How to Tune ATSC...

[byron.formwalt]

I have a file called channels.conf with the following line in it:

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KOAT-DT:177028615:8VSB:49:52:3

From a terminal in the same directory as this file, I am able to
successfully tune the channel by executing:

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% vlc channels.conf

Can someone please illustrate for this example, how to use vlc from
the command line explicitly without specifying the channels.conf file?

For additional information, ref: http://mailman.videolan.org/pipermail/v ... hread.html

[byron.formwalt]

It took many hours of looking at and stepping through the source code to discover this solution. Please, let me know if anyone finds this example helpful.

The following is an actual line from channels.conf in ATSC zap format:

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KOAT-DT:177028615:8VSB:49:52:3

We shall describe the line using the following generic format:

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MY_CHANNEL_NAME:nnnnnnnnn:8VSB:xx:yy:p

Using this convention, the proper command to use to launch VLC from the command line is as follows:

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% vlc dvb://frequency=nnnnnnnnn :dvb-adapter=0 :dvb-srate=0 :dvb-modulation=8VSB --program=p

For our specific example (channel KOAT-DT), the command to use for launching VLC is as follows:

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vlc dvb://frequency=177028615 :dvb-adapter=0 :dvb-srate=0 :dvb-modulation=8VSB --program=3

Hopefully, this example for programatically (command-line) tuning ATCS US digital broadcast will be useful to others.

Cheers,
Byron Formwalt

[wiwheelman]

Thanks Byron! Definitely works for me. Have you uncovered the secret on how to record ATSC yet?

[westley52]

Hi Bryon,

This is very helpful - THANKs! But, I am still left with the question on how to obtain a list of frequencies in a particular area - such as Charlotte. Any help along these lines would be much appreciated.

Thanks

[wiwheelman]

Just use the scan utility. This is what I used to get the Milwaukee station list for my card.

mkdir ~/.azap
scan -vvv -a 0 /usr/share/dvb/atsc/us-ATSC-center-frequencies-8VSB -o zap -x -1 -A 1 > ~/.azap/channels.conf

After file was created did some manual editing for clean up.

[westley52]

Yours is a very helpful post - if only I could use Linux for the scan. I made a rash decision and purchased a Pinnacle 80e, which does not seem to be supported in Linux. Therefore, I am stuck with Windows to use this device, and would love to know how I might be able to do such a scan in Windows.

[autopilot]

I would also like to know how to scan channels in Windows. I'm able to find one channel manually.

[tgutwin]

Thanks, I also was looking all over for the channels.conf to commandline conversion...
The source never lies!
Works like a charm in Vancouver
CBC Hockey Night In Canada in HD!
vlc atsc:// :dvb-frequency=737000000 :dvb-modulation=8VSB --program=8

My channels.conf is
CBC-HD:737000000:8VSB:129:132:8
GlobalBC:521000000:8VSB:49:52:1
CTV-DT:587000000:8VSB:33:36:2
Citytv:671000000:8VSB:33:36:2
KVOS-DT:599000000:8VSB:1937:1940:121
OMNI-DT:509000000:8VSB:481:482:1