UK Freeview channel changes (2 Viewers)

Anthony Vaughan

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    I am in the UK and there has been a change to the Freeview channels - Crystal Palace in this case.

    When I run a scan for channels, I get an error saying 754167 not found.

    I think there is a script that needs to be changed.

    Would someone please let me know what changes need to made to the script.

    Thank you in advance.

    Tony
     

    CyberSimian

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    When I run a scan for channels, I get an error saying 754167 not found.
    Where does this error code appear? :confused:
    I performed an "all regions" scan recently as part of a test, and I got a "No signal" result for each of the MUXes that I cannot receive at my location:


    new_scanner,filled_db,with_move,with_strongest,all_freq_(1).jpg

    I did not get the error code that you quote (unless it is in the log file -- I did not look there). So I am wondering whether you have some other problem?

    Anyway, the file that defines the MUXes that "TvServer Config" attempts to receive is the tuning-parameters file for your location; for Crystal Palace it would be:

    C:\ProgramData\Team MediaPortal\MediaPortal TV Server\TuningParameters\UK.Crystal Palace.xml

    If you know which MUXes have changed, you can edit this file (remember to save the old one first!). The following site specifies the MUXes for your area (you will need to enter your postcode, select "Check", and on the next page scroll down and select "Detailed view"):


    -- from CyberSimian in the UK
     

    Anthony Vaughan

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    Hi CyberSimian

    Thank you for getting back to me.

    Some time ago, the same thing happened; i.e. Freeview changed their channels. Someone posted a new version of "UK.Crystal Palace.xml" and that worked well, until now. Would you please post your version of "UK.Crystal Palace.xml" so I can try that and see if the problem goes away?

    Thanks again.

    Tony.
     

    Anthony Vaughan

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    Hi CyberSimian

    I've tried your suggestion using the Freeview help, but don't know how to interpret what I see to make changes to the XML file.

    My current version of "UK.Crystal Palace.xml" has 9 entries, but the web site only references seven MUXes.

    Here's my current "UK.Crystal Palace.xml". Hope this helps.

    Tony
     

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    CyberSimian

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    My current version of "UK.Crystal Palace.xml" has 9 entries, but the web site only references seven MUXes.
    I think that means that two of the MUXes have been discontinued, i.e. they are no longer broadcast.

    The government in its wisdom is removing MUXes from the 700MHz band, so that the bandwidth can be sold off to the mobile phone companies for oodles of money. Two of the existing DVB-T2 MUXes (COM7 and COM8) were always described as "temporary", because they were located in the 700MHz band. Over recent months these two MUXes have been removed from various transmitters around the country, and possibly it is now the turn of Crystal Palace.

    The table of MUXes in Freeview.co.uk is (as far as I know) the definitive statement about which MUXes are available at any particular location in the country. So I think that all you can do is modify the tuning parameters file so that the entries match those on Freeview.co.uk. You can delete the MUXes that have disappeared, and modify the frequencies for the other MUXes if they have changed.

    -- from CyberSimian in the UK
     

    CyberSimian

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    I've tried your suggestion using the Freeview help, but don't know how to interpret what I see to make changes to the XML file.
    Looking at Freeview.couk again, I see that it specifies the UHF channel numbers (these are numbers in the range 21 to around 60), but does not specify the frequencies :(. I had a look at this page;


    but that looks out of date as it still lists 9 MUXes (so the frequencies that it specifies may also be out of date).

    One way to find all of the current MUXes is to select "All regions" for the scan. When I tried this it took 11 minutes to scan every frequency, but it should find all of your current MUXes. However, it may find other MUXes if you are on the border between two transmitter regions. If TV Server finds other usable MUXes, you will get duplicate channels (I think), so you will need to examine each one and delete the duplicates.

    -- from CyberSimian in the UK
     

    Anthony Vaughan

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    Hi CyberSimian

    That all makes sense now.

    1594289909228.png


    This is what was happening; the listbox would pause while displaying 753833 and then 754167 and then the above (in red) was displayed.

    I have removed the 754000 from "UK.Crystal Palace.xml" and re-run a scan, and the error went away.

    I know next to nothing about how MUXes work and how to interpret what the Freeview website says.

    BTW, has anyone reported a bug in the TV Server configuration application where, if you select a TV Channel and then click on Review, and the channel is not broadcasting, TV Server Configuration hangs? It used to display an error dialog, but now I have to use task manager to end the task.

    Thanks for all of your help.

    Tony
     

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    CyberSimian

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    I have removed the 754000 from "UK.Crystal Palace.xml" and re-run a scan, and the error went away.
    The transmitter that serves my area is Rowridge. It too used to have the two DVB-T2 MUXes located in the 700MHz band, but when I looked on the Freeview web site this morning, one of those MUXes is no longer listed. This is the same as your finding for Crystal Palace.

