Testing reception quality

Testing all channels and get an average

Why? When?

Script that gets you all channels and averages everything

Can be good when doing major changes to the installation, like replacing cables or installing a masthead amplifier. Create a baseline, then compare.

Script

#!/usr/bin/perl -w

# Original script from José Oliver Segura
# From Hex to % for signal strength by Nicolas Will, with help from GT, Feb. 1, 2008
# License unknown....
# Make sure that the tzap and channels.conf locations are correct

#use strict;

my($tzap) = "/usr/bin/tzap";
my($tzapArgs) = "-r";
my(@channels);
my(%channelsHz);
my(%channelsFEC1);
my(%channelsFEC2);
my(%signalFreqAcum);
my(%signalFreqCount);
my(%berFreqAcum);
my(%berFreqCount);
my(%uncFreqAcum);
my(%uncFreqCount);

sub loadChannels() {
        my $file = $ENV{"HOME"} . "/.tzap/channels.conf";
        open (CHANNELS,"< $file") or die $!;
        while (<CHANNELS>) {
                chomp;
                @_ = split (/:/,$_);
                my $channelName = $_[0];
		$channelsHz{$channelName} = $_[1];
		$channelsFEC1{$channelName} = $_[4];
		$channelsFEC2{$channelName} = $_[5];
                push(@channels,$channelName);
        }
        close CHANNELS;
}

&loadChannels();
print "Starting...\n";
my $channel;
foreach $channel (@channels) {
	my $count = 0;
	my $freq = $channelsHz{$channel};
	my $fec1 = $channelsFEC1{$channel};
	my $fec2 = $channelsFEC2{$channel}; 

	print "================================================================================";
	print "\n";
	print "Tunning channel $channel ($freq)\n";
        my $zapPid = open ZAP, "$tzap $tzapArgs \"$channel\" 2>&1 |" or die $! . ": $tzap $tzapArgs \"$channel\"";
	while ( $count < 10 && defined( my $line = <ZAP> )  ) {
     		chomp($line);
		if ($line =~ /FE_HAS_LOCK/) {
     			#print "$line\n";
			$count++;
			##
			## status 1f | signal a1ae | snr 0000 | ber 00000000 | unc 00000012 | FE_HAS_LOCK
			##
			$line =~ /.+signal (....).+ber (........).+unc (........).+/;
			my $signal = hex $1;
			my $ber = hex $2;
			my $unc = hex $3;
			$signalFreqAcum{$freq} += $signal;
			$signalFreqCount{$freq}++;
			$berFreqAcum{$freq} += $ber;
			$berFreqCount{$freq}++;
			$uncFreqAcum{$freq} += $unc;
			$uncFreqCount{$freq}++;
			print join("\t","Signal: ".int($signal/65536*100)."%","BER ".$ber,"UNC ".$unc),"\n";
		} else {
			print "$line\n";
		}
   	}
	close ZAP;
	print "\n";
}

print "Summary statistics:\n";
print "Frequency\tSignal\tBer     \tUnc\n";
print "=========\t======\t========\t========\n";
my $freq;
foreach $freq (keys(%signalFreqAcum)) {
	print "$freq\t";
	print int($signalFreqAcum{$freq}/$signalFreqCount{$freq}/65536*100)." %";
	print "\t";
	#printf "%08x",$berFreqAcum{$freq}/$berFreqCount{$freq};
	print $berFreqAcum{$freq}/$berFreqCount{$freq};
	print "\t";
	printf "%08x",$uncFreqAcum{$freq}/$uncFreqCount{$freq};
	print "\n";
}

Original author: José Oliver Segura

How?

Requirements: a channels.conf file, tzap, veryfy the locations of programs and files in the code.

Usage:

perl signaltest.pl

Sample output

================================================================================
Tunning channel TopUp Anytime3 (722166670)
using '/dev/dvb/adapter0/frontend0' and '/dev/dvb/adapter0/demux0'
tuning to 722166670 Hz
video pid 0x0000, audio pid 0x0000
Signal: 42%	BER 2097151	UNC 0
Signal: 43%	BER 0	UNC 0
Signal: 42%	BER 240	UNC 0
Signal: 43%	BER 1232	UNC 0
Signal: 42%	BER 192	UNC 0
Signal: 43%	BER 256	UNC 0
Signal: 43%	BER 416	UNC 0
Signal: 43%	BER 240	UNC 0
Signal: 43%	BER 592	UNC 0
Signal: 43%	BER 368	UNC 0 

Summary statistics:
Frequency	Signal	Ber     	Unc
=========	======	========	========
713833330	38 %	209715		00000000
634000000	41 %	214722		00000000
658000000	41 %	209715		00000000
578000000	51 %	209715		00000000
546000000	46 %	209715		00000000
722166670	43 %	210289		00000000

Test a channel continuously

Why? When?

Script that takes a channel and gives continuous results.

Can be good when pointing the antenna.

Script

#!/usr/bin/env python

import sys

f = sys.stdin
while True:
       l = f.readline().strip()
       fields = l.split(" | ") 
       if len(fields) < 2:
               print l
       else:
               # Sig Strength
               sigStr = fields[1].split(" ")[1]
               sig = int(sigStr, 16) / float(int('ffff', 16))
               fields[1] = "signal %.1f%%" % (sig * 100.0)

               # BER 
               berStr = fields[3].split(" ")[1]
               ber = int(berStr, 16) 
               fields[3] = "ber %08d" % (ber)
               print " | ".join(fields)

Original author: Matt Doran

How?

Requirements: a channels.conf file, tzap

Usage:

tzap channel | tzapfilter.py