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Comment by sv123 | Hacker News Reader

Is there some Aereo equivalent that I can have at home? Would love a simple solution to DVR stuff by way of antenna.

It depends on your location, but many places in the US have the big 4 + PBS available over the air. You just need an antenna capable of picking up the signal, a tuner capable of decoding it, and some device to record the decoded signal.

Go here to see what kind of antenna you'd need: http://www.antennaweb.org.

For the tuner and recording device, there are several options. I think most people use a PC + a tuner card + scheduling/recording software like Windows Media Center or MythTV. I'm using MythTV w/ XBMC as the frontend.

The value to Aereo is in markets where local geography and budget constraints don't allow everyone to get every channel over the air. For example, we can get NBC, Fox, and PBS reliably, but CBS is spotty and ABC is out of the question (no digital transmitters in our area). The only way for us to get all 5 networks is a service of some kind.

If you want a device that "just works", Series 2 TiVo devices support connecting a digital converter box, and Series 3 TiVos support OTA digital broadcasts out of the box.

Apparently there are a few options for doing this: http://bitwhich.com/2013/12/12/best-dvr-without-cable/

I do use an antenna at home but have not tried any of these DVR options. As an aside, it's funny to me that many people (not you) have seemingly forgotten that broadcast TV exists, or are surprised that it's an HD digital signal.

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