DISCUSSION OF BUG: Can't Add DTV

[hartal]

I posted the following to the 811 - P2.89 Software Release Notes and Discussion thread on August 7th:


Add Local Digital
Has anyone tried adding a local digital channel with 2.89?

I wasn't actually trying to add one, I was trying to use the add local digital screeen to look at the signal strengths.

Problem is no matter what Transmit Channel value I set, I don't see any signal strength display.

Well, I take that back - I just saw the bar jump to 50 for just a sec and then go away on one of the channels.

Fortunately, all my OTA channels are still working.

Anyone else seeing this?


I got a couple responses saying that Add DTV worked okay for them.

I'm in Northern Virgina. PBS channel WETA (Channel 26) broadcasts up to four subchannels on freq 27. When I select any of these subchannels, the banner displays a "signal strength" of 80-83 and the channels come in fine.

I did the following test:

I went to the Local Channels setup page and removed all four subchannels of "Channel 26"

I then selected Add DTV and set the transmit channel to 27. The display shows a completely red bar, says not locked signal strength 0.

I then selected all my OTA channels and removed them.

I then ran a scan for digital channels. When the scan reached freq 27, it added a channel. In fact it found all my channels just fine. I then did a save.

I could then tune WETA Channel 26 again and the banner shows a signal level of 80-83.

Can anyone reproduce this? I can't figure out what I might have set that would cause my 811 to act different from anyone else for the Add DTV function. Before I did this test, I had done a reset to factory defaults.

[logray]

I've seen this actually. Sometimes you have to enter the channel several times before it will register a signal, or enter a different channel, then enter the channel you want to tune until it comes up.

If you see 49 flash briefly or persistently then you've got a reception problem.

But then again I have seen the add dtv app "get confused" and show 49 for a little while after I change from a channel that is normally 49 to a channel that is normally 90. It will show 49 for a while until it tunes to 90. I've seen it get "stuck" where I have to enter the channel two or three times before it tunes in.

[hartal]

If you see 49 flash briefly or persistently then you've got a reception problem.

But I don't have a reception problem.

I get a nice solid 80-83 displayed on the banner when I select the channel and view it.

It is only in the Add DTV screen that it doesn't work. And it is a pretty solid failure. I can start at transmit channel 01 and go all the way to the top. Select a channel, wait a few seconds, select another channel and every single one will show no lock signal strength 0. Only very rarely have I ever seen even a flicker of activity shown on the signal strength bar on the Add DTV page. Even on frequencies where I get signal strenghts in the 90s.

Scanning for digital channels finds all the channels I would expect and then I can receive them just fine with good solid signal strengths.

The only problem I'm seeing is on the Add DTV screen, and for me, it just does not work.

[hartal]

Actually I have had one time when I was testing the Add DTV screen when I did get a channel to actually lock and show a signal strength. (One time in probably over a hundred attempts)

But once it had locked on that channel, changing the transmit channel setting had no effect. It stayed locked on that same channel until I finally hit cancel. When I went back to the screen it went back to the behavior of showing 0 signal for every channel. I have never been able to get the Add DTV screen to show a lock on any channel since then.

[logray]

are you scrolling or entering using the keypad?

edit: by jove, I think you've found it!

When I scroll through the channels using the up and down arrows it doesn't do anything. Press select, scroll to the right where you can save/etc. Nothing. It stays on channel 02. In my case channel 02 doesn't exist OTA so it always shows not locked 0 percent. The only way to make it tune is to enter in the channel using the number pad.

So what is the purpose of the ability to scroll up and down to select a channel if that doesn't actually tune into that channel?

A bug I say! And Hartal has found one!

[hartal]

Sure enough - if I use the number pad to enter the transmit channel, the Add DTV screen locks on the channel and shows me the signal strength. If I scroll through the transmit channels with the up and down arrows, it does not.

[Ron Barry]

Yep.. Definitely a usability bug for sure. Good to see there is a work around. Not sure if the bug is the fact it allows numbers to be incremented with up or down arrows of if the expected behavoir is up and down arrow followed by select to make an attempt at getting signal strength.

Good find. Corky behavior for sure. Nice and well documented!! Way to keep at it guys. With Add DTV I always used the keypad because I went for a specific channel to add.

Kudos guys!!

I have to say.. there have been some real positive threads with the release in regards to documented issues found. Feels good and way to keep this forum in a positive light.

[Jason Nipp]

I agree, well done guys. :)