    One of the tools that I have on my system is ScanChannelsBDA_UK.exe. This is a standalone tool that uses one of the tuners to scan for DVB-T channels. It does this independently of MP, so it will not affect your existing MP setup. I have attached it in a zip file.

    This is the output that it generates at my location for the 482MHz MUX. Notice that it tells you the UHF frequency of the MUX (but not the UHF channel number):

    Code:
    =============================================================
    # locked on 482000KHz, please wait for network information...
    
    # Network Information...
    
    Frequency (Actual)  = 482167kHz
    
    Network Name        = South
    
    Channel Name           LCN   SID    Vid   Aud   PMT
    -------------------------------------------------------------
    Sky News            ,  233, 22080,  101,   102,  701    #
    Sky News            ,     , 22080,  101,   104,  701    #
    Pick                ,   11, 22208,  301,   302,  703    #
    Pick                ,     , 22208,  301,   304,  703    #
    Challenge           ,   46, 22226,  201,   202,  727    #
    Challenge           ,     , 22226,  201,   204,  727    #
    Dave                ,   19, 22272,  401,   402,  704    #
    Dave                ,     , 22272,  401,   404,  704    #
    4Music              ,   29, 22368, 2511,  2512,  705    #
    4Music              ,     , 22368, 2511,  2514,  705    #
    Film4+1             ,   45, 22464,  511,   512,  729    #
    Film4+1             ,     , 22464,  511,   514,  729    #
    4seven              ,   47, 22528, 2801,  2802,  711    #
    4seven              ,     , 22528, 2801,  2804,  711    #
    talkSPORT           ,  211, 22592,    0,  1101,  706    #
    RNIB Connect        ,  218, 22624,    0,  1201,  712    #
    Classic FM          ,  219, 22848,    0,  1801,  707    #
    LBC                 ,  220, 22880,    0,  1901,  708    #
    Trans World Radio   ,  221, 22912,    0,  1711,  719    #
    Food Network        ,   41, 23040, 2311,  2312,  714    #
    Smithsonian Channel ,   57, 23152, 2641,  2642,  732    #
    Hochanda            ,   85, 23328,  641,   642,  733    #
    Really              ,   17, 23712, 2111,  2112,  718    #
    Really              ,     , 23712, 2111,  2114,  718    #
    Quest Red           ,   38, 23744,  661,   662,  726    #
    Quest Red           ,     , 23744,  661,   664,  726    #
    QUEST+1             ,   76, 23808, 2931,  2932,  709    #
    QUEST+1             ,     , 23808, 2931,  2934,  709    #
    Together TV         ,   88, 24192, 2811,  2812,  722    #
    Gems TV             ,   43, 24448, 2401,  2402,  725    #
    
    
    # Signal Strength = 51
    # Signal Quality  = 87%
    
    =============================================================


    ScanChannelsBDA_UK was written before DVB-T2 was created, so although the tool will recognise that there is a signal present on a DVB-T2 frequency, the tool cannot understand the data format, and hence cannot list the channels present in that MUX. This is what it generates for a DVB-T2 MUX:

    Code:
    =============================================================
    # locked on 474000KHz, please wait for network information...
    
    # Network Information...
    
    Frequency (Actual)  = 0kHz
    
    Network Name        = South
    
    Channel Name           LCN   SID    Vid   Aud   PMT
    -------------------------------------------------------------
    
    
    # Signal Strength = 51
    # Signal Quality  = 70%
    
    =============================================================


    BTW, has anyone reported a bug in the TV Server configuration application where, if you select a TV Channel and then click on Review, and the channel is not broadcasting, TV Server Configuration hangs?
    Does this happen for all channels that are not broadcasting, or only for some? I have just tried this using "BBC4", and it took 17 seconds from clicking "Preview" on the "TV Channels" panel until the "Preview failed: No Video/Audio Detected" pop-up appeared. This was using MP 1.25.

    -- from CyberSimian in the UK
     

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    Anthony Vaughan

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    Hi CyberSimian

    The hang-up happens for me whenever the channel cannot be reviewed: i.e. the program will not play. This behaviour doesn't seem to be related to particular channels or frequencies - it is consistent, when it can't be viewed it hangs. I have tried waiting for minutes at a time, but always end up using task manager. Nothing appears in the log.

    Sorry I can't be more helpful.

    I'll try ScanChannelsBDA_UK.exe.

    Thanks.

    Tony
     

    CyberSimian

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    This behaviour doesn't seem to be related to particular channels or frequencies - it is consistent, when it can't be viewed it hangs.
    OK. :(

    I cannot think of an explanation for this behaviour, so we will have to leave it as an unsolved mystery for the moment. :(

    -- from CyberSimian in the UK
     

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