Missing channels - how to get them back

[subminiature]

I uninstalled DVBViewer and cleared the directory. I installed 5.3.0 and scanned Astra 28.2E and Terrestrial.

A number of channels were missing. I scanned again and more appeared. I also had over 2000 channels listed that don't work as there is no image and no EPG information. Although it was easy to remove Astra 19.2 etc I don't know why they were scanned in the first place.

Several channels did not show including Drama and CBBC on Terrestrial, although CBBC was picked up on Satellite which at the time were not broadcasting a programme. These appeared in the morning re-scan.

Among those that still have not appeared are:-

 

CBBC HD on Freesat.
Cbeebies HD on Freesat

Yesterday

There may be more.

The new way of separating the satellite channels doesn't help as I used to get one list but now working channels are split under Video / by letter and BSkyB un-ordered. I also found BBC Four and BBC Three under 6 and 8. This was corrected after I deleted all the channels and rescanned.

The good news is that the viewing the HD channels no longer crash the program.

As the channels were present before installing the latest version how do I get them back?

[subminiature]

I updated my second PC to 5.3.0 and scanned the channels.

Several channels missing on either Freesat or Freeview which then appeared on the second scan this morning.

So this system managed to find channels that my primary system fails to pick up including the Freeview channel Yesterday.

The blackgold 3620 is a newer version. This PC has Windoes 7 Pro 64bit, the primary PC is Ultra 64 bit.

Each has it's own satellite dish but both are feed from the same Freeview aerial.

But, why are Freeview channels listed (some unique) under Astra 19.2E and Astra 28.2E as unknown?

[Gioxy]

DVBViewer itself have a simple and practical (read "not mutch configurable") channel scanner; if you ask more from you dishes, please use TransEdit - an add-on specifically created for this task - with which you can possibly find the answers for the DVBViewer's troubles you wrote about; you can download it from Members Page or via "DVBViewer Pro Downloader".

 

Please be sure to read and understand at least the basics of its documentation before install and use it.

 

[subminiature]

Thanks - having installed and used the last three version without this trouble it is down to something in scanning with this latest version that makes the difference.

[subminiature]

After several re-scanning - tweaking (messing about with) the options to scan only Free to air and only active channels and following more closely at the way recordings behave I think I have it.

Free to air when selected picks up channels you can't view.
Active channels fail to pick up some but not all that are not currently broadcasting so for example you either get BBC Three and Four or CBBC and Cbeebies but not both.

If you don't leave unselected Active channels the scan wont find the stronger signals but will find a number of weaker ones.

On recording the channel name is saved. When the recording starts if finds the first channel with that name even if it has a signal strength of 0% and the later ones, that you thought you used to select, have a signal strength of 25% and above.

So I got all the channels including a large number I really don't want and manually deleted them.

It is then a case of finding the better signal strength for each channel I might record against and making sure that I rename any earlier ones.

Other TV recording programs I have used work on channel numbers so will find the working channel selected. But it does mean if you clear the channel list and rescan saving a copy of the timer file and restoring it will get the list back working in some fashion. Other programs that store channel numbers go completely wrong if restored as rescanning changes the channel numbers.

When scanning some reselection of options change all back to defaults. So before clicking the scan button you have to recheck all the selections previously made. The drop down list of headings (Target Root) which defaulted to Astra 19.2E when I installed the latest version isn't a fixed list as you can change it to something else although Freeview still comes out as unknown. Tool tips, which pop up when you hover the cursor near a label or input box and status line notes at the bottom of the form when the current object has focus avoid this. Of course if I had not used several other systems before I possibly would be less confused on how this knits together.

It might have helped if I didn't try the Recording Service whilst still trying to get missing channels and using the recording. I now have two recordings of each running. Which is fine when I am only recording one channel but gets stuck when recording two to four at the same time.

Of the two PCs one is now killing the processor everytime I run DVBViewer with all four cores hitting 100%. Recording Service is running - but the CPU usage drops to 2% when I close DVBViewer and is fine if I reboot a couple of times - until I try to run Recording Service and have DVBViewer running at the same time. According to task manager noting is taking more than 1% of the time so why the heavy CPU and memory usage happens I have yet to determine. It wasn't like this when I installed it first 5 months ago.

[Derrick]

 

Free to air when selected picks up channels you can't view.

Active channels fail to pick up some but not all that are not currently broadcasting so for example you either get BBC Three and Four or CBBC and Cbeebies but not both.

You're describing a contradiction. Either BBC Three/Four or CBBC/Cbeebies are active but not both.

 

 

On recording the channel name is saved. When the recording starts if finds the first channel with that name even if it has a signal strength of 0% and the later ones, that you thought you used to select, have a signal strength of 25% and above.

Are you referring to DVB-T? You should scan your local frequencies only.

[subminiature]

If I scan in the evening then CBBC/Cbeebies are not active but show a message on my TV. Scanning for only active channels misses them out.

If I scan in the morning then BBC Three and BBC Four are not active but show a message on my TV. Scanning for only active channels misses them out.

It is not a contradiction. It also only applies to Freeview as Freesat scan picks them up anyway or at least I get CBBC, Cbeebies and BBC Four HD but not BBC Three HD until a second scan and that was at a time I could watch something on both BBC Three and Four.

Same with Drama, Really, Yesterday and others that close down and start again a few hours later. DVBViewer would also crash if I selected Drama before it started in the morning and I would have to try quickly to select another channel before it crashed. I have not seen if 5.3.0 has changed this feature.

If I scan not selecting active channels only I get the missing channels but also a pile of others that are never active.

This did not happen with the previous applications I used for a different set of TV cards nor is it an issue with the TV or hard drive/DVD recorder.

I do not know what are the local frequencies for DVB-T in my area and that doesn't apply to DVB-S but the same problem exists. I have at least two Freeview transmitters near but do not know what frequencies they may be restricted to or how to obtain that information every time I attempt a re-scan. I get stronger and weaker signals for the same channel name on both Freeview and Freesat. The first one in the list is the one used to record, not the frequency of the one I think I pick or the stronger signal.

This isn't the case with the software supplied with my previous TV cards as they use channel numbers which are unique and having stronger and weaker channels was never an issue.

[Derrick]

Use Transedit and try to establish a transponder.ini for your area.

[QBox User]

Transedit can capture inactive channels (it's a filter option). Its Analyzer may also be able to tell you which DVB-T transmitters you are receiving. Otherwise, you can get them from a map, such as the one here: http://www.ukfree.tv/maps.php

If you post the name(s), I can generate the transponder file(s) for you.