SETUP WinTV HVR-1600 with QAM

[schmoppa]

oh man. I'm a new owner of a home-built DVR. I bought BeyondTV, hoping to get QAM service with my Hauppauge HVR-1600. Somebody in the BTV userbase valiently built a hack to get QAM working with BTV (not officially compatible for now), but limitations include not being able to watch live QAM TV, and the install for the hack is a bit arduous. Plus, you have to deal with the WinTV app, which really kindof sucks. Frustrating to use.

Also, Not sure if it's my cable signal strength (I show about 82% strength), but every 10 seconds or so my HD QAM channels get choppy (a momentary freeze, then continue). I was considering getting an amplifier to see if it perhaps the 1600 was more sensitive to "low" signal strength, even at 82%.

I have written Hauppauge asking for help, but it's been 3 days and no response. that's unfortunate.

But if SageTV can bypass WinTV AND play QAM HD video smoothly, I may have to switch over to Sage from BTV. Can't remember why I didn't choose Sage in the first place.

I'm a little concerned about what bialio said, but so far I only share the "jumps", maybe. SD on mine seems "good enough".

Anyway, thanks for this QAM HD walkthrough!

[bznotins]

Originally Posted by schmoppa

But if SageTV can bypass WinTV AND play QAM HD video smoothly, I may have to switch over to Sage from BTV. Can't remember why I didn't choose Sage in the first place.

SageTV still offers the full-featured trial period, correct? If so, just set up the latest beta (with the new .dll noted earlier in the thread) and enjoy your new QAM tuner.

Mine's working flawlessly. I quite enjoyed the Colts/Saints in HD last night!

[schmoppa]

Originally Posted by bznotins

SageTV still offers the full-featured trial period, correct? If so, just set up the latest beta (with the new .dll noted earlier in the thread) and enjoy your new QAM tuner.

Mine's working flawlessly. I quite enjoyed the Colts/Saints in HD last night!

great! I take it you also have the HVR-1600?

Do you notice the video stuttering issue I described, or is it smooth all the time?

If you get a chance, would you mind letting me know what your average QAM signal strength is, according to the WinTV app? I would much appreciate it. Like I mentioned, I'm trying to troubleshoot my setup, and it would be great to know whether it's a too-weak signal, or the card... though, if your video is just fine at about the 80% signal quality level, I'm still not so sure that I can completely blame the physical card, as there are so many factors --- video card drivers (I have an nVidia 8600GTS), Hauppauge driver (I assume I have the latest), or weird crap that is produced by Time Warner's signal. eh. anyway, I'd love to hear what your signal strength is at, if it wouldn't be too much trouble.

Thanks!

[95TBird]

I'm running the HVR-1800 (Same card just the PCIe version) & I'm not having any stuttering issues at all & the picture quality is Excellent . As far as signal strength, Sage shows between 96 to 100 % for all my channels.

[bznotins]

I'll take a look at the signal strength when I get home. But if memory serves, it was only in the 75%-80% range. That was using the cable from the wall without a splitter. I have since split it twice but I was sure to detect and tune all the channels (with both WinTV and Sage) pre-split.

I get a bit of stuttering on some channels but my football was perfectly smooth last night.

I'm using an 8500GT with the latest nVidia drivers. I'm also using the latest Hauppauge drivers (yes I'm using the HVR-1600) from their site downloaded about 5-7 days ago.

I'm on Comcast cable here if that makes a difference.

What CPU do you have? I have a C2D E2140 overclocked to 2.9ghz. 2GB of RAM under XP.

[schmoppa]

OK, so 80% signal strength can work in certain circumstances. Maybe I just need to try Sage, maybe it's the WinTV app that just kind of, well, is just kind of lacking.

I only really care about getting the major networks in HD, in addition to PBS. I don't subscribe to any other HD channels like HBO or Discovery HD.

You mentioned some channels did stutter; are any of them major networks?

Thanks! I'll post feedback once I try Sage beta. I wish I had the option of getting a refund for BTV.

[bznotins]

Originally Posted by schmoppa

I only really care about getting the major networks in HD, in addition to PBS. I don't subscribe to any other HD channels like HBO or Discovery HD.

I don't subscribe to HD at all. :P This is ClearQAM so I get the networks in HD and a bunch of other channels all for "free" (I have basic cable). That includes DiscoveryHD, ESPNHD, etc, etc.

[schmoppa]

Originally Posted by bznotins

I don't subscribe to HD at all. :P This is ClearQAM so I get the networks in HD and a bunch of other channels all for "free" (I have basic cable). That includes DiscoveryHD, ESPNHD, etc, etc.

oh, right (duh).

so, you get DiscoveryHD and ESPN HD? nice. I don't think I get those.

which ones do you get that stutter?

