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Howto: Setup german DVB-T2 "beta" channels

Added by Michael Freudenberg over 8 years ago

Hi all,

today the official "beta phase" of DVB-T2 broadcast has started in Germany. Until now, it was only possible to receive DVB-T2 channels in certain regions (now the area is much more wider).

I would like to provide a short howto for those who seeking support on this topic. I am using TVheadend 4.0.8@jessie on a Raspberry-PI1 B+. As receivers i use two DVB-T2 USB Sticks "August T210".

Retrieving the frequency number

Take a look here for a list of DVB-T2 stations: http://www.dvb-t2hd.de/files/Senderstandorte_Erste_Stufe_DVB-T2_HD.pdf
Here is a list of DVB-T stations: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_der_DVB-T-Sender_in_Deutschland

Here in my region NRW, there are several stations, but all use the same channel 43. Now, unfortunately I was not able to find a table listing "unassigned" channels. Therefore I just calculated the channel frequency. Each dvb-t channel has a bandwidth of 8Mhz. Taking channel number 45, which has a frequency of 666MHz (muahaha) you just need to subtract (2x8MHz) to get the frequency for channel 43 => 650MHz (Wow, that's like rocket science).

Setting up channel in TVHeadend

Now, we need to setup this new found mux in our tvheadend configuration. I have created a new network named DVB-T2 for this purpose and assigned it to my both receiver.

Afterwards, I created manually a new mux with the following data:

frequency (Hz): 650000000
Bandwidth: 8Mhz
Constellation: QAM/AUTO
Delivery System: DVBT2

I left any other value by default (or AUTO). I went back to Networks and selected the new network "DVB-T2" and clicked on "Force Scan". I was able to see in the log window, that tvheadend was able to find 6 new services. The two services "ARD HD" and "ZDF HD" could be mapped as new channels.

-> The other RTL, ProSieben, SAT.1, VOX could not be accessed by tvheadend. The reason is clear, the are encrypted.

Even though, ARD and ZDF are marked as encrypted by TVheadend, I was able to stream them on my Android mobile.

Streaming results

As already mentioned in the section above, I was able to stream the two unencrypted channels ARD and ZDF with my Android mobile - but only with a few drawbacks.

Android Mobile: TVHClient + MX Player

the picture was there, but no sound. MX Player was complaining about not supported audio stream (EAC3)

Android Mobile: TVHClient + VLC Player

only the first few frames of the stream were visible. Afterwards, the picture got stuck. The sound was ok!

Linux Mint with Kodi 16.1:

no picture no sound. I guess i need to install the HEVC codec (H.265)

So far these are my first experiences with DVB-T2. If anyone else has other experiences, or can report successful streams, feel free to report it here :-).

Michael


Replies (19)

RE: Howto: Setup german DVB-T2 "beta" channels - Added by Michael Freudenberg over 8 years ago

EDIT: Added setting "Delivery System: DVBT2"

RE: Howto: Setup german DVB-T2 "beta" channels - Added by Bengt Madeberg over 8 years ago

Test with kodi (former xbmc) it supports HEVC. HEVC requires much more CPU processing. If you don't have any processor that support HW decoding of HEVC it will probaly got stucked after a while...

RE: Howto: Setup german DVB-T2 "beta" channels - Added by Michael Freudenberg over 8 years ago

Test with kodi (former xbmc) it supports HEVC.

I did that (last bold paragraph in the initial post). I was not able to watch live TV respectively to stream via the official tvheadend HTSP plugin for kodi.

BUT, I recorded a show and was able to watch this show in HD with no picture or sound problems. I know that kodi supports HEVC since version 14 (http://kodi.wiki/view/HEVC). Still, I saw that watching the recorded HD show required a lot of cpu ressources on my core i5 laptop. I opened my task manager in parallel and monitored the cpu load rising up to 70-80%.

Its seems for me to be an issue with the HTSP plugin for Kodi. I posted a new thread on the kodi forum (http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=278293). I already wrote an answer to this thread here (http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=261370), but no one is responding. Maybe because the title states "solved" :-).

