[mythtv-users] Jason Beck's QAM guide Now on the Wiki

[Steven Adeff]

On 2/3/06, Daniel Walton <dwalton at cisco.com> wrote:
>
> > > I started using this last night to setup my Air2PC card.  From my home directory
> > > I was trying to do
> > >
> > > dvb-apps/util/scan/atscscan atsc/us-Cable-HRC-center-frequencies-QAM256
> > >
> > > but atscscan didn't like that because the atsc directory wansn't in my home
> > > directory.  I changed the wiki to say:
> > >
> > >   cd dvb-apps/util/scan
> > >   ./atscscan atsc/us-Cable-HRC-center-frequencies-QAM256
> >
> > thanks for making the change. Did your scan work? were you able to
> > verify the channels via what I wrote? just trying to verify it works
> > for cards other than the one I have.
>
> I got atscscan to work but only tried to verify a handfull of channels with
> mplayer.  I think I must have picked all encrypted channels though because none
> of the ones I tried would work.  I'll try all of them tonight when I get home.
>
> The wiki is really helpfull but one thing it isn't very clear on is how you get
> the channel guide for your scanned channels.  After reading through it and
> trying to get this working last night I think on my next attempt I will:

the channel guide information for uSA users at least, is from zap2it.
Once you know what channels you get using atscscan and azap with
mplayer create a zap2it lineup with those channels and import it with
mythfilldatabase.


> - try to tune every single channel atscscan found and delete the ones that
> mplayer can't play.  For the ones that it can play figure out what channel it is
> by looking at the program guide.  At the end of this step I want to have an
> accurate channels.conf.

right, which is how I *want* the wiki article to describe the process,
if this is unclear let me know and I'll update it.


> - run mythbackup (just in case I hose the database later), empty the old
> contents of my dtv_multiplex table, import my edited channels.conf file.  This
> should give me an accurate dtv_multiplex table.

or just add the frequencies to your existing table, even if theres a
duplicate frequency some how (don't know if this can actually happen),
just make sure you get the mplexid's for the ones you need.

> - delete the channels that were created by importing channels.conf.  If I
> understand correctly this will leave the dtv_multiplex table intact but will
> remove the channels from the channels table.  I want to do this because the
> channels created by importing channels.conf don't have an xmltv ID.

right.


> - add channels from my zap2it lineup

if you name the channels exactly like zap2it does and run
"mythfilldatabase --do_channel_updates" it should use the entries
created by the channels.conf import and just add the proper zap2it xml
information. you will still need to edit the channels since the
channels.conf import doesn't properly handle channel numbers and
serviceid though.

> - edit the channels table so that each channel is associated with the correct
> dtv_multiplex entry

right


> > > - atscscan found 337 entries and so far I can lock onto everyone I've tried with
> > > azap but I can't get mplayer to play any of them.  I've only tried about a half
> > > dozen so I may just be unlucky but is it normal to be able to lock onto a
> > > channel but not play it (it says it can't find a video stream)?  I downloaded
> > > and compiled the latest version of mplayer but still no luck.
> >
> > They could be encrypted streams, at which point atscscan will see the
> > stream, but mplayer won't be able to play them. This is the reason for
> > the verification process, atscscan doesn't check for playability of
> > the streams, just their existance.
>
> That is probably it, I should have ~140 digital channels that aren't
> pay-per-view, ESPNHD, HBO, etc.  I guess I have to tune all 337 of them to find
> the unencrypted ones.

sadly, yes. though I did find that all my unencrypted channels were on
the same freq's with no encrypted channels. though don't use this as a
rule of thumb since you may end up missing some channels if your cable
company doesn't work this way.

You give me a good idea though, a database of working channels.conf
files for specific cable companies in specific areas, so work doesn't
need to be repeated.

--
Steve