Saorview settings on Raspberry Pi - Greystones Transmitter

dirtchamber79 · 09-07-2020 12:05pm #1

Hi everyone,

I am trying to setup a raspberry pi and tvheadend to view Saorview.

My nearest transmitter is Greystones.

I looked online and it gave me 642Mhz and 666Mhz as the frequencies but I need some other settings to tune in. The aerial works as the TV can tune in the stations no problem but I cannot get anymore details from the tv to find the other settings.

TVheadend looks for the following:

Frequency: I have 642 and 666Mhz

Bandwidth: (5,6,7,8,10Mhz or Auto)
Constellaton (QAM/Auto, QPSK, QAM 16/64/256)
Transmission mode(1k ,2k ,8k ,16k, 32k, Auto)
Guard interval (Auto, 1/32, 1/16, 1/8, 1/4, 1/128, 19/128, 19/256)
Hierarchy (Auto, None, 1,2 4)
FEC High: (None, 1/2, 2/3, 3/4, 3/5, 4/5, 5/6, 6/7, 7/8)
FEC Low: (None, 1/2, 2/3, 3/4, 3/5, 4/5, 5/6, 6/7, 7/8)

If anyone can help me that would be great, thanks in advance!

Elvis Hammond · 09-07-2020 12:20pm

Does setting them all to 'auto' work?

Anyhow, off the top of my head, it's 8 MHz bandwidth, 64QAM, 8K, 1/32 GI, no hierarchy. FEC is 2/3.

dirtchamber79 · 09-07-2020 1:52pm

Elvis Hammond wrote: »

Does setting them all to 'auto' work?

Anyhow, off the top of my head, it's 8 MHz bandwidth, 64QAM, 8K, 1/32 GI, no hierarchy. FEC is 2/3.

Will give a try later and report back, thanks for the help.

Johnboy1951 · 09-07-2020 9:45pm

I am surprised that TVH - Configuration - General - Start Wizard did not set up everything for you once you select which Irish transmitter to use.

dirtchamber79 · 09-07-2020 10:15pm

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

I am surprised that TVH - Configuration - General - Start Wizard did not set up everything for you once you select which Irish transmitter to use.

Weird result in TVHeadend, i can see SNR 18db and Signal strength 98% when I force scan the 2 muxes.

I think I might have an issue with the driver for the usb tuner. Not sure its correctly installed...

Running w_scan gives me the following:

Scanning DVB-T...
Scanning 8MHz frequencies...
474000: (time: 00:00.929)
482000: (time: 00:03.239)
490000: (time: 00:05.469)
498000: (time: 00:07.729)
506000: (time: 00:09.949)
514000: (time: 00:12.209)
522000: (time: 00:14.429)
530000: (time: 00:16.599)
538000: (time: 00:18.819)
546000: (time: 00:21.079)
554000: (time: 00:23.319)
562000: (time: 00:25.559)
570000: (time: 00:27.799)
578000: (time: 00:30.039)
586000: (time: 00:32.269)
594000: (time: 00:33.189)
602000: (time: 00:35.399)
610000: (time: 00:37.629)
618000: (time: 00:39.869)
626000: (time: 00:42.039)
634000: (time: 00:44.269)
642000: (time: 00:46.519)         signal ok:    QAM_AUTO f = 642000 kHz I999B8C999D999T999G999Y999 (0:0:0)
        Info: no data from PAT after 2 seconds
        deleting (QAM_AUTO f = 642000 kHz I999B8C999D999T999G999Y999 (0:0:0))
650000: (time: 00:50.449)
658000: (time: 00:52.689)
666000: (time: 00:54.919)         signal ok:    QAM_AUTO f = 666000 kHz I999B8C999D999T999G999Y999 (0:0:0)
        Info: no data from PAT after 2 seconds
        deleting (QAM_AUTO f = 666000 kHz I999B8C999D999T999G999Y999 (0:0:0))
674000: (time: 00:58.429)
 682000: (time: 01:00.689)

So it looks like it sees the 2 freqs but wont pull in the channels.

