I wanted to share this tip because MCE has given me immense amount of problems with the TV and EPG. A couple guys over at the AV Forums get all the credit for this, I'm just collating the info.

This is how to get MCE to only scan particular channels/frequencies for DVB-T. I live in the UK, so this mostly applies to UK users but don't see why it wouldn't work for other DVB-T users with a bit of legwork. I thought I'd share this with others who may have the same difficulty.

If you don't know what the registry is in MCE or terms like Megahertz sounds like something really painful then you're not advised to try this.

First, the reference material:-

http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread.php?p=3351369#post3351369
http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=282837&page=17

For UK only - http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/terrestrial/tuning/
For UK only - http://www.ofcom.org.uk/static/reception_advice/dtt_pocket_guide_2-8.pdf

Thanks to Mr_Mandrake (and Nick_W) for the work!

First, create a new key and sub-key (in bold) in the registry at the location shown below:-

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\TV System Services\DigitalTVAutoTune\TS44-0

The 44 corresponds to the country code - 44 being UK. For another country, just change 44 to the appropriate country code (it would appear to simply follow international telephone prefixes):-

In the TS44-0 key, create 6 new DWORD values, each one pertaining to one of the six MUXes being broadcast from your local transmitter. The names of the DWORDs are 1 through 6.

The DWORD value needs to correspond to the frequency (in Hertz) of the MUX/channel being broadcast with the appropriate offset value applied.

In the UK a centre frequency is used (in MHZ) with an offset in KHz. The offset is going to be one of:-

0 (zero)
- (minus) 167KHz
+ (plus) 167KHz

An example:-

Where I live, the transmitter I need to use is Pontop Pike. But...I was always getting Fenham and Bilsdale showing up whenever MCE scanned for channels. The 6 MUXes/channels being broadcast from Pontop Pike are:-

48 (690MHz) with 0 offset
53 (730MHz) with - offset
55 (746MHz) with + offset
59 (778MHz) with + offset
62 (802MHz) with + offset
65 (826MHz) with + offset

The DWORD names are from 1 to 6 and the values (frequency in Hz) should be put in ascending order. If they're not in ascending order then MCE will stop scanning at the highest value it finds.

To get the exact value for the DWORD, take the frequency in MHz, convert to Hz (put 000000 on the end) and add or remove the offset value (also in Hz). Note that the offset value above for the UK is given in KHz so needs to be converted to Hz also (add 000 on the end).

So my exact DWORD values become:-

690000000
729833000
746167000
778167000
802167000
826167000

These values are in decimal - you can enter them as decimal or hex (default) in regedit.

An example export is below. Copy and paste into a new notepad file, save as TV_Frequencies.reg

You can then import this into your registry and just amend the values of the DWORDs to the correct ones. Values are shown in hex (default). CAUTION: Only for the UK!


<--Copy from below-->
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\TV System Services\DigitalTVAutoTune\TS44-0]
"1"=dword:29209080
"2"=dword:2b805e28
"3"=dword:2c799ad8
"4"=dword:2e61e2d8
"5"=dword:2fd018d8
"6"=dword:313e4ed8


<--Stop copy here-->

It's recommend that if you delete any other sub-keys if you see them under

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\TV System Services\DigitalTVAutoTune

if you have them. Always make a backup of the registry before you begin.

Note for Hauppague Users:

It's come to light the latest drivers apply the offset without requiring you to add/remove it above. Please see posts further down for explanation and this thread:

http://thegreenbutton.com/forums/thread/200497.aspx

Note for Vista Users:
I recently tested under Vista and it also works!


Disclaimer: editing the registry can be a dangerous business and can cause long term damage, including nausea, hair loss, kidney function impairment and other people may point and stare at you. If you break something don't blame me!

thats practically the same method that I used to use for my analog cable before MS fixed thed EPG. Good work!

hey, i live i nthe uk and pick up loads and loads of the same channels!!

i have a couple of questions..

firstly. can you send me a copy of this part of you registry, as i'm using the same pontop pike provider.#

 

also, what happens when new channels become available, like when film4 was introduced, did that get picked up for you automatically? or did you have to manually add it??

 

thanks!!

cusford:

hey, i live i nthe uk and pick up loads and loads of the same channels!!

i have a couple of questions..

firstly. can you send me a copy of this part of you registry, as i'm using the same pontop pike provider.#

 

also, what happens when new channels become available, like when film4 was introduced, did that get picked up for you automatically? or did you have to manually add it??

