Posts by VMA

  • Satellite Spectrum - perhaps it is time to use the right tool

    Du musst erstmal sagen, welche PC Hardware du hast.

    Du brauchst einen Tuner der mit CrazyScan's streamreader.dll kompatibel ist, sonst geht gar nichts.

    Und dann braucht du nur zwischen diesen Anwendungen wählen:

    - CrazyScan
    - EBSPro
    - IQMonitor
    - 4T2 Content Analyser (nicht gratis, aber mit CrazyScan streamreader.dll gratis nutzbar - ist aber wohl ein Hack/Crack)
    - TSReader Pro (war nicht gratis, wurde nach dem Tod des Autors aber nun gratis veröffentlicht - funktioniert auch mit anderer Hardware)
    - VMA Video Analyser Package (nicht gratis)
    - PanthaSat

    Dann gibt es noch Hardware/Software von Dektec (nicht gratis).

    Über "zu viel" Auswahl hat sich eigentlich noch nie jemand beschwert... :3:

    "Ich suche nach einer Software, die dasselbe kann wie mein
    Combolook Color HD, damit ich das im Breitbildformat habe."

    Das gibt es so nicht, weil der Combolook Color HD das Spektrum mit einer sehr hohen Refresh-Rate darstellen kann, einen tollen Blindscan für DVB-S/S2 hat und auch das Konstellationsdiagram in Echtzeit darstellt, ohnen einen Lock zu brauchen. Damit sind alle mir bekannten PC-basierten Tuner überfordert.

    Für Breitbildformat kannst du einen 16:9 Fernseher anschliessen (Composite Video), doch ich denke der Combolook Color HD is wie mein Satlook Color HD und kann kein MPEG4 darstellen.

  • Satellite Spectrum - perhaps it is time to use the right tool

    "Between that limit and what a user really gets there is still room, and that room is software."

    Of course there is room for different software: different presentation, logging, automation, filtering, analysis, user interfaces, etc. I have never disputed that.

    But this should not be confused with obtaining more information from the tuner.

    With the streamreader.exe I released, it is already possible to access essentially what the tuner/driver/streamreader.dll combination makes available. Once you reach that boundary, another application cannot magically see signals or information that never passed through that interface.

    So, when comparing applications, I think the interesting technical question is very simple:

    What information does application A obtain from the tuner that application B, using the same card, driver and streamreader.dll, does not?

    If the answer is “none”, then we are comparing processing, presentation and features — which is perfectly legitimate — but not superior RF reception or some deeper access to the spectrum.

    Regarding the spectrum analyzer: I also don't agree that it is something only for professional antenna installers. Some users here operate several large dishes, positioners, multiple LNBs, DVB cards and dedicated computers. These are already substantial installations.

    For somebody spending that amount of time and money searching for unusual feeds and difficult transponders, an SDR costing a few hundred euros — or even a decent used spectrum analyzer — is hardly an absurd investment. More importantly, it shows directly what is actually present at RF level, rather than repeatedly asking a DVB tuner to discover something that may be outside its acquisition capabilities.

    Software can do a great deal with the information available to it. But software cannot manufacture information that the hardware and driver never supplied.

  • Satellite Spectrum - perhaps it is time to use the right tool

    You are doing it right.

    This thread was mainly created for people that do not understand that any program based on CrazyCat's streamreader.dll is limited to what streamreader.dll can do. As a consequence, all different software can achieve the same, if programmed correctly. You can do more individual BLScan() calls or less, try to implement whatever algorithm to optimize these calls, but at the end of the day, there is no magic app that is "better" in borderline reception than other apps, because the limitations are within tuner, driver and streamreader.dll.

    So, instead of people wasting hours on one blindscan to find some exotic transponders with low SR and very close to a transponder with high SR, my suggestion was: get a spectrum analyser! Then you will "see" any transponder instantly, determine it's frequency and can use any of the apps to blindscan that specific frequency. In fact you can even use my streamreader.exe manually!

