dvbrecord

dvbrecord is a commandline utility, included within the dvbsak library, that allows one to record a DVB channel and, when used in combination with a scheduler like cron, allows you to create a very lightweight digital video recorder.

Usage

dvbrecord's options are:

Usage: dvbrecord [OPTIONS]
Generic DVB options:
  --dvb-adapter, -A <arg>       DVB adapter number
  --ts-stream, -T <arg>         Read raw TS from <file>
  --use-filtered-ts, -F         Use filtered TS
  --use-full-ts, -f             Use full TS
  --record, -r <arg>            Records channel with supplied name
  --zap, -z [arg]               Tune to the channel before doing anything
  --read-epg, -e                Reads Electronic Program Guide
  --whats-on, -w <arg>          Shows what's running on supplied channel
  --record-lang, -L <arg>       Specify which language to record
  --output, -o <arg>            Output TS to <arg> [stdout]
  --verbose, -v                 Increase verbosity

Typical usage might be somethign like this:

dvbrecord -z"ABC TV Brisbane" -r"ABC TV Brisbane" >> "some_show.ts"

This will tune/zap (-z) to the given channel first, then record (-r) the supplied channel to the output file named "some_show.ts". Note: Although dvbrecord can write/output to a file directly (-o), it seems to have issues writing to files larger than 2GB. So, instead, by redirecting its stdout output with ">>" you can avoid that limitation.