<html><body><div style="color:#000; background-color:#fff; font-family:HelveticaNeue, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida Grande, sans-serif;font-size:16px"><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1413593493264_13732" dir="ltr">I did some testing today and yesterday. Here's what I found......</div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1413593493264_13730" dir="ltr"><br></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1413593493264_13728" dir="ltr">First, watching the problem channels directly on my TV works fine. I don't get any pauses or macroblocking.</div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1413593493264_13726" dir="ltr"><br></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1413593493264_13053" dir="ltr">Second, Gary asked about the frequencies on the channels in question. Here they are:</div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1413593493264_17330" dir="ltr">WBBM - (good channel) - 64500</div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1413593493264_17328" dir="ltr">WMAQ - (good channel) - 54300</div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1413593493264_16397" dir="ltr">TNT - (good channel) - 53100</div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1413593493264_13766" dir="ltr">BBCA - (sometimes good, sometimes bad channel) - 29100<br></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1413593493264_13740" dir="ltr">NBCSports - (bad channel) - 66300</div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1413593493264_13763" dir="ltr">FS1 - (bad channel) - 52500</div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1413593493264_13755" dir="ltr">FWIW.</div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1413593493264_13760" dir="ltr"><br></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1413593493264_13758" dir="ltr">Third, I talked to Ceton's Support. They told me, "<font id="yui_3_16_0_1_1413593493264_17279" style="" class="" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size="2">SNR should be 32-37 and
the signal level should be between -12 and +12 with 0 dBmV ideal. So
the ideal number is 37 SNR with 0 signal. Something to keep in mind,
you can have low SNR (32-34) and high signal strength (+5 / +10) and be
okay. You can have high SNR (36-37) and have low signal strength (-5 /
-10) and be okay. You just can't have both low SNR and low signal
strength at the same time, and have a good viewing experience. </font><font id="yui_3_16_0_1_1413593493264_15524" style="" class="" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size="2">"</font></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1413593493264_13756" dir="ltr"><br></div><div style="" class="" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1413593493264_16401" dir="ltr">I asked about high signal and high SNR, and they said, "<font id="yui_3_16_0_1_1413593493264_18220" style="" class="" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size="2">+12 is the upper limit,
zero (0) is ideal. With SNR the higher the better, but there will
always be noise, so anything above 34 will be readable. 37-39 is ideal." So perfection would be 0dBmV and 39dB.</font></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1413593493264_18217" style="" class="" dir="ltr"><font style="" class="" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size="2"><br></font></div><div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1413593493264_13052">I finally got time to move the backend and connect it directly to the cable coming into the house from the outside box, and do some testing. What I found was that with the backend connected directly to the incoming cable, my signal on these channels on all tuners is -4.0 to +4.6 with an average of +0.025dBmV. SNR ranges from 31.6 to 36.6 with an average of <span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1413593493264_24012">34.3125dB. Based on what Ceton said, those numbers should be good.</span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1413593493264_26706" dir="ltr"><br><span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1413593493264_24012"></span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1413593493264_24957" dir="ltr"><span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1413593493264_24012">I then connected my backend with a 1->2 splitter. In came from the same line that comes in from outside. Out went to the backend on one side, and was terminated on the other (though I tested it connected to my TV on the other side and the numbers didn't change significantly). One splitter was a Radio Shack splitter rated for 5-3000Mhz. The other I got from my cable company a long time ago (before digital switch over) and it's rated at 5-1000Mhz. The numbers weren't significantly different with either one. My signal strength ranged from -7.8 to -0.5dBmV with an average of -4.53dBmV. Not nearly as good, but still within the acceptable range according to Ceton.</span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1413593493264_29513" dir="ltr"><br><span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1413593493264_24012"></span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1413593493264_29475" dir="ltr"><span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1413593493264_24012">I then replaced the splitter with my Motorola Amplifier with the other port terminated. My signal strength ranged from 7.7 to 13.9 with an average of 10.29dBmV. The SNR was about the same with a range of 31.3 to 35.8 with an average of 33.08dB. So the amp ups the signal and doesn't significantly change the SNR, as intended. However, I wonder, based on Ceton's recommended numbers, if having a high signal might not be as good as one close to zero. It seems weird that it wouldn't help.