Re: [PLUG] [o/t] Pi-hole

[InterLinked via plug <plug@lists.phillylinux.org>]

On 10/21/2026 8:46 PM, JP Vossen via plug wrote:
> On 10/21/26 07:58 PM, InterLinked wrote:
> > On 10/21/2026 7:41 PM, JP Vossen via plug wrote:
> > > On 10/21/26 12:44 PM, jeffv via plug wrote:
> > > > The cable box that feeds my dumb tv failed and they gave me a 
> > > > streaming box. Is it true they (Xfinity) are no longer using direct 
> > > > wire connections for cable box input?
> > >
> > > We dropped Comcrap a long time ago when the started illegally 
> > > encrypting PBS (~2013, I think).  We switched to:
> > > 1. A LEAF Antenna.
> > > 2. Connected to a 2 channel Ethernet tuner.
> > > 3. Talking to MythTV (set up in 2008 with much help from PLUG folks).
> > > 4. Using SchedulesDirect.org (now $35 per YEAR) for the program guide. 
> >
> > EPG (guide data) is also freely available over the air, I'm not sure 
> > why so many people seem to pay for that.
> > I hear that SchedulesDirect.org may have a bit more detail, but I 
> > haven't had an issue with the level of detail in the OTA EPG 
> > descriptions.
>
> I don't recall, but possibly EPG wasn't there when I started, but also 
> I'm not sure MythTV can use the OTA EPG?  It's been years since I 
> played with that, I have it to the point that it pretty much Just 
> Works.  MythTV is also vastly de-emphasized now, since the kids are 
> grown, and with all the streaming.  It used to be absolutely critical 
> infrastructure...now it's a nice-to-have. 

I don't use MythTV, but a cursory search suggests MythTV supports either 
OTA EPG or SchedulesDirect for guide data. If you wanted to, you could 
probably point it to that and cancel your SchedulesDirect subscription.

My TV pulls the guide data out from the OTA signal just fine, and I also 
have a TV tuner in my PC, with a batch job running epg123 to pull the 
guide data from over the air and marshal them into the format that 
Windows Media Center understands, so I can see what's on TV without 
turning the TV on. Later, I added a job to copy the file from Windows to 
a Linux server where a webpage can display the EPG listings in a format 
that looks like it does in the newspaper.

Separately, I have another page that scrapes TVGuide.com which does have 
slightly richer info like season/episode #s and release years, and has 
closer to 2 weeks of data in the future rather than just a couple days. 
I keep the other method as I like having it not Internet-dependent, but 
either way, I haven't understood why people pay for SchedulesDirect when 
that is available for free.


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