DVB World & TSReader Tuning Help! (Please)

[mrbig]

Hi Folks,
It looks like I came to the right place. I am putting together a portable transport stream recorder system. It's not for recording just programs, but rather the content of one whole transponder. I have proven this concept with a Twinhan 1020 PCI card and the TSReader application. My purpose is for business, and all of my hardware and software is fully licensed.

Why do I want to record the full contents of a transport stream? To play it back in a stream player > modulator > upconverter system > set top box under test scenario in an area that is not under the footprint of the satellites in question. This system is used in the testing and development of new sat top boxes for many of the satellite delivery systems around the world.

Why did I switch from the Twinhan card to a DVB World USB box? For two reasons: 1. The Twinhan card was a loaner, and I need to return it.
2. I want a USB system to so that my whole "recording station" except for the LNB and dish of course, will be very portable. The system I envision is a laptop, DVB World USB and an external USB connected hard drive (around 300 Gigabytes). Then I can travel to anywhere in the world to get under the satellite "footprint" and hook up to my host's dish system and record transport streams.

As I said, I have proven this concept with the Twinhan card. I have successfully used the TSReader application with the Twinhan (and our roof dish) to tune to the PAS9 satellite and record the contents of several transponders (individually of course). Whether the content is scrambled or not is not at issue. When the streams are played back into our boxes during development we have legal access to the correct CA gear.

Anyway, back to my problem. I installed the DVB World NEXTORM drivers and software using the CD supplied. I then used that software to tune to the PAS9 and got a successful full scan that caught all of the transponders. I was then able to watch the clear service channels.

Then I was ready to use the TSReader, so I updated the driver according to the instructions for this process on the TSReader support web site. That process went well, and TSReader was able to sense the presence of the DVB World receiver. Tuning after that, however, did not go that well. My setup is the dish on the roof of our building, connecting cable and that goes right into the DVB World's connector. It's exactly the same setup that I was just watching programs on from the same satellite when using the NEXTORM software's GUI. But I cannot get the TSReader/DVB World combination to do a successful tune. I have tried every setting for the Input Setup and tuning parameters that I can think of.

I remember similar problems with the Twinhan, but they were resolved by making it think there was a DisEqC in the input section. Anyway I have tried that trick with DVB World too, and it didn't work.

I am running out of ideas, but I see people on here talking about using this unit with TSReader. So maybe on of you can tell me what I'm doing wrong (other than talking way too much).

Thanks,
Ernie

 

[PSB]

WELCOME to the SatelliteGuys.US FTA forum!

Have you seen this.........

http://www.coolstf.com/tsreader/DVBWorld.html

 

[Das Hammer]

Pete, I believe that is what they referred to above. I had the same problem last night. Changed over to the driver for TSReader, but could not tune anything. Put original driver back in, started DVBWorld.exe and it was back to my choppy HD video on AMC3.

Where's digiblur? He's the TSReader expert!

 

[PSB]

I use the original software and have flawless HD / 4:2:2 with AC3 audio, not tried AMC-3 recently.

 

[Das Hammer]

I use the original software and have flawless HD / 4:2:2 with AC3 audio, not tried AMC-3 recently.

I would LOVE to use the software that came with it. Problem is that it shoots my CPU usage up to 100% and starts breaking up. If I use ProgDVB, the usage is only around 40-45%. This happens on any HD feed that I try, AMC3 or otherwise.

I don't understand what I'm doing wrong!

Installed PowerDVD last night and still the same result. Latest video card drivers. I remember why I don't like Windows now.

 

[mrbig]

WELCOME to the SatelliteGuys.US FTA forum!

Have you seen this.........

http://www.coolstf.com/tsreader/DVBWorld.html

Hi PSB,
Thanks for the reply.

As indicated in my post, I had the TSReader application before I bought the DVB World receiver. I also use TSReader for stream analysis. It is the best way for me to extract the stream parameters when I get an unknown stream with such "helpful" filenames such as "stream1" or "recorded today" or the ever helpful "a.ts & b.mpg." TSReader has been my lifeline in those situations. When I get a stream file, I have to find out quickly what it is and figure out how to play it on my stream players, so my developers can use it to build our next receiver system.

