Is there a way to add 'TV' to the menu to view OTA channels?
#1
Does anyone know if there is a way to add a "TV" to the main menu in XBMC and it would show OTA channels, I'm thinking to buy a Happauge TV tuner card and connect an antenna to get local channels. Is this possible? Thank you.
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#2
You'll need a skin that supports PVR/DVR. Check out Comparison of skin features (wiki)
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#3
Thanks for the reply. So the skin will add that to the menu, I see.

As far as the tuner goes, any one will work with XBMC? Do I run the software that comes with the tuner card, or do I need this MythTV program I keep on reading about yet not comprehending what it is. Also just to note, I don't need any DVR/PVR features for TV, I'm just looking to integrate viewing live TV with XBMC.
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#4
Some of these pages are a little dated, but they should basically tell you what you can do for live TV with a normal (non-PVR) build of XBMC using one of the following as a backend:

MythTV (wiki)
HDHomeRun (wiki)
Slingbox (wiki)
HTS Tvheadend (wiki)
TuxBox (wiki)
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#5
Thanks for the links, but unless I misunderstood the info on the wiki, the ones other than MythTV require a specific device for the software to function. And MythTV seems to be for Linux only (I'm running Windows).

I've been browsing around forums and keep reading that there is TV or PVR functionality being developed on XBMC. Do you or anyone know whether this functionality is included in some Windows XBMC version available to the public, like a "beta" version? If not, is there at least info on what type of tuner card it will support or are virtually all tuners being sold today compatible?
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#6
Yeah, there are PVR-specific test builds floating around the forums, but the set up is the same, XBMC is a front end, and you then need a backend. I don't know too much about it for Windows (I've only played a little bit with it on Mac OS X and Linux), so maybe someone else can point us in the right direction for Windows (updated how-to or something?).
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#7
I'm not sure if my suggeistion helps you, but I have been watching live-tv with XBMC simply using UPnP server provided by DVBViewer Recording Service. I just added new UPnP source (DVBViewer) so there is no need for PVR builds for live tv only. Works like a charm. Of course there is no EPG or scheduling of recordings available without PVR builds but I don't need it. Big Grin

(DVBViewer also handles all my recordings too. Management (scheduling) is done via web browser over network as it comes with built in webserver - and EPG.)

http://www.dvbviewer.com/en/index.php - it supports most BDA compatible tuners and it is not expensive (15 euros). But you may first check if your tuners bundled software comes with UPnP server capability and try that first.
Kodi @ Windows Server 2012 R2 | Pulse-Eight USB-CEC Adapter
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Is there a way to add 'TV' to the menu to view OTA channels?0