Getting there hopefully, I have been googling all night but to no avail.

dirtchamber79 · 10-07-2020 10:31am

I was looking here on Boards last night and came across one of your threads Johnboy1951, this would be something i would like to get to in the future with satellite and saorview headend.

One thing I did notice is that on your screenshot of the SNR and Signal Strength your SNR is up very high, mine only gets 19db and shows about 25% of the 'progress bar'. Is there something I can do to increase that?

The aerial I'm using is a Slx digidome one, its in the window about 7km from transmitter, i was planning to put in attic if it works indoors. It works fine on the tv but that may have a stronger tuner.

I have an old sunray sat box that has a dvb-t tuner so will try use that and get a better look at the signal strength/SNR and try adjust so its the highest it will go.

Edit: from reading here: https://www.smartaerials.co.uk/blog/what-is-the-difference-between-tv-signal-strength-quality
Looks like i will need a SNR of at least 45dB for Digital Terrestrial TV

Anyone any ideas?

Elvis Hammond · 10-07-2020 11:06am

dirtchamber79 wrote: »

Edit: from reading here: https://www.smartaerials.co.uk/blog/what-is-the-difference-between-tv-signal-strength-quality
Looks like i will need a SNR of at least 45dB for Digital Terrestrial TV

Isn't that signal level; 45dB referenced to one microvolt?

19dB SNR, I would think would work ok.

dirtchamber79 · 10-07-2020 12:02pm

Elvis Hammond wrote: »

Isn't that signal level; 45dB referenced to one microvolt?

19dB SNR, I would think would work ok.

I tried the usb stick in win10 and the channels all come in no problem so it now looks like its an issue with linux/drivers or something like that.

When I got to /dev/dvb i have adapter0, in there i have demux0 dvr0 frontend0 net0 so it recognises it.

Also from dmesg | grep "dvb" I get:

pi@raspberrypi:/ $ dmesg | grep "dvb"
[    1.418827] usb 1-1.2: Product: dvbt2
[    1.418839] usb 1-1.2: Manufacturer: astrometadvbt2
[    3.833789] usb 1-1.2: dvb_usb_v2: found a 'Astrometa DVB-T2' in warm state
[    3.975081] usb 1-1.2: dvb_usb_v2: will pass the complete MPEG2 transport stream to the software demuxer
[    3.975125] dvbdev: DVB: registering new adapter (Astrometa DVB-T2)
[    4.117479] rc rc0: lirc_dev: driver dvb_usb_rtl28xxu registered at minor = 0, raw IR receiver, no transmitter
[    4.122302] usb 1-1.2: dvb_usb_v2: schedule remote query interval to 200 msecs
[    4.138148] usb 1-1.2: dvb_usb_v2: 'Astrometa DVB-T2' successfully initialized and connected
[    4.138395] usbcore: registered new interface driver dvb_usb_rtl28xxu

Not sure what to try now...

winston_1 · 10-07-2020 3:52pm

dirtchamber79 wrote: »

The aerial I'm using is a Slx digidome one, its in the window about 7km from transmitter,

Anyone any ideas?

How about getting a proper directional aerial instead of an omni directional fashion statement?

dirtchamber79 · 10-07-2020 4:56pm

winston_1 wrote: »

How about getting a proper directional aerial instead of an omni directional fashion statement?

I thought as I am not too far from transmitter that the smaller dome would work, plan was to have in the attic and if it did have to go outside it would look better.

I have ruled out the aerial being the issue now as i have perfect signal on tv and when using windows 10.

dirtchamber79 · 10-07-2020 5:11pm

Some good news.

After testing again on Windows10 machine I plugged the usb stick back into the raspberry pi.