RE: Howto: Setup german DVB-T2 "beta" channels - Added by Michael Freudenberg over 8 years ago

It seems, that HEVC will be supported in the upcoming tvheadend version 4.2. Furthermore taking a look into the discussion in this ticket https://tvheadend.org/issues/2940, it even seems to be possible to stream a 4K/UHD HEVC encoded channel (comment #32). The interesting part is, that the kodi htsp plugin version 2.1.17 was used for this (i have currently 2.1.18 installed).

RE: Howto: Setup german DVB-T2 "beta" channels - Added by Michael Freudenberg over 8 years ago

Good news,

I was able to compile and install the latest tvheadend version from git source. The result is -> I can now watch both german DVB-T2 HD channels! Hooray!

BUT, the picture is not really smooth. Meaning, the stream is played back slower than the audio. Therefore after a few seconds the picture is out of sync with audio. I assume this has to do with the HEVC coded and the required performance for viewing it. I guess my Lenovo X201 does not support DXVA or any other HW encoding of HEVC.

Here are the details:

Server:
raspberry PI B+
tvheadend git-version 4.1-2135

Client:
Lenovo X201 Windows 10 with Kodi 16.1 jarvis

RE: Howto: Setup german DVB-T2 "beta" channels - Added by lord slash about 8 years ago

I actually made some steps forward in my research: I found a list of Linux supported DVB-T2 devices: https://www.linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/DVB-T2_USB_Devices
Even though the one i found seems to be supported, it seems only the DVB-T is supported.

I then found the Geniatech T230 on a shop here http://de.aliexpress.com/store/product/dvb-t2-receiver-GENIATECH-Mygica-USB-TV-Stick-T230-DVB-T2-Tuner-DVB-C-DVB-T/616485_1883597971.html for 20€ and I was wondering if some of you have experience with it and think it's a good idea to give it a try with my Raspberry PI and TVHeadend

RE: Howto: Setup german DVB-T2 "beta" channels - Added by Mark Clarkstone about 8 years ago

lord slash wrote:

Hi! Which DVB-T2 Stick receiver did you use? I found this [[http://www.ebay.de/itm/USB-2-0-DVB-T2-T-DVB-C-TV-Tuner-Stick-USB-Dongle-for-PC-Laptop-Windows-7-8-FE/232049310288?_trksid=p2047675.c100011.m1850&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D38631%26meid%3Deff739fef57044d59ac5fedcbcc4db22%26pid%3D100011%26rk%3D4%26rkt%3D18%26sd%3D141939815272]] and I was wondering if it's possible to connect it with a Raspberry PI 2 and TVHeadend. Do you know something about it?

I have the rebadged Geniatech T230 (August T210v2) and have previously used it on the Pi without issue. I also have the Astrometa (the first version with the black strip), yes it does work but the driver I've found has a few issues (causes tvh to use a silly amount of cpu). I'd go with the Silabs based tuner (the Geniatech) if I were you, much better driver, at least on the Pi anyway (I've found).

RE: Howto: Setup german DVB-T2 "beta" channels - Added by Michael Freudenberg about 8 years ago

Hi,

I am using two August DVB-T210 Sticks

https://www.amazon.de/August-DVB-T210-Videorecorder-Fernbedienung-kompatibel/dp/B008D8K50Q/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1472044533&sr=8-1&keywords=august+dvb-t210

Both work really good with my tvheadend 4.1 (compiled from git). I am using a raspberry 1 B+.
The CPU load is quite moderate for one stream (20%-30% no matter if DVB-T or DVB-T2).
I am planning to migrate on a raspbery pi 2. I guess this would be the better platform, because it has more cpu power and therefore can handle more streaming clients.

