LibreElec 10 + RPI 4 + Astrometa DVB-T2 = does not detect any channels on MUXes working in VHF

    I have a new RPI 4 set with the "Astrometa" DVB-T2 receiver and the latest LibreElec operating system (LibreELEC-RPi4.arm-10.0.1.img.gz). My problem is that no MUXs operating in the VHF band are detected or scanned (for example in Poland MUX8 in the 184.5MHz band.)

    Is there any way that I can receive signals in this band?

    My receiver is built around integrated circuits: R828D; RTL2832U and Sony CXD2837ER.

    The next question is how (also the VHF band) can I receive FM and DAB + radio signals via the KODI application. ;(

    Edited once, last by Jedrusia: My receiver PCB is green. (February 3, 2022 at 7:32 PM).

    Quote from Jedrusia

    ... My problem is that no MUXs operating in the VHF band are detected ...

    The next question is how ... can I receive FM ... ;(

    Bearing in mind that VHF and FM are radio bands for analog broadcasts that are incompatible with tvheadend's digital reception system, I'm not surprised that it doesn't work in CE, LE and tvheadend.

    In the Kodi articles about analog radio it is already explained that this is full of incompatibilities and exaggerated process requirements for analog to digital conversion, that is, not usable in practice.

    In relation to the VHF band, I challenge you to tell me the name of a single public TV broadcast that broadcasts in this band in ATSC, DTMB, DVB-T/DVB-T2 and ISDB-T digital format anywhere in the world ( I obviously exclude military and industrial applications). Will not be able!

    Quote from elonesna

    n relation to the VHF band, I challenge you to tell me the name of a single public TV broadcast that broadcasts in this band in ATSC, DTMB, DVB-T/DVB-T2 and ISDB-T digital format anywhere in the world ( I obviously exclude military and industrial applications). Will not be able!

    I did not tell about TV and in fact I was thinking about DAB which examples you can find easily I believe.

    But at least the post #1 above is an answer. :)

    Rzeszów(Krosno)/Sucha Góra:
    MUX8: (6 channel, 184 MHz Frequency, Polarization V, Power 18 kW)

    Exactly. My point is that the MUX 8 reception on the "Astromet" USB receiver is not possible (from Krosno). On the next TV set I have the level and quality of the signal from this MUX at 100%.

    Reception worked until the first system restart. Since then, the VHF band seems to have been blocked

    Quote from elonesna

    Bearing in mind that VHF and FM are radio bands for analog broadcasts that are incompatible with tvheadend's digital reception system, I'm not surprised that it doesn't work in CE, LE and tvheadend.

    Where did you find the information that TVHeadend does not work in the VHF band?

    I have not found such information anywhere, what's more, after the first scan, TVHeadEnd set all the transmission parameters correctly for me (I had it set to "AUTO"), and after restarting the system, I found nothing at all in the VHF band. Even if I set mux8 to "AUTO" again

    It's a questiion how do you have the Astrometa adapters configured in Tvheadend. I would disable the RTL2832 (DVB-T) and Sony CXD2837ER (DVB-C). Keep only Sony CXD2837ER (DVB-T) enabled (it supports both DVB-T and DVB-T2). Reboot and configure / test again.

    Try to do this settings from scratch, before you search for channels for the first time (uninstall the Tvheadend server Add-on including settings, install it again). Disable the unneeded adapters and perform the MUXes configuration from Tvheadend.

    Consider a manual settings for just the MUX8 as outlined in post #2.

    Create a Network with just that single MUX, set the Frequency to 184500000, then you may need to play with Bandwith (probably 7 MHz for VHF) and Constellation. Then run Force Scan for the Network.

    BTW. you can also try to set the fixed adapter number for Astrometa before you start configuring Tvheadend:

    echo options dvb-usb-rtl28xxu adapter_nr=5 > /storage/.config/modprobe.d/astrometa.conf

    Reboot LE to activate it.

    Edited 2 times, last by ghtester (February 5, 2022 at 10:44 AM).

    Quote from elonesna

    In relation to the VHF band, I challenge you to tell me the name of a single public TV broadcast that broadcasts in this band in ATSC, DTMB, DVB-T/DVB-T2 and ISDB-T digital format anywhere in the world ( I obviously exclude military and industrial applications). Will not be able!

    I'm afraid you're very mistaken - it's quite easy to document current VHF TV broadcasts...

    Off the top of my head DVB-T/T2 services in VHF are in use in Australia, were introduced in Sweden with DVB-T2 HD, and have also been used in Finland. ATSC in the US uses VHF widely too.

