How to Edit your 4DTV Maps

[stargaze]

How to edit your own maps: Part 1

THE "SIT" LINE :

Editing the maps is not that difficult but you need to have a good set of eyes to view the text file.

Each sat tile that is listed starts out with an "SIT" line.
The "SIT" line is extremely important and you do not want to make a mistake on this line or your sat tile may be out of position or not show up for you if you have it incorrect.
(One big reason we say always work on a copy of the nvram, so if you do make a mistake you still have the original file).

Here is part of the "SIT" Line:
SIT 003-G4,099.0,4678,P6,C,0000,V,0090,H,24,10,e4,00,0016;
This shows the SIT as 003 the number of the satellite and that number is also found on Diagnostic screen A converted to a 4 digit number (4099)
G4 is the name that will appear in the receiver when finished. This can be changed to any 2 digit number or letter or letter/number.
Example: if you wanted to change the G4 to say 99 for the satellite degree it is located at you can change it here. Just remember that if you change this area you must change each channel under that sit line that has the G4 to the new name also.
Only 2 digits will work as that what was set up by Motorola/GI.
The next numbers after the name is the satellite degree the sat it located at. in this case it is 099.0 degrees.
The 4 digit number after the degrees is the sat tile position in the receiver.
If it is UN-programmed in this will be set at 5000.
The P6,C stands for C-band and the "P6 or P2 (for ku)" mean s the satellite is programmed in. If it was UN-programmed in the receiver that would show "U4,C" for c-band or "U0,K" for ku band sat tiles.
After the "C" here are the numbers for the skew settings.
If UN-programmed in the receiver it will show as: -060,V,0030,H
If you have it set up already for your dish this could be a different set of values.

The 0016 at the end of the SIT line above represents the channel the 4D was last on while on this satellite. So in this case it was on G4-16. After that there is some data information that you should not change.

Now that is basically the info on the SIT line.

Below the SIT line are the transponders:
For now we are going to look at only the first transponder or in this case G4-01.
003-G4,00001,0,1,1,0,06074,001,00000,0,80,H,1430000,0,1,1,0,1,6.20,6.80,NTSC
The 003 flows back to the SIT number on the sit line as does the G4 for the name.
So if you decide to change the name on the SIT line of G4 to say G6, you need to change the G4 on each transponder under the sit line from G4 to G6 as well.
The 00001 is the channel number.
After the , (comma) there you have 4 more sets of 0's and 1's.... This can change for analog (NTSC) or digital. As digital there is a specific way to input the numbers here properly so a DC2 channel can show up.
Right now lets deal with NTSC only. For Analog this needs to be 0,1,1,0,
The next 5 digit set of number is the GUIDE DATA AREA. In this case it shows as 06074. This is the area that if you have the guide turned on you can create your own guide if you want on any satellite except X4 to anything you want.
All 0's here just means it is empty. If the number is put in incorrect and it does not correspond to anything then it will just show up as blank no guide info on that channel.

Any number beyond the NTSC on the text file is created by the map restoration program and this needs to show the same as the sat number at the beginning of the line
In the case of G4 after the NTSC it shows as: ,10,003
The 10 is from the Map Restoration program and the 003 represents the number of the satellite tile.

Now when you use the map restoration program you load in your nvram (bin file) and go to MAPS.... DISPLAY COMBINED MAPS... and save the file as a text file.

This gives you something similar to the #9 maps found on the website where the map files are located at. Since most of this is already set up for you (in the #9 maps) any tweaking can be done by copying and pasting and then just a little editing is necessary.

Any new satellite should be added as unprogrammed.
For C-band here is G4:
SIT 003-G4,099.0,5000,U4,C,-060,V,0030,H,24,10,c0,00,0001;

For KU it should appear like this:

SIT 007-L1,063.0,5000,U0,K,-060,V,0030,H,2,10,80,00,0001;

The ku line here is for L1 at 63.0 degrees West and the satellite number is 007.

The transponders under the SIT line for the most part you can copy and paste from the maps.

Now if you pulled out your nvram and wanted to keep your settings for many satellites then you can edit the SIT line for the sat position number to reflect your numbers.
If I lost you on this take a look at the very first SIT line at the top of this post.
G4 was programmed in at 4678 The UN-programmed SIT line shows it at 5000 because the sat tile is UN-programmed.

Explaining this makes it seem more difficult then it really is but in reality it is not difficult once you understand what the line mean.