Setting up the August T210 stick is also easy. You only need download the firmware and copy it to /lib/firmware

RE: Howto: Setup german DVB-T2 "beta" channels - Added by lord slash about 8 years ago

May I ask you why are you using two Sticks?! And why did you compile your own tvheadend? Wouldn't it work with the stable release and Raspbian? I bought this one
http://www.ebay.com/itm/162135041930
It's supposed to be compatible, I'll let you know as soon as it comes :-)

RE: Howto: Setup german DVB-T2 "beta" channels - Added by Michael Freudenberg about 8 years ago

I use two, because i like to record a lot of series. To prevent a conflict when recordings are scheduled on two different channels in parallel, you need two or more receiver. Of course, if two channels are on the same "mux" - only one receiver will be occupied (i tested that).
This also applies, when you want to watch live tv and record in parallel.

Regarding the github build. I tried watching the new german HD channels, which are encoded in H.265/HEVC. I had issues with kodi 16.1 and the tvheadend plugin, when streaming from tvheadend version 4.09. After i installed the github build i could stream HEVC encoded HD channels from kodi (presuming a HEVC capable client). Right now i have tvheadend 4.1-2135 installed, and i can watch the HD channels on my desktop PC (AMD FX8230) and an Odroid-C2 with Librelec. For instance, it's not working 'seamless' on my Lenovo X201, which is to old to support HEVC by the integrated Intel graphics, and seemingly not fast enough to process it via software encoding (tried this on kodi 16.1 and Windows 10).

RE: Howto: Setup german DVB-T2 "beta" channels - Added by lord slash about 8 years ago

Hi! I finally managed to get my Geniatech T230C to work with my Raspbian and TVHeadend (I also compiled the 4.1-2247). It works perfectly with the DVB-T channels, but as soon as I add the DVB-T2 Mux as explained in this thread the scan fails. Here is what I did:

I have created a new network named DVB-T2 for this purpose and assigned it to my both receiver.
Afterwards, I created manually a new mux with the following data:
frequency (Hz): 650000000
Bandwidth: 8Mhz
Constellation: QAM/AUTO
Delivery System: DVBT2
I left any other value by default (or AUTO). I went back to Networks and selected the new network "DVB-T2" and clicked on "Force Scan".

any idea if there is some other parameter that I might have forgotten?

RE: Howto: Setup german DVB-T2 "beta" channels - Added by lord slash about 8 years ago

Turned out that the right frequency for DVB-T2 HD channels was 642MHz instead of 650MHz. I am wondering if the frequency is different depending on the city.. Anyway I cannot watch the HD channels on my PI yet:

when I stream an HD channel on TVHeadend from my DVB-T2 stick the CPU goes to 100% and the video gets very jerky and unwatchable (SD channels work fine). More in detail the setup that I have:
- Raspberry Pi 2 with Raspbian Jessie, kernel 4.4.21-v7+
- Backend is TVHeadend 4.1-2247 (github build)
- DVB-T2 Stick is a Geniatech T230C (newer version of the T230, also known as August T210, driver Silicon Labs Si2168 compiled from here: https://bitbucket.org/CrazyCat/media_build )
- Kodi 16.1 (github build): MPG2 and WVC1 codecs purchased and enabled; /boot/config.txt contains gpu_mem=256; video hardware acceleration MMAL enabled;
- PVR Frontend is TVHeadend HTSP Client 2.2.12

When I select an SD channel it works perfectly, when I select an HD channel the CPU goes quicky to 100% and I can't watch the channel. When I watch the HD channel on my Windows computer with VLC it works flawlessy (so I guess my problem is not with the backend but with the frontend/kodi)
I will attach a Kodi log file and a screenshot
What am I doing wrong?

RE: Howto: Setup german DVB-T2 "beta" channels - Added by Matthias Teefau about 8 years ago

You are right lord slash. You have to adjust the frequency to your city. For example if you are living in the german city Bremen the right frequency is: 578000000 Hz

Channel 45 example: 666 MHz
Channel width: 8 MHz
Right channel for Bremen: 34
45-34 = 11
666 MHz - (11*8 MHz) = 578 MHz = 578000000 Hz

You can find the right channel here: http://www.dvb-t2hd.de/files/Senderstandorte_Erste_Stufe_DVB-T2_HD.pdf

If you don't want to calculate, you can find the right frequency here: http://www.dehnmedia.de/?page=dvbt2&subpage=demokanal

A big problem of DVB-T2 is, that the video codec is different. It's called HEVC (H.265). I couldn't play a DVB-T2 stream with my MacBook Pro and VLC. The CPU load was too high.

