PARTLY RESOLVED: How do I tune U.S. ATSC OTA (8VSB)?

[johnclubvec]

PARTIAL RESOLUTION.
There is a command line that will allow vlc to accurately display U.S. ATSC OTA. Any GUI or menu capability, however, still seems off in the future.

This post: viewtopic.php?f=13&t=43284&p=137538&hilit=atsc#p137538
contains the key.

(With reference to the example below) the command line that works is this:

vlc --program 3 dvb:// :dvb-adapter=0 :dvb-modulation=8 :dvb-frequency=503000000

However, I have determined by experiment that it is not possible to play U.S. ATSC OTA within the GUI, since the menu will only accept an 8-digit number for the frequency, whereas 9 digits are needed. 'vlc channels.conf' also does not work at all.

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Merry Christmas to all!
I have been unsuccessful getting vlc to tune U.S. OTA (over the air/off the air, as distinct from cable) ATSC signals.
Does anybody know how to do that?
This post: viewtopic.php?f=13&t=38890&p=120486&hilit=atsc#p120486 was informative but did not work for OTA/8VSB.

vlc 0.8.6d (enable-dvb in compile)
linux
kernel 2.6.21.5
gcc 4.1.2

vlc recognizes the dvb card.
vlc has always been able to play .ts streams for me; that's certainly not the problem.
So, I can pipe a captured signal to vlc (e.g.: 'getatsc 19 | vlc --program 3 -') and it plays. But I can't get vlc itself to tune the card and display the signal.

Here is a typical line from channels.conf:
WGBH-hd:503000000:8VSB:49:52:3

'mplayer dvb://"WGBH-hd"' tunes it right in.
However, all I get are 'TS discontinuity' messages when I say:
vlc --program 3 dvb:// :dvb-adapter=0 :dvb-frequency=503000000

More information.
'vlc channels.conf' gives this message: "main playlist: nothing to play"

When I use the 'Open Capture Device' dialog box, I note two things:
a. I can not input a frequency like 503000000. It seems to be 'too big' a number, and the display changes to `100000000`. I've tried various lengths of number. Nothing works.
b. The default transponder symbol rate is 27500000. As far as I know, the ATSC symbol rate is 10.76 MHz. I've tried entering '10760000' in that box. Doesn't resolve the problem.

If someone could post a working command line, I would appreciate it.

[puterguy]

I'm having the *exact* same problem with my pchdtv5500 dvb tuner running under Fedora 8 with atrpms version of vlc 0.8.6d

I don't have any problems accessing the dvb tuner from mythtv, mplayer or xine.
Also, I am able to access the analog tuner on the same card without any problems.
I just can't get dvb working on vlc.

Have you figured this one out yet?

[puterguy]

Also, I don't get "TS discontinuity" messages.
Rather, I just get:

[00000312] dvb access debug: frontend has acquired stable FEC
[00000312] dvb access debug: frontend has acquired lock
[00000312] dvb access debug: - Bit error rate: 0
[00000312] dvb access debug: - Signal strength: 0
[00000312] dvb access debug: - SNR: 0
[00000312] dvb access debug: frontend has lost FEC
[00000312] dvb access debug: frontend has lost lock
[00000312] dvb access debug: frontend has acquired stable FEC
[00000312] dvb access debug: frontend has acquired lock
[00000312] dvb access debug: - Bit error rate: 0
[00000312] dvb access debug: - Signal strength: 0
[00000312] dvb access debug: - SNR: 0
[00000312] dvb access debug: frontend has lost FEC
[00000312] dvb access debug: frontend has lost lock
[00000312] dvb access debug: frontend has acquired stable FEC
[00000312] dvb access debug: frontend has acquired lock
[00000312] dvb access debug: - Bit error rate: 0
[00000312] dvb access debug: - Signal strength: 0
[00000312] dvb access debug: - SNR: 0
[00000312] dvb access debug: frontend has lost FEC
[00000312] dvb access debug: frontend has lost lock
[00000312] dvb access debug: frontend has acquired stable FEC
[00000312] dvb access debug: frontend has acquired lock
[00000312] dvb access debug: - Bit error rate: 0
[00000312] dvb access debug: - Signal strength: 0
[00000312] dvb access debug: - SNR: 0
[00000312] dvb access debug: frontend has lost FEC
[00000312] dvb access debug: frontend has lost lock
[00000312] dvb access debug: frontend has acquired stable FEC
[00000312] dvb access debug: frontend has acquired lock
[00000312] dvb access debug: - Bit error rate: 0
[00000312] dvb access debug: - Signal strength: 0
....