Tuning Problems...again.

[JoanneM]

I've had this problem before and it just seemed to fix itself. Scary...

I'm having trouble tuning one particular channel (10). When I go into the program guide and select "Watch" everything is fine. When I choose "Quick Record", the video looks fuzzy when I watch it, audio is fine.

So, I went into Tuning Assistant and found that the frequency for Channel 10 should be 192000000. However, when I go into the logs, I see a different frequency being returned in one of the logs.

The GBPVR.exe-native.log file shows:

2008-02-02 22:43:02.703 VERBOSE put_Channel(10, AMTUNER_SUBCHAN_DEFAULT, AMTUNER_SUBCHAN_DEFAULT)
2008-02-02 22:43:02.875 VERBOSE get_VideoFrequency() returns 193250000
2008-02-02 22:43:02.875 VERBOSE get_CountryCode() returns 1

The GBPVRRecordingService.exe-native.log shows:

2008-02-02 22:42:06.531 VERBOSE put_Channel(10, AMTUNER_SUBCHAN_DEFAULT, AMTUNER_SUBCHAN_DEFAULT)
2008-02-02 22:42:06.843 VERBOSE get_VideoFrequency() returns 192000000
2008-02-02 22:42:06.843 VERBOSE get_CountryCode() returns 1

Copies of both the logs are attached. Thanks for any insight anyone can give...

Joanne M.

[JavaWiz]

I've had this problem before and it just seemed to fix itself. Scary...

I'm having trouble tuning one particular channel (10). When I go into the program guide and select "Watch" everything is fine. When I choose "Quick Record", the video looks fuzzy when I watch it, audio is fine.

So, I went into Tuning Assistant and found that the frequency for Channel 10 should be 192000000. However, when I go into the logs, I see a different frequency being returned in one of the logs.

The GBPVR.exe-native.log file shows:

2008-02-02 22:43:02.703 VERBOSE put_Channel(10, AMTUNER_SUBCHAN_DEFAULT, AMTUNER_SUBCHAN_DEFAULT)
2008-02-02 22:43:02.875 VERBOSE get_VideoFrequency() returns 193250000
2008-02-02 22:43:02.875 VERBOSE get_CountryCode() returns 1

The GBPVRRecordingService.exe-native.log shows:

2008-02-02 22:42:06.531 VERBOSE put_Channel(10, AMTUNER_SUBCHAN_DEFAULT, AMTUNER_SUBCHAN_DEFAULT)
2008-02-02 22:42:06.843 VERBOSE get_VideoFrequency() returns 192000000
2008-02-02 22:42:06.843 VERBOSE get_CountryCode() returns 1

Copies of both the logs are attached. Thanks for any insight anyone can give...

Joanne M.

Did you restart both your Recording Service AND GBPVR after you made the change?

[JoanneM]

I'm not sure which change you're talking about. I noticed the problem with my existing records. I checked Tuning Assistant for the frequency it thought Channel 10 should be. I rebooted the PC. I went to TV Guide and selected "Watch". The video was fine. I went to the TV Guide and selected "Quick Rec." I waited a few seconds and then selected "Play". The video was fuzzy. Then I went searching through the logs and found the discrepancy between the two logs. Then I posted here!

I should also note that Tuning Assistant shows fuzzy video while it shows 192000000 as the frequency.

After posting I also updated to the latest WinTV version and it tunes Channel 10 just fine.

I also realized that I forgot to include my configuration. In another attempt to fix the problem, I upgraded to 1.1.15. I've got two tuners, a PVR-150 and a PVR-150MCE.

Joanne M.

[ceandra]

Joanne:

I think the key is in your configuration.

Under other threads, sub has noted that the Live TV selects tuners from one end (top or bottom, I can't remember, you can search), and that recorded TV selects first from the other end.

So, if both tuners are set up for channel 10, it appears that one setting is correct and one is incorrect. Go into config and look at the tuning parameters on BOTH tuners, and adjust the one that is wrong. Should be able to manually adjust the tuning parameters. I have only worked with QAM, though. If you can't see how to do that, perhaps just re-scan both tuners.

Chuck

[JoanneM]

I don't see any way to tweak the tuning parameters in the config app. I suspect the cable company is playing around with the frequencies that the channels are broadcast at. I haven't had to touch my GBPVR configuration since October 2007. (You ROCK sub...) I have recordings on Channel 10 from the end of November 2007 that look fine. I suspect Time Warner did something bad to me in December 2007, but I don't know what....

[JoanneM]

Sometimes I swear posting to the forum makes me take small deliberate steps so that I can post what I did. I produced the problem and noted that it occurred on my PVR-150MCE tuner (Tuner #2 for the rest of this discussion). Previously, when I recorded channel 10, it was on Tuner2. When I watched live TV, it was on Tuner1. (Thanks to Chuck for making me think about which tuner was doing the tuning....) SO, I decided to record something else on Tuner1, so that both Watch and Quick Record for Channel 10 were off of Tuner2. BOTH were fuzzy. AH-HA!!! Something's up with Tuner2. THEN, I forced something to record on Tuner2. Then I did both Quick Record and Watch on Channel 10. BOTH were FINE! Double AH-HA!! SO, I dug into the configuration app. I decided to check to make sure that the tuners were the right device type. Lo and behold, tuner2 (the PVR-150MCE) was set to PVR-150!! I changed that and everything looks good now!