I used the link that you posted to install the TSReader driver for using the DVB World unit to record the Off Air signal from PAS9 as a proof of concept. It works fine, as far as TSReader talking to the receiver unit. What doesn't work is convincing the receiver that it can tune lock over the same path that works fine with the NEXTORM software and driver.

As I said, I had a similar issue with Twinhan and TSReader, but I got it solved through experimentation with the "Input Setup" interface in TSReader. I have not yet been successful in doing that with my DVB World unit and TSReader.

I am not using my receiver for recreational viewing. So I am not interested in recording individual programs for later viewing. I want to record the contents of entire transponder streams for use on stream players in areas of the world that cannot see the satellites in question.

Thanks again for your reply,
Ernie

 

[Das Hammer]

It works fine, as far as TSReader talking to the receiver unit. What doesn't work is convincing the receiver that it can tune lock over the same path that works fine with the NEXTORM software and driver.

Same issue here. TSReader seemingly recognizes the DVBWorld unit after using the other driver, but can't get it to tune anything. I also tried to move the dish with TSReader's on screen control, but even though TSReader acted like it was moving, it did not. I wonder if there is some kind of communication error that is being supressed.

 

[digiblur]

Pete, I believe that is what they referred to above. I had the same problem last night. Changed over to the driver for TSReader, but could not tune anything. Put original driver back in, started DVBWorld.exe and it was back to my choppy HD video on AMC3.

Where's digiblur? He's the TSReader expert!

Working!

I haven't used a DVBWorld box with TSReader so I think PSB is going to the expert on this one.

 

[PSB]

Pete, I believe that is what they referred to above. I had the same problem last night. Changed over to the driver for TSReader, but could not tune anything. Put original driver back in, started DVBWorld.exe and it was back to my choppy HD video on AMC3.

Where's digiblur? He's the TSReader expert!

Just checked AMC-3 @ 87ºw PBS HDTV (Ku)

PERFECT, low signal (55% quality) and I am using a 36" dish with Invacom LNBF, what kind of quality are you getting?

 

[mrbig]

Working!

I haven't used a DVBWorld box with TSReader so I think PSB is going to the expert on this one.

I have been in tough with Rod Hewitt, the author of TSReader. He recommended the DVB World USB unit for two reasons. 1. Being USB it can be made very portable with a laptop implementations. 2. It does both DVB and DSS.

Rod told me that he uses the DVB World unit with TSReader when he travels. All he needs to do is find a host with a dish.

That's the kind of system that I'm envisioning. A laptop, DVB World USB and an external USB hard drive (a big capacity one) to record full transponder transport streams off air for use in other areas of the world that are not under that footprint. Transport streams are invaluable in my business of developing set top boxes for customers all around the world.

If Rod got this to work, then I must be doing something wrong. Or maybe there's a bug in the driver implementation.

Cheers,
Ernie

 

[Stefan]

I have a DVBworld usb tuner I use with Tsreader all the time. I'm not sure exactly what your problem is as mine always works. Of course one difference is that I've never bothered to install either the driver or software that comes with the DVBwolrd usb tuner. Perhaps you should make sure you uninstall all of the software that comes with it and then try reinstalling the Tsreader driver.

As for switch settings, I set mine to none as I'm using none. If your connecting directly to the dish with no switch you should do this also. Also make sure you have the right polarity checked and have LNB power on, unless of course your using a power inserter or another receiver to power the LNB. Also double check your LNB LO settings and make sure it's set right.

 

[digiblur]

I have a DVBworld usb tuner I use with Tsreader all the time. I'm not sure exactly what your problem is as mine always works. Of course one difference is that I've never bothered to install either the driver or software that comes with the DVBwolrd usb tuner. Perhaps you should make sure you uninstall all of the software that comes with it and then try reinstalling the Tsreader driver.

As for switch settings, I set mine to none as I'm using none. If your connecting directly to the dish with no switch you should do this also. Also make sure you have the right polarity checked and have LNB power on, unless of course your using a power inserter or another receiver to power the LNB. Also double check your LNB LO settings and make sure it's set right.

