the PBS website (its posted in the thread) the other day showed all but one PBS station had changed to 125W
LPB is on AMC21 in DVB-S2
AMC 21
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the PBS website (its posted in the thread) the other day showed all but one PBS station had changed to 125W
LPB is on AMC21 in DVB-S2
I've tried tuning LPB on AMC 21 and can't lock it on either my 7 1/2 foot C/Ku dish or my 3 foot ku dish. The signal looks strong on the Broadlogic Spectrum Analyzer, but no luck with the TT S2-3200.
I'm convinced it's a question of precise positioning. I can lock it in Holland with my 90cm on both my CS8000 ( which is driving the dish) and a tt-s2-3200 . In Diseqc 1.2 mode, for precision, about one bump in either direction and it disappears. Ice never gets it at all from Minnesota on his Ku dish .
During the daytime, Tony . They turn out the lights on this mux early in the evening. It's programming is generally, but not always, from the national PBS feeds.
LPB now becomes a compelling reason for me to get S2-capable equipment. One of the two PBS affiliates in New Orleans occasionally carries LPB content, the other does not.
We can certainly recommend the CS8000 ( if you can find one cheap enough) and if not, the the PCI card tt-s2-3200 is a good choice. The Technotrend card seems to have a better tuner than the Coolsat, at least in my "Man-cave" .
I've been looking at the TT3200 as a replacement for my Twinhan card. They are a little pricey, but if they will manage S2, they could be worth it
No need to "replace" the Twinhan, if you have enough slots. I have a Twinhan, the TT3200, a Broadlogic, and an ATSC OTA card in the same computer, and up until 2 days ago all worked together fine (although I've been having some issues with the Broadlogic of late). My Twinhan has a passthru so I can run the Twinhan and 3200 off the same signal, but unfortunately the 3200 doesn't have a passthru. However what I've now done, is since most DVB-S2 is on C-band, I have my Twinhan card connected to my 2 3' dishes, and the 3200 is connected to my C-band dish.
I was surprised re Brent's comment about the 3200 having a "better" tuner than the CS. I'm not sure how the evaluation was made, but the only way I could compare the two was whether or not they would lock on the same signals, and my Coolsat would generally lock weak signals that the 3200 wouldn't lock, so it seemed to have a more sensitive tuner, although that doesn't mean that the 3200 might be better in other respects.
One thing that annoys me about the 3200, is that apparently the drivers for the card try to search for signals when they aren't found or lost. I generally use the card with TSREADER, and if I'm watching a DVB-S2 channel, and then move my dish to another sat, when the 3200 loses the signal, it tends to lock up TSREADER for something close to a minute, while it's apparently searching for the signal. Can't do anything with TSREADER until the darn card gives up. Same thing when you try to lock a signal that it can't lock on.
Another apparent issue relative to this search thing, is that this search will take the card WAY off freq. It will lock on a signal that is at least 20 MHz off freq, which confused me to no end when I was on the wrong polarity once on a sat that had two DVB-S2 transponders right next to each other. I tried to tune in one of the two, and after a LONG pause, it locked on the wrong transponder, which was 20 MHz away. Switched polarity, and the thing seached back to the correct transponder. All without re-tuning TSREADER, which ended up displaying the channels from BOTH transponders at the same time. Then moved the dish to another sat, which had an S2 transponder with same SR on a close by freq, and it locked onto that signal without re-tuning TSREADER.
I've also locked signals with it, when I had the wrong parameters keyed in, and couldn't figure out why I couldn't tune the transponder with 2 other receivers, only to find out that I had the freq wrong by 10 MHz. I'm not sure if this tuner behavior is a good thing or bad thing, but it sure confuses me at times.
Another issue with the card, is that TSREADER doesn't seem to have complete control of it. Sometimes TSREADER will say that the card isn't locked, but it is, ie you can see the data flying in, and the thumbprints are updating, and I'll be streaming to my Roku or VLC, but the S/N indicator says that there is no signal and no lock.
Overall though, I'm glad I got the 3200. It's well worth all the problems to have TSREADER capabilities on S2 signals.
I was surprised re Brent's comment about the 3200 having a "better" tuner than the CS. I'm not sure how the evaluation was made, but the only way I could compare the two was whether or not they would lock on the same signals, and my Coolsat would generally lock weak signals that the 3200 wouldn't lock, so it seemed to have a more sensitive tuner, although that doesn't mean that the 3200 might be better in other respects.
One thing that annoys me about the 3200, is that apparently the drivers for the card try to search for signals when they aren't found or lost. I generally use the card with TSREADER, and if I'm watching a DVB-S2 channel, and then move my dish to another sat, when the 3200 loses the signal, it tends to lock up TSREADER for something close to a minute, while it's apparently searching for the signal. Can't do anything with TSREADER until the darn card gives up. Same thing when you try to lock a signal that it can't lock on.