When I did a dmesg I now got a Sony entry for frontend1 which wasn't there before, must have been something i did last night with firmware files:

[    2.151482] usb 1-1.2: Product: dvbt2
[    2.151497] usb 1-1.2: Manufacturer: astrometadvbt2
[    4.720488] usb 1-1.2: dvb_usb_v2: found a 'Astrometa DVB-T2' in warm state
[    4.906170] usb 1-1.2: dvb_usb_v2: will pass the complete MPEG2 transport stream to the software demuxer
[    4.906207] dvbdev: DVB: registering new adapter (Astrometa DVB-T2)
[    4.909094] dvbdev: dvb_create_media_entity: media entity 'dvb-demux' registered.
[    4.984959] dvbdev: dvb_create_media_entity: media entity 'Realtek RTL2832 (DVB-T)' registered.
[    4.985260] dvbdev: dvb_create_media_entity: media entity 'Sony CXD2837ER DVB-T/T2/C demodulator' registered.
[    5.091949] rc rc0: lirc_dev: driver dvb_usb_rtl28xxu registered at minor = 0, raw IR receiver, no transmitter
[    5.092577] usb 1-1.2: dvb_usb_v2: schedule remote query interval to 200 msecs
[    5.105197] usb 1-1.2: dvb_usb_v2: 'Astrometa DVB-T2' successfully initialized and connected
[    5.105491] usbcore: registered new interface driver dvb_usb_rtl28xxu
[ 5769.518775] dvb_usb_v2: 'Astrometa DVB-T2:1-1.2' successfully deinitialized and disconnected
[ 7854.272870] usb 1-1.2: Product: dvbt2
[ 7854.272885] usb 1-1.2: Manufacturer: astrometadvbt2
[ 7854.281330] usb 1-1.2: dvb_usb_v2: found a 'Astrometa DVB-T2' in warm state
[ 7854.432136] usb 1-1.2: dvb_usb_v2: will pass the complete MPEG2 transport stream to the software demuxer
[ 7854.432170] dvbdev: DVB: registering new adapter (Astrometa DVB-T2)
[ 7854.434489] dvbdev: dvb_create_media_entity: media entity 'dvb-demux' registered.
[ 7854.452130] dvbdev: dvb_create_media_entity: media entity 'Realtek RTL2832 (DVB-T)' registered.
[ 7854.452298] dvbdev: dvb_create_media_entity: media entity 'Sony CXD2837ER DVB-T/T2/C demodulator' registered.
[ 7854.502307] rc rc0: lirc_dev: driver dvb_usb_rtl28xxu registered at minor = 0, raw IR receiver, no transmitter
[ 7854.504032] usb 1-1.2: dvb_usb_v2: schedule remote query interval to 200 msecs
[ 7854.512236] usb 1-1.2: dvb_usb_v2: 'Astrometa DVB-T2' successfully initialized and connected

Using w_scan I now got channels appearing in the list.

w_scan -ft -c IE -x -T 1
w_scan version 20170107 (compiled for DVB API 5.11)
using settings for IRELAND
Country identifier IE not defined. Using defaults.
scan type TERRESTRIAL, channellist 4
output format initial tuning data
WARNING: could not guess your codepage. Falling back to 'UTF-8'
output charset 'UTF-8', use -C <charset> to override
Info: using DVB adapter auto detection.
        /dev/dvb/adapter0/frontend0 -> TERRESTRIAL "Realtek RTL2832 (DVB-T)": good :-)
        /dev/dvb/adapter0/frontend1 -> TERRESTRIAL "Sony CXD2837ER DVB-T/T2/C demodulator": very good :-))

