[mythtv-users] First generation ATSC Air2PC PCI card + MythTV + Fedora Core 4 (FC4).

Jon Scheer wombat at scheerfun.org
Sat Mar 18 13:30:35 UTC 2006


casey dunn wrote:
> On 3/17/06, *Jon Scheer* <wombat at scheerfun.org 
> <mailto:wombat at scheerfun.org>> wrote:
>> 
>>     (4) I can go ahead and scan for channels, however the signal strength
>>     for every channel is 0.  Thus, I'm not sure if the signal is just really
>>     weak or if something is not configured properly.  I do have an HDTV
>>     setup box in the living room, and it picks up some HDTV channels, so I
>>     was thinking that I should get some signal strength (greater than 0)...?
> 
 > Also I assume your hd stb is for over the air not cable?

( I'm answering this out of order for clarification. )  Yes, we don't 
have cable, only OTA (Over The Air).


> It worries me a little that you get 'some' channels on your stb.  Some 
> as in not all that are local? or Some, there aren't many availible?

Well, there are a number of factors that feed into this.  First, we live 
in a low lying area.  Second, the TV antenna that's on the roof is 
pretty wimpy.  Third, it's a long run of coax (I.E., I get signal loss 
for the upper frequencies), so the upper non-HDTV channels are pretty 
grainy.  Some HDTV channels are in this upper range, so I don't expect 
to pick them up.  Fourth, the HDTV transmission antennas are on two 
different buildings (the Sears Tower and the Hancock Building), and I'm 
only getting the HDTV stations that are on the Sears Tower.  I'm waiting 
for winter to pass so I can put up a better antenna and also put a rotor 
on it so I can fine tune the direction.

Still, given the existing problems above, using the STB I am able to 
pickup up several of the HDTV channels pretty reliably, except in bad 
weather.  I'm figuring that since the STB picks up these channels, I 
should also be able to do that using the Air2PC card.


> The v.2 card have very weak/poor multiplath performace.  Check the 
> signal monitor on your STB if it's not very high you can expect troubles 
> on this card.  You should also try the command line tools (azap,scan) 
> and see what they find.

I see.  I will check the STB signal strength, as you suggest.  Perhaps 
the STB is really sensitive and works more out of luck than anything.  I 
did download and install the command line tools, and azap (or whatever I 
used to scan channels) also showed 0 signal strength.

-Jon


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