</span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1413593493264_33157" dir="ltr"><br><span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1413593493264_24012"></span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1413593493264_32257" dir="ltr"><span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1413593493264_24012">Finally, decided that all of these number are wonderful, but they don't mean crap if I don't see how it looks. I found that in all situations (direct from the drop, through a splitter, or through the amp) WBBM and WMAQ looked fine, as did BBCAmerica. In fact, the results were the same in all tests. When I tested directly from the outside cable on TNT, I got three "Waited xxx seconds for video buffers...." errors with a bit of stutter when I got them, then no problems. On NBCS, I got a ton of stuttering. While that was going on, I got some "Waited xxx seconds for video buffers" errors, then I got a bunch of Ring Buffer "Waited for data" errors. After several seconds of this, I started getting nothing but "Decoding error.........eno: Unknown error" with a black screen. On FS1 I got the same stuff, in the same order, but the Ring Buffer errors said "Taking too long to be allowed to read" rather than the "waited for data" Ring Buffer errors.</span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1413593493264_35909" dir="ltr"><br><span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1413593493264_24012"></span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1413593493264_35910" dir="ltr"><span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1413593493264_24012">So, at this point, I'm thinking that signal from cable isn't the problem. I'm thinking those errors mean something else, though what, I have no clue.</span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1413593493264_35911" dir="ltr"><br><span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1413593493264_24012"></span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1413593493264_35912" dir="ltr"><span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1413593493264_24012">What do you guys think?</span></div><div dir="ltr"><br><span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1413593493264_24012"></span></div><div dir="ltr"><span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1413593493264_24012">Mike</span></div> <div class="qtdSeparateBR"><br><br></div><div style="display: block;" class="yahoo_quoted"> <div style="font-family: HelveticaNeue, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida Grande, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"> <div style="font-family: HelveticaNeue, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida Grande, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"> <div dir="ltr"> <font face="Arial" size="2"> On Friday, October 17, 2014 5:31 PM, Yippee Three-eight <yp_38@yahoo.com> wrote:<br> </font> </div> <br><br> <div class="y_msg_container"><div id="yiv8152058598"><div><div style="color:#000;background-color:#fff;font-family:HelveticaNeue, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida Grande, sans-serif;font-size:16px;"><div>Sorry about the top post. I'm using the Yahoo Mail interface, and, well, it kinda sucks. I need to put this account in Thunderbird so it shows up correctly.</div><div><br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr" id="yiv8152058598yui_3_16_0_1_1413584852983_6271">The shows indicate that they are recording in HD. When I fist start the recording, the info box pops up at the bottom of the screen and shows 1080. What I discovered though, is that - at least in the one I watched all the way through - is that only the first 5:57 of the program was recorded. I didn't check the others, but I'm sure - based on file size - that the same was the case for all of them.</div><div dir="ltr"><br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">Mike</div><div id="yiv8152058598yui_3_16_0_1_1413584852983_6268"><span></span></div> <div class="yiv8152058598qtdSeparateBR"><br clear="none"><br clear="none"></div><div class="yiv8152058598yahoo_quoted" style="display:block;"> <div style="font-family:HelveticaNeue, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida Grande, sans-serif;font-size:16px;"> <div style="font-family:HelveticaNeue, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida Grande, sans-serif;font-size:16px;"> <div class="yiv8152058598yqt3723668082" id="yiv8152058598yqt26286"><div dir="ltr"> <font face="Arial" size="2"> On Tuesday, October 14, 2014 3:39 PM, Jim <lists@morton.hrcoxmail.com> wrote:<br clear="none"> </font> </div> <br clear="none"><br clear="none"> <div class="yiv8152058598y_msg_container"><div id="yiv8152058598"><div>
<div class="yiv8152058598yqt8486322751" id="yiv8152058598yqt77840"><div class="yiv8152058598moz-cite-prefix">On 10/13/2014 8:49 PM, Yippee
Three-eight wrote:<br clear="none">
</div>
<blockquote type="cite">
<div style="color:#000;background-color:#fff;font-family:HelveticaNeue, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida Grande, sans-serif;font-size:16px;">
<div dir="ltr" id="yiv8152058598yui_3_16_0_1_1413246067860_11519">I've
finally gotten my Ceton InfiniTV 4 PCie working on Mythbuntu.