Using TERRESTRIAL frontend (adapter /dev/dvb/adapter0/frontend1)
-_-_-_-_ Getting frontend capabilities-_-_-_-_
Using DVB API 5.11
frontend 'Sony CXD2837ER DVB-T/T2/C demodulator' supports
DVB-T2
INVERSION_AUTO
QAM_AUTO
TRANSMISSION_MODE_AUTO
GUARD_INTERVAL_AUTO
HIERARCHY_AUTO
FEC_AUTO
BANDWIDTH_AUTO not supported, trying 6/7/8 MHz.
FREQ (42.00MHz ... 1002.00MHz)
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_
Scanning DVB-T...
Scanning 8MHz frequencies...
474000: (time: 00:05.069)
482000: (time: 00:10.929)
490000: (time: 00:16.809)
498000: (time: 00:22.579)
506000: (time: 00:28.379)
514000: (time: 00:34.199)
522000: (time: 00:39.959)
530000: (time: 00:45.709)
538000: (time: 00:51.429)
546000: (time: 00:57.249)
554000: (time: 01:03.009)
562000: (time: 01:08.999)
570000: (time: 01:14.769)
578000: (time: 01:20.609)
586000: (time: 01:30.468)
594000: (time: 01:36.248)
602000: (time: 01:42.148)
610000: (time: 01:47.868)
618000: (time: 01:53.708)
626000: (time: 01:59.638)
634000: (time: 02:05.378)
642000: (time: 02:11.338)         signal ok:    QAM_AUTO f = 642000 kHz I999B8C999D999T999G999Y999 (0:0:0)
        QAM_AUTO f = 642000 kHz I999B8C999D999T999G999Y999 (0:0:0) : updating transport_stream_id: -> (0:0:1001)
        QAM_AUTO f = 642000 kHz I999B8C999D999T999G999Y999 (0:0:1001) : updating network_id -> (0:12801:1001)
        updating transponder:
           (QAM_AUTO f = 642000 kHz I999B8C999D999T999G999Y999 (0:12801:1001)) 0x0000
        to (QAM_64   f = 642000 kHz I999B8C23D0T8G32Y0 (8564:12801:1001)) 0x405A
650000: (time: 02:14.388)
658000: (time: 02:19.968)
666000: (time: 02:29.628)         signal ok:    QAM_AUTO f = 666000 kHz I999B8C999D999T999G999Y999 (0:0:0)
        QAM_AUTO f = 666000 kHz I999B8C999D999T999G999Y999 (0:0:0) : updating transport_stream_id: -> (0:0:1002)
        QAM_AUTO f = 666000 kHz I999B8C999D999T999G999Y999 (0:0:1002) : updating network_id -> (0:12801:1002)
        updating transponder:
           (QAM_AUTO f = 666000 kHz I999B8C999D999T999G999Y999 (0:12801:1002)) 0x0000
        to (QAM_64   f = 666000 kHz I999B8C23D0T8G32Y0 (8564:12801:1002)) 0x405A
674000: (time: 02:36.788)
682000: (time: 02:42.668)
690000: (time: 02:48.348)
698000: (time: 02:54.107)
706000: (time: 02:59.977)
714000: (time: 03:05.927)
722000: (time: 03:11.627)
730000: (time: 03:17.317)
738000: (time: 03:23.137)
746000: (time: 03:28.797)
754000: (time: 03:34.747)
762000: (time: 03:40.647)
770000: (time: 03:46.427)
778000: (time: 03:52.117)
786000: (time: 03:57.877)
794000: (time: 04:03.647)
802000: (time: 04:09.467)
810000: (time: 04:15.186)
818000: (time: 04:21.136)
826000: (time: 04:26.846)
834000: (time: 04:32.526)
842000: (time: 04:38.316)
850000: (time: 04:44.116)
858000: (time: 04:49.886)
Scanning DVB-T2...
474000: (time: 04:55.546)
482000: (time: 05:01.616)
490000: (time: 05:07.226)
498000: (time: 05:13.076)
506000: (time: 05:18.996)
514000: (time: 05:24.676)
522000: (time: 05:30.496)
530000: (time: 05:36.246)
538000: (time: 05:42.105)
546000: (time: 05:47.825)
554000: (time: 05:53.575)
562000: (time: 05:59.325)
570000: (time: 06:05.055)
578000: (time: 06:11.025)
586000: (time: 06:17.085)
594000: (time: 06:22.985)
602000: (time: 06:28.795)
610000: (time: 06:34.485)
618000: (time: 06:40.265)
626000: (time: 06:46.105)
634000: (time: 06:51.945)
642000: skipped (already known transponder)
650000: (time: 06:57.625)
658000: (time: 07:03.464)
666000: skipped (already known transponder)
674000: (time: 07:09.214)
682000: (time: 07:15.084)
690000: (time: 07:20.964)
698000: (time: 07:26.694)
706000: (time: 07:32.494)
714000: (time: 07:38.364)
722000: (time: 07:44.214)
730000: (time: 07:50.074)
738000: (time: 07:55.824)
746000: (time: 08:01.664)
754000: (time: 08:07.474)
762000: (time: 08:13.224)
770000: (time: 08:18.894)
778000: (time: 08:24.714)
786000: (time: 08:30.563)
794000: (time: 08:36.343)
802000: (time: 08:42.153)