Always remember that the commas( , ) are there to separate what the set of numbers are for. And in the text file anything commented out is always started out on a line with a semicolon ( ; ).
So if you see a line starting out like this;
;this is for a totally UN-programmed in sat tile list
It would not be seen by the map restoration program since it starts out with it being commented out with that semi-colon mark.
Notice how the SIT lines above here do not have that mark in front so the program would see this and read it.

Ok so this is mostly just the info for the SIT line.
Later I will put up another post on the transponder/channel lines.
(It is not yet written out).

The channels/transponders lines is where you can input guide data and add DC2 channels.

Just remember there are some active satellites which will send down information and X4 is one of the main ones. If you try changing anything on X4 it will be overwritten when you go to X4 from that satellite.
There may be 1 or 2 others but lately I have not seen this occur.
If it does, do not be alarmed it is that some satellites are more difficult to change then others.

(now you can begin to see why it took so long to get everything out to the public as first we had to understand what each area did and where it corresponded to. And this was just the SIT line being explained here.)

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Another helpfull how to! Thank you to you and the rest of the Map Master Team for helping to keep 4DTV alive.

 

[Anony55]

Thanks for this great information! I'm looking forward to your upcoming posts about TPs and channels too. I'm gonna c&p this into a text file for safe keeping.

Cheers

 

[stargaze]

Part 2:
Analog and DC2 channels.

015-G7,00012,0,1,1,0,00000,012,00000,0,80,V,1210000,0,1,1,0,0,6.80,6.80,NTSC,10,015
015-G7,00013,0,1,0,0,00000,013,00000,0,80,H,1190000,1,1,0,29.27,7/8,10,015,10,015
015-G7,00021,0,1,0,0,00000,021,00000,0,80,H,1038000,1,0,0,19.51,3/4,10,015,10,015
015-G7,00902,0,1,0,0,00000,025,00005,0,80,H,1281000,1,0,1,07.32,3/4,10,015,10,015
Here is an example of an Analog channel G7-12 and G7-13 is a DC2 channel.
The blue highlighted text is analog
The red highlighted text is DC2 for SR rate of 29.27
The orange highlighted text is also DC2 but a different SR rate of 19.51
The Green highlighted text is DC2 on low SR channels less then 19.51 so it is the same for 11.71, 7.32, 4.88 or any SR lower then 19.51
Notice how the first area next to the channel number for DC2 is the same but after the Frequency it can change.

For DC2 channels this is where it gets real interesting.
1) you have what is called the "BIT-STREAM" This can be bit-stream 1 or bit-stream-0 and in some cases it can be Bit-Stream-Both.
This is where a commercial receiver comes in handy to determine what it is.

Here are 2 channels from G7. Channel 117 is bit-stream-0 and Channel 118 in the same mux (set of channels) is using bit-stream-1.
015-G7,00117,0,0,0,0,03238,013,00001,0,80,H,1190000,1,1,0,29.27,7/8,10,015,10,015
015-G7,00118,0,1,0,0,00000,013,00002,0,80,H,1190000,1,1,0,29.27,7/8,10,015,10,015
notice the set of numbers highlighted in RED.
This is where the numbers after the channel number can be different according to the bit-stream.. However since it is the same SR of 29.27 after the frequency that section remains the same.

OK so what have we got here?
G7-12 is the first one posted here and that is analog, see the NTCS at the end of the line...
G7-13 is showing a DC2 setting in the analog section of the file. So that means there may be a DC2 channel below channel 24 someplace if there is actually a signal to be seen or locked.
In this case G7-13 shows a DC2 mux with a SR of 29.27 and FEC of 7/8.
Remember where the guide info goes? well the number to the right of it is also reflecting the transponder number here also. Look at G7-117 above... There is guide data there showing 03238 and directly after that guide data it shows 013 and the 013 points it to G7-13 in the analog section.
If you do not have this number correct here you will have problems.
Once you realize that the above highlighted areas are the only ones you really need to know it goes very quick.
After some time you can do it in your sleep.
Now your going to ask if you noticed it.... What is going on with G7-902?
I only mentioned corresponding DC2 channels to analog channels 1-24 but this is not the case here....
Well, this is because some receivers like the 920's and 921 receivers can not lock these lower SR channels and some satellites will create a channel roll-over or channels locking up and not going properly so the low SR channels reflect an undetermined analog channel in this case 25.
This was a real stumper for a long time to figure out a way around so all the channels could be put in one set of maps and all the receivers would work properly.
Earlier we had 2 sets of maps one for a 922 and another for the 920 & 921 receivers.
Now the newest maps have everything in there on the proper satellites like it should be for all receivers and the tests so far are working good as it was just done in the past week.