Another apparent issue relative to this search thing, is that this search will take the card WAY off freq. It will lock on a signal that is at least 20 MHz off freq, which confused me to no end when I was on the wrong polarity once on a sat that had two DVB-S2 transponders right next to each other. I tried to tune in one of the two, and after a LONG pause, it locked on the wrong transponder, which was 20 MHz away. Switched polarity, and the thing seached back to the correct transponder. All without re-tuning TSREADER, which ended up displaying the channels from BOTH transponders at the same time. Then moved the dish to another sat, which had an S2 transponder with same SR on a close by freq, and it locked onto that signal without re-tuning TSREADER.
I've also locked signals with it, when I had the wrong parameters keyed in, and couldn't figure out why I couldn't tune the transponder with 2 other receivers, only to find out that I had the freq wrong by 10 MHz. I'm not sure if this tuner behavior is a good thing or bad thing, but it sure confuses me at times.
Another issue with the card, is that TSREADER doesn't seem to have complete control of it. Sometimes TSREADER will say that the card isn't locked, but it is, ie you can see the data flying in, and the thumbprints are updating, and I'll be streaming to my Roku or VLC, but the S/N indicator says that there is no signal and no lock.
Overall though, I'm glad I got the 3200. It's well worth all the problems to have TSREADER capabilities on S2 signals.
Brent, I had a Technotrend in the past, a skystar 2.3 and it would not work unless "use one cpu only" was selected in the various dvb softwares, can you say if the s2-3200 is like this?
I'm also looking for a new card and the TBS 8920 or maybe 6920 and this s2-3200 look like good candidates....just can't decide.
I'm also looking for a new card and the TBS 8920 or maybe 6920 and this s2-3200 look like good candidates....just can't decide.
Right now, I'm using the s2-3200 with the WDM drivers and TSreader only. I have just switched to that configuration, since I seem to use it just for feeds, and I love Tsreader for Those Critters. The s2-3200 worked fine with bda drivers on both DVBViewer and ProgDVB, with both cpu's enabled. I think the software has matured somewhat. I know that DVBDream was rewritten to support multiple cpu's , and I use that with my Skywalker-1.
So, I think that "use single cpu" issue is now not necessary with most of the major software packages.
FYI, the TBS 8920 locks in about 1 second in comparison to 3 seconds with the S2-3200 on a same signal. Only drawback is that it only has BDA drivers and does not work currently with TSReader.
Thanks for posting this BJ, there isn't a lot of info out there about dvb cards, makes it tough to make an informed decision on what to purchase. My DvbWorld 2104 box is similar to your s2-3200 experience in that it too sometimes hangs or takes long pauses, it seems to be searching, other times it switches quickly. Probably driver related as you say, wish I knew how to write or modify drivers
Great on the faster switching, no problem with the BDA only drivers, I've become a Transedit fan, Dvbviewer uses BDA drivers well and I don't use Tsreader very often now. Thanks for the tip
My tuner evaluation between the CS8000 and s2-3200 comes from the LPB DVB-S2 mux on 125W. Every evening it goes black slowly, the CS8000 pixelates and I switch over to the s2-3200 and can still watch without pixelation. It's a consistent phenomenon, but there may be other explanations ( signal loss through a particular cable connection, etc ) . They share the same Invacom QPH031 lnbf.
Hi
I've never been able to lock that mux with the 3200, but have locked it a couple times with the CS, but only if I connect the CS directly to the incoming coax..... (ie I usually use both the Coolsat or the 3200 slaved through the passthru on my Ultra). I've actually given up on getting that mux for the time being, but I might try it again, if I can get the Coolsat working right again (starting to have problems again, for some reason it's having problems with the 4444SR transponders... weird). But overall, it a half dozen side by side comparisons on troublesome transponders, the Coolsat has always been more sensitive than the 3200 for me, whether slaved or direct, but it also could have something to do with my connections, as I've had issues with cables and diseqC switches, etc. Right now, I have considerably better quality out of one of the linear ports of my QPH-031 than out of the other, both connected to the same DiseqC switch. I haven't investigated yet to see if it's the switch or the cable. I should run another cable out there, but I think it will have to wait till spring now with snow on the ground.
So many variables, it's hard to do a very scientific evaluation.
Only thing we do know, is our impressions from our own setups.
Only thing we do know, is our impressions from our own setups.
Hey guys have they removed some of the PBS channels off AMC 21 already? I'm getting fewer off 12180 than I did scanning last week, and an extra one with only sound but no picture, guessing a new HD... Any idea?
Not sure how many moved but I did notice Create was gone last night, you can still get it on the 12116 freq.
Looks like 12180 now has one HD channel, and 3 SD channels.
Create is one of the SD channels, but I'm not positive what the other two are, perhaps VME and World. 12140 still has 2 HD channels. I'm not able to lock the 12120 right now, not sure if it's my reception (snow on dish, and I don't get horizontal well anyway), or if it's down. I'll do a spectrum to see.
EDIT: Sorry.... the 12120 is still there. I'm slaved to an Ultra, and forgot to switch polarity.
Anyway 12120 still has the 9 channels on it.
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