Difference in Signal Quality Levels in TVServer and another program (1 Viewer)

[Lil_Pete]

Hello,

I have noticed that using TV Server and MediaPortal (or MPTV) the signal is prone to breaking up, blockyness and going SQWARK occasionally!

I tried using MyTheatre, which reported the strength at 100% and quality at around 90%, but suffered from multiple picture breakups a minute, even more than MediaPortal which tends to do it every minute or more.

In MediaPortal the Signal Strength is 95-100% and the quality is 44-48%, I can see the transmitter out of the window and have pointed the aerial at it!

After talking to the people at the Nebula forums it would appear that the problem isn't with the signal but likely with the decoder or software.

Basically I'm wondering if this is a problem with TV-Server, seeing as the signal quality registered is particularly low but worked fine before, the decoders, or my aerial!

I tried plugging the cards into the roof aerial rather than the indoor aerial i normally use, but it made little difference to the signal quality level.

Any help would be much appreciated =)

Peter

TV-Server Version: 18513
MediaPortal Version: 0.2.3 + SVN 18513
MediaPortal Skin: BlueTwo
Windows Version: XP Pro SP2
CPU Type: AMD Athlon 2600+
HDD:
Memory: 512MB DDR333
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-7-VA
Motherboard Chipset: VIA KT400
Motherboard Bios:
Video Card: ATI 9800 Pro
Video Card Driver: Omega 7.12 equivalents
Sound Card: On-Board AC'97
Sound Card AC3:
Sound Card Driver:
1. TV Card: Nebula DigiTV PCI
1. TV Card Type: DVB-T
1. TV Card Driver: BDA 1.111
2. TV Card: Nebula DigiTV PCI
2. TV Card Type: DVB-T
2. TV Card Driver: BDA 1.111
3. TV Card:
3. TV Card Type:
3. TV Card Driver:
4. TV Card:
4. TV Card Type:
4. TV Card Driver:
MPEG2 Video Codec: ffdshow
MPEG2 Audio Codec: ffdshow
Satelite/CableTV Provider:
HTPC Case: erm, made by me, out of lego
Cooling:
Power Supply: Zalman 400W thingy
Remote: Nebula Remote, but not under BDA drivers
TV: Samsung Syncmaster 940BF (19" Monitor)
TV - HTPC Connection: DVI

 

[Lil_Pete]

I'm still having this issue. Using ScanChannelsBDA (Nate's Dev Server) I get signal quality of around 90-100%, but MediaPortal and TVServer both only report 44-48%

Any ideas? Or is it just a difference in the way the signal is measured??

 

[Paranoid Delusion]

What happens if you only have 1 card installed, i've always found quality to be more important than signal strenght.

HTPC Case: erm, made by me, out of lego

This case, is everything grounded correctly.

 

[Lil_Pete]

What happens if you only have 1 card installed, i've always found quality to be more important than signal strenght.

HTPC Case: erm, made by me, out of lego

This case, is everything grounded correctly.

I was wondering if it could be something to do with the case, or lackof, also from a shielding point of view as well as a grounding one.

What's puzzling me most is that different programs report the signal strength differently, and using Nebula's WDM Drivers and DigiTV software I had always had very good signal quality!

I've tried tinkering with cables used and such, it seems to now be -slightly- better, never rises about 50% quality, but I think that must be wrong seeing as according to the things i've read online it should be unwatchable at that level.

 

[Paranoid Delusion]

What's puzzling me most is that different programs report the signal strength differently, and using Nebula's WDM Drivers and DigiTV software I had always had very good signal quality!

So if you use the nebula software you get no breakups on any channels, how close are you to transmitter, over saturated signal is as bad as a weak one, it will also give erratic readings on quality\signal.

 

[Lil_Pete]

What's puzzling me most is that different programs report the signal strength differently, and using Nebula's WDM Drivers and DigiTV software I had always had very good signal quality!

So if you use the nebula software you get no breakups on any channels, how close are you to transmitter, over saturated signal is as bad as a weak one, it will also give erratic readings on quality\signal.

The Nebula software didn't seem to break up as much, although when I switched back to it the other night (in desperation!) it did seem to be having similar issues.

For some reason (despite us having this problem at my homehome) this hadn't occured to me. I've tried using a device i assumed was an attenuator, which did reduce the signal level and quality, but I'm not entirely sure it is an attenuator (found it in a cupboard...)! I am apparently about 1mile away from the transmitter, can see it out of my window and it does look to be about that!

Next time I manage to go into town I shall buy an set of attenuators and see if it helps!

Edit: Just noticed that when I put my hand infront of the aerial (ie between it and the transmitter) the signal quality rises as does the strength, does this mean that an attenuator is definitely needed?

 

[Paranoid Delusion]

Some good info on indoor aerial reception

Installing Indoor TV Aerials. Freeview Loft Aerial Installation

Hope this helps.

 

[Lil_Pete]

Thanks!
I bought a 6dB attenuator today, which seems to have bought the signal level from 100 down to...98!
The signal quality does seem to be a bit more stable now though, so I'm going to return to the shop tomorrow and buy a 12dB attenuator, hopefully it should do the trick!

Of course, if it doesn't then I may well return!

Edit: Have just installed TVServer 18584 the problem seems to have gone away...which is odd. However I can no longer stream to another computer, but that function can wait for RC1, I'm just happy it's stopped breaking up for the moment.

Shall try it again tomorrow and if it's still fine then I'll declare it fixed!