**This is not the case on all the satellites** some are fine and only a few have this problem with the low SR channels**

Lets go over a bit here:
004-X4,00318,0,1,0,0,02001,017,00001,0,80,H,1250000,1,0,0,19.51,3/4,10,004
This is from X4 digital channel 318
The bit-stream is 1 here (0,1,0,0,) if it was 0 then those 4 digits would all be 0's.
Guide info is 02001 and it corresponds to Channel 17 and the set of numbers after the 17 represents the SN (service number 1 here) it is Horizontal polarity frequency of 1250.000 and a SR of 19.51 and FEC of 3/4.
Locate this above on the X4-17 example provided, as all DC2 channels info is consistent with regards to Service numbers (which is needed to lock a DC2 channel)... etc....

Have you caught on yet?

If there is something I missed so far or something you don't understand ? ask....

You have the #9 maps from the website so use it as a guide.

Now lets look at an entire set of channels on sat tile G7:
015-G7,00001,0,1,1,0,06704,001,00000,0,80,H,1430000,0,1,1,0,0,6.80,6.80,NTSC,10,015
015-G7,00002,0,1,1,0,00000,002,00000,0,80,V,1410000,0,1,1,0,1,6.20,6.80,NTSC,10,015
015-G7,00003,0,1,1,0,00000,003,00000,0,80,H,1390000,0,1,1,0,1,6.20,6.80,NTSC,10,015
015-G7,00004,0,1,1,0,00000,004,00000,0,80,V,1370000,0,1,1,0,0,6.80,6.80,NTSC,10,015
015-G7,00005,0,1,1,0,00000,005,00000,0,80,H,1350000,0,1,1,0,0,6.80,6.80,NTSC,10,015
015-G7,00006,0,1,1,0,00000,006,00000,0,80,V,1330000,0,1,1,0,0,6.80,6.80,NTSC,10,015
015-G7,00007,0,1,1,0,00000,007,00000,0,80,H,1310000,0,1,1,0,0,6.80,6.80,NTSC,10,015
015-G7,00008,0,1,1,0,00000,008,00000,0,80,V,1290000,0,1,1,0,1,6.20,6.80,NTSC,10,015
015-G7,00009,0,1,0,0,00000,009,00000,0,80,H,1270000,1,0,0,19.51,3/4,10,015,10,015
015-G7,00010,0,1,1,0,00000,010,00000,0,80,V,1250000,0,1,1,0,1,6.20,6.80,NTSC,10,015
015-G7,00011,0,1,1,0,00000,011,00000,0,80,H,1230000,0,1,1,0,0,6.80,6.20,NTSC,10,015
015-G7,00012,0,1,1,0,00000,012,00000,0,80,V,1210000,0,1,1,0,0,6.80,6.80,NTSC,10,015
015-G7,00013,0,1,0,0,00000,013,00000,0,80,H,1190000,1,1,0,29.27,7/8,10,015,10,015
015-G7,00014,0,1,1,0,00000,014,00000,0,80,V,1170000,0,1,1,0,0,6.80,6.80,NTSC,10,015
015-G7,00015,0,1,1,0,00000,015,00000,0,80,H,1150000,0,1,1,0,0,6.80,6.20,NTSC,10,015
015-G7,00016,0,1,1,0,00000,016,00000,0,80,V,1130000,0,1,1,0,0,6.80,6.80,NTSC,10,015
015-G7,00017,0,1,1,0,00000,017,00000,0,80,H,1110000,0,1,1,0,0,6.80,6.80,NTSC,10,015
015-G7,00018,0,1,1,0,04567,018,00000,0,80,V,1090000,0,1,1,0,0,6.80,6.80,NTSC,10,015
015-G7,00019,0,1,1,0,00000,019,00000,0,80,H,1070000,0,1,1,0,1,6.20,6.80,NTSC,10,015
015-G7,00020,0,1,1,0,00000,020,00000,0,80,V,1050000,0,1,1,0,0,6.80,6.80,NTSC,10,015
015-G7,00021,0,1,0,0,00000,021,00000,0,80,H,1038000,1,0,0,19.51,3/4,10,015,10,015
015-G7,00022,0,1,1,0,00000,022,00000,0,80,V,1010000,0,1,1,0,1,6.20,6.80,NTSC,10,015
015-G7,00023,0,1,1,0,00000,023,00000,0,80,H,0990000,0,1,1,0,0,6.80,6.80,NTSC,10,015
015-G7,00024,0,1,1,0,00000,024,00000,0,80,V,0970000,0,1,1,0,0,6.80,6.80,NTSC,10,015
015-G7,00105,0,1,0,0,00000,021,00006,0,80,H,1038000,1,0,0,19.51,3/4,10,015,10,015
