[mythtv-users] Having trouble recording OTA since adding a second tuner

[Kevin Ross]

Terence Ripperda wrote:
> I've been experimenting with MythTV, and recently added a second 
> tuner. Ever since adding the second tuner, I've been having random 
> trouble locking to the OTA signal on one of the 2 tuners. I haven't 
> gathered a lot of data yet, but it appears to be random, isn't tied to 
> either tuner specifically. Usually, when this happens, the current 
> tuner will tune to some stations, but not other stations. if I switch 
> to the "other source", I'm then able to tune into the station I'm 
> having trouble with.
>
> Both tuners are identical Hauppauge HVR950Q usb sticks, using the 
> xc5000 driver.
>
> I did have to use a coaxial splitter to split the incoming signal to 
> both of the usb sticks. I noticed other mails on this list that 
> indicated signal loss can cause problems like mine.
>
> I'm curious what the steps towards debugging something like this would 
> be. if this is a signal loss issue, I can purchase a booster, but I'd 
> like to know if there's a way to verify this is the cause, before I do 
> spend money.
>
> I did catch this in my logs:
>
> 2010-03-04 19:00:02.629 Started recording: Community "Physical 
> Education": channel 1361 on cardid 2, sourceid 1
> 2010-03-04 19:00:42.186 UPnpMedia: BuildMediaMap VIDEO scan starting 
> in :/hosts/readynas/Mythtv/
> videos:
> 2010-03-04 19:00:42.512 UPnpMedia: BuildMediaMap Done. Found 115 objects
> 2010-03-04 19:01:15.262 AutoExpire: CalcParams(): Max required Free 
> Space: 3.0 GB w/freq: 15 min
> 2010-03-04 19:01:43.750 DevRdB(/dev/dvb/adapter0/frontend0) Error: 
> Poll giving up
> 2010-03-04 19:01:43.757 DVBSH(/dev/dvb/adapter0/frontend0) Error: 
> Device error detected
> 2010-03-04 19:01:43.814 DVBRec(2:/dev/dvb/adapter0/frontend0) Error: 
> Stream handler died unexpectedly.
> 2010-03-04 19:01:44.335 TVRec(2): Changing from Watching RecordingOnly 
> to None
>
> I did not see any other errors in the kernel output (from the xc5000 
> driver).
>
> Thanks for any help/tips,
> Terence

To determine if the splitter is lowering your signal strength too much, 
when you have problems tuning a channel, remove the splitter and plug 
the antenna cable directly into the tuner and see if you can then tune 
the channel.