[mythtv-users] Hauppauge WinTV-quadHD TV Tuner Card 1609 and Pixelation

[James Abernathy]

> On Feb 17, 2019, at 12:55 PM, Barry Martin <barry3martin at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> 
> Hi Stephen!
> 
> If your pixellation is caused by low signal levels, then you will need
> to tell us just what your aerial system is like in order to work out
> what would be a good solution.  A lot of people get bitten by not
> understanding how to set up an aerial system.  Some basics that you
> may or may not already know:
> 
> 1) The quality of the aerial signal can not be improved by anything
> you do after the aerial itself. 
> Thanks for the in-depth review of reception. I do have some background in hobby electronics and aware of signal loss in coax, splitters, etc. I will admit a lot of my potential solutions thus far here were by educated guessing. (I hope this reply isn’t coming off wrong – I do appreciate the guidance.)
> 
> 7) If you have signal level problems, then separate tuners may be a
> better option.  If you have a TV and two separate tuners, you can use
> a three-way splitter, so each of them gets one third of the available
> signal.  If you use a TV and a dual tuner device, you have to use a
> two way splitter, giving the TV half the signal, and each of the dual
> tuners will then only be getting one quarter of the signal.
> Agree. One major detail I left out is I have three antennae here. Bad news is they’re in the attic (signal loss of asphalt roof), good news is it keeps peace in the family. I did test an outdoor antenna and no significant improvement in reception. Back the the antennae, one is for the televisions, one each for the two Backends. The original single antenna to feed the TVs and the original one Backend did cause issues with too much signal for one feed and/or not enough for the other feed.
> 
> The TV feed. (Live, OTA; separate from MythTV Backends.) Have noticed different televisions ‘react’ differently. The older TVs are more prone to displaying pixellation, an interrupted picture (and sound) where the newer TVs will have little to no interruption. All TVs are LED, coax homerunned to a splitter in the basement. Have also tested a couple of the runs by temporarily running RG-6/U from the splitter to the televisions with pixelation issues – again no change to that set. Conclusion is the particular tuner.
> 
> The MythTV / Backend feed. (Separate from the TV feed.) Actually is two Backends with their own antenna, so duplicates. Reasoning was the new BE to replace the old BE. Sometimes BE1 will record fine while BE2 has issues, sometimes BE2 is fine/better than BE1. Both have HVR-1600 and HVR-2250 tuners installed. Yes, the 1600 is a single digital tuner and the 2250 is a dual digital tuner, so the 2250 probably has that 3 dB drop. Doesn’t appear to make any difference.
> 
> The constant here with signal drops (pixelation) is when it is windy. Antennae are in the attic, so eliminated movement of the antenna itself as well as the coax. The dropouts will affect the TV Feed and the Backend feeds, physically separate from each other. For the TVs does make a difference as to which TV; for the Backends somewhat the same results.
> 
> Hopefully I’m not coming across as a smarty-pants, just literally years of experimentation with this system. At this point it seems the problem is more with how the tuner reacts to the varying signal when windy (yes, we can predict bad recordings), so hopefully a newer generation of tuner such as the 1609 will alleviate some of the problem. Your advice on delivering the signal to the tuner is very much appreciated.
> 
> Barry
> 
> 
> 
You mentioned the HVR-2250.  I threw that card away because it could not receive my local PBS station. my HDHR Connect and Quatro can receive that station at ~50%.  My new WinTV Quad PCIe receives that station at 83%.  

Jim A

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