810000: (time: 08:47.823)
818000: (time: 08:53.573)
826000: (time: 08:59.403)
834000: (time: 09:05.193)
842000: (time: 09:11.003)
850000: (time: 09:16.743)
858000: (time: 09:22.623)
tune to: QAM_64   f = 642000 kHz I999B8C23D0T8G32Y0 (8564:12801:1001) (time: 09:28.173)
        service = SSU (RT&#201;NL)
        service =  (RT&#201;NL)
        service = Tithe an Oireachtais (RT&#201;NL)
        service = RT&#201;2 (RT&#201;NL)
        service = Virgin Media 1 (RT&#201;NL)
        service = TG4 (RT&#201;NL)
        service = RT&#201; News Now (RT&#201;NL)
        service = Virgin Media 2 (RT&#201;NL)
        service =  (RT&#201;NL)
        service =  (RT&#201;NL)
        service =  (RT&#201;NL)
        service =  (RT&#201;NL)
        service =  (RT&#201;NL)
        service =  (RT&#201;NL)
        service =  (RT&#201;NL)
        service =  (RT&#201;NL)
        service =  (RT&#201;NL)
        service =  (RT&#201;NL)
        service =  (RT&#201;NL)
        service =  (RT&#201;NL)
        service =  (RT&#201;NL)
        service =  (RT&#201;NL)
        service =  (RT&#201;NL)
        service =  (RT&#201;NL)
        service =  (RT&#201;NL)
        service =  (RT&#201;NL)
        service =  (RT&#201;NL)
        service = 2rn (RT&#201;NL)
        service = RT&#201; Radio 1 (RT&#201;NL)
        service = RT&#201; 2FM (RT&#201;NL)
        service = RT&#201; Lyric (RT&#201;NL)
        service = RT&#201; Raidi&#243; na Gaeltachta (RT&#201;NL)
        service = RT&#201; Radio 1 Extra (RT&#201;NL)
        service = RT&#201; Pulse (RT&#201;NL)
        service = RT&#201; 2XM (RT&#201;NL)
        service = RT&#201; Junior (RT&#201;NL)
        service = RT&#201; Gold (RT&#201;NL)
        service = RT&#201; Chill (RT&#201;NL)
tune to: QAM_64   f = 666000 kHz I999B8C23D0T8G32Y0 (8564:12801:1002) (time: 09:43.073)
        service = SSU (RT&#201;NL)
        service =  (RT&#201;NL)
        service = RT&#201; One (RT&#201;NL)
        service = RT&#201;2 +1 (RT&#201;NL)
        service = Virgin Media 3 (RT&#201;NL)
        service =  (RT&#201;NL)
        service =  (RT&#201;NL)
        service = RT&#201; Junior (RT&#201;NL)
        service =  (RT&#201;NL)
        service =  (RT&#201;NL)
        service =  (RT&#201;NL)
        service = RT&#201; One +1 (RT&#201;NL)
        service =  (RT&#201;NL)
        service =  (RT&#201;NL)
        service = Saorview Information (RT&#201;NL)
        service =  (RT&#201;NL)
        service =  (RT&#201;NL)
        service =  (RT&#201;NL)
        service =  (RT&#201;NL)
        service =  (RT&#201;NL)
        service =  (RT&#201;NL)
        service =  (RT&#201;NL)
        service =  (RT&#201;NL)
        service =  (RT&#201;NL)
        service =  (RT&#201;NL)
        service =  (RT&#201;NL)
        service =  (RT&#201;NL)
        service =  (RT&#201;NL)
        service =  (RT&#201;NL)
        service = Radio Maria Ireland (RT&#201;NL)
        service =  (RT&#201;NL)
        service =  (RT&#201;NL)
        service =  (RT&#201;NL)
        service =  (RT&#201;NL)
        service =  (RT&#201;NL)
        service =  (RT&#201;NL)
        service =  (RT&#201;NL)
        service =  (RT&#201;NL)
(time: 09:58.082) dumping lists (24 services)
..
#------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# file automatically generated by w_scan
# (http://wirbel.htpc-forum.de/w_scan/index2.html)
#! <w_scan> 20170107 1 0 TERRESTRIAL IE </w_scan>
#------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# location and provider: <add description here>
# date (yyyy-mm-dd)    : 2020-07-10
# provided by (opt)    : <your name or email here>
#
# T[2] <freq> <bw> <fec_hi> <fec_lo> <mod> <tm> <guard> <hi> [plp_id] [# comment]
#------------------------------------------------------------------------------
T 642000000 8MHz  2/3 NONE    QAM64   8k 1/32 NONE      # 2RN 1
T 666000000 8MHz  2/3 NONE    QAM64   8k 1/32 NONE      # 2RN 2
Done, scan time: 09:58.082

