DATV-Express Project – June update report

[KenW6HHC]

In June, a v2.02 update for Ubuntu was released and fixes the composite video problem that had been encountered by some users with PVR-150 MPEG2 encoder boards. Since the release, users have discovered that there is one bug on v2.02 where the PCR time-stamp calculations got broken a bit. The PCR bug only affects old DVB-S receivers that have very small buffers. The symptom is the audio drops-out-then-returns (if “lip sync” is used) on old Tandberg receivers. A fix is planned future v2.03 (see v2.03 discussions below).

Also, an “experimental” draft of v2.02 for ARM software (tested on the RKM MK802iv single-board-computer) was posted for downloads on the main DATV-Express web site. The team had received a number of requests for the ARM-compatible software from hams who were curious and just wanted to try it. But CAUTION…the ARM software is not being released…just being made available without technical support for the curious.

The DATV-Express project team launched a Yahoo Groups forum for technical support....instead of encouraging private e-mails. This standalone forum will allow a list of old topics which can become a consolidated history of past questions, issues, and solutions to specific questions and issues....for new board owners. That is: this forum becomes a form of FAQ. You must subscribe to see the forum. Subscribe by sending an email to:

DATV-Express-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

After joining, the DATV-Express Support Forum can be seen at
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/DATV-Express/info

Charles G4GUO has ordered his ODROID Model U3 quadcore ARM small microPC board that he hopes will replace the goal of using Raspberry PI (single-core ARM is too slow) or RKM MK802iv (current PicUntu OS kernel does not share multi-cores well, it needs SMP support in kernel) with DATV-Express board. The ODROID-U3 appears to have a much more active software community than MK802iv.

One ham purchased a new Hauppauge HVR-1950 USB MPEG-2 encoder from Amazon and was sent a newer HVR-1955 model that will not install on Ubuntu!! It turns out that Hauppauge have released two new models HVR-1955 for NTSC cameras and a more universal model HVR-1975 for both PAL and NTSC cameras. But the drivers for LINUX have not yet been officially released (coming soon). The DATV-Express does not expect these units to be compatible with DATV-Express until:
• Hauppauge releases the HVR-1975 linux driver (maybe in July?)
• Ubuntu organization adds the HVR-1975 driver to the v12.04.4 release (maybe as a “get-update”??).

Charles is currently working on a new v2.03 release for Ubuntu that will have two changes:
• Add UDP video input capabilities to the DATV-Express software
• Fix the latest PCR “audio dropout” issue with small-buffer-receivers seen in v2.02

The main priorities of the project team for the next month will be to focus on releasing v2.03 and to begin testing with the new ODROID-U3 quadcore-ARM microPC.

“medium speed ahead”….de Ken W6HHC