Monday, August 29, 2011

How to Watch Freesat HD on Mythtv 0.22 Linux PVR with Ubuntu

This article focus on the installation of DVBs/DVB-S MythTV DVR/PVR system and the software. In this guide, I will show you how to setup of the MythTV software and get it working with your DVB s2 card.

The Setup

When you setup of the MythTV, please make sure that our mouse will not be able to point and click at the MythTV buttons. MythTV was designed with a TV mindset from day one, so it’s expecting inputs from a remote control. In this case, your keyboard works just fine. The keys you are going to use are:INSERT KEYS HERE

Verify DVB s2 card is operating in Linux

Before starting this process its worth checking your DVB s2 card is correctly recognized by the Linux Kernel. Open a Terminal window (Applications->Accessories->Terminal) and do the following, this would show your card is Linux supported TV card.
Locale Settings screen

* Format = ‘PAL’

* VBI = ‘None’

* Channel Frequency = ‘Europe West’

Misc Settings screen

* Master backend override = ticked

* Delete files slowly = ticked

* HD rungbuffer = 9400

EIT scan options screen

* EIT transport timeout = 1 minute

* Cross source EIT = ticked

* this is useful if you add more sat orbital positions later on)

* Backend idle before EIT = 30 secs,

shutdown/wakeup screen

No changes, leave the default values

backend wakeup screen

No changes, leave the default values

Backend Control screen

No changes, leave the default values

Job Queue (backend specific) screen,

* Max jobs = 2

* Job queue check = 300 seconds.

* If your mythbox is on all night long, set the job queue start and end to the middle of the night when you are asleep so MythTV jobs do not hinder your daytime system performance. For example, start 02:00 end 07:00.

* cpu use = medium

* Allow commercial detect = ticked

* Transcoding = ticked

Job Queue (Global) screen, Job Queue (Job commands) screen, UPNP Server settings screen

No changes, leave the default values.

On the UPNP Server settings screen, the ‘Next’ button should be replaced with ‘Finish.’ to finish and select to return you to the main setup menu.

DVB s2 card Setup

Select menu option 2 (capture video cards) then click new capture card. Set Capture card type to ‘DVB DTV capture card (v3.x)’ NOTE: your card may show up as V4L or similar initially. Make sure you select DVB DTV capture card instead. Once selected, the system should auto fill technical details regarding your card, such as type.

* Set tuning timeout to 20000 and signal timeout to 20000

* Select the Diseqc settings button (even if you dont use it). In the new window, hit enter on ‘unconnected’ (Note you may need to press the right arrow key on the word ‘unconnected’ to highlight/select it before hitting enter). This should bring up a menu, from which you select LNB. This will bring up another window, where you set ‘LNB preset’ to ‘universal(europe)’ – this is assuming you have a European style universal LNB (Sky minidish has this). Select finish (you should now be back one page and see ‘LNB’ instead of ‘unconnected’). Hit escape to take you back to the card setup screen

* Select recording options and in the new screen set max recordings to ’2′ (this allows you to watch one channel and record another if they are on the same DTV transponder/multiplex). Tick wait for SEQ start header. Untick open Mythtv supported card on demand. Tick use DVB s2 card for active EIT. Put a ‘tuning delay’ of 100ms to help with Budget DVB cards. Select finish to go back one screen, then select finish again

You should now be at the capture card list and you should see your card, like so:

If you see the DVB S2 card on the list, Hit ESC to go back to the main menu. Congratulations, you have successfully completed Part 2 of this guide and are well on the way to watching Freesat TV on Linux Ubuntu.

quad tuner card,dvb-s2 quad tuner

Monday, August 22, 2011

Watching Freeview Channels on PC with DVB T2 Dual Card

Watching TV on a PC is just a matter of plugging in one or more TV tuners or a USB TV box and running the control software. While your computer’s screen might not be a sharp or as big as the television in your living room, Watching TV on your PC does mean you can keep an eye on what’s happening in the world while you’re at work or at play. It’s a doddle to archive recorded sport or TV shows to DVD, and network connectivity means you can watch on any computer in any room in the house.

There are much kind of TV tuner cards available in the market. Such as DVB S2 card, DVB T2 card, DVB C card, analogue TV card etc. Now today we will introduce a new DVB T tuner card which is specially designed for receiving freeview channels in UK. Unlike other countries in Europe, most of UK locals get feeview TV. You might know freeview, you may be not know DVB T( digital Video Broadcasting Terrestrial). In another word, Freeview , Freeview+, Freeview HD is transmitted as DVB T/T2 standard. So if you want to get freeview TV, you might need a DVB T tuner card, rather than DVB S or DBV C card.

The TBS 6280 DVB T dual TV tuner card is a Freeview tuner card with PCI express slot. It supports dual tuners receiving with digital terrestrial television including both DVB-T and DVB-T2 standard, Giving 2 simultaneous HD terrestrial streaming from a single low profile card. All Freeview digital terrestrial (DVB-T & T2) TV and radio channels can be received by this Freeview HD tv card.

The manufacturers include a small portable aerial with the DVB T2 tuner. However, how good these mini antennae are at picking up a solid signal depends on the coverage where you live. When we connected the TBS 6280 is a great freeview HD tuner to a proper aerial on the roof we found an impressive total of 70 TV and radio stations. Switching to a tiny indoor antenna that was packaged with DVB-T tuner, Placing the tidily antenna on the outside window sill we did far better, picking up 26 channels including such as BBC HD, channel 4 ,ITV, EPSN, CNN. There wasn’t a single TV station that we would choose to watch and the radio selection is good too.

The good news is that TBS 6280 is ideal for Windows 7 Media Center, MythTV Linux ubuntu and other high end PVR DVB applications. The latest Linux driver works well with terrestrial DVB-T2 reception, It is a good DVB T card for linux and MythTV supporting.

Software

Every TV tuner comes with some sort of software to allow you to scan for stations, save favorite broadcasters, and schedule recordings DVR-style. TBS 6280 DVB T2 card comes with the compatible drivers for windows and Linux. It also contains some DVB applications, such as progdvb, TBSviewer,DVBviewer. You’ll be able to scan for channels, watch TV, pause and record from the comfort of your sofa with the added bonus of the interface on the screen and a decent remote control. On top of that you can expect that your tuner will come with a seven-day Electronic Programme Guide (EPG)in Freeview list.

About Price

£103 is a reasonable price for a dual tuner card. Each tuner cost less than £ 55. It is so pleased to see the performance is great. Compared to Blackgold BGT3510, TBS 6280 has Absolute price advantage. It would be a great potential DVB T2 product in the recent market, Especially for UK market.

Ready to buy TBS6280?