Image suitable for UK TiVo

[catdog]

Hi all, thanks for all the "clues" in this thread for setting up a UK tivo with 2.5.5 - now I can still watch sky while recording FTA using the internal tuner Only one question, is it possible to get NICAM from the rf output? My TV says it outputs mono (although I can still use the output from the scart connector instead anyway).

We really need to write a full guide for setting up a UK tivo, but in the mean time here are some tips for the next person who attempts to try this (all can be found on forum, wiki etc):

- edit /etc/tclientUK.conf and change the 127: line to the emulator ip and port 8000 ( 127::210.48.107.133:8000::: ) or setup emuproxy
- edit /etc/postcodezones and add "02112 Pacific/Auckland" (Tab between number and Pacific)
- run the commands in telnet:
dbsetx /Setup TimeZone 0
dbsetx /Setup DaylightSavingsPolicy 0
- copy the ukchan-2.5.5.o module (earlier in this thread) to /hack/ and telnet:
rw
cd /lib/modules
mv ukchan-2.5.5.o ukchan-2.5.5.o.backup
cp /hack/ukchan-2.5.5_nz-nicam.o /lib/modules/ukchan-2.5.5.o
ro

More or less follow the guided setup instructions for US tivo, with a couple of changes
- Change the phone dialing options and set the prefix to ",#401" (without the quotes) to use the Turbonet card
- Use postcode 02112 for FTA (or FTA and sky)
- I had to select "aerial and satellite", because "aerial and cable" reported there were no service providers

Again thanks to everyone involved

[thomson]

Only one question, is it possible to get NICAM from the rf output? My TV says it outputs mono (although I can still use the output from the scart connector instead anyway).

It is definitely NICAM. However it is probably still in PAL-I NICAM (which means the audio is at a 6MHz offset) rather than PAL-B/G NICAM (which uses a 5.5MHz offset).

This script should fix you up. I call it "set_RFOutputChannel" and if you execute it without any parameters it will get your RFOutputChannel and flick it into PAL-B/G NICAM. If you provide a channel then it will use this instead. You can run it from your rc.sysinit or rc.sysinit.author if you want.

There is a simpler script and the iicsetnosub binary here

#!/tvbin/tivosh

set db [dbopen]
if {$argc == 0} {
  RetryTransaction {
    set lconfig  [db $db open /Setup]
    set ch [dbobj $lconfig get RFOutputChannel]
  }
} else {
  set ch [lindex $argv 0]
  RetryTransaction {
    set lconfig  [db $db open /Setup]
    dbobj $lconfig set RFOutputChannel $ch
  }
}
dbclose $db

set rfo 0x8a480004
set rfo [expr $rfo|((303+($ch*8))<<4)]
set rfo [format "%#x" $rfo]

exec iicsetnosub 0xca $rfo

[catdog]

Hmmm, cheers for the link thomson - my search didn't turn up that thread... guess it doesn't say stereo or NICAM anywhere! Anyway, the script successfully ran but the TV still says MONO. I even ran the more basic script and specified a new rf output channel to use - it changed ok but after tuning in the TV... still MONO!

I also found the NzStereoSupport page on the wiki, and ran "iicset4 0x88 0x10 0x00200008" without any luck. Perhaps it's just my TV being picky about something - I will try another TV to try and confirm whether it is outputting mono or nicam.

[thomson]

Anyway, the script successfully ran but the TV still says MONO.

Definitely should be outputting NICAM. I use the RF Output from UK hardware running v2.5.5 and my 10yo Mitsi Diva recognises NICAM and the Amp's more than happy to distribute sound correctly to the rear channels (it's quite noticeable, particularly in ad's and shows with canned laughter).

With NICAM the left channel is an analogue mono signal and the right channel carries a digital signal (which will hiss on analogue gear). It looks like the TV may not support NICAM?