A3SA maintenance notice - May 29

[nickk]

Notice from A3SA:

We [A3SA] have scheduled system maintenance for Wednesday, May 29th from 4:30am to 5:30am EST. The maintenance activity involves updates to the A3SA content protection system.

While we do not expect any technical issues to arise during this system maintenance window, during maintenance window, some devices (i.e., STBs) may experience a temporary disruption to their reception of A3SA-encrypted television signals if those devices are tuning in at that time.

After the maintenance is complete, there is always a small possibility that a limited number of A3SA-enabled receiver devices may experience a disruption of their ability to decrypt A3SA-encrypted television signals.

[Cabal]

This will be the update that enables support for network gateways, right?

[markvidonic]

I don’t even get why they’re telling us this.
I’ve gotten to the point my Homerun is now sitting in my rack at home unplugged because at this point, it’s a brick and a waste of electricity.

[nickk]

I don’t even get why they’re telling us this.
I’ve gotten to the point my Homerun is now sitting in my rack at home unplugged because at this point, it’s a brick and a waste of electricity.

Even if some of your ATSC 3.0 channels are DRM encrypted your HDHomeRun 4K has all the features of the HDHomeRun 4US and can receive all the same ATSC 1.0 channels.

[stephenju]

I don’t even get why they’re telling us this.
I’ve gotten to the point my Homerun is now sitting in my rack at home unplugged because at this point, it’s a brick and a waste of electricity.

Wow. You live in a ATSC3 only area?

[howardc1243]

I don’t even get why they’re telling us this.
I’ve gotten to the point my Homerun is now sitting in my rack at home unplugged because at this point, it’s a brick and a waste of electricity.

Wow. You live in a ATSC3 only area?

my HDhomerun is plugged-in and i am running 1 soft and 1 app, the soft is for accessing the config GUI that is where i can get the signal strength meters and the app for the dvr.

without the soft you may not be able to use vlc as a workaround tuner.

[hancox]

Notice from A3SA:

We [A3SA] have scheduled system maintenance for Wednesday, May 29th from 4:30am to 5:30am EST. The maintenance activity involves updates to the A3SA content protection system.

While we do not expect any technical issues to arise during this system maintenance window, during maintenance window, some devices (i.e., STBs) may experience a temporary disruption to their reception of A3SA-encrypted television signals if those devices are tuning in at that time.

After the maintenance is complete, there is always a small possibility that a limited number of A3SA-enabled receiver devices may experience a disruption of their ability to decrypt A3SA-encrypted television signals.

I Get you guys are bitter, but why post this, as it's clearly not applicable for anyone using SiliconDust device?

[LarrySB]

Well, I appreciate the bigger picture information. It tells me that even those devices that can decode "may" be in jeopardy. It sure looks like anyone trying to use OTA is at the pointy end of the spear.
Larry

[joblo]

Notice from A3SA:

We [A3SA] have scheduled system maintenance for Wednesday, May 29th from 4:30am to 5:30am EST. The maintenance activity involves updates to the A3SA content protection system.

While we do not expect any technical issues to arise during this system maintenance window, during maintenance window, some devices (i.e., STBs) may experience a temporary disruption to their reception of A3SA-encrypted television signals if those devices are tuning in at that time.

After the maintenance is complete, there is always a small possibility that a limited number of A3SA-enabled receiver devices may experience a disruption of their ability to decrypt A3SA-encrypted television signals.

I Get you guys are bitter, but why post this, as it's clearly not applicable for anyone using SiliconDust device?

Because nobody else is. This DRM nonsense is the least transparent aspect of U.S. OTA TV that ever was, and that alone could be enough to kill the whole "transition".

What the A, three S's, and another A that control all this -- and I'm still waiting to hear who those voting broadcasters are, but I guess that's another thing viewers aren't allowed to know -- don't seem to understand is that there is no such thing as "free" TV. There is only pay-as-you-go TV, i.e. subscription, and pay-everything-up-front TV, incorrectly dubbed "free". With the latter, transparency, whether by industry policy or government regulation, is essential for consumer confidence. Without that, 3.0 is not worth consumers gambling their money and time on.

Which is why I never watch 3.0 stations, and no longer care whether the HDHR-4K can ever decrypt DRM signals or not. Even if/when it can, I'll never be sure that it still will decrypt stations the next day, or the next week, or the next month. (Same with every other tuner on the market, btw, which is why I'm not buying any of them.) I'll never be sure whether programs set to record will actually record or not, how long they'll be around if they do, or under what conditions/restrictions I'll be able to watch them.

