Shipping Progress

[dgdimick]

I am a total noob, yes. But I have maybe 4 sbc or home theater boards that run linux/LibreElec and all of them support Hauppauge. So the chipset is supported somewhere in the linux universe. I'm pretty sure I read it can run on the RP64. My simple question was can that current software also be used on pinephone? No one has tried? That answers the question.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/RTL2832U-R828D-...Sw2NxfhV6s

I played with SDR on a PC a few years ago. I am not enough of a radio geek to handle it. I find it cool to download satellite images and listen to police bands, but the software is not for an everyday person IMHO. Hauppauge software is easily manageable.

Well supported Kodi versions (settop boxes/HT boxes) always offer Hauppauge as an addon and have for a lot of years. They all run linux. I do not know if it is rewritten or if they use proprietary blobs.

kodi-pvr-tvheadend-hts

I felt the same way for a while, however, the newest version of AirSpy is REALLY easy to use, as well as it has very good documentation for getting started.
Take a look at it, you may find it's a bit more enjoyable for you this time around.

I probably will. I am retired now and have more time. However, I only want to see local news, and very infrequently. 
https://ustv247.tv/ will give any browser "basic cable", but I need local.
I'm not going to use the full blown abilities of the TV stick, or an SDR. Occasional FM use might be the best selling point for SDR, for me. Give me a front end that looks like a tuner and I will play. Having to do it the old SDR way, not for me.

I detest AM. It's visceral. Now there's a project that could catch fire! A PVR type system for all car radios that remove the incessant commercials. Time shift a show by 30 minutes while removing all the commercials, and you hear it uninterrupted a bit later. Or maybe just a simple detect-a-commercial, mute for a set period, and then unmute scheme. (I'm just rambling now)

(we are way off the original subject)

Thanks for the URL for free cable, didn't know about it. After spending a few hours on it, I remember why I don't normally watch TV.
Going back to your need for local TV, you could spend the $25ish and get a RTL-SDR, however, while it will work on the PinePhone, you're still going to suffer from a lack of software to use it for watching TV.
Is there even software to allow you to watch TV under a desktop version of Linux?