Linux.com :: Use Kaffeine to receive free-to-air TV on your Linux box http://www.linux.com/archive/feature/127800
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Feature: Desktop Software
Use Kaffeine to receive free-to-air TV on your Linux box
By Colin Beckingham on February 27, 2008 (9:00:00 AM)
1 z 6 2010-05-08 18:40
Linux.com :: Use Kaffeine to receive free-to-air TV on your Linux box http://www.linux.com/archive/feature/127800
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Free-to-air (FTA) ethnic television in a variety of languages beamed from satellite straight to your Linux PC? No problem -- here's how.
FTA provides programming that is quite different from the channels beamed by the regular commercial providers. Looking for the latest
news from Germany or Spain or Greece? How about a program describing the Canary Islands, the news from Radio France International
in Portuguese, or a channel from Argentina dedicated to the tango? Students of languages or Latin American studies, expatriates seeking
the flavor of their homeland, people interested in a world news perspective -- all can find interesting programs on FTA at no subscription
cost.
Satellite viewing on a PC offers some interesting advantages. Favorite channels are a mouse click away, and a powerful PC makes a fast
TV recorder, can decode Dolby AC-3 audio signals on the fly, or play DVD and CD disks. PCs can also receive standard or
high-definition terrestrial broadcasting with the right adapter card. When a better technology comes along, you just upgrade your card, not
the whole TV.
So how can your little desktop PC tap into programming from orbiting satellites? GNOME enthusiasts may use MythTV for much of the
heavy lifting; KDE users can use Kaffeine, as we'll see.
Satellite speak
Here are some definitions to get you familiar with FTA jargon:
Bird: A satellite.
Blind scan: The ability of a receiver to accept a signal from a satellite, examine it with little prior knowledge, and sort out
frequencies on which there are channels.
Channel: A stream carried on a subdivision of a transponder's bandwidth, together with video and audio data.
Coax: A wire with a center-steel, copper-coated surface (or, more expensively, pure copper) that's surrounded by an insulator and a
shield to exclude other high-frequency signals.
Digital Video Broadcasting - Satellite (DVB-S): As opposed to DVB - Terrestrial (DVB-T) and DVB - Cable (DVB-C).
Electronic Programming Guide (EPG): Program information carried in the signal from the satellite where available. Normally, an
FTA signal is a free minimal service, and there is no EPG.
Footprint: The area of the earth's surface within which a signal can be received. Footprints are specific to the transponder, not the
satellite.
Ku band: A part of the spectrum between C-band (big ugly dishes) and Ka-band (frequently used for satellite Internet).
LNB: Low Noise Block downconverter -- transforms very high frequency signals into lower frequencies for transmission along a
wire.
Local oscillator (LO): The frequency setting used by the LNB.
Parabolic dish: A curved dish shaped to focus an incoming parallel beam to a focal point for decoding.
Peaking a dish: Making adjustments to the dish to maximize the signal.
Polarization: Linear FTA signals can be horizontally or vertically polarized; that is, the signals vibrate in one of two
two-dimensional planes, each of which is perpendicular to the other and therefore offers minimum interference to the other. In this
way one frequency can carry two well-separated streams of information.
Transponder: A transmitting antenna on a satellite that can transmit many channels simultaneously.
Tweaking: Making very tiny adjustments to a FTA setup to improve overall reception or accommodate new equipment.
Uplink: An earth-based transmission directed to a satellite for retransmission back to earth.
Do you have a signal?
Geostationary satellites hovering high above the equator receive and retransmit television and radio signals from uplinks across the world.
Some of them have a footprint that drops a signal into your backyard. The closer you are to the hot zone in the footprint, the more easily
you can get the signal. For information on satellites and footprints, see the LyngSat Web site.
In this article, I'm focusing on the Hispasat 1C/1D satellite, which lives at 30° west. This puts it over the Atlantic Ocean, a bit closer to
Brazil than Africa. Since this satellite transmits in the Ku band, with a reasonably small elliptical dish (but somewhat larger than regular
pizza dishes), you can pick up a number of channels via this bird from Spain, the Canary Islands, the Basque Country, the Principality of
Asturias, Galicia, Catalonia, Cuba, Colombia, Argentina, and a number of Arab countries. A recent scan of a few transponders netted
about 40 TV and 60 radio channels, most of which are free.
The signal is just waiting to be picked up, but you need some equipment to capture and decode it. You must collect the signal in a
parabolic dish and focus it on a low-noise block downconverter (LNB), which translates very high frequencies to lower frequencies.
These longer wavelength signals travel along the conductor in a coaxial cable and enter the receiver, which can be a Linux box equipped
with a Digital Video Broadcasting - Satellite (DVB-S) PCI card. Many such PCI cards and USB units are available; make sure the Linux
kernel supports your card.
A number of Linux applications decode DVB-S signals, including DVB Dream, MythTV, and the xine multimedia engine used in the KDE
environment. I'm using Kaffeine, which is a front end to xine, to perform the tuning and display, simply because it worked for me the first
time.
