Manual Digital TV entry in MediaPortal? (1 Viewer)

[Grayda]

The other night, I bought myself a Digital TV card. Installed it, and with some hassles, got things running. MediaPortal scans, and picks up 4 channels:

ABC HD-TV
ABC2
ABC TV
WIN-HD

Out of the 4, only WIN-HD works. The rest are blank. That's not my issue. I found some frequencies on the internet, that are specific for my rural Australian town. They are in this format:

SBS -> UHF 29 -> 539500KHz, guard interval=1/8, FEC=2/3, bandwidth=7MHz, 64QAM. I'm able to determine the frequency and such, but with the majority of the digital TV tuning guides, it doesn't mention ANYTHING about the Network ID, Service ID, Transport ID etc., which MediaPortal requires. How does one obtain / work out the settings MediaPortal requires to manually add TV stations?

I'm completely new to Digital TV, so any help / explanations would be great thanks

 

[Taipan]

Since MediaPortal has already scanned and found the channels, there should be no need for you to manually enter the channel data. Why do you want to manually enter the data?

What is your TV signal strength like - your brief problem description sounds like poor signal level to me. With digital TV you have to have excellent signal strength and quality, otherwise you will get no video or sound at all....

 

[Grayda]

For ABC2, about 75% reception strength. The lowest one seems to be ABC-HD TV, with about 30% signal strength. So I should still get a picture for ABC2, or at least some audio.

However I'm just doing another scan, and it's picked up about 5 new channels so far (updating 4). So I'm hoping this does the trick and gives me more channels. But if these new channels don't come through, what do you recommend? I've tried switching video codecs to every one on the list, with varied results, tried using my PVR software that came with the WinFast DVT2000H card, with only 2 channels being found, those two being ABC2 and ABC-TV.

And I wanted to know how to work out the Network ID and such to save time scanning, and ensure that I get the right frequencies..

 

[Paranoid Delusion]

Below sixty percent, chance of getting reception unlikely, either sound or vision.

Try the best aerial/cable you can get to see if reception will improve.

but ask around locally first and see what problems other people in your area have.

BTW all tv tuners are not equal. some give far better reception than others and can cope with some signal loss.

 

[Taipan]

For ABC2, about 75% reception strength. The lowest one seems to be ABC-HD TV, with about 30% signal strength.

As all the ABC channels are on the same frequency (they are all contained in the one transmission stream) and would therefore have identical signal strengths and quality, then this sounds like your signal level is totally inadequate and fluctuating wildly?

So I should still get a picture for ABC2, or at least some audio...

No, not at all - with digital, you either get perfect picture and sound, or nothing at all.

However I'm just doing another scan, and it's picked up about 5 new channels so far (updating 4). So I'm hoping this does the trick and gives me more channels. But if these new channels don't come through, what do you recommend? ..

I recommend a decent aerial with a signal level of at least 20db and a quality of better than 80%. Refer here for more information on digital TV reception and aerials.

I've tried switching video codecs to every one on the list, with varied results, tried using my PVR software that came with the WinFast DVT2000H card, with only 2 channels being found, those two being ABC2 and ABC-TV. ..

This is another indication that your TV signal is inadequate, and changing video codecs will make no difference to the signal level..

HTH....

 

[Grayda]

MediaPortal Version: 0.2.0.0 (2006-07-03)
MediaPortal Skin: BlackTwo
Windows Version: Windows XP (SP2)
.NET CLR Version: 2.0.50727
DirectX Version: 4.09.00.0904 (9.0c)
CPU Type: Intel Celeron - 2.40GHz
Memory: 255 MB
Motherboard: Springdale-G
TV Card Model: LeadTek WinFast DVT2000H
TV Card Type: DVB
TV Card Driver: Latest
Video Card Model: Nvidia Geforce4 MX 440 With Agp8x (microsoft Corporation) (64 MB)
Video Card Driver: Latest
Video Card Resolution: 800x600
Audio Card Model: Realtek AC'97 Audio
Audio Card Driver: Latest

I've plugged my HTPC into the TV aerial on my roof, and have had minimal success. MP's external configuration shows each and every TV channel (now some 12 channels) as having near perfect reception (80% or higher in most cases), but within MediaPortal, it shows each and every channel (except the two WIN channels), as having no reception. I've included my system stats which might help. I went through MediaPortal.log and found nothing that suggests any errors, but have included it anyway just in case (http://pastebin.team-mediaportal.com/10732).

I was using the SVN from September 24th 2006, but reverted to the latest stable release, which allowed me to actually view WIN's stations (whereas with the SVN I couldn't). Also, contrary to your word Taipan, I could get audio through my DVB card with only 25% reception. No video though (just thought I'd mention that)

Hope someone is able to shed some light on all this..