SiliconDust, the Arizona-based maker of HDHomeRun network tuners and DVRs popular among over-the-air antenna users, is asking owners of its ATSC 3.0-capable devices to participate in a volunteer monitoring effort for the nationwide Emergency Alert System test scheduled for November 17, 2026. The company has released software that will capture portions of local NextGen TV broadcasts and upload them for analysis, aiming to gather evidence on how digital rights management encryption affects the delivery of emergency messages.
You can join the test by visiting the HDHomeRun forums HERE.
The effort comes as SiliconDust continues a multi-year regulatory battle over encryption on ATSC 3.0 signals. Unlike traditional ATSC 1.0 broadcasts, which have long been freely receivable without restrictions, many ATSC 3.0 channels employ content protection administered by the ATSC 3.0 Security Authority. HDHomeRun devices, which function as network gateways that pull in antenna signals and distribute them throughout a home for live viewing and DVR recording on apps running on televisions, phones, tablets, and computers, are certified for unencrypted ATSC 3.0 reception. However, they have not received approval to decrypt protected channels. SiliconDust argues this creates a barrier that prevents some viewers with otherwise capable equipment from accessing programming and, more critically, emergency alerts carried on those encrypted services.
The company has filed multiple submissions with the Federal Communications Commission requesting that broadcasters temporarily disable DRM encryption in the days leading up to and during the November 17 test so that a broader range of receivers can capture the message. The test, coordinated by FEMA and the FCC and set for 2:20 p.m. Eastern Time, will interrupt television and radio programming with a short announcement confirming it is only a test and that no action is required; it will not involve wireless emergency alerts to cell phones. Broadcasters and groups such as the National Association of Broadcasters and the AWARN Alliance have opposed the request, contending that temporarily removing encryption would create artificial conditions that do not reflect normal operations and that the majority of ATSC 3.0 receivers already support protected content.
To document real-world outcomes under current conditions, SiliconDust is distributing an EACapture application for Windows and a script for Linux. The software requires a compatible 4K HDHomeRun with recent firmware that can receive local ATSC 3.0 channels. It performs short captures of one local ATSC 3.0 channel roughly every six hours and transmits them to the company’s servers along with the device identifier of the tuner used, without including personal information or details about the user’s computer. On November 17 it will make a longer capture timed to the EAS test, with the upload potentially taking up to an hour afterward. The program runs in the background, can be minimized to the system tray, starts automatically at login, and keeps the computer from sleeping or hibernating until after the test date, though users can still force sleep manually. After November 17 it ceases captures, lifts the sleep restriction, and prompts users to uninstall it. SiliconDust has indicated it is seeking at least a thousand participants.
For users of the HDHomeRun platform, the stakes are practical as well as technical. The devices have long served cord-cutters and antenna households by enabling whole-home DVR functionality without proprietary set-top boxes or monthly fees, streaming free local channels across existing smart devices. Encryption limits the channels those systems can fully utilize today, and SiliconDust maintains that the lack of a deployable, A3SA-approved solution for offline or gateway-style decryption of protected ATSC 3.0 content further restricts access, including to emergency information during potential internet outages. The volunteer captures are intended to supply observational data the company plans to submit to regulators as part of the ongoing ATSC 3.0 proceeding, illustrating whether encryption currently impedes the broadest possible delivery of public warning messages on the next-generation broadcast standard.
You can join the test by visiting the HDHomeRun forums HERE.
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