A big thanks to Michael! (Theoretically) I can watch these both DVB-T2 channels:

2016-10-08 11:51:57.704 service_mapper: DVB-T2/578MHz/Das Erste HD: success
2016-10-08 11:51:57.704 service_mapper: DVB-T2/578MHz/ZDF HD: success

My setup:
*OS: Ubuntu Server 16.04 amd64 (I added the right firmware to /lib/firmware)
*DVB-T2 USB Stick: TechnoTrend TT-TVStick CT2-4400 (Silicon Labs Si2168)
*HTS Tvheadend 4.0.9-13~g64fec81~xenial

lsusb:

ID 0b48:3014 TechnoTrend AG TT-TVStick CT2-4400

Matt :)

Edit: I can play the stream (HEVC H.265) with mpv 0.20.0 on OS X El Capitan.

DVB-T2_Mux_Bremen.png (162 KB) DVB-T2_Mux_Bremen.png DVB-T2 Mux Bremen
DVB-T2_VLC_Stream.png (243 KB) DVB-T2_VLC_Stream.png DVB-T2 VLC Stream

RE: Howto: Setup german DVB-T2 "beta" channels - Added by Michael Freudenberg over 7 years ago

Just in case someone needs a nice overview of german frequencies and transmitter locations i have copy and pasted the table from here (http://www.dvbt2hd.de/files/Senderstandorte_und_Kanaele_(Regelbetrieb_ab_29._Maerz_2017).pdf) into a nice excel sheet.

RE: Howto: Setup german DVB-T2 "beta" channels - Added by Phill B about 6 years ago

Hey!
I'm new to tvh and can't figure out what the problem is.
I checked the frequencies and added the premade as well but no services on scan.
How can i debug this?
I'm 2km away from the transmitter so this shouldn't be the prob.

thanks in advance

sys:
rPi 3b+ + DVB TV uHAT
os:
rapbian 2018-10-09 + tvh 4.2.4-dmo1~bpo9+1~rpt1

RE: Howto: Setup german DVB-T2 "beta" channels - Added by Mark Clarkstone about 6 years ago

Phill B wrote:

Hey!
I'm new to tvh and can't figure out what the problem is.
I checked the frequencies and added the premade as well but no services on scan.
How can i debug this?
I'm 2km away from the transmitter so this shouldn't be the prob.

thanks in advance

sys:
rPi 3b+ + DVB TV uHAT
os:
rapbian 2018-10-09 + tvh 4.2.4-dmo1~bpo9+1~rpt1

Do you know the complete transmitter info? Is there any info online?

RE: Howto: Setup german DVB-T2 "beta" channels - Added by Phill B about 6 years ago

Got it to work!
The mux settings were wrong. Now I set them on DVB-T2 8Mhz and it worked.
Plp differs between -1 and 1 to get all channels.

RE: Howto: Setup german DVB-T2 "beta" channels - Added by A Blarb over 5 years ago

Darf ich das mal für Berlin als Beispiel hier zusammenfassen?
Die Frequenzen stehen z.B. hier: https://tvhelfer.de/dvbt2/de/be

Unter "DVB Inputs":
1. Ein DVB-T2-Network erzeugen, dem/n richtigen TV-Adapter(n) das Network zuweisen.
2. Pro Frequenz muss man einen Mux erzeugen. Setzen muss man:

Delivery System: DVB-T2
Frequency (Hz): 506000000 (z.B.)
Bandwidth: 8MHz
Constellation: QAM/64

der Rest auf AUTO, dann findet er die Services
(Character set: AUTO, weiß nicht ob das notwendig ist)

    (1-19/19)