Uplink Tool Change Log & Behind the scenes at the Uplink PC

[digiblur]

Change Log:

-=-=-= 10.05.04 =-=-=- - Scheduled for production - 05/04/2010
+ Added additional info to Removes
+ Added local market/affil information of before and after on local channel renames
+ Modified local market/affil to catch all EPG channels
+ Modified TheList update to include EPG and EEPG data stream locations

-=-=-= 10.03.24 =-=-=- - Scheduled for production - 03/26/2010
+ Corrected TID on 61.5 mapped to wrong beam (Dallas locals)

-=-=-= 10.03.24 =-=-=- - Scheduled for production - 03/24/2010
+ Added ALTUD 61.5 filter

-=-=-= 10.03.15 =-=-=- - Scheduled for production - 03/15/2010
+ Added logic to show the location of unknown local subchannels (ex: KABCD, WABCD, etc)

-=-=-= 10.03.02 =-=-=- - Scheduled for production - 03/03/2010
+ Added logic to describe new unknown TIDs based on current TID ranges
+ Corrected issue with error text message notification option not being able to be turned off
+ Minor cosmetic issues with status window

-=-=-= 10.02.17a =-=-=- - Scheduled for production - immediately
+ Corrected issue with new TIDs causing Spotbeam map link creation code to hang

-=-=-= 09.07.24 =-=-=- - Scheduled for production 07/26/2009
+ Updated RSN HD filters on 61.5
+ TheList will update when no report is generated due to only sport moves.
+ Optimized TheList update procedure by 50% due to station match code rewrite
+ Corrected and adjusted Channel name to station match code to match subchannel affiliates and 'X' prepended channel names during moves
+ Corrected app not closing when notification text sent due to init failure
+ *** Report sorting changed! *** Locals will be at the top of each subsection of the report sorted by State then City. This should group most DMA's together except for the split state DMA's.

I know I stated several months ago I would post a video of things of happening at the uplink PC. I haven't had time to do the video as I've been adding a couple of things and cleaning up the code on the uplink tool. I decided to post some pictures of the process for you guys for now. These pictures are taken from a manual process of the report. The automated mode looks about the same, except the log viewer shows a bit more, and less screens are shown.

I'll explain the process when I get a chance later today. Enjoy!

And of course JohnH deserves a big round of applause for all of his help in this project.

 

[gadgtfreek]

I like Crystal Method too

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

It has been amazing for me to see this program grow, when it started out it was so basic, but now it is very in depth and has a lot of functions.

The guys at the uplink center were amazed to see this in action last week. I think this program catalogs and reports data faster then anything they have at the uplink.

A job well done by Digiblur! Thanks Travis for the great work!

 

[digiblur]

It has been amazing for me to see this program grow, when it started out it was so basic, but now it is very in depth and has a lot of functions.

The guys at the uplink center were amazed to see this in action last week. I think this program catalogs and reports data faster then anything they have at the uplink.

A job well done by Digiblur! Thanks Travis for the great work!

Here's a blast from the past

Uplink Activity Report created - 7/10/2006 9:04:30 PM

625 - MLB moved from 119.0W Tp 12 to 110.0W Tp 24

627 - MLB moved from 119.0W Tp 17 to 119.0W Tp 18

628 - MLB moved from 119.0W Tp 18 to 119.0W Tp 21

629 - MLB moved from 119.0W Tp 17 to 119.0W Tp 12

630 - MLB moved from 119.0W Tp 21 to 119.0W Tp 17

631 - MLB moved from 119.0W Tp 10 to 119.0W Tp 18

632 - MLB moved from 119.0W Tp 10 to 119.0W Tp 12

633 - MLB moved from 110.0W Tp 24 to 119.0W Tp 10

634 - MLB moved from 110.0W Tp 16 to 119.0W Tp 10

635 - MLB moved from 119.0W Tp 18 to 110.0W Tp 16

636 - MLB moved from 119.0W Tp 17 to 119.0W Tp 21

637 - MLB moved from 119.0W Tp 17 to 110.0W Tp 16

638 - MLB moved from 110.0W Tp 16 to 119.0W Tp 10

8475 - KBEJ renamed to KCWX

9995 - WZPX removed from 148.0W Tp 8

9997 - WXSP removed from 148.0W Tp 8

 

[goaliebob99]

Wow I remember doing this all by hand too.. Great work Digi.

 

[Lt Disher]

Thanks, Digiblur! Your report is always eagerly awaited. I also appreciate your help in deciphering what is happening with uplinks and other technical questions and your overall insights.

 

[AKGolf]

The first section I check when I come to the site. It'll be getting a lot of hits today from AK/HI.

Thanks.

 

[kstuart]

So when are the Tours of the Uplink PC ?

 

[DBS Commando]

Question: How does the pc monitor the uplink tables? Is it interfaced with a dish receiver somehow? If it is, how is it interfaced?

 

[JohnH]

USB connected DVB receiver.

 

[digiblur]

So when are the Tours of the Uplink PC ?

Personal tours available. Send the plane ticket and I'll bring the uplink PC to you for the personal tour

 

[digiblur]

Would anyone be interested if I kept a Change Log going in the first post of this thread?

If anyone is curious... on the screen with the checkboxes. Originally there was no auto-filtering out sports moves that happen daily. So when the report ran you had to uncheck the ones you didn't want, or hit unselect all then check the ones you wanted. I later put in the auto-filtering that unchecked the sports moves for you but allowed you to change things as needed. You would then hit create and it would format the report and copy it to the clipboard for you to create a new thread with. Remember...this was before the automation days.

Later I added in the grouping of adds, deletes, moves, etc. In order to keep the same process flow I cheated a bit. Hate recoding things when they work already! I prepend every change with a tag for the type of change. Then all I had to do is set the CheckListBox Sort property to True and they are sorted by change type then by channel number. During the colorization module I just watch the tags and add the subsection headers as the tags change from one to the next. I need to throw in tag for State/City that I would pull out in the colorization module so when we have a bunch of changes to the locals they are grouped by Change Type, State, City, SID. Constantly adding little things to my list....

And by all means if you guys think something would look better in the formatting or have any ideas, please let me know.

 

[mattb]

Behind the scenes..I was hoping to see the farm of satellite dishes

 

[olliec420]

Eww Vista barf!

 

[digiblur]

Actually the uplink tool runs on Vista. I hate Vista too. Win7 is what Vista should have been.

 

[digiblur]

I do have four dishes but the uplink tool only requires one dish.

 

[LER]

Would anyone be interested if I kept a Change Log going in the first post of this thread?

I would, but I'm a geek that works for a software company and love this sort of stuff.

 

[Jerryinvirginia]

Digiblur... The technical aspect of how this data is gathered has always been of great interest. Guess that you share that same interest, because there has to be MANY hours of effort and dedication involved. Far more than most might realize. This info certainly doesn't do anything to improve the programming offered nor the quality, but it give us a peak into the steps necessary to make this thing we call satellite tv, happen. Thanks for your continued interest.

 

[Smith P.]

Would be interesting to see how TSReader file(s) creating.
Is it automated too ?
What size or interval selected to make the files ?
How the files loading into main parser ?
Manually or by script ?

 

[JohnH]

Would be interesting to see how TSReader file(s) creating.
Is it automated too ?
What size or interval selected to make the files ?
How the files loading into main parser ?
Manually or by script ?

Automated, variable, parser goes and gets it and by script.