Calling all MP New Zealanders (Both of you!!) (21 Viewers)

[mdsflyer]

Hi there, for your question 2 the answer is yes, possibly the easiest way is by using the winlirc plugin of girder and getting it to replicate key presses or there have been winlirc plugins for MP, i'm not exactly sure where they are at just now with the latest version.

Does the choppiness occur if you use the prog dvb program to watch TV3 or stratos? If they work fine there then it might simply be a case of changing the codec you use to watch TV within MP. If not then it is most likely your dish/alignment.

Cheers
m

 

[rpmnz]

Hi there, for your question 2 the answer is yes, possibly the easiest way is by using the winlirc plugin of girder and getting it to replicate key presses or there have been winlirc plugins for MP, i'm not exactly sure where they are at just now with the latest version.

cheers I'll give it a go

Does the choppiness occur if you use the prog dvb program to watch TV3 or stratos? If they work fine there then it might simply be a case of changing the codec you use to watch TV within MP. If not then it is most likely your dish/alignment.

Cheers
m

What do you mean by "prog dvb program" I'm using the ATi MPEG codec that is for the card, it doesnt seem to make a difference which codec I use. Which is why I was asking about signal quality as is definately gets worse as the signal degrades. Which it did when we just about got washed away last night . It would seem then from your comments that my alignment is out, I have the LNB at about 20 degrees right side high. Is this completely wrong as no amount of fine tuning seemed to improve signal quality.

 

[mdsflyer]

Hi there, sorry a slip of the brain when i mentioned Prog DVB, its a freeware program that you can use with DVB-S rds, i actually meant the software supplied with the Skystar 2 i.e. DVB Viewer, just wanting confirmation that the stuttering was or wasnt specific to MP.

I'm afraid i've no experience of dish aligment but Mcraenz http://mcraenz.googlepages.com/mppvr has experience in this area (amongst others!) and might be able to help.

Cheers
m

 

[rpmnz]

Hi there, sorry a slip of the brain when i mentioned Prog DVB, its a freeware program that you can use with DVB-S rds, i actually meant the software supplied with the Skystar 2 i.e. DVB Viewer, just wanting confirmation that the stuttering was or wasnt specific to MP.

I'm afraid i've no experience of dish aligment but Mcraenz http://mcraenz.googlepages.com/mppvr has experience in this area (amongst others!) and might be able to help.

Cheers
m

Nope not tried the DVB viewer software with that came with teh card. I will try it and see if it makes any difference.

I have perused Mcraenz's pages but havent gone through them with a fine tooth comb. I will see what I can find.

 

[johnrw]

If you go to mcraenz google page as above you can ask him questions (in the section at the bottom of the page) which may point you in the right direction (no pun intended!). He is very helpful. You are on the right track but there may be an easier way to the elliminate dish pointing as a possible problem. Are you able to re-mount your dish on the side of the house near the TV window? There is no magic rule which says it has to be on the roof. All you need is a clear vision to the satellite position which will be 40+ degrees above the horizon. The signal hits the dish and is reflected downwards to the LNB. This means the actual angle of the dish face is about half the angle from horizon to where the satellite is located. These are called "offset" dishes as distinct from "direct focus" like the very large dishes you see about.

 

[mcraenz]

Hi Guys, I'm no pro, and looking out the window at the weather I'm hoping my dish will still be mounted when I get home!

but here are my suggestions:

1.Have you played with the skew of the LNB i.e. Once you get the dish aligned, (which it sound like you've got just fine) try loosening the LNB in its holder and turning it left to right to see if the signal Q gets any better. There is a transponder on 12456 vertical and horizontal polarity which means you can get conflicting horizontal/vertical signals. Whereas 12438 is only horizontal which could explain why TVNZ signal is better.

2.Have you tried without the signal booster, while they make the signal stronger they can make the quality worse and should only be used if absolutely necessary.

3.As mds pointed out you need to confirm that the issues is in fact the a dish/sat signal problem not something to do with software. Have you tried deleting all channels and re-scanning

4.For better sat/dish knowledge check out the vetrun forums, heaps of sat gurus there!
http://www.vetrun.net/forums/index.php

5.Don't go up on the roof today! ;-)

My bet is that it's a skew issue

Cheers,
mcraenz


====EDIT====
Sorry, 12456 is only on Horiz not Vert, dunno where I dreamed that up from! Still could be a skew issue?

 

[rpmnz]

1.Have you played with the skew of the LNB i.e. Once you get the dish aligned, (which it sound like you've got just fine) try loosening the LNB in its holder and turning it left to right to see if the signal Q gets any better. There is a transponder on 12456 vertical and horizontal polarity which means you can get conflicting horizontal/vertical signals. Whereas 12438 is only horizontal which could explain why TVNZ signal is better.

Hi I have played with it to a small degree, whilst your note at the bottom suggests there are no conflivting H Vs V signals I still think it maybe something to do with skew. The strange thing is that I get TV3 with a little skip every now and then, but stratos is terrible and this is with the same Transponder and Quality ~ 50%. So first of all I cant figure out why the channels might be different on the same transponder, surely its the same MPEG stream? Maybe this points at software?.

2.Have you tried without the signal booster, while they make the signal stronger they can make the quality worse and should only be used if absolutely necessary.

Good point will remove and see what happens when I can get up on the roof. It does look like a cheap chinese version.

3.As mds pointed out you need to confirm that the issues is in fact the a dish/sat signal problem not something to do with software. Have you tried deleting all channels and re-scanning

I have done this a couple of times but will try again. I will also check software while I am at it. I mounted my dish on the roof for cosmetic reasons. If I mounted it on the side of the house it would be right near the front door as that the only point that would have clear line of sight.


Any way cheers for your help plenty of things to play with and try, I'll let you know how I get on.

 

[mruane]

Guys, I have been reviewing an issue I have with MP lately, which you may be able to help with. In my configuration, I use %Title% as part of the recording filename. Looking over the EPG data from Freeview, I notice a number of entries that have long title content reduced by the addition of ellipses i.e. "..." in the "Title" field.

On two separate occasions, I have failed recordings and the log file indicates that TVE3 could not create the recording file. In both cases, the directory was created but no recording file was created. So I am wondering if the ellipses has actually been included in the filename construction routines and this is what is causing this error i.e. trying to create a filename that contains "..." within the filename.

Does anyone else use %title% as part of the recording filename and if so have you experienced the failure of a recording to be saved and could the cause be the use of ellipses in the EPG program "Title" by Freeview. I have currently removed the program %title% from the filename as a work around.

Cheers Mike

 

[mcraenz]

[ The strange thing is that I get TV3 with a little skip every now and then, but stratos is terrible ......
[

Check out this thread on geekzone:
http://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?ForumId=34&TopicId=16254
Something to do with it?

 

[AdamNZ]

New Here

Hi,
I just started using MP and I LOVE it! (im also from NZ )