    And of course, a spectrum analyser is expensive. But when I see what people have in terms of dishes, I conclude they have the resource to buy a spectrum analyser. What does a 4m dish cost, considering its purchase price (even second hand), transport, installation and maintenance?

    For sure there is a budget of 1.000-2.000 Euro to get a decent spectrum analyser, or at least 200-300 Euro for a SDR.

  • Off-Topic: Emulation

    I only know that there was some form of collaboration between CrazyCat and TBS.

    And it seems that the source code of his streamreader.dll is lost, which is a shame and means that new tuner cards will hardly be supported.

    This is a great loss, because streamreader.dll was developed over a period of decades... it is not something you can quickly hack together.

    And as strannik tells us: it counted with a lot of voluntary testers.

  • Off-Topic: Emulation

    Hello Satesco,

    Your question is off-topic to this thread. Perhaps it deserves a topic on its own. I leave this to the moderators to decide.

    I understand your question: you are asking if one of these two possibilities is feasible

    1) Reverse engineer CrazyCat streamreader.dll in order to obtain a compile-able source code that can be improved, i.e. adding new features, correcting bugs or adding new/other DVB-S/S2/T/T2/C/C2 tuner cards.

    2) Develop from scratch an alternative streamreader.dll that would be compatible with existing applications using CrazyCat's streamreader.dll, allowing new features and DVB-S/S2/T/T2/C/C2 tuner cards to be added.

    In my personal view, option 1 is virtually impossible. I am the author of VAXD (https://vma-broadcast.com/vaxd-vma-executable-disassembler/), a disassembler for different CPU's and I have some experience in reverse engineering software. If you wanted to bypass some security check, edit some forms, etc. - yes that would be possible. Reverse engineering the complete streamreader.dll? No way!

    Option 2 is possible, BUT:

    a) I have zero experience in writing drivers or libraries interfacing them. So, don't expect me to do it.

    b) I am sure that CrazyScan had access to tuner IC documentation. I know that some datasheets have been leaked, but such a work requires NDA signatures or the whole project will be in a gray zone or even illegal. Otherwise, how could you claim where the required knowledge came from?

    c) I believe he started with the source code of TBS streamreader.dll, which he then enhanced. I asked TBS and they do not have CrazyScan's source code. But I am confident that CrazyScan got help from TBS in form of datasheets, source code and samples (of the tuner cards).

    d) It is a HUGE project. Just look how long it took CrazyScan from the first version to the current last version.

    e) The most promising developer for such a task would be, as far as I know, deeptho - the author of NeumoDVB. He is already familiar with developing drivers for tuner cards and has done a brilliant job for NeumoDVB. Unfortunately he seems to only work under Linux.

    Finally, there is the economics.

    If this was to be a commercial venture ("development of a CrazyScan compatible streamreader.dll", supporting new tuners, fixing known bugs and limitations and adding new features), how much would you be prepared to pay? How many users would there be and how much would they globally be prepared to pay?

    Let's consider that such a development would take one man 1 year of exclusive dedication. Let's assume this developer would like to receive 100.000 Euro pre-TAX, which would be around 50.000 Euro post-TAX = a monthly wage of around 3.500 Euro.

    If each DX user would pay 50 Euro to get the newest streamreader.dll, we would need 2000 paying users in the first year!

    I don't see this happening.

    The only light at the end of the tunnel: TBS develops a much improved streamreader.dll! They did the original source code (if I am not mistaken), they have access to the datasheets and they control the hardware. Also, they need to develop the drivers anyway.

    To make this a business opportunity, all they have to do is to develop a new tuner card like "TBS-6903X+" and provide enhanced driver and streamreader.dll with it, that implements the same functionality as CrazyScan's streamreader.dll, but adding improved RFScan(), FTTScan() and BLScan(). The card should support both RFScan() and FFTScan(). They could then sell the card for 499 Euro as "THE ULTIMATE professional DVB-S/S2/S2X tuner card"...

