming standards. With an upgraded 500GB SSD for storage, I can record hundreds of hours of high- and standard-definition video from 12 free OTA channels I regularly watch in Ardmore, Oklahoma.
- Major broadcasters: NBC, ABC, CBS, Fox and PBS;
- Other channels include The CW, Ion, Grit and Telemundo;
- Public broadcasting includes World Channel, Create, and PBS Kids.
Thanks to digital broadcasting standards, only three broadcasters provide these 12 channels: KXII provides five channels; OETA public broadcasting provides four channels; KTEN provides three channels. As a result, I can use a single TV tuner card and a fixed antenna in my attic to receive broadcasts from three transmitters. We also have access to an electronic program guide to see what’s on, what’s coming on, and what to record.
Since most of this household’s TVs use Amazon Fire TV Sticks, we used Kodi for years alongside our streaming services. I’ve since started using the paid Dream Tuner app that provides a much more lightweight option for watching live broadcasts, but pausing live TV and watching recorded TV remains glitchy with it whereas Kodi can pause and rewind live and recorded TV smoothly.
Other TVs in the house use Raspberry Pis as a media player, and Kodi offers superb playback on these devices. Playback on our mobile devices and computers is also flawless. This current setup limits how many separate channels can be watched at the same time, but the addition of TV tuner cards can easily fix that if and when it becomes a problem.
Perhaps in a future post I can go a bit more in-depth on the tvheadend server’s configuration. There are also more advanced capabilities I’ve recently started using that have incorporated streams into my larger homelab, allowing me to watch TV on my phone while away from the house.
Until then, I should pace myself. It’s only October 1.