Mediasonic ATSC Digital Converter Box with Recording / Media Player / TV Tuner Function (HW130STB)

My new Mediasonic Homeworx replaced an older version of ATSC box that I bought directly from Shenzen on eBay several years ago. I really liked the old box until the flash memory stopped working. When new, the old box would let me create up to about nine DVR schedules. Then after about three years it went to zero. All the functions of the old box are still good, except for the DVR schedule. I am still using a second old version ATSC box where the DVR schedule capacity has gone from about 14 entries to four. I replaced the ATSC box with zero DVR schedule with a new Shenzen model. I expected it to be like the one it replaced. Instead the DVR schedule has an eleven day week and zero working flash memory to hold schedules. I am really hoping that the new Mediasonic will have better quality flash memory. Ask me in three years how the flash memory is holding up. Right now it looks very good.I have been using old model USB 1 Western Digital disk drives for DVR storage. They worked great on the old model ATSC box and work just as well on the new Mediasonic box. I assume that the new box will support USB 2, but have not tried it. The old boxes do not support USB 2. The old model Western Digital units arrived formatted as fat32. To use them for DVR storage I had to reformat them to NTFS. I suspect the reason thumb drives do not work is that they are formatted as fat32. I bet that after reformatting to NTFS, they would work. I noticed that the Mediasonic has a disk format feature in the menu. I did not need to use this, the USB 1 Western Digital drives transferred to the new box without a hitch.I had two boxes because I had two outdoor antenna. I’ve been experimenting. The first antenna has stopped working. I suspect it is because it is now pointing to the sky rather toward the horizon. I have it clamped to a plumbing vent that is now bent over after the last wind storm. I wanted two working ATSC boxes, one to watch while the other records or record different channels at the same time. I tried using the RF output on one box to the second box. That works, but there is significant signal attenuation especially when the first box in the series is working. I installed a Channel Master signal-splitter amplifier. Now both boxes get the same signal strength. I have two antenna on the roof on the same mount with a Wineguard signal combiner feeding a Channel Master antenna preamp. That feeds into the signal-splitter amplifier inside the house. All this gets me about 40-60 over the air channels depending on atmospheric conditions. The antenna mount once held a Direct TV satellite antenna.I’m thinking of another type of antenna to try. I might replace the antenna on the bent plumbing vent with something on a tower next to the house. We will see how much ambition I have.Some things to note. The Mediasonic menus are identical to the old ATSC box. The remote controllers have the same functions, but they are arranged very differently. With the two old model ATSC boxes, when I clicked the controller on/off button, one box would turn on and the other would turn off. That, I found, was a useful feature. I now have two separate controllers. I suspect, if I get another Mediasonic that this feature would return. I set my Mediasonic to the 24 hour clock. Please remember that it does not automatically switch between standard and day light time. I seem to get caught twice each year. The DVR scheduler assumes that a digit placed in one of the two hour slots means that a zero should be in the other. Why? The old model didn’t do this. I like that the Mediasonic DVR scheduler starts with the working channel. The old model did not do this.The old ATSC box DVR scheduler has an annoying bug. When more than two shows are scheduled to record where each starts on the same hour that the previous show ended, there is about a 20-30 second additional delay that adds up. This delay pushes the start time and end time forward by that amount. This means that after several iterations the start and stop times are out of sync with the shows being recorded. This is a real issue when recording one of those marathons where 10+ episodes are broadcast back to back. Making the stop time a minute earlier than the next start time seems to help. Except when the scheduler is turning on the unit before starting to record, then it turns off on the ending minute and back on at the starting minute. Fortunately there tends to be a lot of advertising between each iteration to absorb the slop in the time. I haven’t used the Mediasonic enough yet to check this on the new model. I noticed that the Mediasonic initial boot goes a lot faster than the old ATSC boxes. Otherwise there is no difference. -- It is now official: The bug described above is present in the Mediasonic.Here is instructions to reformat a thumb or disk drive to NTFS:Put the following in a Windows Shortcut Target: %windir%\system32\cmd.exeStart in: %HOMEDRIVE%%HOMEPATH%Use the following commands in the Microsoft Command PromptType "DiskPart" in the command prompt.Type "List Disk” (make note of the disk number of the target USB drive).Type "Select Disk X”, where X is the target USB drive noted above.Type "Clean”.Type "Create Partition Primary”.Type "format FS=NTFS”.Type "Active”.Type "Assign".Type "list volume".Type "Exit"Be real careful with this. As soon as you type “clean” the target disk is wiped clean. If you want to get rid of a disk drive and hide your data, use the above procedure. I suspect a well-equipped forensic lab can still get at your data, but not easily.The format can take a long time. A 1TB disk drive can take 8+ hours to format. Like those Western Digital disks noted above.