    Regards,
    Vitor

  • Off-Topic: Emulation

    Hello,

    In case you might have wondered about my absence in this forum (which I follow daily): I have taken a break on my satellite/TV hobby and dedicated my time to a different subject that has always been a passion, too. I am talking about emulation - reproducing a computer/console/calculator/etc. in software.

    The result is here: https://vma-broadcast.com/emu/ - this contains some pages with the historic context and currently 36 (!) emulators done in HTML/JScript. The required ROM's are not included for obvious reasons.

    And there is a stand-alone emulator that emulates a PC with Intel 486 CPU, capable of running DOS, WIN3.0, WIN3.1 and WIN95. Of course it can be used to run all those old PC games.

    It can be downloaded at the bottom of this page: https://vma-broadcast.com/download/

    Some interesting facts:

    1) The emulators include (where appropriate) a CRT simulation of common defects like scan lines, shadow mask, phosphor decay, etc.

    2) The VMA 486 Emulator includes a full debugger with disassembler and hex editor, allowing live analysis of the whole memory space of the emulated machine. It includes a "trainer", too. It can detect the memory where life count, damage, etc. is store for direct patching.

    3) The emulators are designed to work on mobile devices (smartphones and tablets) as well as on PC. They include virtual keyboard and joystick.

    Regards,

    Vitor

  • Satellite Spectrum - perhaps it is time to use the right tool

    Satellite Spectrum – perhaps it is time to use the right tool

    Hello,

    I have been following the continued discussions about obtaining increasingly detailed spectrum information from DVB tuner cards and satellite receivers.

    I find this slightly ironic.

    Satellite enthusiasts are prepared to spend considerable amounts of money on dishes, feeds, LNBs, positioners, tuner cards and receivers, and then spend an enormous amount of time trying to overcome the limitations of a DVB tuner in order to obtain something approaching a proper spectrum display.

    A DVB tuner is fundamentally a receiver and demodulator. Its spectrum display can be extremely useful for finding transponders, checking reception, blindscan and identifying signals. I have worked with these techniques myself for many years, and it is remarkable how much useful information can be extracted from comparatively inexpensive tuner hardware.

    But there are physical and architectural limits to what such hardware can provide.

    If the objective is really to examine the RF spectrum - weak carriers, adjacent signals, transponder shape, interference, noise floor, bandwidth, shoulders, spurious signals, etc. - why not use an instrument designed for that purpose?

    A proper spectrum analyser is the obvious solution, and used instruments are often surprisingly affordable. Today there is also another very accessible option: an SDR.

    Devices such as a HackRF, PlutoSDR or similar wideband SDR can provide a much more detailed and flexible view of the spectrum than the relatively low-resolution sweeps produced by most DVB tuners.

    This does not make tuner-based spectrum displays useless. Quite the opposite. They are excellent tools when the objective is receiving and analysing DVB signals.

    But spectrum analysis and DVB reception are two different jobs.

    For DVB parameters, lock, modulation, FEC, MER, constellation, transport streams, blindscan, etc., use the tuner.

    For examining the actual RF spectrum, use a spectrum analyser or an SDR. It will show you ALL transponders, no matter how low the SR. You will be able to determine the frequency and can THEN try to lock the transponder with a specific blindscan on that frequency.

    There comes a point where spending more and more effort trying to make a DVB tuner behave like RF measurement equipment becomes less practical than simply adding the appropriate instrument to the setup.

    For serious satellite experimentation, I think the ideal solution is to have both. They complement each other extremely well.

    Just make sure to use a DC BLOCKER when connecting the LNB output of the receiver (or a T), to prevent burning the input stage of the spectrum analyzer/SDR.

  • Constellation diagrams

    These are constellation diagrams from signals that are not properly locked.

    The first diagram, with the circular ring, indicates that a modulated signal is present, but the receiver has not achieved carrier/phase lock. The constellation therefore keeps rotating and the symbol points are smeared into a circle. Pure noise would normally not produce such a well-defined ring.

    The second diagram looks like a QPSK-type constellation: four symbol positions are visible, but the clusters are very broad. This indicates a poor/partial lock, low SNR, or imperfect carrier/symbol timing recovery.