And DRM is not even the only or worst uncertainty. As things stand, I'll never be sure that a broadcaster won't trade robustness/coverage for datacasting bandwidth, without any advance notice whatsoever, and if/when they do, DRM keys won't help. The only option will be, maybe, to spend money upgrading my antenna system. (Sinclair, the only major broadcaster still not on the DRM train, is already doing this in many markets, apparently.)

3.0, as currently controlled by A3SA and largely unregulated by the FCC, is an absolute disaster for U.S. OTA TV, and the more "successful" it is, the shorter will be the lifespan of U.S. OTA TV in general.


====


Otoh:

I don’t even get why they’re telling us this.
I’ve gotten to the point my Homerun is now sitting in my rack at home unplugged because at this point, it’s a brick and a waste of electricity.

HDHR-4Ks are not bricks. If you think that, please PM me and I'll be happy to take that brick off your hands, free of charge.

I use my HDHR-4Ks for signal monitoring, with the help of the RabbitEars band scan. They do this very well for 1.0, a little less well for 3.0, which will be something worth improving if 3.0 TV ever seems to have a viable future.

These are mine:
https://m.rabbitears.info/index.php?req ... h&tzone=ET
https://m.rabbitears.info/index.php?req ... h&tzone=ET

The first gets far fewer channels than the second, apparently because it has a failed internal LNA, but I am currently finding it useful for tracking signal variations on channels that would normally register 100, as they do on the second device.

I have found, however, that the first unit can still be made to receive all the channels that the second unit normally does by putting a Televes SmartKom in front of it. I ran it that way for about six months before recently bringing the second unit online. (SmartKoms are generally useful for supplying a single HDHR from up to three antennas, but I used it with a single antenna for channel balancing and amplification to overcome the bad LNA in the first HDHR.) This will be very good news if the A, three S's and another A ever get their act together and allow HDHR-4Ks to decrypt DRM signals, because it will mean that any such failed unit can either be refurbished or otherwise restored to full function, so any recordings "married" to these units will not have to be lost in the process of replacing them.

In any case, I do not consider HDHR-4Ks "bricks", so again, if you have such a "brick" of which you would like me to relieve you, please do PM.

[LarrySB]

No, no, no....I just want to watch and record TV with information about the shows now and in the future, also with channel signal strength available realtime with the push of a button. And, I want to be able to do that now and in the future with ATSC 3.0 because it has already happened where I live, providing the only method to watch all 4 broadcast networks with a window antenna. Too much to ask? I don't think so but have only found 1 device so far that meets my requirements.
Larry

[joblo]

I want to be able to do that now and in the future with ATSC 3.0 because it has already happened where I live, providing the only method to watch all 4 broadcast networks with a window antenna.

Where do you live, in which market?

[LarrySB]

Greenville, SC. All 4 networks, 3.0, are on one tower close, to the South. Otherwise no one around here gets ABC 1.0 as it is too far away for a window antenna. All four of them, 1.0 are on different bearings but generally NW to NE, up in the mountains. I am not sure anyone can live in an optimal location, especially as an apartment dweller.
Larry

[joblo]

Greenville, SC. All 4 networks, 3.0, are on one tower close, to the South. Otherwise no one around here gets ABC 1.0 as it is too far away for a window antenna. All four of them, 1.0 are on different bearings but generally NW to NE, up in the mountains. I am not sure anyone can live in an optimal location, especially as an apartment dweller.

Yes, but that's because of the lighthouse process, not 3.0.

If the transition "succeeds" and the 1.0 stations are shut down, the 3.0 signals will go back to their current locations and channels. ABC will go back to its distant mountaintop on channel 13, and you won't get it any better with a window antenna than you get ABC 1.0 now.

3.0 is not a magic bullet for all reception problems. Some people will benefit from better multipath rejection, but people with other reception issues may see no benefit at all, and some people's reception may actually get worse.

[Cabal]

3.0 is not a magic bullet for all reception problems. Some people will benefit from better multipath rejection, but people with other reception issues may see no benefit at all, and some people's reception may actually get worse.

Especially if 3.0 allows stations to lower their power for comparable coverage.

[LarrySB]

I believe in always having a backup, a difficult proposition given the uncertainty of when, if, and how for 3.0. Today I have an antenna pointed at the 3.0 tower with a device that decodes the DRM feeding one HDMI input on the TV. It also picks up many of the 1.0 stations 90 degrees away. I have another antenna pointed 90 degrees away(different window obviously) connected to my HDHR Flex 4 which does a good job of picking up all of the 1.0 stations within range, some fringe and not always there, some strong. If the industry group and SD get their act together this device would be my primary viewing device. I can take an aggressive wait-and-see attitude for now.
Larry