Guys,
This topic comes from other postings (including mine) see http://forums.dvbowners.com/index.php?show...indpost&p=29177

Some of us with DNTVLive! and Visionplus cards using BDA drivers cannot tune some Australian channels (specifically SBS which happens to be UHF) with applications that apparently use the standard BDA api. This phenomenon has been reported by a number of people here and in the MediaPortal forum.

Problem applications include MediaPortal and ScanchannelBDA.exe/Digital Watch. Applications including DNTVLive!, Showshifter and myTheatre do not appear to have the problem. Webscheduler seems to suffer from similar autotuning problems but performance is less consistent.

I have experimented with graphedt.exe and find that I can build graphs that find the FTA VHF channels but I have been unable to do this with SBS Melbourne which is UHF.

I have tried tuning to both 536500kHz and 536635kHz. ScanchannelsBDA reports signal strength for SBS that is comparable with other channels (around 200-300) but quality=0. I have tried a number of other suggestions (including changing the channel in ShowShifter before trying to tune - thanks broad) without success.

The discussion under other topics (above) has been helpful and I thank all contributors. It appears that this might be a problem in the standard BDA api. However, this answer is not definitive nor does there appear to be a solution (have I missed something?). I don't want to go over old ground (pls read the link before posting) but raise the topic here as it appears to be BDA driver related.

regards
ancall

I am in the ACT and Ts Reader BDA tunes SBS, 543500khz, which is UHF, for me all the time using either DNTV Live! or DVICO. WS does the same, Media Portal never did, but have not tried the later versions.

Haven't read the other topic so forgive me if I am repeating anything. This has been noticed heavily in the Media Center software as well. Initially it was to do with psisdecd.dll problems but they have since been resolved for most. One in particular that springs to mind is the avermedia A16A cards. It appears that none of them can tune UHF frequencies at this point. Hard to say if it's driver or BDA architecture related but a problem none the less.

Also had similar issues with the Twinhan BDA drivers (All versions), spectrums work fine though.

Cheers,
Arkay.

I'm pretty sure that the problem is that the BDA architecture in WinXP SP1 and lower doesn't set the bandwidth. This means that the DNTV Live won't be able to tune into UHF channels because it will be defaulting to 8Mhz bandwidth instead of 7.
Apparently it's fixed in WinXP SP2, but without a machine running SP2 i havn't been able to test this for myself. Renura sent me some of the system32 files from an SP2 machine but they didn't make any difference, so i just gave up since my VP's work fine for SBS.

There is no point discussing this any further without people who have the problem reporting what version of windows, service packs and drivers they are running...

JoeyBloggs,
Fair enough but I can't even establish whether this is a generic or a specific problem. The problem is real, has been reported by others in this and other forums and seems to elude the experts who contribute to the forum (your good self included). It would help me if someone with this hardware/driver combination could confirm that they can/can't build a graph that tunes SBS (or some other Australian UHF channel).

I know from my testing that this is not a problem with the specification of the bandwidth and carrier specifications for SBS (which I understand caused problems for MCE and Windows XP Home SP1 users).

For reference my specs are:
Windows XP Home with Service Pack 2
Latest Microsoft updates (as of 3 April 2005).
DNTVLive! BDA Drivers v 4.0.108.0
Visionplus drivers 1.2.1.7

I can also confirm that the versions DNTVLive! 4.0.99.0 and Visionplus 1.2.1.2 to 1.2.1.6 give me the same result.

regards
ancall

Have you tried the VP with Spectrum's 1.6.0.1 drivers?

I have never had any problems with the TwinHan drivers [1.2.1.x] (with the fixed bandwidth option installed) under Win2000 SP4, Dx 9.0c with either SBS or D44. However I'm not in Melbourne ~

Obviously break the problem down, try a single card installed at a time.

[EDIT] Just to clarify, there is some combination that works ??? ie it's definitely not a reception issue ... [/EDIT]

Hi ancall,

Please check your mail, I have sent you a BDA tool to test your SBS issue.

Cheers

Renura

Definatly. The DNTV Live app works fine for SBS, and i also created a version of DW that uses the custom tuning interface and it works fine also, so it's definately something in the bda tuning interface.

I wish it was that simple? How do you explain that many others can tune SBS (on UHF) without any problems??

Just tried again TsReader, a BDA sample tool, UltraDTV, WS all of them do not use any custom tuning interfaces (that I know of) and yet they tune SBS. Even null_pointer has tried WS in Melbourne a number of times and has no problem tuning SBS?

Yet ScanChannelBDA (and apparently Media Portal) does not??

I wasn't saying it was simple, just that it's not a reception issue.

I can't.

Do you mean that ScanChannelsBDA doesn't work for null?

I know in my case is definetely not a reception issue either.

No It does not work for SBS for me, I don't know if null has tried scanchannelbda, he has tried only Webscheduler as far as I know.

All,
Visionplus:
Taking up nate's suggestion I installed Spectrum's 1.6.0.1 drivers for the Visionplus card.

This enabled me to build a graph that would tune SBS. I confirmed this also worked with ScanChannelsBDA. It also consistently finds and tunes all channels with Webscheduler. Unfortunately the card was no longer recognised by MediaPortal but I suspect this is to do with the card definitions not the driver. ShowShifter continued to work as before.

DNTVLive!
I firstly disabled the Visionplus card. Then with renura's assistance I proved that I could build a graph and tune SBS using a small BDA Sample application he provided (he will have to give more detail about this). In his view this showed that the problems described are with the applications (ScanChannelsBDA + DigitalWatch, Media Portal and Webscheduler) not with the BDA complant DNTVLive! drivers.

So, if the card uses BDA compliant drivers, why do some applications work and some not. What is this difference and how can it be fixed.

Thanks nate and renura for your assistance.

regards
ancall

I think it has something to do with the way the applications tune.

I am writing software in VB using the MS Video Control and TV Technologies and can't tune to SBS or Channel 9 in Adelaide.

I'm using the DNTV and DNTV Live can tune both SBS and Channel 9 with no issues.

I have noticed that the method that MediaPortal uses (and the same method I use) for tuning into a channel is by using the SID, TSID, ONID and Channel Freq. I'm not sure exactly why those channels dont work but I think MS TV Technologies may be to blame.

How to get around this problem is another question.

Mike what OS and SP's are you using ?

I'm using Windows XP Pro with SP2, DirectX9c.

Just some feedback.

I have had a problem tuning SBS only with the lastest version of DNTV Live and DNTinyUSB2 Tuner. Even entering the channel info manually, still no go. Using XP Pro SP1. Note that ScanchannelsBDA.exe picks up SBS channels.

Using the same USB Tuner with the same rooftop antenna on my Dell laptop running XP Pro SP2, it picks up all channels including SBS.

I am upgrading to SP2 on my home computer now, so I'll let u know if it fixes the problem.

Cheers.

Installed SP2. Fixed.