    With a correctly locked and sufficiently strong QPSK signal, you would expect four relatively small, well-defined clusters. For 8PSK you would expect eight, etc.

    So the diagrams do contain useful information, but they cannot really be interpreted as valid constellation diagrams until the receiver is correctly locked to the signal.

  • VMA Video Analyser Package

    Hinzu kommt auch die Bildschirmauflösung wie du selber festgestellt hast:

    Nehmen wir an dass du das Spektrum in einer PictureBox mit 1000 Pixel Breite darstellst. Das Spektrum geht von 950MHz-2150MHz für jeweils Low-Band und High-Band, also insgesamt 2400MHz.

    Das heisst dass wenn du einen Pixel daneben klickst, du schon 2.4MHz daneben liegst! Wenn dann dein Search Range nur 2MHz beträgt, hast du schon verloren... Bei 1000 Pixel genau auf einen Pixel zu trefen bedeutet 0.1% Fehler oder EINE PROMILLE... :)

  • VMA Video Analyser Package

    2MHz ist sehr gering und du musst da zielsicher treffen, sonst wird das nichts.

    Normalerweise solltest du eher mit 8MHz arbeiten.

    Was mir aufgefallen ist: Das Problem ist im Treiber/Tuner zu finden, denn es scheint dass dieser nicht auf die Mittelfrequenz des Transponders anspricht sondern auf die Anfangsfrequenz! Wenn dein Test-Transponder 8MHz Bandbreite hat und du genau auf die Mitte klickst, dass findet der Tuner den Transponder nicht, da der Transponder-Anfang bei -4MHz liegt, du aber nur bis -2MHz suchst.

    Probiere mal etwas links, beim Start des Transponders zu klicken.

    Dies ist übrigens von Tuner Modell jeweils unterschiedlich (jedenfalls bei meinen Tests).

    Es gibt aber normalerweise keinen Grund nur 2MHz Search Range zu benutzen.

  • VMA Video Analyser Package

    Funktioniert bei mir in beiden Fällen ohne Probleme.


    Du musst aufpassen und unter Search Range einen Wert eintragen der für's Klicken im Spektrum gross genug ist. Ein paar MHz daneben geklickt macht sonst einen Unterschied!

  • satclub.pl forum nicht erreichbar für mich

    Cloudflare is used by web hosters to protect against attacks like denial of service attacks.

    It has nothing to do with a website deciding to close and often the owner of the website doesn't even have control over Cloudflare usage.

    I already listed what has to be done if your browser is denied access.

  • VMA Video Analyser Package

    With the new VMA Transport Stream Analyser version, you can reduce the Time to Parse PAT/PMT:

    This allows a much faster start of the application when START is clicked.

    Also, any subsequent change in the TS will automatically be recognized and all relevant tables will be updated accordingly.

    It is no longer needed to cycle STOP - START to update for a new TS.

    VMA Touch Deck turns any phone, tablet, touchscreen, or browser into a customizable remote control panel for a Windows PC.
    You design buttons, sliders, knobs, labels, and remote-control views in the Studio application, assign actions to them, and then control your PC or applications over the network. It can be used locally or remotely through a VPN, making it useful for broadcast tools, media control, production workflows, demonstrations, support, and general Windows automation.

  • satclub.pl forum nicht erreichbar für mich

    Dein Problem ist mit Sicherheit:

    Als erstes Probiere mal den Inkognito Modus von deinem Browser und/oder einen anderern Browser. Lösche Cookies, usw.

    Wenn es immer noch nicht geht, ist es wohl möglich dass deine öffentliche IP in einer Blacklist ist.

    Wenn du eine fixe IP hast, dann musst du bei Cloudflare nachschauen was los ist.

    Ansonsten hilft wohl den Router neu zu starten und zu hoffen dass du einen andere IP bekommst.

    Wenn alles nichts hilft musst du mit deinem Provider sprechen.

    Das Forum ist online und funktioniert: