Raspberry pi / astrometa dvb-t2 / setup & tuning to HD chans

slu nge

Hi All

Having spent the last 2 days messing with this to get it set up and working - I have a few bits of info in case others are having the same issues and me, plus queries about getting T2 / HD channels to work.

I had some problems on my previous Pi1 - using an old august DVB-T tuner and assumed it must have been a hardware issue, so bought a new Astrometa DVB-T2 card, where I was also experiencing tuning issues (had assumed it was firmware or driver releated - actually seems like it was due to the Mux's in tvheadend not being appropriate, but more on that in a moment). Fast forward to today, and due to various peformance reasons (pi is hosting a couple of different services for my house) - I have now upgraded to a Pi2, and decided to start over to try and get this to work...

The short versino of getting standard channels to work in latest Raspbian / TVH was:

Download firmware from here: http://palosaari.fi/linux/v4l-dvb/firmware/MN88473/01/latest/

to : /lib/firmware

Apply fix for the frontend on the tuner (otherwise, two of the adapters disappear on reboot in tvh - see: https://tvheadend.org/d/4114-mn88473-astrometa-problem - more specifically https://forum.mythtv.org/viewtopic.php?t=1582 )

reboot - at this point, from my perspective the device is working fine (check dmesg) - I couldnt get tvheadend to tune to anything so resorted to using w_scan to see what was out there.

w_scan -c GB -x >scan-output

this provided me with a table of what was found:

#------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# file automatically generated by w_scan
# (http://wirbel.htpc-forum.de/w_scan/index2.html) #! <w_scan> 20161022 1 0 TERRESTRIAL GB </w_scan>
#------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# location and provider: <add description here>
# date (yyyy-mm-dd) : 2018-08-31
# provided by (opt) : <your name or email here>
#
# T[2] <freq> <bw> <fec_hi> <fec_lo> <mod> <tm> <guard> <hi> [plp_id] [# comment]
#------------------------------------------------------------------------------
T 538167000 8MHz 3/4 NONE QAM64 8k 1/32 NONE
T 554000000 8MHz 3/4 NONE QAM64 8k 1/32 NONE
T 586000000 8MHz 3/4 NONE QPSK 8k 1/32 NONE
T 714000000 8MHz 3/4 NONE QPSK 8k 1/32 NONE
T2 0 AUTO AUTO NONE AUTO AUTO AUTO NONE
T2 0 AUTO AUTO NONE AUTO AUTO AUTO NONE
T 626000000 8MHz 2/3 NONE QAM64 8k 1/32 NONE # London
T 650167000 8MHz 2/3 NONE QAM64 8k 1/32 NONE

T 602167000 8MHz 3/4 NONE QAM64 8k 1/32 NONE

Entering the details of these MUX within tvheadend manually, resolved my problem and im now able to tune direct to SD channels.....

So now for my question - this T2 stick doesnt appear to be offering me HD channels (and w_scan isnt showing any MUX for HD) - is there something I should be doing here to scan for HD MUX / Chans on T2, or can anyone give me any pointers?

thanks!

Em Smith

I read that some people have problems with the new Astrometa.

I have one of the old ones, and don't have a Pi so my advice may not be accurate for you.

I don't think w_scan can scan DVB-T2 channels, which is why you have a frequency of "0" for DVB-T2.

Try "dvbv5-scan" (from dvb-tools package).

Something like:


apt install dvb-tools dtv-scan-tables
ls /usr/share/dvb/dvb-t/uk*

That should list the UK transmitters. Just pick the one near you:

dvbv5-scan /usr/share/dvb/dvb-t/uk-WinterHill

Then it creates a file and you can check to see if it has found the HD channels.

Doesn't tvheadend have your local transmitter in the network tab in the drop down menu so you don't need to mess around manually entering details? Then just hit "scan" and it will pick up any other networks.

Also try:


dvb-fe-tool
dvb-fe-tool -f 1

Under "supported delivery systems" at the end it should list "DVB" and "DVBT2". Have you ensured you are using the correct frontend? (since one supports only DVB and the other DVB-T and DVB-T2).

slu nge

thanks for the reply

Will take a look. Im not sure this is one of the new Astrometas, was puchased off ebay last year new, but I figured may have been old stock - it looks like the 2014 version:

https://www.linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/Astrometa_DVB-T2

Regarding preset Muxs, i tried this initially - not sure if its the 4.2 build for the Pi im using but none of the presets work (all scans fail). I initially figured it was an issue with the receiver (when my old DVB-T usb started failing and hence why i bought the T2), turns out it was just an issue with the presets which is why I had to do a manual scan and add.

