My new Tablo 4th Gen works perfectly on the TV with a Roku Ultra. But I see in the Support section that Live TV and recordings don’t work on the Streaming Stick #3830, which is what I have on my other TV.
Is this a fundamental incompatibility or something a future update might resolve?
This appears to be a Roku issue, not a Tablo issue. My understanding is that Roku created a low-cost stick that doesn’t have the required specs for OTA.
From the Wikipedia page, the 3830 uses an Amlogic processor instead of Realtec. Maybe it doesn’t support MPEG2?
That makes sense, though it sucks. Roku may not believe it’s in their best interest to facilitate other devices as gateways to OTA programming.
I’ll get another Ultra. The Tablo isn’t much use on that other TV if I can only view their native (non-OTA) content.
I never thought I would miss cable/satellite…
We’ve been without cable or satellite and using Tablo with OTA for many years and don’t miss them at all. We use streaming services to fill in gaps. You’ll get settled in and hopefully save a bundle in the long run.
If you bought the stick on Amazon or BestBuy and you’re going to return it, make sure you include in your online review that it doesn’t work with Tablo.
In reviewing the specs on that chip, it looks like it doesn’t support H.262/MPEG-2 or H.264/MPEG-4 for video decoding.
Although, this set of specs shows slightly different results, which is still problematic for H.262/MPEG-2:
That would be our recommendation.
More info on why here:
Someone saw my Tablo in action and was really interested in one. I told him that you need a better then average antenna plus a Roku Ultra. He has an Apple TV streamer and I said that works well but you can’t start watching from beginning of show you’re recording. My wife and I do it constantly so important to us. Also a external HD 2TB minimum recommend 
Quirks and all still glad I brought one.
We haven’t had cable or satellite for 6+ years, so we’re converts. The Tablo replaces our TiVo OTA DVR system, which worked great until it didn’t. TiVo doesn’t make or service their devices, for which we paid a bundle, including a “lifetime” guide subscription. You can’t beat their interface but at about 10x the cost of this Tablo it was a loser purchase.
As dumb luck would have it, I kept an older Ultra that I had replaced with a newer model. Forgot all about it. I had to update everything since it had not been used for a while but I replaced my Streaming Stick with it and Tablo works like a charm now.
Thanks everyone.
