I doubt it’s the tuner; Hauppauge makes some of the best tuners. I have a channel that comes in at 100%. Yet there will be blips when the Tablo records it. HOWEVER when my Homeworx is recording the same channel and program, NO BLIPS. Same time, same antenna, same channel, same program, two different results (two different DVRs).
I used to suspect that it was the Tablo tuner. Now I’m beginning to suspect that it’s the Tablo firmware. Yes there are blips in even a 100% stream (the Hauppauge meter will show that if one looks at it long enough) but other DVRs handle them flawlessly and seamlessly.
I would suspect the Engine’s software. Dealing with tuner interruptions and stream noise is Tablo’s weakness that a $30 DVR handles quite well… It may be a Tablo is TOO sensitive to noise and not necessarily the tuner hardware’s strength (which in your case is not even the regular Tablo tuner).
Whatever Tablo implementation, it confirms my choice never to use a Tablo for live viewing. Our LG TV does a superb job tuning in a frequency at whatever signal strength. If I need to buffer a live stream to go backwards or forwards, I use the Homeworx.