It pays to have the most recent version of all your software to minimize problems with installation and tuning. You can update the kernel
by following the advice from the Linux Kernel Archives. The guys at LinuxTV.org work to keep the kernel updated as new cards appear
on the market, and tuning and display bugs are constantly being squeezed out of Kaffeine and xine.
2 z 6 2010-05-08 18:40
Linux.com :: Use Kaffeine to receive free-to-air TV on your Linux box http://www.linux.com/archive/feature/127800
First, the hardware
With a recent kernel, a compatible card will likely be recognized automatically. Since I am looking for much more than the one satellite, I
am using two cards: Skystar 2 and Geniatech 103G, both of which are supported in the most recent kernel. Only one card is necessary for
one satellite. When both cards are successfully installed I see this when I run dmesg:
# dmesg | grep DVB
DVB: registering new adapter (FlexCop Digital TV device)
DVB: registering frontend 0 (ST STV0299 DVB-S)...
b2c2-flexcop: initialization of 'Sky2PC/SkyStar 2 DVB-S' at the 'PCI' bus controlled by a 'FlexCopIIb' complete
cx88[0]: subsystem: 14f1:0084, board: Geniatech DVB-S [card=52,autodetected]
cx88[0]/2: subsystem: 14f1:0084, board: Geniatech DVB-S [card=52]
cx88[0]/2: cx2388x based DVB/ATSC card
DVB: registering new adapter (cx88[0])
DVB: registering frontend 1 (Conexant CX24123/CX24109)...
In addition, some devices will have been created, which looks something like this:
/dev/dvb/adapterN/frontend0
/dev/dvb/adapterN/demux0
/dev/dvb/adapterN/dvr0
/dev/dvb/adapterN/net0
Here, N is an integer starting from 0.
Next, the software
You can install Kaffeine from source with the usual ./configure && make && make install commands. After install, you may find
that KDE has put the launch button from the control panel under the Multimedia Players group.
When Kaffeine opens, you can check that your card is visible from Main -> DVB -> Configure DVB. On the left side, you should see
DVB Device 0:0 and/or DVB Device 1:0 (if you have two DVB devices). Kaffeine indicates which adapter belongs to which card.
Now for the nitty-gritty. You need a dish is pointed correctly at the satellite and receiving a strong signal. You can get some assistance in
achieving this from Satellite Finder, which shows how a dish should be set up and pointed at a satellite, and further assistance from
enthusiastic Web forums such as the free-to-air discussion at SatelliteGuys. Locating the satellite and maximizing (peaking) the signal is
an art; you can accomplish it with a few technical aids.
Unlike some standalone receivers, Kaffeine and xine cannot simply take an incoming signal and decode the raw information. It needs
some hints regarding the frequency, polarization, and symbol rate of each transponder you're hoping to tune. These hints come from a
collection of text files stored in your .kde/share/apps/kaffeine/dvb-s/ directory. You can obtain a reasonably up-to-date set of files from
JoshyFun's Transponders Lists in Kaffeine Format. Because in this case we're attempting to tune in on only one satellite, we need only one
file in the dvb-s directory: the one that relates to Hispasat.
You're now ready to scan for channels. From DVB -> Configure DVB, select your Hispasat entry from the drop-down list. Click Start
Scan to start Kaffeine working through the list of transponders, examining channels from each one. As it tunes each transponder, the lock
indicator changes color from dark green to light green when the signal and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) are sufficient (SNR > ~55). It finds
all the channels it can -- including TV, radio, encrypted (which is indicated with a lock icon), and non-encrypted channels -- and puts
them in the right-hand pane.
When it finishes, you can go through the list of found channels and select those you wish to move to the playlist. You can select them
individually or as a group (using the Ctrl key) or by using the filter options (Free to air, TV, and Radio).
If you have trouble with Kaffeine along the way, check out the forums at Nabble and Kaffeine Forum.
Conclusion
FTA is an inexpensive hobby that provides fun and unusual rewards, including information from a homeland far away or descriptions of
remote and tantalizing countries. Putting FTA on your Linux box puts the enjoyment into a highly configurable and adaptable package.
Colin Beckingham is a freelance programmer and writer in Eastern Ontario. He is currently working on a project that logs and charts
the operation of a biomass burner using open source resources.
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Comments
on Use Kaffeine to receive free-to-air TV on your Linux box
Note: Comments are owned by the poster. We are not responsible for their content.
Use Kaffeine to receive free-to-air TV on your Linux box
Posted by: Anonymous [ip: 79.192.188.23] on February 27, 2008 10:35 AM
I doubt dvbdream is a Linux app. But mplayer does play dvb fine too.
#
Use Kaffeine to receive free-to-air TV on your Linux box
Posted by: Colin Beckingham on February 27, 2008 01:04 PM
#1, thank you for pointing out my mistake, and the addition of the mplayer detail.
I accept entire responsibility for this error and I offer my apologies to the linux.com community. A lot of research went into the piece, this
detail slipped through my review procedures.
Colin B.
