Can't get QAM with Hauppauge 1800

[wigglytoes]

Hello:
I'm trying out SageTV, after wishing that I could take a shotgun to both WinTV and BeyondTV.

I am running Win XP 32 bit SP 3
I have a Hauppauge HVR-1800 with all the latest drivers, and a my cable is split so it goes into both coaxial inputs.
I'm trying to configure SageTV V6.4.8 (not using the client server stuff)
I have Comcast cable.

Hooking up my cable to my TV and saying Scan Channels - it finds analog channels, digital channels, and HDTV channels.
I can get both WinTV and BeyondTV to see (at least some of) the QAM channels.
and yet I get a No Signal box from Sage TV.

Inside the configuration wizard, I don't seem to have any problems setting up my 1st source:
Hauppauge WinTV 885 Video Capture
But when I try to add a 2nd source I run into trouble.
The 2nd source is listed as
Hauppauge WinTV 885 TS Capture
When I select that and move to the next page 'Digital TV Tuner' is my only option.
when I click on that the 'loading preview' comes up, but the first channel listed is -1. I can't move to any other channel. Plus, at the same time, a REC box pops up in the top
If I ignore all that and move on, and try to scan for channels, I get the No Signal box.

Anyone know what's going on?

Considering the time that I've wasted trying to make my own DVR, I could have bought a Direct TV DVR for the next 10 years.

[hemicuda]

Do you have these files in you SageTV folder? The first lists the channels Sage found and their frequency assignment as well as the major-minor-program numbers. The second just helps Sage scan faster if the empty file "QAM_FRQ_CACHE.ENABLE" exists.

Hauppauge WinTV 885 TS Capture-0-QAM.frq (most important file)
and/or
QAMScan-Hauppauge WinTV 885 TS Capture-0.frq

<snip>

The first file should look similar to this:

VERSION 3.0, country:United States of America

TYPE QAM

#fec_rate:     1:fec1/2, 2:fec2/3, 3:fec3/4, 4:fec3/5, 5:fec4/5, 6:fec5/6, 7:fec5/11, 8:fec7/8 9:fec1/4 10:fec1/3
#			   11:fec2/5 12:fec6/7 13:fec8/9 14:fec8/9 15:max
#fec:          1:VBC, 2:RS/2048, 3:maximum	
#polarisation: 1:linear_H, 2:Linear_V, 3:Circular_L, 4:Circular_R
#modualtion:   1:16QAM:1, 2:32QAM, 3:64QAM, 4:80QAM, 5:96QAM, 6:112QAM, 7:128QAM, 8:160QAM, 9:192QAM, 10:224QAM, 
#              11:256QAM, 12:320QAM, 13:384QAM, 14:448QAM, 15:512QAM, 16:640QAM, 17:768QAM, 18:896QAM, 19:1024QAM, 
#              20:QPSK, 21:BPSK, 22:OQPSK, 23:8VSB:23, 24:16VSB 31:NBC_QPSK 32:NBC_8PSK   
#ctrlbits:     0:diasable, 1:enable, 3:encrypted  
#format:  
#SCHEME:UNKNOW (0)
CH:1 major:0 minor:1 prog:1 phy:54 frq:403250000 mod:11 inv:0 #:DTV54.1
CH:2 major:0 minor:2 prog:2 phy:54 frq:403250000 mod:11 inv:0 #:DTV54.2
CH:3 major:0 minor:3 prog:3 phy:54 frq:403250000 mod:11 inv:0 #:DTV54.3
CH:4 major:0 minor:5 prog:5 phy:54 frq:403250000 mod:11 inv:0 #:DTV54.5
CH:5 major:0 minor:6 prog:6 phy:54 frq:403250000 mod:11 inv:0 #:DTV54.6
CH:6 major:0 minor:7 prog:7 phy:54 frq:403250000 mod:11 inv:0 #:DTV54.7
CH:7 major:0 minor:8 prog:8 phy:54 frq:403250000 mod:11 inv:0 #:DTV54.8
CH:8 major:0 minor:3 prog:16 phy:62 frq:451250000 mod:11 inv:0 #:DTV62.16
CH:9 major:0 minor:4 prog:17 phy:62 frq:451250000 mod:11 inv:0 #:DTV62.17
CH:10 major:0 minor:5 prog:18 phy:62 frq:451250000 mod:11 inv:0 #:DTV62.18
CH:11 major:0 minor:6 prog:19 phy:62 frq:451250000 mod:11 inv:0 #:DTV62.19
CH:12 major:0 minor:7 prog:20 phy:62 frq:451250000 mod:11 inv:0 #:DTV62.20
CH:13 major:0 minor:8 prog:21 phy:62 frq:451250000 mod:11 inv:0 #:DTV62.21
CH:14 major:0 minor:9 prog:22 phy:62 frq:451250000 mod:11 inv:0 #:DTV62.22

<snip>

[Conejo]

Originally Posted by wigglytoes

Inside the configuration wizard, I don't seem to have any problems setting up my 1st source:
Hauppauge WinTV 885 Video Capture
But when I try to add a 2nd source I run into trouble.
The 2nd source is listed as
Hauppauge WinTV 885 TS Capture
When I select that and move to the next page 'Digital TV Tuner' is my only option. when I click on that the 'loading preview' comes up, but the first channel listed is -1. I can't move to any other channel. Plus, at the same time, a REC box pops up in the top

A Digital Tuner won't normally give you a preview screen until a channel discovery "SCAN" is completed. So the above is normal.