015-G7,00106,0,1,0,0,02788,021,00007,0,80,H,1038000,1,0,0,19.51,3/4,10,015,10,015
015-G7,00107,0,1,0,0,00000,021,00008,0,80,H,1038000,1,0,0,19.51,3/4,10,015,10,015
015-G7,00108,0,1,0,0,00000,021,00009,0,80,H,1038000,1,0,0,19.51,3/4,10,015,10,015
015-G7,00109,0,1,0,0,00000,021,00010,0,80,H,1038000,1,0,0,19.51,3/4,10,015,10,015
015-G7,00110,0,1,0,0,00000,021,00011,0,80,H,1038000,1,0,0,19.51,3/4,10,015,10,015
015-G7,00111,0,1,0,0,06207,021,00012,0,80,H,1038000,1,0,0,19.51,3/4,10,015,10,015
015-G7,00112,0,0,0,0,06080,013,00010,0,80,H,1190000,1,1,0,29.27,7/8,10,015,10,015
015-G7,00113,0,0,0,0,05101,013,00011,0,80,H,1190000,1,1,0,29.27,7/8,10,015,10,015
015-G7,00114,0,0,0,0,02552,013,00012,0,80,H,1190000,1,1,0,29.27,7/8,10,015,10,015
015-G7,00115,0,0,0,0,02553,013,00013,0,80,H,1190000,1,1,0,29.27,7/8,10,015,10,015
015-G7,00116,0,0,0,0,04074,013,00014,0,80,H,1190000,1,1,0,29.27,7/8,10,015,10,015
015-G7,00117,0,0,0,0,03238,013,00001,0,80,H,1190000,1,1,0,29.27,7/8,10,015,10,015
015-G7,00118,0,1,0,0,00000,013,00002,0,80,H,1190000,1,1,0,29.27,7/8,10,015,10,015
015-G7,00119,0,1,0,0,00000,013,00003,0,80,H,1190000,1,1,0,29.27,7/8,10,015,10,015
015-G7,00120,0,1,0,0,00000,013,00004,0,80,H,1190000,1,1,0,29.27,7/8,10,015,10,015
015-G7,00121,0,1,0,0,00000,013,00005,0,80,H,1190000,1,1,0,29.27,7/8,10,015,10,015
015-G7,00122,0,1,0,0,01215,013,00006,0,80,H,1190000,1,1,0,29.27,7/8,10,015,10,015
015-G7,00123,0,1,0,0,01676,013,00009,0,80,H,1190000,1,1,0,29.27,7/8,10,015,10,015
015-G7,00902,0,1,0,0,00000,025,00005,0,80,H,1281000,1,0,1,07.32,3/4,10,015,10,015
015-G7,00903,0,1,0,0,04893,025,00003,0,80,H,1281000,1,0,1,07.32,3/4,10,015,10,015
015-G7,00904,0,1,0,0,00000,025,00001,0,80,H,1281000,1,0,1,07.32,3/4,10,015,10,015
015-G7,00905,0,1,0,0,00000,025,00002,0,80,H,1281000,1,0,1,07.32,3/4,10,015,10,015
015-G7,00906,0,1,0,0,00000,025,00004,0,80,H,1281000,1,0,1,07.32,3/4,10,015,10,015
015-G7,00907,0,1,0,0,00000,025,00006,0,80,H,1281000,1,0,1,07.32,3/4,10,015,10,015
;
See the commented line directly above here... this is in-between each different satellite.
Using all the above info see if you now begin to understand what is needed to rewrite the maps.
Don't be intimidated by the large file of text. Work on one sat at a time.
Now if something changes you can basically write your own maps and send it to your receiver to see if it works or not.
If it is right then on diagnostic screen C ... Options > 6>0>5 right arrow over 2 times.
You will see a 7 on the top left of the screen... This is on a DC2 channel and that means that you have a DC2 lock. Now use the left arrow one time to diagnostic B screen and if you see MP at the very bottom 2 lines, if so then the channel is encrypted. US there means that either your SN is incorrect or there is nothing there.
Of course if you find something in FP or ZK you will see a picture unless as is the case on a couple channels up there on some satellites they are in FP but the screen is blank as there is no programming at that time playing. Check those out later....

