On Thu, 29 Jan 2009, Christoph Pfister wrote: > > I intend to take Christoph's files and massage them to add > > bits of info, reviewing the info by hand, adding missing info > I don't mind adding those further bits. They need to be after the main > block in the file, so that they don't get overwritten when those files > are updated e.g. because of a new pdf. Hmm, actually, the first thing I was planning to do would be to sort the entries by, for lack of a better term, provider. That is, roughly, ARD multiplex when appropriate, ZDFmobil, and regional Dritte multiplex everywhere, and in selected regions, the remaining of the seven assigned GE06 allocations or, in short, private providers. This is intended to provide an overview of these allocations and the particular sites where they can be found, as well as to handle the potential cases of frequency re-use in widely- separated areas between two muxes with incompatible parameters -- how often this will occur, I cannot say, as I do not yet have a complete overview. This also can help the case of Tobi, who would prefer to use two or three transmitter-site files, in that it would be easy to see which frequencies would be ``local'' (shades of Royston Vasey here, ``You'll Never Leave''). But I'm not sure how well this would work with a PDF-skimming application... As a concrete example, what I would create, would look like: # DVB-T Sachsen-Anhalt # Created from http://www.ueberallfernsehen.de/data/senderliste_25_11_2008.pdf # mercilessly mangled by hand, please file in /dev/null # T freq bw fec_hi fec_lo mod transmission-mode guard-interval hierarchy ### ZDFmobil multiplex; E22, E30, E31 T 482000000 8MHz 2/3 NONE QAM16 8k 1/4 NONE # CH22 Halle T 546000000 8MHz 2/3 NONE QAM16 8k 1/4 NONE # CH30 Brocken, Magdeburg, Wittenberg T 554000000 8MHz 2/3 NONE QAM16 8k 1/4 NONE # CH31 Dequede ### MDR-S-A multiplex; E34, E35, E38 T 578000000 8MHz 2/3 NONE QAM64 8k 1/4 NONE # CH34 Brocken, Dequede, Magdeburg T 586000000 8MHz 2/3 NONE QAM64 8k 1/4 NONE # CH35 Halle T 610000000 8MHz 2/3 NONE QAM64 8k 1/4 NONE # CH38 Wittenberg ### ARD multiplex; E24, E29, E41 T 498000000 8MHz 2/3 NONE QAM64 8k 1/4 NONE # CH24 Halle, Wittenberg T 538000000 8MHz 2/3 NONE QAM64 8k 1/4 NONE # CH29 Brocken, Magdeburg T 634000000 8MHz 2/3 NONE QAM64 8k 1/4 NONE # CH41 Dequede (This also can make it somewhat more 80-column-friendly, for at least some regions) Tobi, if I may ask you -- I have seen use made of, for example, `K21' in german web fora to refer to the frequency spanned by 470 to 478MHz, while in swiss web fora, I often see `E21' for the same. I know that `K' can be both seen as `Kanal' (channel) and `Kabel' (cable), while I would guess that `E' refers to Europe, to differ the 8MHz spacing from that of, say, Australia or some other land whose name I can't remember but which sort of features prominently in parts of Thee Interweb. But in my experience, cable-TV frequencies by channel number do not always match over-the-air frequencies for that channel. Are you familiar with the `E' usage, can you tell me if there is an accepted international usage that covers all languages, as my attempts to search `e' in g00gle were not impressive... Thanks... Anyway, with the above, after I pull out a map, I can say, oh, this group of transmitters (probably) forms a SFN for ZDF, and that group covers mdr, and so on. That overview was one of the things I was trying to obtain earlier, and will be when I really work on Sachsen-Anhalt. And to Christoph, the danger, as I'm sure you know, of pulling from a PDF or other single source of information, is that those will not always be infallible, as we've seen with a centre-frequency ending in `3' and paste-errors for Hamburg between VHF and UHF parameters, as well as absent info for the specific cases of the frequency change in HH; or for BW, the change planned for Aalen plus the to-be-in-service status of Bad Mergentheim. I suppose I ought to write the originator of the PDF to point out errors, but I suspect I'll get at best a reply from TV Licensing saying they have no record of me in their database and that as a non-resident, I have no grounds for criticism of their offering and I should stick to the programmes for which I pay the license fee. (How else can I explain the years-running errors in linking of teletext pages, that are again changed to errors when those pages are relocated? ZDF, I'm looking at you for failing to list your extended programme guide following ttx page 380...) Oops, off-topic again. > They shouldn't be too excessive, Oh dear. The question is, how do I skate the thin line between providing too much information, and failing to include useful information? I guess, it depends on your interest. If all you care about are just the frequencies, and if I were to say to you `ERP' you would say, ``Oh, do excuse yourself, you glutton'', then the existing files are fine. But if you need transmitter sites and info to help you orient whatever antenna you use, or are otherwise technically inclined, then perhaps I do not provide enough info... I'll have to rely on the feedback of others for this, sad to say, being myself a technical geek... > but for example I prefer if you add the Leipzip transponder > to the de-whatever file instead of creating a new de-Leipzig file, so No worries, I'd add additional information to both the appropriate Bundesland, as well as to de-Leipzig. Wait, I just updated overnight, and de-Leipzig no longer exists! Aieee!@ Good thing I made a backup copy of that directory before I updated > this point shouldn't cause trouble to you. People don't have to scan > every day, so it doesn't hurt if the scan time is increased by some Another thing that I don't include is the precise channel layout, as this can churn over time -- particularly with the private local (non-RTL/Pro7Sat1) multiplexes, as participants drop out, go bankrupt, lose their licenses, or whatever; or when a national or regional PSB makes small adjustments. After all, the results of the scan, if correct, will show who is present... Of course, terms such as `ZDFmobil' may not immediately ring bells with the general public as including 3sat, or `arte' typically meaning the ARD multiplex, but these may be the same people who complain they can't see their quiz call-in shows on the ARD mux, and they know that next time they will win for sure, guaranteed, if they can stop staring at the topless announcer long enough to dial the number which will cost just as much as the last thousands of times they tried that week... Ah yes, looking at Bayern, there is an overlap between the uncommon private multiplexes. I've read that Pro7Sat1 is considering ways to increase bitrate to make available AC3 audio together with higher quality video; this may be a switch to 64QAM, a reduction of the guard interval, or lowering the FEC error correction, which would make those parameters incompatible with the others -- and I'll need to manually add the transmitting sites to get an overview of where it can be received. Anyway, many thanks to Christoph for merging that info into convenient files, and I'll post -- if only for the benefit of the zero who care -- the fascinating info that I can find based on that. barry bouwsma still writes too much, about nothing -- To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-media" in the body of a message to majordomo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html