First off, this thing is for geeks only. Keep in mind that this small box only costs $30.00. Having said that, if you remember what VCRs were 40 years ago, you will have an idea of this device’s capabilities. You will also have a good idea about the bronze age graphics package. This is a stand alone OTA single tuner video decoder that can be set up as a DVR. It doesn’t need a computer, the internet or a cell phone network. But it will interface with that 25 inch color console TV that grandma still has in the basement. For those of you who just want the executive summary, skip to the last paragraph, for everybody else….Lets start with the user’s manual. They really did print a comprehensive one, but the typeface is microscopic. On to the remote, there are plenty of tiny buttons, with even tinier lettering that may or may not let you know what the buttons actually do. Also, the placement of the buttons is strange. Additionally the remote must be pointed directly at the box to function. The software is also easily confused, making you wonder if the remote is working. By the way, the red standby LED is bright enough to light up the entire room.To scan the channels go to MENU/CHANNEL SEARCH/AUTO SEARCH. In less than 2 minutes it will be done. There is also a manual search function. I used it because one of the stations in my market (WTAE 4) transmits on 2 frequencies from 2 different antennas and the auto search only picked out the lower of the 2 channels. I wanted to compare the two to see which had the stronger signal. By the way, while the software allowed me to add a channel, there are no provisions to delete a channel.The tuner sensitivity is very good and the picture quality is surprisingly good using the HDMI output. It even upscales those 480 subchannels to 1080 with better picture quality than my 5 year old 4K Sony produces. You can adjust the audio output volume with the left and right arrow keys. It also decodes the EPG signal that the stations embed into their signal, letting you see what is on. Also, there is a signal strength meter built into hardware. A stand alone signal strength meter will set you back by more than this device costs. To access it, just press the INFO button twice, the meter stays on until you hit the INFO button again, making it easy to adjust your antenna for the best signal on each channel.But, I have noticed that when the video pixelates, it throws the audio out of sync. The more the video pixelates, the larger the delay. It also seems that this device is slightly more susceptible to pixelation than my TV is. The only way to correct that is to reboot the machine. Also, the tuner is affected by windy conditions, you will get periodic blank screens during storms.The time setting is easy enough MENU/TIME, the box picks up it’s base time from the broadcast channels. You pick your time zone and standard or daylight savings time. But the software is too dumb to change the clock when daylight savings time happens.To set this up as a DVR you will need to acquire an external 2.5 SSD or a self powered external 2.5 or 3.5 mechanical drive, apparently the power supply for this box isn’t strong enough to power a mechanical drive. Or you can buy an internal 2.5 SSD and a case for it (which is what I did for less than $30.00 total). The case must have a USB 2.0 or 3.0 interface. Then go to MENU/USB/FORMAT, the only option is FAT32 which limits the file sizes to 4 GB. After that you are ready to go, you do not need a computer or a smart phone to get this running. In fact, there is no way to connect this to either of them anyway. You could also purchase a USB A flash drive. You will have to format the flash driver as NTFS format on a computer for it to work properly. Most flash drives come formatted in exFAT, which this unit will not recognize. Either way, the recorded files are stored as unencrypted MPEG2.ts files, which will play on any computer. The fact that the USB port is on the front of this device, instead of the rear, means that you will have the flash drive or a cable sticking out of the front of the box. Note to product planners, a more elegant solution would be to use a class 10 Micro SD card instead. Personally, I formatted my 120GB SSD in NTFS format on my computer. Either way will work, but the FAT32 format is a dinosaur.When you want to record something that you are currently watching, hit the REC button. To stop recording, find the stop button below. You can also hit the EPG button and get list of programs on the channel that you are watching. There are no fancy thumbnail clips, just a list. Scroll down to the show you want and enter it. This will pre populate the fields in the timer function. If you want to record that channel weekly or daily, scroll down to that line, there is no M-F option. Press OK and you are set. Remember the EPG information is from the stations and only goes for 24 hours, at best. The third way to program a recording is to hit the TIMER button at the top of the remote. Hit it and then hit 1 to enter the record settings screen. You can then change the current info that self populates into the record fields. I noticed that it would not let me scroll upward past channel 4 (the duplicate station WTAE), I had to scroll the other way. It also will not record on the higher WTAE channel, instead it defaults to the lower one.To find and play your recordings hit the USB key and scroll over to PVR, then down to the HBPVR folder. The unencrypted recordings are listed by station call letters, date, and time. The fact that the software can read the EPG information, but won’t use that to name the file is another one of those quirks. You can rename them, but that process is cumbersome. When you open the video it will play in the small window. To get to full screen mode press the HOLD key twice.Keep in mind that this is a cheap device, in every sense of the word, good and bad, from the flimsy plastic case and the half baked software. However, for a list price of $30.00 the picture quality is very good and it does some really neat things, just don’t expect your spouse to ever figure out how to use it. You will also need to keep the user’s manual handy. This product is nowhere near ready for prime time, but it does work. Personally I like the little gizmo, despite it’s flaws.

1- Over the year I've had a few of these, seems tobe a capacitor issue which is due to over voltage, and it usually happens after an electrical storm. But for the price it's still a great buy😉, just wish they provided a larger manual like they did with the older units. Getting use to the different moods of operation can be a little difficult. As far as performance picture quality and sound are good, recording is also good, storage is unlimited, just over 4 tb you have to format on pc., mine are connected with HDMI cable, probably best connection, you do not get HDMI cable or batteries for remote. For the price you get a very functional video player recorder with probably more functions than you'll use, when and if this one dies I'll buy another! As far as channels it depends on your antenna, I'm a cord cutter. Usb works well. According to AI It doesn't work with Cable!