If there are any questions feel free to ask as doing this for a year some things are like second nature to me so I may have missed something.....

 

[stargaze]

post # 3

Some may have put the #9 maps into their receiver and say you have a channel like
G7-101 to G7-104
If you do you get a gray screen and it may say searching for information or something.
Yet diagnostic screen C shows a 7 in the top left corner.
But then you need to look at diagnostic screen B.
Those channels should show as "US" undefined service....
This is because that particular DC2 mux up there has those channels defined but have nothing on them at this time. If they shuffled around their channels at a latter date they could move one from their mux there or even add a new channel there at any time they wanted without changing anything to their master control center for up-linking to that mux.

When doing the master maps this occurred on a few satellites so it was made up with room in case they put something there so you would not need to redo things all the time in these particular cases. Sort of like thinking ahead of the game.

However the newer maps will not have those in them when they are put up or people ask for a set.....

A large amount of time was spent to figure out the channel rollover on certain 920 /921 receivers so that was a priority to get corrected.

 

[stargaze]

now using the map restoration program:
Always use a copy of your nvram (bin file) that way if something goes wrong you still have the original.

So you already used the BDM device and download your nvram.
Make a copy in a new folder and use the copy to work with.

Download the #9 maps from the website as this will make things really simple for you.

Now open up the map restoration program and load your copy of the nvram (bin) file.
Then locate the MAPS button at the top and click on MAPS > Display Combined Maps.... and save as a text file your original mappings that were in your receiver.
This has your time zone info, Remote control info, your East West limits, and your guide bit information already in this file. Also your EMM provider info.

If your receiver was used as a dish mover you have sat tile settings in this text file also on each SIT line.

Just remember one thing.
*Always send back to the receiver your nvram at the same place where you took it out of **
So if you dumped your nvram off of say X4-210 you want to make sure your dish is still at X4 when putting it back in so you will not have to reset all your dish settings.

The text file you just created you can then copy from the #9 mappings much of that info from channels 1 to whatever it goes to on each satellite but keep your SIT line intact if the name and sat number matches.
If it has changed the SIT line can be modified or use the #9 maps and change those sat tiles to unprogrammed.

Now some satellite names will have changed but some are the same so the ones that remain the same like G4, G5,C3,G1,T7,T4,T5,P9,and there are others, you can write down the SIT position number described in above posts and add them to the new SIT line for those satellites. In the case of GB changing to G7 change the SIT line from GB to G7 and keep the same dish position number.
In other cases you may want to just program in others as un-programmed like H1 or N6 as these were totally rewritten. however at the web site you will see a sat position document. This is one you can keep track of the dish position number on so setting back up will be a breeze using that file.

It is the stating point you need to have right so taking the nvram out and putting it back in should be done on something like X4 for ease of use or G0.

Ok back to the program.... once you have your text file the way you want it.....
load up your original NVRAM (the copy), and then go to MAPS>LOAD MASTER MAPS >>> and locate that new text file you just finished and then save it as a newly named bin file.
That newly named bin file is what you will send back to the 4DTV using the BDM device.

Those instructions are at the website So I will not be going over those here again. See the website for instructions on how to use the BDM device.

Doing it this way you will save your original setting as for East-West limits, Remote control code, your Time zone, and guide settings.
plus a few other things....
Like your receiver's RID info and other info.

I hope this is explained to where you can understand it.

 

[stargaze]

Now with all this information and the numbers for the guide information (if you have the guide turned on) you can find that guide info in another area on this site I posted today....
You can set up your 4d as your own private tv guide viewing...
so if you have a FTA DVB receiver slaved from the 4d and you wanted to watch some sports game that one major sports network was airing but you did not know exactly when it was going to be aired you can have that networks guide info in your receiver someplace and then hunt with your DVB FTA receiver to locate the back-haul or main up-link.
Also true for the 4 major networks, well at least for the East Coast time zone.
And also for any other one listed in that post on the guide info.

I have tested this out for a few weeks now and believe me it is nice!
Usually I like to find one satellite and then put that info for the extra guide into the analog 1-24 channels. Or you could put it on different sats where you normally find them in DVB FTA but it is however you want it to be for yourself. Use your imagination. I just would not place that info on a DC2 channel in case it is already there and that would be really confusing.

There is some work involved to set it up for your own desires.