UK Freeview DVB-T Problems (1 Viewer)

[porky996t]

Hi Guys,

I installed MP onto my HTPC about 1 month ago and it worked absolutely flawlessly - so much so even the GF used it

About 2 weeks back I had to retune the DVB card as my local transmitter (Winter Hill - UK) freed up some bandwith so they could start DVB-T2 broadcasts. At this time I 'lost' BBC1, BBC2 and BBC News, and after gaining advice from another thread I retuned and got BBC1 and BBC 2 back, but not the BBC News Channel. Everything seemed back to normal for a few days, but as of late last week the TV side of MP has got a bit unusable. I can easily switch between the BBC channels, but if I go from BBC1 to CH4 or ITV1 then MP just freezes up. Additionally, whilst watching TV yesterday and recording it just shut down the HTPC completely.

I have tried using different codecs for the TV side of things but that doesn't seem to make any difference at all. When I do change a channel it takes a couple of seconds to change and for the first 2 or 3 seconds the picture is in slow motion, then runs at normal rate. I have also noticed that the ITV channels will get a picture and sound for the first few seconds, then freeze and then runs intermittently with the picture changing every 5 seconds with a burst of sound coming through.

This is just used as a HTPC, no games, no MS Office or anything like that.

Many thanks in advance of somebody being able to help.



MediaPortal Version: 1.0.2
MediaPortal Skin: Bleazlewide
Windows Version: XP - SP3
CPU Type: AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000 - 3.01Ghz
HDD: WD 1.5TB & Toshiba 160Gb
Memory: 4Gb
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-DS2H
Video Card: On Board
Video Card Driver:
Sound Card: On board
Sound Card AC3:
Sound Card Driver:
1. TV Card: Peak Dual Tuner
1. TV Card Type: DVB-T
1. TV Card Driver:
2. TV Card:
2. TV Card Type:
2. TV Card Driver:
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:
MPEG2 Audio Codec:
h.264 Video Codec:
Satelite/CableTV Provider: Sky
HTPC Case: Antec Fusion Black Veris Remote
Cooling:
Power Supply:
Remote: Veris
TV: LG 47" LCD
TV - HTPC Connection: HDMI

 

[Owlsroost]

You may have a problem with the tuner card hardware (or the aerial feed to it), or possibly the network connection (the TV-server - MP connection is via the network stack in Windows, so WiFi problems etc can mess things up).

If it's network problems and this is a single-seat system, take a look at https://forum.team-mediaportal.com/newcomers-forum-240/msloopback-device-singleseat-users-51028/

Otherwise attach some logs...

Tony

 

[porky996t]

Thanks Tony, I have been searching and reading the forum and have touched upon what you have noted.

I did speak to a mate of mine who installs TV's and Satellite systems and he said that I could be getting too much signal going in, as the WH transmitter power has been massively boosted recently, and I also go through an amp & splitter in the loft so I can feed other rooms. The transmitter is about 3 miles from me, we are about the same elevation and it is a very obvious landmark when I look out of the front window.

I think I'll bung an attenuator on it first and see what happens - it is easier (for me, anyway) to try this than possibly bugger something else up by playing around with various software solutions.

BTW - where are the logs located?

 

[Owlsroost]

If you are that close to WH then I agree that you may have too much signal now.

Run the MP logs collector from the Windows Start menu (see the link in my sig below)
The log files are located in C:\Program Data\Team MediaPortal\..... in Vista, don't know for XP

Tony

 

[porky996t]

I changed the video rendering to EVR from VMR9 and now have a picture with ITV, CH4 etc, although that picture is breaking up and pixelating (very much like the Sky box when it gets a bad signal). There is no freezing of the image though now.

I placed a variable attenuator in line with the aerial cable and have adjusted it down to the point where the BBC programs fail to receive. This has made no change at all to the image and thus would eliminate too strong a signal.

I have reinstalled the tuner card drivers, but this had not changed a thing.

Here is a list of the free to air channels, and the ones that have suddenly started to give me problems....is there any correlation between them?

BBC1 - OK
BBC2 - OK
ITV1 - breaking up & pixelated
CH4 - breaking up & pixelated
Five - breaking up & pixelated
ITV2 - breaking up & pixelated
BBC3 - Unable to start timeshifting/unable to start graph
BBC4 - OK
ITV3 - OK
SKY3 - OK
CH4+1 - breaking up & pixelated
More 4 - breaking & pixelated
Film 4 - OK
QVC - OK
4Music - OK
Dave - OK
Virgin 1 - OK
TMF - OK
Ideal World - OK
BidTV - OK
ITV4- OK
Dave ja vu - OK
E4 - breaking up & pixelated
E4+1 - OK
Fiver - OK
FiveUSA - very slight pixelation
Virgin1+1 - OK
Price drop TV - OK
Quest - OK
BBC World News - Unable to start timeshifting/unable to start graph
BBC Parliament - OK
Sky News - OK
Sky Sports News - OK
CNN - OK
Russia Today - OK


in advance!

 

[porky996t]

Just by way of an update...

I connected the HTPC tuner card directly to the aerial and thus bypassing the amplifier - I got BBC etc, but now with minor pixelation and the other channels that were pixelated did not appear at all. I'm now beginning to suspect that the dual tuner card has developed a problem. This is the second card I have had from the same supplier, the first one only had one on board tuner working, with the second tuner not being able to receive a signal at all.

I may get a Hauppage Nova T500 to replace the Peak Dual Tuner I currently use. Any comments on this Hauppage card??

 

[Owlsroost]

No personal experience with the T500, but there's lots of forum posts about it - concensus seems to be that it works well except that it can sometimes have problems when resuming from S3 sleep.

I'd also think about USB dual tuner 'dongles' - my Kworld 399U works OK and Maplin sell them - Dual Tuner Digital TV USB Stick : External PCTV : Maplin - so it's easy to returm if you have problems....

Tony

 

[porky996t]

The Maplin USB port seems reasonable. I have not considered USB, just sort of naturally went for PCI.

I'll have to do a bit of reading up I think before I decide.

I went down to Maplin to get the USB dual tuner you recommended, (I checked stock on the web and there was three in stock at my local store) when I got there there was none! aaarrgghhhh - and I'm certainly not schlepping around Manchester at rush hour on a Friday to try others stores

I'll do it in the morning now.


Mike.

 

[Owlsroost]

In case you have problems getting it to work under XP, the driver attached this post might be useful - https://forum.team-mediaportal.com/tv-cards-333/dvb-t-card-anyone-72869/index2.html#post535635

Tony

 

[porky996t]

I managed to bag myself a Haupauge Nova TD-500 off eBay. Removed Peak Dual tuner and installed Hauppauge card and now have all channels working again. Clearly a Problem with Peak dual tuner card, so I shall be sending back for a refund.

The only channel not working is BBC News 24 - this stopped working when Winter Hill transmitter was retuned at start of November - I'm now at a loss as to what I can do to get BBC News. Any suggestions welcomed!