Linux DVB and digital switchover in the UK

The Natural Philosopher · 2011-07-20T14:03:49+00:00

For those of you who run TV cards on Linux in the UK..and are having trouble retuning using 'scan' because the transmitter files that come with the standard distros of dvb utilities don't work any more, here is the way to sort out how to patch themFirst of all you need to find the transmitter definition files.Mine were in /usr/share/dvb/dvb-tCopy the one you use into somewhere else - home directoryGo to this website important thing is to declare yourself trade, and the postcode is obvious from the above URL (this one is in Surrey)That nets you your local transmitter data.To convert channel number to frequency, as the transmitter files require, take the channel number and add 38.25 to it, and multiply by 8. That's the frequency in MHz.If there is a plus after the channel number add 0.167 MHZ.E.g. channel 50+ is 88.25 * 8= 706MHz plus 0.167MHZ = 706167000 HZ.That's the second parameter of the new entry.The third is always 8Mhz, the channel bandwidth.The fourth sixth and seventh are modulation types. If you hover the mouse cursor over the channel number on that page, they are revealed . I.e64QAM 2/3 8k DVB-TThese go in the fields in the new entry in the transmitter file so e.g.T 706167000 8MHz 2/3 NONE QAM64 8k 1/32 NONEis a valid entryI have no idea what the 5th, 8th and 9th parameters are I left those as NONE, 1/32, and NONEMy modified uk-sudbury file is this# UK, Sudbury# T freq bw fec_hi fec_lo mod transmission-mode guard-interval hierarchy# 49+ MUX A SDNT 698167000 8MHz 2/3 NONE QAM64 2k 1/32 NONE#41 MUX2 d3 &4T 634000000 8MHz 2/3 NONE QAM64 8k 1/32 NONE#44 MUX-1 BBCAT 658000000 8MHz 2/3 NONE QAM64 8k 1/32 NONE#47 (HD)T 682000000 8MHz 2/3 NONE QAM256 32k 1/32 NONE#54 Arqiva AT 738000000 8MHz 2/3 NONE QAM64 8k 1/32 NONE#50+ Arqiva BT 706167000 8MHz 2/3 NONE QAM64 8k 1/32 NONEHope this helps anyone else struggling to retune - several times - in the mass switchover being undertaken this year.Note. Scan didn't understand the HD MUX. Which is OK because neither does...