Root-Cause of PSIP "lock" problems?

[riffjim4069]

Ok, I need some smart people to answer these questions and help validate my thoughts:

1. While OTA Scanning for channels outside the home DMA, will a channel fail to "lock" if another channel (i.e. 25-1) is already in your home DMA Map?

2. Please read through the following thread and my post over at the AVSFORUM regarding channel 25. Assuming there is an adequate signal level (there is!) and a valid PSIP datastream (not necessarily the correct datastream) is this the root-cause for this failure?

http://www.satelliteguys.us/showthread.php?t=25826&highlight=wtvr-dt

"Sammy makes an excellent tuner so I would hesitate purchasing the Sylvania based on your inability to receive WTVR-DT. I called WVTR, (804) 254-3600, a short while ago and left a detailed voice mail for their Assistant Engineer. Hopefully, this problem will be identified and corrected if enough people call to report the problem.

I think I figured out part of my problem:

1. My VOOM STB will not "lock" WTVR-DT even though the signal level is 90+. It requires a valid PSIP datasteam. The VOOM STB integrates my local DMA (DC) into the PG. I consider the VOOM STB to be an "intelligent tuner" since DMA mapping data is downloaded to the receiver.

2. My Mits can "lock" WTVR-DT, but the channel is displayed as 25-2 - it used to display 6-1 at some unknown time in the past. I consider my 2 year old Mits to be a "dumb tuner" since it displays whatever PSIP information it sees in the datastream (and sometimes crashes the tuner too).

Since my VOOM STB is an intelligent receiver, I noticed that a low-power channel (WHAG-DT, 25-1, Hagarstown) is included in the DC DMA Map. This station is low-power (0.9kW) and over 100 miles away so I deleted the entry from my PG. However, the information for the DMA Map is still stored somewhere in the VOOM STB...out of sight, out of mind. Therefore, it will never locked WTVR-DT just as long as they identify themselves as 25-2 in the datastream.

Of course, WTVR-DT still needs to identify and correct the (25-2) PSIP problem. Anyway, I have no idea how this may affect your Samsung, 921 or other tuners."

 

[DarrellP]

If it used to map at 6-1 and is now mapping at 25-2, the PSIP generator is probably crashed. Call the station and tell them, they don't monitor the digital channels very well. The PSIP is what maps the digital channel to the "Mother" channel, in your case, analog VHF channel 6. When the PSIP goes whacky, the 8vsb module is smart enough (or just dumb enough?) to map it to it's native frequency, 25.

 

[riffjim4069]

Darrell, this has been an ongoing problem for at least two months. It has noted in the AVSFORUM, and calls and e-mails have been placed, but nobody from the station has replied or taken action to make repairs.

Anyway, do you think my inability to lock 25-2 (out of DMA) has anything to do with the fact I have channel 25-1 already mapped in my my home DMA? More importantly, is there any way to boot 25-1 out of my DMA Map? Probably not! I can Hide the channel from the Channel List...but I can't delete the little bugger as far as I know.

Perhaps I'll unplug the satellite dish, do a factory reset and then scan OTA prior to plugging it back in the satellite dish (download PG). Hmmm. I should research this one first:

- What firmware version will be on STB? (will it go back to 5.68) after the factory reset?
- I take it PG and DMA data won't be downloaded until the box is reauthorized?

The fix would be for the station to fix their PSIP problem, however until somebody tells me why I can't "lock" 25-2, I'm going to keep trying...

Where are you Motorola Engineer?

 

[DarrellP]

I think as long as it's mapping to a different channel, there probably is not a problem. Are multiple stb's having fits with it or just Voom?