That's my thoughts too...that some sort of driver is still hanging around on the PC.

On both my 8PSK module and Twinhan card on the HTPC I set the switch settings to exactly which bird I want to look at it.

 

[mrbig]

I have a DVBworld usb tuner I use with Tsreader all the time. I'm not sure exactly what your problem is as mine always works. Of course one difference is that I've never bothered to install either the driver or software that comes with the DVBwolrd usb tuner. Perhaps you should make sure you uninstall all of the software that comes with it and then try reinstalling the Tsreader driver.

As for switch settings, I set mine to none as I'm using none. If your connecting directly to the dish with no switch you should do this also. Also make sure you have the right polarity checked and have LNB power on, unless of course your using a power inserter or another receiver to power the LNB. Also double check your LNB LO settings and make sure it's set right.

Thanks, I'll give that a try.

However, even the COOLSTF website with the instructions for installing the TSReader driver tells you to "update" the supplied driver, so then you can switch back to it if you wish.

I have tried the "none" switch setting. It was no go too. I use about 10 different kind of stream players at work and many of them have external modulators and up converters. I have to constantly do LO and band calculations in my head. Believe me I have been all over that. When I had the Twinhan card installed, I had to use the DisEqC switch settings, even though there is no switch. I think it's just an idiosyncrasy of the interface which isn't all that clearly defined in my opinion.

Anyway, I'll keep trying. I am really determined to build a working "traveling stream recorder."

Thanks again,
Ernie

 

[mrbig]

Thanks, I'll give that a try.

However, even the COOLSTF website with the instructions for installing the TSReader driver tells you to "update" the supplied driver, so then you can switch back to it if you wish.

I have tried the "none" switch setting. It was no go too. I use about 10 different kind of stream players at work and many of them have external modulators and up converters. I have to constantly do LO and band calculations in my head. Believe me I have been all over that. When I had the Twinhan card installed, I had to use the DisEqC switch settings, even though there is no switch. I think it's just an idiosyncrasy of the interface which isn't all that clearly defined in my opinion.

Anyway, I'll keep trying. I am really determined to build a working "traveling stream recorder."

Thanks again,
Ernie

Here are a couple of documents with screenshots. One is of the NEXTORM interface with the scan parameters GUI and the Viewing screen GUI. You can see that the signal strength and quality are good. The channel selected is playing, but the video layer cannot be seen in a screenshot. I didn't do a capture, since I was controlling the PC in my office remotely using a VPN tunnel and VNC. What it demonstrates, however, is that my gear from dish to computer is all working.

The second document is with the TSReader driver loaded and the TSReader interface loaded. The parameters are the same. The LNB settings are the same. The hardware is all the same. The result, however, is "NO LOCK"

Thanks,
Ernie

 

[H2OSkier]

I've been trying to get my new DBV World receiver, thanks Pete , working with TSReader. I'm having the same issue as others. No matter what I try I can not get a lock with TSReader. I loaded the software on the shipped CD which worked fine. After failing with TSReader I found a new version of the World software on their site, this worked even better than the shipped version.

If anyone has found an answer or any ideas to try I'd be very grateful.

Ken

 

[Stefan]

I've been trying to get my new DBV World receiver, thanks Pete , working with TSReader. I'm having the same issue as others. No matter what I try I can not get a lock with TSReader. I loaded the software on the shipped CD which worked fine. After failing with TSReader I found a new version of the World software on their site, this worked even better than the shipped version.

If anyone has found an answer or any ideas to try I'd be very grateful.

Ken

You do know that to use this device with Tsreader you must replace the driver that ships with the product with one that comes with Tsreader right? Then of course the orginal software that ships with the product will cease to function as it needs the "stock" driver installed. So, unless you want to continually switch back and forth between driver, which you can in fact do, you might want to pick which software you like best and stick with it. I never bothered to install anything off of the CD that came with mine as I only ever use the DVBworld box with Tsreader.

 

[H2OSkier]

Yup I understand switching drivers I was trying to get the point across that two different versions of the World software work fine but TSReader will not lock on anything.

I know is "should" work but no workie here

Ken