    In Australia VHF Band III is currently used for DVB across large parts of the country (VHF's wider coverage areas make a lot of sense for a large country like Aus).

    As an example here are the frequencies for DVB-T broadcasts in Perth, Australia : https://www.digitalbitrate.com/dtv.php?mux=SB…live=36&lang=en - all 5 DVB-T muxes are in VHF Band III (177.5MHz to 226.5MHz range) , not the UHF Band IV/V frequency range

    In Sweden their DVB-T2 Nät 7 mux is currently carried on Channels 5,6,7 and 8 in VHF Band III in some parts of the country - such as Skellefteå, where Channel 6 is used (Sweden re-introduced VHF Band III broadcasting, previously only used in TV terms for analogue PAL, when they introduced more muxes for DVB-T2 HD services). (For reference - in Europe, any RF channel below C21 is VHF, with the UHF TV Bands IV and V running from 21-69, though >800MHz has been cleared and >700MHz are being cleared in most countries)

    Swedish TV broadcasting authority link here where you'll see a few transmitters using RF channels 5,6,7 and 8 in VHF Band III for their 7th mux :

    https://www.teracom.se/privat/Support/frekvenstabeller-tv/

    In both Sweden and Australia, Band III is used for both DVB-T/T2 digital TV services and DAB/DAB+ Digital Radio services. (In other European countries like the UK, DVB-T/T2 is only in UHF, and VHF Band III is used for DAB/DAB+ only in consumer broadcasting terms, if it's used at all)

    I'm not sure if Finland is still using VHF - but it was at one point.

    In the US - VHF Band I and Band III are both used for ATSC digital TV.

    Here's the Rabbit Ears listing for New York : https://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?mktid=1

    If you look at the RF Physical Channel numbers you will see there are lots of channels below Channel 14 (which is the first US channel in the US UHF band numbering scheme) - anything below 14 is a VHF channel. VHF Band III contains channels 7 to 13, VHF Band I contains channels 2-6. Even the main ABC station - WABC - is on RF channel 7 (which is around 174MHz).

    (NB The US and Europe use different VHF/UHF channel numbers because the US uses 6MHz wide channels, whereas Europe uses 7MHz in VHF and 8MHz in UHF. I think Aus is 7MHz in both.)

    Quote from Jedrusia

    I have a new RPI 4 set with the "Astrometa" DVB-T2 receiver and the latest LibreElec operating system (LibreELEC-RPi4.arm-10.0.1.img.gz). My problem is that no MUXs operating in the VHF band are detected or scanned (for example in Poland MUX8 in the 184.5MHz band.)

    Is there any way that I can receive signals in this band?

    My receiver is built around integrated circuits: R828D; RTL2832U and Sony CXD2837ER.

    The next question is how (also the VHF band) can I receive FM and DAB + radio signals via the KODI application. ;(

    Where in the world are you based and what channels are you trying to receive.

    The Astrometa DVB-T/T2 tuner is likely to be limited to DVB-T/T2 only (and DVB-T2 may be tricky - at one point only DVB-T was supported because of the split demodulator arrangement and only drivers for the DVB-T demod being originally available)

    Whilst the tuner may also be advertised as supporting FM and DAB radio - that requires the tuner to be used with totally different, SDR-style drivers, which are totally separate to DVB drivers, and I don't think there is any support for running in this mode in TV Headend.

    (I think in Windows there are drivers and custom software to support this?)

    Edited 7 times, last by noggin: Merged a post created by noggin into this post. (February 5, 2022 at 11:20 AM).

    @ghtester

    The mux configuration in TVHeadend for PL-Krosno is deprecated, all MUX frequencies do not match and some muxs are not listed there.

    There is no VHF mux8 at all.

    I did a reinstallation of TVHeadend and previously uninstalled the old version and still no VHF support, even manually set mux8 according to the parameters I found on the provider's website. The scan returns an error.

    Maybe this is a problem with the "Astrometa" receiver running under Linux?

    I live about 10 km from the transmitter (Poland, Krosno - Sucha Góra).

    As I wrote, I have an "Astrometa" TV tuner with a green PCB.

    I have one more problem, bypassing the VHF band, I started the TV from the KODI program on the FHD TV connected via the HDMI cable. And here there are problems with programs broadcast in FHD, because there are terrible errors and artifacts on the TV. They were not so visible through the connection between THHeadend with a laptop and VLC.

    Where is the problem ?

    Edited 5 times, last by Jedrusia (February 6, 2022 at 10:50 AM).