[SprDtyF350]

Originally Posted by schmoppa

oh man. I'm a new owner of a home-built DVR. I bought BeyondTV, hoping to get QAM service with my Hauppauge HVR-1600. Somebody in the BTV userbase valiently built a hack to get QAM working with BTV (not officially compatible for now), but limitations include not being able to watch live QAM TV, and the install for the hack is a bit arduous. Plus, you have to deal with the WinTV app, which really kindof sucks. Frustrating to use.

Also, Not sure if it's my cable signal strength (I show about 82% strength), but every 10 seconds or so my HD QAM channels get choppy (a momentary freeze, then continue). I was considering getting an amplifier to see if it perhaps the 1600 was more sensitive to "low" signal strength, even at 82%.

I have written Hauppauge asking for help, but it's been 3 days and no response. that's unfortunate.

But if SageTV can bypass WinTV AND play QAM HD video smoothly, I may have to switch over to Sage from BTV. Can't remember why I didn't choose Sage in the first place.

I'm a little concerned about what bialio said, but so far I only share the "jumps", maybe. SD on mine seems "good enough".

Anyway, thanks for this QAM HD walkthrough!

I found that when using WinTv I would have to pause what I was watching for a few seconds and then it would quit stuttering. I only used it for a couple weeks until Sage added QAM support.

[schmoppa]

Looks like there is a new release candidate, released yesterday:
http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27207

will this work as well as 6.2.6 for the matter at hand discussed in this thread?

[95TBird]

Just installed 6.2.8 , then removed & re-installed my HVR-1800. I then had it scan for channels. Worked perfectly!! Did not need to do any remapping at all & it found all my available Clear QAM channels!!

[rstewartmailacc]

Hi,

I've got the HVR-1800 also and running Windows Vista. I just downloaded and installed SageTV_V6_2_8Setup.exe to try and get QAM channels to work. Hauppauge WinTv does not work.

I'm getting everything but the QAM channels. It thinks it has them but stays on the previous channel.

Any suggestions?

Thanks

[reggie14]

I'm having problems with QAM scanning. I just installed RC3 and am using a HVR-1600. The WinTV application manages to find a bunch of QAM channels, but Sage scans and doesn't find anything.

The first time I ran it Sage found a couple channels. I think it quit early though. I don't think it scanned up to channel 200, but maybe it just ran through them quickly. I know the WinTV application didn't find any channels until the very end of the frequency range.

I'm going to try running the scan again without the frequency cache enabled. Does anyone else have any ideas?

Update:

Sage just finished scanning, and it seemed to find everything it was supposed to. It also didn't seem to take that much longer than when the frequency cache was enabled. Did anyone else have problems with that?

[bznotins]

Originally Posted by schmoppa

oh, right (duh).

so, you get DiscoveryHD and ESPN HD? nice. I don't think I get those.

which ones do you get that stutter?

All my HD channels are coming-in without stutter. It appears that I have an intermittent stutter problem with the non-HD digital channels though (almost all of them which seems odd, I figured it would be the reverse). It could be an mpeg2 decoder issue so I might try changing off the SageTV default.

[davi323]

I have the exact same problem Reggie has. WinTV picks up about half of my local HD stations on QAM, but not all. I tried GBPVR, which I was fairly happy with, it picked up the local QAM channels WinTV didn't, however the HD channels were really choppy, and it sometimes crashed. So, I got SageTV 2.6.8rc, after checking this forum for advice. I have gone through the steps Fmax laid out to get SageTV to receive QAM, but like you, I don't get any QAM channels through SageTV either. It picks up my analog cable channels just fine, loads the channel lineup from my cable provider, etc. But when I set up the digital tuner, it doesn't find anything, when it doesn't crash in the middle of searching. Does it matter if I have already successfully configured the NTSC tuner on the HVR-1600 as a source? The setup for that went smoothly, and it detected all the analog channels I expected it to. The original instructions don't mention whether the digital tuner has to be the only source or not.

My cable setup is a 3-way split from cable coming from wall...one goes to my actual TV (NTSC, not HD) one goes to the NTSC tuner on the back of the HVR-1600, and one goes to the ATSC tuner. I set it up as

Source: Hauppauge WinTV 418 TS Capture Digital TV tuner
Input type: Digital TV Tuner
Cable/Antenna: Cable

I disable the channels that are automatically enabled from selecting the right EPG info, then have it scan for available channels...I have run the scan 10 times, each time I pick up 0 channels. I KNOW I get QAM, as both WinTV and GBPVR find them. Its getting frustrating.

[kevine]

Originally Posted by davi323

Does it matter if I have already successfully configured the NTSC tuner on the HVR-1600 as a source?

This should not matter at all as I had both connected. Setup the NTSC first and it did the scan for QAM fine.

I know you may have done these but consider:
Only Model 74021 and 74041 have QAM
Are you certain you have the correct version card (74021 or 74041)?

Have you created the QAM_FRQ_CACHE.ENABLE file?

Have you tried it without splitting the cable at all?

