Channels and the guide

The guide is the list of what is on. Home opens on what is playing now. Search covers the guide and your recordings.

Where listings come from

Broadwave tries listings in this order:

• The tuner's own guide. For an HDHomeRun that is SiliconDust's feed: about two days for everyone, and about fourteen days with an HDHomeRun DVR subscription. The server refreshes it on its own, somewhere between 20 and 28 hours after the last pull.
• Schedules Direct, if you add an account under Settings. The hint there is "Fills channels the tuner guide skips. Fourteen days when the account allows it."
• An XMLTV address you paste under Guide address. The hint is "An XMLTV link for channels the tuner guide skips."

While a channel is tuned, the broadcast's own listings fill times none of those already list. That is not another download. A later guide pull replaces the broadcast rows that sit inside what it brought.

With no guide key, a channel matches on its number, then its name, then its call sign. A trailing DT, DT1, HD, TV, or LD still counts. Guide match, on the channel in Settings, pins a listing when the names differ. Leave it blank to use the number, the name, and the call sign.

Logos and episode art are kept on the server. Movie artwork, in Settings, has the hint "Fills posters the guide does not include." A refresh fills blank posters on the tuner guide and on a pasted XMLTV file, up to 20 titles from each. Schedules Direct rows stay as that service sent them.

On the guide, or hidden

Settings, Tuners and channels, lists every channel the tuner reported. On guide and Hidden are two controls. The channel is listed when On guide is on and Hidden is off. On iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV the labels are "On the guide" and "Hide." A custom name and a custom number are per channel. Two rows for the same station, one on each tuner, share the favorite, the hide, and a custom name.

A clear 3.0 station can be shown as the 3.0 channel, the regular channel, or both. The usual choice is 3.0 only. When a station first appears and both pictures were already measured with the regular one taller, the regular channel is chosen instead. Tuners and ATSC 3.0 cover that choice. An encrypted 3.0 station does not offer it. When that station also sends a regular broadcast, it plays as that broadcast, and search can still find its shows so you can record that broadcast. A station with no regular broadcast stays in Settings and does not play.

Channels found by a later scan take their place by number.

Signal

A signal check reports Great, OK, Weak, or Lost. While a tuner is busy, while something is recording, or while a recording starts within 30 minutes, it answers at once, in the same words as a busy tuner. It does not wait.

Favorites and Home

Star a channel to put it ahead of the others in On now. Home still lists the channels that are not starred. The favorite follows the channel that stays when you choose 3.0 or the regular broadcast for a station that has both.

Setup's Favorites step can star channels for you. You can change them later.