<YAY!> Anyway, I've set up a bunch of shows to record,
all of them HD. Many of those shows record just fine.
However, I'm a racing fan, and every race I've recorded so far
has been of really poor quality except one.<br clear="none">
</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yiv8152058598yui_3_16_0_1_1413246067860_11574"><br clear="none">
</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yiv8152058598yui_3_16_0_1_1413246067860_11520">All of
those recordings show up with a yellow border. I think that
means the recording is damaged from what I've read. When I
watch the recording, every time a scene changes, the screen
gets very blocky (macroblocking?) and the audio cuts out, then
it will return to a beautiful recording for a moment until the
camera changes, then it repeats. It gets worse and worse as
the show goes. I haven't let it run, but I have noticed that
the file size is very small. For example, a normal TV show
recorded for 1 hour at 5.xx Gb. A formula 1 race (3 hours)
recorded at 0.5 Gb.</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yiv8152058598yui_3_16_0_1_1413246067860_11521"><br clear="none">
</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yiv8152058598yui_3_16_0_1_1413246067860_11522">I've also
had some problems with BBC America. Some recordings are
great. Some show up as yellow like the races. Of those, some
just hang the frontend. Others come back with a message
saying the file is missing.<br clear="none">
</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yiv8152058598yui_3_16_0_1_1413246067860_11587"><br clear="none">
</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yiv8152058598yui_3_16_0_1_1413246067860_11523">The one
race recording I recorded without problem was a NASCAR race
that was not scheduled to record, but I turned it on in Live
TV. It looked great, so I went back to the program guide and
tried recording it. It recorded fine. As I said, these shows
are all HD.</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yiv8152058598yui_3_16_0_1_1413246067860_11563"><br clear="none">
</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yiv8152058598yui_3_16_0_1_1413246067860_11524"> Initially,
I was unable to record anything when I set up the box. I was
getting buffer errors. I found that my network was running at
10Mb/s. I fixed that so it's running at 1000MB/s, but I still
have some Cat5 (not 5e) cable in the walls.</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yiv8152058598yui_3_16_0_1_1413246067860_11525"><br clear="none">
</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yiv8152058598yui_3_16_0_1_1413246067860_11586">I looked at
the channels that I've recorded on and here's what I got for
signal strength and S/N ratio:</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yiv8152058598yui_3_16_0_1_1413246067860_11526">TNTHD -
always good: Signal Strength - 3.8 dBmV, Signal to Noise
Ratio - 32.6 dB</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yiv8152058598yui_3_16_0_1_1413246067860_11527">WMAQHD -
always good: Signal Strength - 4.1 dBmV, Signal to Noise
Ratio - 33.4 dB</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yiv8152058598yui_3_16_0_1_1413246067860_11528">WBBMHD -
always good: Signal Strength - 5.9 dBmV, Signal to Noise
Ratio - 34.6 dB<br clear="none">
</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yiv8152058598yui_3_16_0_1_1413246067860_11529">BBCAHD -
sometimes good recordings, other times not: Signal Strength:
2.3 dBmV, Signal to Noise Ratio: 34.1 dB</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yiv8152058598yui_3_16_0_1_1413246067860_11530">NBCS1HD -
always bad: Signal Strength - 3.9 dBmV, Signal to Noise Ratio
- 34.8 dB</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yiv8152058598yui_3_16_0_1_1413246067860_11531">FS1HD -
always bad: Signal Strength - 3.5 dBmV, Signal to Noise Ratio
