Fire TV and TVheadend

For many years, I used Kodi running on a Raspberry Pi 3B+ as a client for TVheadend. My setup was used for over-the-air TV in connection with a Roku for premium services.

My streaming service does not provide PBS, PBSkids or The CW. So in my area, an over-the-air service is required for these channels.

Roku, Kodi, Raspberry Pi and Universal Remote are great. But, I made a mistake by selecting Roku. Roku has no apps that suppor TVheadend. By using Dream Player, I can eliminate the Logitech Harmony Remote ($35), and the Raspberry Pi + Case + Fan + Power Supply, + Battery Backup + IR Receiver + Power On/Off and reboot button ($100). This saves $135 per room. I can reuse the Raspberry Pis for other projects.

I am going to replace all of my Rokus with Fire TV.

Parts:

    • Fire TV Cube, Amazon, $120

    • Dream Player for TVheadend, Amazon, Free

    • TVheadend server

Step 1. Set up Fire TV Cube

Step 2. Set up TVheadend

Step 3. Choose:

A. Add Dream Player

Open a browser go to Amazon.com

Download Dream Player and Deliver to your Fire TV

Turn on Fire TV Cube

Open Dream Player for TVheadend

Enter hostname, port = 9981, username and password

Use Channel tags only

You can always change the settings later

B. Add Kodi to Fire TV