humax recording from firestick input

johnbee

New Member
i have read that Humax recorders can’t accept a firestick signal because it can only accept analogue signals. My home tv set up includes a Triax HDMI modulator in order to watch firestick , freeview and Virgin digital signals on several tv’s via coax cabling.
If i introduced a Humax recorder to this arrangement would it record firestick programmes. i.e. firestick hdmi out to modulator hdmi in, modulator rf out to Humax in, Humax hdmi out to lounge tv, and recording any firestick programme.
Would this work or does the Humax only record programmes from its own EPG?
 
i have read that Humax recorders can’t accept a firestick signal because it can only accept analogue signals.
The Humax PVR (and all other PVRs) only receive/record the DVB-T/DVB-T2 datastreams received on the UHF aerial input. They cannot record any other video source, be that analogue or HDMI. The SCART/RCA/HDMI ports are strictly outputs only.

My home tv set up includes a Triax HDMI modulator in order to watch firestick , freeview and Virgin digital signals on several tv’s via coax cabling....
I believe what you propose will work, presuming the modulator produces a DVB rather than analogue TV signal, but I cannot confirm what you say about the EPG. The Humax HDR-FOX PVR will record whatever it is tuned to when you press "record", regardless of the EPG (I think). The EPG is only needed when setting future (rather than instant) recordings, and even then the HDR-FOX has a manual timer setting facility.
 
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i have read that Humax recorders can’t accept a firestick signal because it can only accept analogue signals. My home tv set up includes a Triax HDMI modulator in order to watch firestick , freeview and Virgin digital signals on several tv’s via coax cabling.
If i introduced a Humax recorder to this arrangement would it record firestick programmes. i.e. firestick hdmi out to modulator hdmi in, modulator rf out to Humax in, Humax hdmi out to lounge tv, and recording any firestick programme.
Would this work or does the Humax only record programmes from its own EPG?
I think it should work - because HDMI to DVB-T modulator will add output to the aerial signal that gets fed into the Humax. In theory you need to specify a (maybe unused LCN) channel that the Humax will pick up to record.
This thread may give you some additional info - https://hummy.tv/forum/threads/no-matching-key-for-decryption.10337/
(The OP of that post uses a similar arrangement to record SkyQ)
 
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i have read that Humax recorders can’t accept a firestick signal because it can only accept analogue signals.

I can't speak for fvp-4000t-5000t-freeview-play-hd-recorders but I can confirm that it does work with an HDR-FOX.
My modulator is a Technomate but I expect that the Triax will be similar.

There are some issues:

  • The video output from the modulator will be H264 but you may need to select a suitable audio codec (AAC).
  • My modulator defaults to a very high bitrate (18Mbps, I think). It is worth lowering that to reduce output file size - I find 8Mbps is plenty.
  • The HDR-FOX sees the recorded file as SD despite it being 1080p H264/AAC and will not decrypt it. Offline decryption works normally.
  • On the HDR-FOX normal scheduled Freeview recordings fail if they coincide with recording from the modulator.
  • Obviously there is no EPG for the modulated channel so any recordings have to be set by manual timings or being there to press 'record'
  • The Firestick expects to be connected to your TV and will go into stand-by after about 20 minutes.
    I believe there is a way to prevent this but it requires access to a setting that is inaccessible from the Firestick menus.
So overall it is possible but I don't think it will provide something that you will want to use regularly.
 
mightyoakbob, black hole suggested i ask your advice re my forum question...
Not me! I think you mean bottletop (from https://hummy.tv/forum/threads/humax-recording-from-firestick-input.10524):
I think it should work - because HDMI to DVB-T modulator will add output to the aerial signal that gets fed into the Humax. In theory you need to specify a (maybe unused LCN) channel that the Humax will pick up to record.
This thread may give you some additional info - https://hummy.tv/forum/threads/no-matching-key-for-decryption.10337/
(The OP of that post uses a similar arrangement to record SkyQ)

i’m really after a way to record the future firestick programme/s. is there a way?
Yes, so long as the PVR offers manual timer settings (eg "every Wednesday at 8pm for 80 minutes"). The HDR-FOX can; somebody who knows the Aura will have to answer for that (MartinLiddle says it does). What you will not have is an EPG for your Firestick "channel" from which to pick and choose, there is no technical means to create an EPG from an HDMI video source via a modulator.

alanofcleeves has provided a thorough round-up of what you can and can't expect, and it really doesn't matter which PVR you choose – they all work in a similar way (any expressed caution being simply that I don't have direct experience of other models than HDR-FOX).
 
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How does it know?
I've wondered that too but haven't done any research.

The Firestick would go into standby after 20mins every time when used as input to the modulator and never when just plugged into the TV.
Blundering about looking for a solution I came across a program called adbLink that allows the Firestick's standby delay time to be changed.
The change survives restarts so it seems to be a one-time fix.
 
I've wondered that too but haven't done any research.
It will be PnP. There's a data channel built into HDMI and the receive end sends an ID string to the transmit end. My Linux PC (for example) mis-identifies my monitor because the translation table doesn't have an entry for the manufacturer's ID code (I can reprogram the translation table, but it gets overwritten every time I update Linux).

So, inconveniently, I guess the modulator is saying "I'm not a TV", and adbLink then makes the Firestick not care. It strikes me as odd the Firestick isn't more locked down!
 
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On the HDR-FOX normal scheduled Freeview recordings fail if they coincide with recording from the modulator.
That's curious. The modulator ties up one tuner, but it is not obvious why the second tuner is out of commission. Is the modulator on all the time, ie is it obliterating the UHF?
 
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That's curious. The modulator ties up one tuner, but it is not obvious why the second tuner is out of commission. Is the modulator on all the time, ie is it obliterating the UHF?
Recordings attempting to use AR should fail but not necessarily padded or manual recordings.
 
Recordings attempting to use AR should fail but not necessarily padded or manual recordings.
That makes sense. After a couple of failures I always made sure there was nothing in the schedule to get in the way but I'm sure the failures would have been set for AR.

There is another quirk that threw me the first it happened: a restart from standby causes the HDR to forget the channel received from the modulator, even if the modulator has been powered up continuously.
I came to the conclusion that the lack of any EPG was involved in the cause.
 
So if the epg is missing while using the modulator added LCN, does that mean the unit's timekeeping may be affected if left on that channel (and also not using NTP via the internet)?
 
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