Will give the tools you reference a try and post back some feedback, cheers for the pointers so far.

edit just noticed the other part of your msg, im using the Panasonic adapter and according to tvheadend both T and T2 supported.

slu nge

Ok, so following up on the above:

cat /usr/share/dvb/dvb-t/uk-CrystalPalace
#----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Auto-generated from:
# <http://www.digitaluk.co.uk/coveragechecker/main/tradeexport/SE19 1UE/NA/0/> #----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# location and provider: UK, Crystal Palace
# date (yyyy-mm-dd) : 2014-03-25
#
#----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(I have redacted the rest - just included to show date)

**********************************************************************************************************************************************

dvb-fe-tool -a 5 -f 1
Device Panasonic MN88473 (/dev/dvb/adapter5/frontend1) capabilities:
CAN_2G_MODULATION
CAN_FEC_1_2
CAN_FEC_2_3
CAN_FEC_3_4
CAN_FEC_5_6
CAN_FEC_7_8
CAN_FEC_AUTO
CAN_GUARD_INTERVAL_AUTO
CAN_HIERARCHY_AUTO
CAN_INVERSION_AUTO
CAN_MULTISTREAM
CAN_MUTE_TS
CAN_QAM_16
CAN_QAM_32
CAN_QAM_64
CAN_QAM_128
CAN_QAM_256
CAN_QAM_AUTO
CAN_QPSK
CAN_TRANSMISSION_MODE_AUTO
DVB API Version 5.10, Current v5 delivery system: DVBT
Supported delivery systems:
[DVBT]
DVBT2

DVBC/ANNEX_A

**********************************************************************************************************************************************

dvbv5-scan -a 5 -f 1 /usr/share/dvb/dvb-t/uk-CrystalPalace
Scanning frequency #1 490000000
Lock (0x1f) Quality= Poor Signal= 42.33% C/N= 2.00dB UCB= 131982 postBER= 3.35x10^-3 PER= 15.5x10^-3
ERROR dvb_read_sections: no data read on section filter
ERROR error while waiting for PAT table
Scanning frequency #2 514000000
Lock (0x1f) Signal= 41.84% C/N= 2.00dB UCB= 206630
ERROR dvb_read_sections: no data read on section filter
ERROR error while waiting for PAT table
Scanning frequency #3 570000000
(0x00)
Scanning frequency #4 506000000
Lock (0x1f) Quality= Poor Signal= 42.03% C/N= 2.00dB UCB= 280709 PER= 16.3
ERROR dvb_read_sections: no data read on section filter
ERROR error while waiting for PAT table
Scanning frequency #5 482000000
Lock (0x1f) Signal= 42.62% C/N= 2.00dB UCB= 356319
ERROR dvb_read_sections: no data read on section filter
ERROR error while waiting for PAT table
Scanning frequency #6 529833000
Lock (0x1f) Quality= Poor Signal= 42.62% C/N= 2.00dB UCB= 431606 PER= 14.4
ERROR dvb_read_sections: no data read on section filter
ERROR error while waiting for PAT table
Scanning frequency #7 545833000
Lock (0x1f) Signal= 39.20% C/N= 9.07dB UCB= 507227
ERROR dvb_read_sections: no data read on section filter

ERROR error while waiting for PAT table

Em Smith

The "no read" you tend to get with a very poor signal. I'm surprised you get no reads on any section though. Nothing like if you type "dmesg | tail" ?

I frequently get problems nowadays with one mux, which I put down to the 4G/5G changes.

Since you're at Crystal Palace, these may work for you as frequencies:


[C30- BBC B HD]
        DELIVERY_SYSTEM = DVBT2
        FREQUENCY = 545833000
        BANDWIDTH_HZ = 8000000
        CODE_RATE_HP = 2/3
        CODE_RATE_LP = NONE
        MODULATION = QAM/256
        TRANSMISSION_MODE = 32K
        GUARD_INTERVAL = 1/128
        HIERARCHY = NONE
        STREAM_ID = 0
        INVERSION = AUTO


[C33 COM8 HD]
        DELIVERY_SYSTEM = DVBT2
        FREQUENCY = 746000000
        BANDWIDTH_HZ = 8000000
        CODE_RATE_HP = 2/3
        CODE_RATE_LP = NONE
        MODULATION = QAM/256
        TRANSMISSION_MODE = 32K
        GUARD_INTERVAL = 1/128
        HIERARCHY = NONE
        STREAM_ID = 0
        INVERSION = AUTO