- 32.1 dB</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yiv8152058598yui_3_16_0_1_1413246067860_11532"><br clear="none">
</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yiv8152058598yui_3_16_0_1_1413246067860_11533">Since it
seems like a channel thing (higher channels have problems,
lower channels don't), I figured I'd look at improving my
signal strength. I've had a Motorola 1-2 amplified splitter
(<a rel="nofollow" shape="rect" class="yiv8152058598moz-txt-link-freetext" target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/Motorola-Signal-Booster-BDA-S2-Amplifier/dp/B0017I1PVC/ref=pd_sim_e_5?ie=UTF8&refRID=0REJCWJTGHQ0WF945342">http://www.amazon.com/Motorola-Signal-Booster-BDA-S2-Amplifier/dp/B0017I1PVC/ref=pd_sim_e_5?ie=UTF8&refRID=0REJCWJTGHQ0WF945342</a>)
on the line coming into my house for a while now. It helped a
lot as before I couldn't tune. I've got one of those lines
going to my old STB, and the other going to a 1-2 splitter.
From the splitter, one line goes to the cable modem, and the
other line goes to my backend's cable tuner card. I've always
read that splitters degrade signal, so I tried disconnecting
the STB and connecting one long line directly from the
Motorola amplifier to my cable card. On all channels, SS goes
up by 2 - 3 and S/N goes up a bit too. I've read that a
perfect signal strength would be 0 dBmV, but I'm wondering if
that's wrong.</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yiv8152058598yui_3_16_0_1_1413246067860_11588"><br clear="none">
</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yiv8152058598yui_3_16_0_1_1413246067860_11590">Can anybody
offer any suggestions on what I should look at to be able to
record these shows?</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yiv8152058598yui_3_16_0_1_1413246067860_11589"><br clear="none">
</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yiv8152058598yui_3_16_0_1_1413246067860_11591">Mike<br clear="none">
</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yiv8152058598yui_3_16_0_1_1413246067860_11534"></div>
</div>
<fieldset class="yiv8152058598mimeAttachmentHeader"></fieldset>
</blockquote></div>
<br clear="none">
Mike,<br clear="none">
<br clear="none">
Please don't top post. <br clear="none">
<br clear="none">
I don't think the races are being recorded in HD. Even bad quality
HD produces large files. Can you double check things to make sure
you are not recording from an SD channel or another source than you
think you are?<br clear="none">
I'm not saying you don't have an issue with splitters and poor
quality signal I just would expect to still see file sizes roughly
the same as any other HD recording.<br clear="none">
<br clear="none">
-- <br clear="none">
Jim<br clear="none">
<br clear="none">
<br clear="none">
</div></div><br clear="none"><div class="yiv8152058598yqt8486322751" id="yiv8152058598yqt95594">_______________________________________________<br clear="none">mythtv-users mailing list<br clear="none"><a rel="nofollow" shape="rect" ymailto="mailto:mythtv-users@mythtv.org" target="_blank" href="mailto:mythtv-users@mythtv.org">mythtv-users@mythtv.org</a><br clear="none"><a rel="nofollow" shape="rect" target="_blank" href="http://www.mythtv.org/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users">http://www.mythtv.org/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users</a><br clear="none"><a rel="nofollow" shape="rect" target="_blank" href="http://wiki.mythtv.org/Mailing_List_etiquette">http://wiki.mythtv.org/Mailing_List_etiquette</a><br clear="none">MythTV Forums: <a rel="nofollow" shape="rect" target="_blank" href="https://forum.mythtv.org/">https://forum.mythtv.org</a><br clear="none"></div><br clear="none"><br clear="none"></div></div> </div> </div> </div> </div></div></div><br><br></div> </div> </div> </div> </div></body></html>