The REC icon is displayed whenever a channel tune is attempted. All captures by SageTV are first sent to the Hard Drive then retrieved for display.

You might want to review this: SETUP WinTV HVR-1600 with QAM - SageTV Community

If I ignore all that and move on, and try to scan for channels, I get the No Signal box.

Try the FAQ I've linked above. It should be the same for setting up your HVR-1800.

It describes the files Hemicuda spoke of... but I think I'd pass on his offer to share cloned body parts.

[hemicuda]

Originally Posted by Conejo

It describes the files Hemicuda spoke of... but I think I'd pass on his offer to share cloned body parts.

You think you're funny don't you

I originally pasted the partial contents as an example of the format of the file.

[wigglytoes]

I love the name Hemicuda, being a mopar man myself. I had the original Dodge Challenger. Somedays I think about trying to find an old one again. (Not the one that they're just coming out with)

Anyway, I appear to have solved all my problems.

The answer seems to be to get a signal booster. I had noticed someone else mentioning that on some forum, somewhere. So I went to Radio shack and bought a $30 amplifier. Since then I've had no problems. I can now find many digital channels, including all the HD channels that my TV finds.

I wonder if new TV's come with signal amplifiers? That would make sense.

I've been running Sage for a week now, and it's great. Pretty soon I'll have to read the usage instructions so I can figure out how to really get the most out of it.

[jasmithvr6]

Originally Posted by wigglytoes

I love the name Hemicuda, being a mopar man myself. I had the original Dodge Challenger. Somedays I think about trying to find an old one again. (Not the one that they're just coming out with)

Anyway, I appear to have solved all my problems.

The answer seems to be to get a signal booster. I had noticed someone else mentioning that on some forum, somewhere. So I went to Radio shack and bought a $30 amplifier. Since then I've had no problems. I can now find many digital channels, including all the HD channels that my TV finds.

I wonder if new TV's come with signal amplifiers? That would make sense.

I've been running Sage for a week now, and it's great. Pretty soon I'll have to read the usage instructions so I can figure out how to really get the most out of it.

I'm having similar problems with my HVR-1600. I went through the thread dedicated to setting up QAM in Sage, but it's still not working. The strange thing is that I can get QAM through the WinTV app just fine, so common sense would say that it's not a signal strength issue. Not sure what to try next.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks!

[bnh]

Originally Posted by jasmithvr6

I'm having similar problems with my HVR-1600. I went through the thread dedicated to setting up QAM in Sage, but it's still not working. The strange thing is that I can get QAM through the WinTV app just fine, so common sense would say that it's not a signal strength issue. Not sure what to try next.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks!

I have an HVR-1600 and have had no issues. The fact that you can get QAM via the Wintv app suggests the base hardware/drivers are all working correctly. If i were installing a new Sage setup with this tuner, i would probably try a reinstall of Sage and restarting the initial wizard that goes through setting up the tuner. I remember having some "fun" getting QAM channels mapped to the correct EPG guide, but that doesn't sound like your problem.

[Conejo]

Originally Posted by jasmithvr6

I'm having similar problems with my HVR-1600. I went through the thread dedicated to setting up QAM in Sage, but it's still not working. The strange thing is that I can get QAM through the WinTV app just fine, so common sense would say that it's not a signal strength issue. Not sure what to try next.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks!

The Thread: SETUP WinTV HVR-1600 with QAM - SageTV Community

What portion of the setup are you currently having problems with?

[jasmithvr6]

Originally Posted by bnh

I have an HVR-1600 and have had no issues. The fact that you can get QAM via the Wintv app suggests the base hardware/drivers are all working correctly. If i were installing a new Sage setup with this tuner, i would probably try a reinstall of Sage and restarting the initial wizard that goes through setting up the tuner. I remember having some "fun" getting QAM channels mapped to the correct EPG guide, but that doesn't sound like your problem.

As it turns out, I was trying to setup the HVR-1600 using Digital Cable setup vs. Basic Extended Cable. . I don't subscribe to digital cable, which may be part of the problem. Either way, I was able to pull in NBC in QAM through Sage. I still need to test the other channels, but assume they will tune in as well. Now if I can just figure out how to remap the EPG, life would be good. I'm sure there is a thread out there already, so time to do some digging.

[reggie14]

Originally Posted by jasmithvr6

Now if I can just figure out how to remap the EPG, life would be good. I'm sure there is a thread out there already, so time to do some digging.

There's probably a good thread out there that discusses this. It really ought to be in the SageTV FAQ, or at least in a sticky.

Remapping is by far my least favorite part of setting up, along with scannnig for QAM channels in the first place. It's been a while since I've done it, but I'll tell you how I think it works. It sounds like you already did QAM scanning, marking the channels you receive. So, go back to the channel setup screen for your WinTV 418 TS tuner, find a QAM channel that you receive, click on View and watch it for a while until you figure out what it is. Once you figure, click remap. First, click on "Map Different Station to this Physical Channel". There's going to be a long list of all the different stations you receive. Hopefully you know the station's call sign, or you'll have to look it up. There should be one that is the digital version of the station. So, if the station's call sign is WDCW, there should be one that's WDCW-DT, or something like it. Doing that should let you download the correct guide data for the channel.

Next, you might want to change the logical channel number. This is the number that this station will be in Sage's channel guide. I like to keep my HD channels together, separate from the SD channels. So, if the SD version of the channel is 23, I map the station's logical channel number to 923. There's no right or wrong way to do it. It's just a matter of preference.