Thanks SOOOO much!!!

Joanne M.

[Lindsay]

Well done! I liked Chuck's explanation - he was spot on with the theory and now you have proved it. You are right about sometimes solving your own problem by explaining it to someone else. As you say, it's about having to get logical!

[ceandra]

Glad to help!

Another interesting aspect is that I have two tuners in one, the first is digital and the second is analog. I want ALL usage to default to the digital unless it is in use. Sub indicated I could build TWO digital tuners in the setup, one first and one last, that botha re physically the same tuner. A third tuner is set up for the analog, and is place between the two. This way, both recording and live default to the same tuner.

Chuck

[JoanneM]

Ok...I'm back. And now I'm stumped again. I hope by posting I get some more of that magic! The problem is back and reading back through my posts, I think it's changed tuners! But, the channel that was problematic is the same - channel 10.

So, if I choose Channel 10 and select "Watch" it uses Tuner2 and everything looks fine. If I choose Channel 10 and select "Quick Record", it uses Tuner1 and the recording looks fuzzy (audio is fine). If I force another recording on Tuner2 and choose to "Watch" Channel 10 (on Tuner1), the recording is fuzzy.

Tuning Assistant shows the frequency is 192000000 and the video is fuzzy.

A perusal of the logs after a Quick Record on Tuner1 shows that in GBPVRRecordingService.exe-native.log:

2008-02-11 21:45:14.468 VERBOSE About try all encoders until we find one that works...
2008-02-11 21:45:14.468 VERBOSE Hauppauge WinTV PVR PCI II Encoder
2008-02-11 21:45:14.468 VERBOSE Encoder.GetMedium(p656Pin) returns: {7D82C13C-452C-445F-A55E-90227B0F26C3}-007BFCEF-00000000
2008-02-11 21:45:14.468 VERBOSE Pin mediums match...
2008-02-11 21:45:14.468 VERBOSE using instance: 1
2008-02-11 21:45:14.484 VERBOSE put_Mode(AMTUNER_MODE_TV)
2008-02-11 21:45:14.484 VERBOSE put_CountryCode(1)
2008-02-11 21:45:14.484 VERBOSE put_TuningSpace(1)
2008-02-11 21:45:14.484 VERBOSE put_InputType(0, 0)
2008-02-11 21:45:14.484 VERBOSE put_ConnectInput(0)
2008-02-11 21:45:14.484 VERBOSE put_Channel(10, AMTUNER_SUBCHAN_DEFAULT, AMTUNER_SUBCHAN_DEFAULT)
2008-02-11 21:45:14.796 VERBOSE get_VideoFrequency() returns 192000000
2008-02-11 21:45:14.796 VERBOSE get_CountryCode() returns 1
2008-02-11 21:45:14.796 VERBOSE About to query available formats

Checking out PVRX2.exe-native.log after a "Watch" on Tuner2 shows:
2008-02-11 21:40:32.281 VERBOSE About try all encoders until we find one that works...
2008-02-11 21:40:32.281 VERBOSE Hauppauge WinTV PVR PCI II Encoder
2008-02-11 21:40:32.281 VERBOSE Encoder.GetMedium(p656Pin) returns: {7D82C13C-452C-445F-A55E-90227B0F26C3}-007BFCEF-00000000
2008-02-11 21:40:32.281 VERBOSE Encoder.GetMedium(p656Pin) returns: {7D82C13C-452C-445F-A55E-90227B0F26C3}-0085962F-00000000
2008-02-11 21:40:32.281 VERBOSE Pin mediums match...
2008-02-11 21:40:32.296 VERBOSE using instance: 2
2008-02-11 21:40:32.296 VERBOSE getSetting(PreferredAudioDecoder)
2008-02-11 21:40:32.328 VERBOSE put_Mode(AMTUNER_MODE_TV)
2008-02-11 21:40:32.328 VERBOSE put_CountryCode(1)
2008-02-11 21:40:32.328 VERBOSE put_TuningSpace(1)
2008-02-11 21:40:32.328 VERBOSE put_InputType(0, 0)
2008-02-11 21:40:32.328 VERBOSE put_ConnectInput(0)
2008-02-11 21:40:32.328 VERBOSE put_Channel(10, AMTUNER_SUBCHAN_DEFAULT, AMTUNER_SUBCHAN_DEFAULT)
2008-02-11 21:40:32.500 VERBOSE get_VideoFrequency() returns 193250000
2008-02-11 21:40:32.500 VERBOSE get_CountryCode() returns 1


Clearly 193250000 is the correct frequency. I tried the thing that seemed to fix it the last time. I changed the Card Type for both back and forth between PVR150 and PVR150MCE until I was blue in the face. Now I'm banging my head on the keyboard. WHERE does the 193250000 come from???? I even tried the Registry edits to tweak tuning frequency. They didn't seem to have any affect.

FWIW, WinTV2K works fine. Any ideas???

Thanks,

Joanne M.
PVR150, PVR150MCE: Windows XP Home

[JoanneM]

Well...thanks to a screen shot that someone posted in another thread, I realized that when editing the capture source, the "Source Channel" column could either contain the channel number OR the entire frequency! YAY...THAT's where I can input the tweaked frequency. i put 193250000 in Channel 10's entry on the tuner that didnt' work and VIOLA...clear recordings on that tuner. Thanks!

Joanne M.