Try to remap without scanning to see if you can get a channel.
Usually a QAM channel will be a n-n-n format. Maybe in WinTV. I am not too sure. Anyhow, on my 1600 the remap channels after scanning are:
n #1 same as other channel mappings
n #2 is ALWAYS 0 (zero)
n #3 is sequentially number for however many times n #1 appears.

For example: 94-2-1, 94-4-1, 94-5-1 would remap to 94-0-1, 94-0-2, 94-0-3.
You should attempt to remap using the physical channel number.

At least that is how it works on mine.

[davi323]

yeah, I created a blank txt file named QAM_FRQ_CACHE.ENABLE, but the channel scan fails to detect any QAM signals from within SageTV, while it does detect using either WinTV or GBPVR. I have the 74021 model, plus the most recent drivers from Hauppauge (the correct 3.4D drivers released June 12, 2007) I know its not the HVR-1600 or the drivers, as I can get the QAM channels in other programs. There are reasons that I don't want to use either WinTV or GBPVR as my primary TV app in XP though, so if I can get SageTV to work correctly, I will probably use that, as I love the interface. (That, and being the cheap miserly guy I am, want to see if I can get my money's worth out of it)

I just think something isn't configured right, and I am not catching what it is.

[jph1589]

Originally Posted by davi323

yeah, I created a blank txt file named QAM_FRQ_CACHE.ENABLE, but the channel scan fails to detect any QAM signals from within SageTV, while it does detect using either WinTV or GBPVR. I have the 74021 model, plus the most recent drivers from Hauppauge (the correct 3.4D drivers released June 12, 2007) I know its not the HVR-1600 or the drivers, as I can get the QAM channels in other programs. There are reasons that I don't want to use either WinTV or GBPVR as my primary TV app in XP though, so if I can get SageTV to work correctly, I will probably use that, as I love the interface. (That, and being the cheap miserly guy I am, want to see if I can get my money's worth out of it)

I just think something isn't configured right, and I am not catching what it is.

Well you aren't alone. I have an HVR1600 #74041 and I was testing previous RC and ran through the 15 day trial, so I bought the license today and loaded the latest RC. My cable has about 50 clear qam stations that are a combination of SD and HD. WinTV can tune all of them but it has the Wintv challenges of jerkiness / poor coding / etc. My new installation of SageTV 6.2.8 only finds about 15 of the channels when it scans. I tried it with and without that text file setup and I tried it with the analog lineup and the digital lineup. I tried it with and without the analog tuner hooked up.

I am really disappointed since I was reading so many success stories, I thought it would be safe to buy this license. I also love the interface, but if it is only going to find 15 channels, that is not acceptable.

Can someone from sage publish a procedure for tuning the clear qam on this card? Do we need the text file or not? What RC should we be using? Should we be using that replacement DLL in the other thread? People are being sent in so many directions and trying so many things, it is just getting frustrating.

I fear the next step is selling my HVR1600 and buying an HDHR and going through that fiasco to set it up for SageTV. You know, not to be rude or anything, but if I wanted the nightmare of setting up MythTV in Linux, I'd be doing that. This is reminding me much to much of that experience.

Any help would be appreciated by us all.

[zinfari]

Great write-up definately helped get me this far, but my issue is a bit different than some other folks. I have a HVR-1800 and am running 6.2.8. WinTV tunes the QAM channels fine and when I do a scan using Sagetv it finds 56 channels. When I click view in the channel setup all is well, I get the preview and sound. But when I exit channel setup and go to live TV, none of the QAM channels will tune in. It's just snow/static. Any ideas?

Thanks,
-Z

[DRM2PVR]

I could get QAM to work through the bundled WinTV application but not through my HVR1600/SageTV bundle package. I am running the HVR-1600 #74041 with the latest drivers and SageTV v 6.2.8 latest.

I fixed mine with the following:

Steps:
1. "Add New Source" / "Hauppauge WinTV 418 TS Capture" / "Digital TV Tuner"
2. "Use Tuner On Capture Card To Tune Cable TV" 3. "Use US, Canada, or XMLTV Guide Data with the source"
4a. "Over The air"
5. "San Diego Digital Broadcast"
6. "Yes Scan for all channels now" (erasing first is a good idea , less work later)
Result: (just runs through channels fast without tuning...)

Having a QAM_FRQ_CACHE.ENABLE at /Program files/SageTV/SageTV/QAM_FRQ_CACHE.ENABLE can cause the tuner not to tune in any channels. This is apperent durring channel detection if its just spinning up through channels instead of a second on each one. Deleting this file fixed mine.

This thread caught my eye too for those with continuing issues:
http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27063

Short Version:
a fix for the QAM tuning bug for 6.2.7rc2

--------------------------------------------------------------------------Linux update:
http://download.sage.tv/users/qian/libDVBCapture.so
http://download.sage.tv/users/qian/libTSnative.so

Windows update:
http://download.sage.tv/users/qian/DShowCapture.dll


Also check this other post for how to map after you get the above fixed
http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/show...362#post238362