#
Use Kaffeine to receive free-to-air TV on your Linux box
Posted by: Anonymous [ip: 206.248.172.245] on February 27, 2008 01:09 PM
You don't mention the dish you use. What is the make and model? Where can I purchase one? I live in Toronto.
#
Use Kaffeine to receive free-to-air TV on your Linux box
Posted by: Colin Beckingham on February 27, 2008 01:28 PM
Generally, the weaker the signal the larger the dish needed to get an acceptable signal into the system. Given that the readers of linux.com
are very dispersed geographically, it would be a mistake to recommend a particular size of dish. From Eastern Ontario, for this satellite I
use a fixed 33" elliptical which I find gives a very satisfactory signal. However this dish would be totally inadequate for other satellites. I
hesitate to recommend a particular supplier, there are many out there that can advise and supply, my suggestion is to do a web search for
possibilities. One factor to take into account is that because dishes are physically large, extra shipping costs may apply.
#
Use Kaffeine to receive free-to-air TV on your Linux box
Posted by: Anonymous [ip: 144.58.124.99] on February 27, 2008 03:11 PM
Any way to perform a blindscan in Kaffeine?
#
Use Kaffeine to receive free-to-air TV on your Linux box
Posted by: Anonymous [ip: 169.200.185.26] on February 27, 2008 06:33 PM
Can't you point us towards a good website that describes the basics of this hobby?
4 z 6 2010-05-08 18:40
Linux.com :: Use Kaffeine to receive free-to-air TV on your Linux box http://www.linux.com/archive/feature/127800
#
Use Kaffeine to receive free-to-air TV on your Linux box
Posted by: Colin Beckingham on February 27, 2008 06:54 PM
Re: blindscan: as the article states, Kaffeine needs hints. I realize blindscan is a desirable feature, maybe sometime in the future.
Re: good website: as stated in the article, satelliteguys.us FTA section is probably the best place. From there you can follow links to other
recommended and informative places.
#
Re: Use Kaffeine to receive free-to-air TV on your Linux box
Posted by: Anonymous [ip: 70.62.126.39] on February 28, 2008 03:11 PM
Hi, and thanks for writing the FTA article. I'm an FTA satellite enthusiast and also use Linux with a Twinhan VP-1020A (budget DVB)
card.
BTW, Project X is wonderful for editing and demuxing DVB transport streams, and works great on Linux: /projects/project-x>Link here
Other software I use with DVB streams: mplayer, mencoder, mplex
Why I replied: blind scan is a function of the receiver hardware, not software like Kaffeine. To the best of my knowledge no PC satellite
receiver cards support it. However many set-top receiver boxes do, even at the < $100 price point.
#
Re(1): Use Kaffeine to receive free-to-air TV on your Linux box
Posted by: Anonymous [ip: 216.248.100.66] on February 29, 2008 08:33 PM
There are a couple pci cards out there that support blindscan (and some specific apps to work with them). One that comes to mind is the
skystar2 vers 2.3 (not 2.6!). The hardware on the card supports blindscan, although some say its not all that sensitive. Also, there are some
software projects out there that are working on "brute force" blindscanning using software only. The downside is that bruteforce scanning
means trying every possible option - which means most feeds will get missed because they are only in the stream for a little time, and the
scan may take many many hours.
#
Use Kaffeine to receive free-to-air TV on your Linux box
Posted by: Anonymous [ip: 68.105.95.146] on February 28, 2008 03:03 AM
Title should be Acquire a Satellite Dish, a TV card, and an open source program like Kaffine to watch television on your PC Free as in
software.
#
Use Kaffeine to receive free-to-air TV on your Linux box
Posted by: Anonymous [ip: 194.130.136.219] on February 28, 2008 08:46 AM
I use Kaffeine 0.8.6 with all win32 codecs installed.
As for hardware, I use a sky star2 pci card (sat tv) and a Freecom DVB-T (digital terestial tv) USB card.
This arrangement works very well and I have seemingless integration between sat tv and DVB-T.
I can watch one channel while recording another or record whole digital muxes (6 channels at once).
Then it starts to get real fun (play back the mux stream 6 times and watch a different tv channel) !
#
Use Kaffeine to receive free-to-air TV on your Linux box
Posted by: Anonymous [ip: 75.144.139.138] on February 28, 2008 02:50 PM
Here in the USA, TV is transmitted free over the air in NTSC (Analog) and ATSC (Digital) formats. Analog is going away Fed 2009. There
are a variety of ATSC PCI cards available. I have cards from pcHDTV and air2pc. Unfortunately, the software from kaffeine does not
include information for setting up to use these devices. I am currently trying to get it set up (with limited success).
5 z 6 2010-05-08 18:40
Linux.com :: Use Kaffeine to receive free-to-air TV on your Linux box http://www.linux.com/archive/feature/127800
#
Re: Use Kaffeine to receive free-to-air TV on your Linux box
Posted by: Anonymous [ip: 206.248.172.245] on February 29, 2008 12:37 AM
I have a HD3000 from pcHDTV that I use on Fedora 8 with mplayer from the command line. Works perfectly. All I needed to do was
dvbscan to set up my channels.conf file.
#
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