However tvheadend still fails when scanning so still some more work to do.

dirtchamber79 · 10-07-2020 6:00pm

Update

So i needed to be using frontend1 instead of frontend0 so I found a workaround command to do this online.

cd /dev/dvb/adapter0 && sudo mv frontend0 frontend99 && sudo mv frontend1 frontend0

Now I am up and running in tvheadend.

For anyone on the Greystones transmitter here are the scanning parameters.

Frequencies: 642Mhz and 666Mhz
Bandwidth: 8Mhz
Constellaton: QAM64
Transmission mode: 8k
Guard interval: 1/32
Hierarchy: None
FEC High: 2/3
FEC Low: None

T 642000000 8MHz 2/3 NONE QAM64 8k 1/32 NONE # 2RN 1
T 666000000 8MHz 2/3 NONE QAM64 8k 1/32 NONE # 2RN 2

I will now try get these added to the other ones that are built in to tvheadend / dvb-apps.

Thanks everyone.

Johnboy1951 · 10-07-2020 7:49pm

dirtchamber79 wrote: »

I was looking here on Boards last night and came across one of your threads Johnboy1951, this would be something i would like to get to in the future with satellite and saorview headend.

One thing I did notice is that on your screenshot of the SNR and Signal Strength your SNR is up very high, mine only gets 19db and shows about 25% of the 'progress bar'. Is there something I can do to increase that?

That indicator is not a 'true value'.
I have the tuners set up as Sat>IP devices and the signal scale shows the strength from those devices which can vary per device.

On the Config settings in TVH it is mentioned that 100 or 240 should be the expected scaling.
I recall I had to adjust one lot to a 256 scaling to limit the indicator to 100% (at 240 it showed 106% I think).

The aerial I'm using is a Slx digidome one, its in the window about 7km from transmitter, i was planning to put in attic if it works indoors. It works fine on the tv but that may have a stronger tuner.

I have an old sunray sat box that has a dvb-t tuner so will try use that and get a better look at the signal strength/SNR and try adjust so its the highest it will go.

Edit: from reading here: https://www.smartaerials.co.uk/blog/what-is-the-difference-between-tv-signal-strength-quality
Looks like i will need a SNR of at least 45dB for Digital Terrestrial TV

Anyone any ideas?

I have my aerial outdoors, but it would also work in the attic ...... once there was no foil backed insulation interfering.

Plan well if you intend to change to a distributed system like I posted about.
I made some costly errors early on ..... like building a HTPC that would have done well as my main PC at the time

Saorview settings on Raspberry Pi - Greystones Transmitter

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