 

thanks!!

For new channels, I don't know exactly what will happen. I just got this method working myself the past couple days. I do know MCE would under "normal" circumstances scan for anything new in the background and add them (in theory). As long as the new channels are in one of the 6 MUXes you're scanning then I see no good reason why they wouldn't get picked up automatically. Even if you have to scan manually, this method makes scanning for the channels literally a two minute job :) I then only had to add guide listings manually for ITV-1, ITV-2 and price-drop.TV (like that was worth it...)

I don't want to start sending .reg files out, I don't need the hassle if someone breaks their PC and then blames me for raining death and destruction down on them. If you are using pontop pike then just copy and paste the lines from my first post and save as a .reg file and then double click on it to import, answering "yes you're really sure you want to do it". You may need to start from scratch with the tuning to clear the old channels out, so I suggest you re-run Media Center setup for the TV part, although you may need to re-setup any recordings already scheduled so make a note of them beforehand.

This seems to work very well. Assisting quick correct scanning which I guess in turn leads to the guide getting set up better. Here is the info and registry entry required if you get your reception off the Rowridge transmitter on the Isle of Wight that serves the South Coast.

Rowridge DVB-T Info

0 (zero)
- (minus) 167000 Hz
+ (plus) 167000 Hz

Mux 1 BBC    channel 23 freq 490000000 - offset = 489833000
Mux 5 C      channel 26 freq 514000000 - offset = 513833000
Mux 2 ITV/C4 channel 28 freq 530000000 0 offset = 530000000
Mux 3 A      channel 30 freq 546000000 - offset = 545833000
Mux 4 B      channel 32 freq 562000000 + offset = 562167000
Mux 6 D      channel 33 freq 570000000 + offset = 570167000

and the registry details:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\TV System Services\DigitalTVAutoTune\TS44-0]
"1"=dword:1d324228
"2"=dword:1ea07828
"3"=dword:1f972880
"4"=dword:2088c028
"5"=dword:2181fcd8
"6"=dword:21fc0ed8

cusford:

what happens when new channels become available, like when film4 was introduced, did that get picked up for you automatically? or did you have to manually add it??

New channels will be picked up automatically providing the are from one of the six existing muxes (which they will be), exluding test channels.

HTH,

Nick.

Occasionally muxes will change, especially during of the transition period from analogue to digital that will happen over the next few years so you need to be aware of that.

Have any of you tried ms kb 914548.  Rollup 2 caused problems with DVB-T broadcasts here in Aus. as well and this fixed it for me.

MudOtter

Excellent tip, bwlonsdale, thanks!

One small thing I've found though, is that the frequencies must be listed in ascending order otherwise the MCE scan tool may not pick them all up - i.e. value 1 should contain the lowest frequency and value 6 should contain the highest. Don't assume that, for your transmitter, Mutiplex 1 uses the lowest frequency and Multiplex 6 uses the highest!

Simbo, the order thing is already stated in the reference links.

That teaches me for being a lazy reader

I also mention it in my first post ;-)

"The DWORD names are from 1 to 6 and the values (frequency in Hz) should be put in ascending order. If they're not in ascending order then MCE will stop scanning at the highest value it finds."

Just wanted to let people know I've been running this for a few weeks now and so far no problems - no EPG drop outs, no lost channels. I would have expected at least one by now before this. Only thing was a tuner failure error message for timed recording, thankfully during a non-important show.

I think the new hardware has also helped - I don't get any more errors relating to the time not being able to be updated (W32tm) and it wakes up and downloads the guide without bother. Standy seems to be a whole lot more stable on this hardware.

Thank you thank you thank you.

This has been driving me mental for nearly two years now!

This has worked great for me. However I found with my Nova-T 500 tuners that I had to put the base frequencies in WITHOUT applying the offsets.

Perhaps this is because the Hauppage drivers already automatically cope with the offsets?

If I added/subtracted the offset the frequency wasn't found.

Thanks, I wish I'd known this years ago.  I even get the correct guide info for most of the channels automatically (believe me, thats a big thing for me!!).

For info, I too have a Hauppage Nova-T, and I also had to ignore the + and -offset to get it to work.