[mythtv-users] trying to set myth for fta sats 125w and 87w

[Stephen Worthington]

On Fri, 24 Oct 2014 00:12:23 -0400, you wrote:

>i have procurred a tbs 6982 card in order to have a myth-based pvr for fta
>broadcasts.
>
>i have two dishes set up, one aimed at 125w amc21, the other pointed to 87w
>ses2.
>
>each dish has an "Avenger PLL322S-2 Dual LNB"; one output goes to a
>geosatpro microhd fta receiver attached to my toshiba flat-panel, the other
>output to the tbs card.
>
>diseqc switches used are "b.e.s.t. germany" 4x1 units. one unit is for the
>microhd receiver, the other is for the mythtv pvr.
>on both diseqc switches, port 1 is for 125w, port 2 is for 87w.
>
>using such a configuration, i know that if the geosat receiver sees a
>strong signal from a satellite, the tbs fta card should see the same.
>it should not be possible for the myth pvr to the hooked to a dish that is
>not aimed correctly.
>
>so i have installed the latest mythbuntu onto that pvr (version 14.04.1).
> after downloading and installing the drivers for the fta
>card, i have configured myth to use that card, to use a diseqc switch to
>access either lnb, and to use "universal (europe)" lnb units (the avenger
>units are universal).
>
>as a "video source", for the time being, i have told myth to use
>"transmitted guide only (eit)" as a grabber.
>
>scanning for channels on both sats has the same result: despite the signal
>gauge clearly fluctuating on something as the scan progresses,
>no lock is achieved, a "time out, no signal" message is displayed, as well
>as "failed to find any channel"
>
>each time, i have proceeded with a "full scan (tuned)", entering the
>frequency of a specific transponder, polarity, symbol rate, etc.
>these values are what i see on my geosat receiver, only with some added
>zeroes in some cases.
>
>i have also tried to use the command-line utility "scan-s2" on both sats,
>without much more success.
>
>i think the problem is simple, but the documentation i have found isn't
>fully up to date and might be incomplete.
>i am sure someone more experienced might see whatever mistake i have made
>very quickly.  so, help?
>
>
>to give an idea of the values i have entered, here are the .conf files i
>have created to use with scan-s2:
>
>(in both cases, these are transponders used by pbs)
>
>87W.conf:
>
>S2 11812000 H 11149000 3/5 AUTO 8PSK
>
>
>
>----
>
>125W.conf:
>
>S2 12180000 V 30000000 3/4 AUTO 8PSK
>
>
>
>----
>
>
>here are two attempted runs of scan-s2, one for each sat:
>
>###start###
>
>root at myth-fta:~/Downloads/TBS/scan-s2# su root
>root at myth-fta:/home/bruno/Downloads/TBS/scan-s2# ./scan-s2 -a 0 -f 0 -s 2
>-l UNIVERSAL 87W.conf
>API major 5, minor 3
>scanning 87W.conf
>using '/dev/dvb/adapter0/frontend0' and '/dev/dvb/adapter0/demux0'
>initial transponder DVB-S2 11812000 H 11149000 3/5 AUTO 8PSK
>----------------------------------> Using DVB-S2
>>>> tune to: 11812:hC35M5S1:S0.0W:11149:
>DVB-S IF freq is 1212000
>WARNING: >>> tuning failed!!!
>>>> tune to: 11812:hC35M5S1:S0.0W:11149: (tuning failed)
>DVB-S IF freq is 1212000
>WARNING: >>> tuning failed!!!
>ERROR: initial tuning failed
>dumping lists (0 services)
>Done.
>root at myth-fta:/home/bruno/Downloads/TBS/scan-s2#
>root at myth-fta:/home/bruno/Downloads/TBS/scan-s2# ./scan-s2 -a 0 -f 0 -s 1
>-l UNIVERSAL 125W.conf
>API major 5, minor 3
>scanning 125W.conf
>using '/dev/dvb/adapter0/frontend0' and '/dev/dvb/adapter0/demux0'
>initial transponder DVB-S2 12180000 V 30000000 3/4 AUTO 8PSK
>----------------------------------> Using DVB-S2
>>>> tune to: 12180:vC34M5S1:S0.0W:30000:
>DVB-S IF freq is 1580000
>WARNING: >>> tuning failed!!!
>>>> tune to: 12180:vC34M5S1:S0.0W:30000: (tuning failed)
>DVB-S IF freq is 1580000
>WARNING: >>> tuning failed!!!
>ERROR: initial tuning failed
>dumping lists (0 services)
>Done.
>root at myth-fta:/home/bruno/Downloads/TBS/scan-s2#
>###end###

When I was having problems like that here in New Zealand, it was the
LNB settings.  I found it very difficult to find the correct settings,
and it turned out that at the time, MythTV had a bug in how the setup
for the LNB settings worked and I had to use SQL on the database to
make it work.  So I would suggest that you do a search for the correct
LNB and diseqc settings for your hardware with scan-s2 and see if you
have that right.  Once you get scan-s2 working, then try to interpret
the settings into how MythTV sets up the same settings.