Sky through a HTPC issues

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Satch

1985 posts

Uber Geek

#164258 3-Feb-2015 12:38

Hi,

I'm a long time user of Sky via my HTPC decoded via Oscam and DVBLink into Windows Media Center 7.

More recently I've been having issues maintaining a stable picture for any of the HD (sports) channels. All SD channels work fine, but the HD ones only work occasionally. When they don't work they are either very stuttery or I get a Playready update request (which of course doesn't work).

Now because I'm not using Sky equipment other than my valid Sky card with subscription, I can hardly ring Sky for help. I also only have one of the small silver decoder boxes which do not offer HD. And it is not easy to get a MySky HDi box in order to check to see if the HD feeds work via that.

Based on the above, what are some of the troubleshooting steps I can take to try to solve the issue? I guess it could be down to wiring issues? Or satellite issues (even though all SD channels work fine??)?

Any pointers in the right direction would be appreciated.

And yes I am aware that by having the setup I do it is not supported. This is why I am asking this community for help/pointers.

Cheers in advance.

rlevis

347 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1230692 3-Feb-2015 18:15

HD reception requires a better satellite signal than SD, so it's possible the sat dish has become slightly out of alignment or the LNB is degrading. Can you get the signal strength from the tuner card? Borrowing someones HD decoder with HD ticket may be the only way to test that theory.

Satch

1985 posts

Uber Geek

#1231047 4-Feb-2015 12:00

rlevis: HD reception requires a better satellite signal than SD, so it's possible the sat dish has become slightly out of alignment or the LNB is degrading. Can you get the signal strength from the tuner card? Borrowing someones HD decoder with HD ticket may be the only way to test that theory.

Sorry but I failed to mention an important piece of info (I was meant to put it in my original post but then got distracted and forgot). I live in a collection of townhouses where up to 10 units share the one satellite dish. Others with MySky HDi get the JHD sports channels just fine.

Klathman

301 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1231241 4-Feb-2015 17:24

Is it constantly jumping or just every 10 secs or so?

I had a similiar problem which was constant on HD channels and found that the disk I was using for the buffer was dying and couldn't keep up with an HD feed but SD was still OK.

If it jumps every 10 secs then it's possible that it's the card updates taking too long in OSCAM.

What's the signal strength and quality that you're recording on the card?

PANiCnz

990 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1231259 4-Feb-2015 17:45

What card reader? I'm a bit suspicious of the omnikeys and there's protocol. Also heard some negative comments re newcamd recently but still investigating. I have similar flakey hd.

Satch

1985 posts

Uber Geek

#1231695 5-Feb-2015 12:16

Klathman: Is it constantly jumping or just every 10 secs or so?

I had a similiar problem which was constant on HD channels and found that the disk I was using for the buffer was dying and couldn't keep up with an HD feed but SD was still OK.

If it jumps every 10 secs then it's possible that it's the card updates taking too long in OSCAM.

What's the signal strength and quality that you're recording on the card?

Hi, no it isn't the 10 second glitch issue. Sometimes it works ok, sometimes it will play for a second then get all blocky on screen and stop, and most times I just get the Playready update message.

Signal strength when tuning in via DVBLink is typically around the 50% mark on the transponder which the HD sports channels are on. All other transponder signal strengths are 80+

Satch

1985 posts

Uber Geek

#1231697 5-Feb-2015 12:18

PANiCnz: What card reader? I'm a bit suspicious of the omnikeys and there's protocol. Also heard some negative comments re newcamd recently but still investigating. I have similar flakey hd.

I'm using an OMNIKEY 3121 USB Card Reader. A friend with largely the same setup (and also using the same card reader) is not having any issues at all.

rlevis

347 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1231844 5-Feb-2015 17:59

Omnikey 1021/newcamd/MedalPortal here and no problems with any HD channels.

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Klathman

301 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1231865 5-Feb-2015 19:24

50% signal strength seems very low to me. In fact I get the same reading for both SD and HD of about 85-90% so that seems a little off.

What type of card do you have and what driver version.

mm1352000

1149 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#1231890 5-Feb-2015 20:07

Folks, for what it's worth my advice would be to not read too much into tuner signal strength and quality readings.

The readings are not necessarily percentages (0 - 100 %). In fact, Microsoft's standard interface for tuners specifies that signal strength should be reported in mdB (milli decibels) rather than as a percentage. Some drivers report percentages; some drivers follow the BDA specification; other drivers report whatever random values the driver engineer thought made sense. The situation is so bad that you can't even assume that a higher signal strength reading is better. It could actually be worse.

There is similar confusion and lack of standardisation in the way software (eg. MediaPortal, DVBLink) translate and report signal readings.

If you insist on checking a tuner's signal information, pay more attention to the signal quality reading. Quality is more important than strength. Also, don't make the mistake of comparing the readings for different tuners. Unless you're comparing readings from tuners with exactly the same brand and model, you're likely comparing apples with oranges (ie. the comparison is meaningless).

P.S. This is coming from MediaPortal TV Server developer who has been working with a wide range of PC tuners over the past 5+ years.