Freecom DVB-T Stick

Windows Vista Media Centre

Some folk are finding difficulty getting the stick to work satisfactorily with Vista Media Centre (VMC). The problem seems to be to do with the way that VMC saves the frequencies it finds - users report that they can successfully scan for and find channels but that, in some parts of the country, VMC offsets the frequency it saves for certain channels. The result is they can play some channels but not others. If a solution is found I'll post details here. If you're having these problems, here's some information gathered from the Freecom Forum which hopefully might be of interest, even if it doesn't sort your problem!.

A Forum user posted the following question:

"I live in london and just like others have noted Vista MC finds all the channels but says "no signal" when you try to watch some (BBC channels mainly for me). I know that freecom do not list Vista as a supported OS and visa versa but does anyone know:
1. If this only affects London (UK)
2. If its a problem with MC or the Freecom DVB
3. If it is possible to edit the registry to fix the problem as its apparently due to incorrectly stored frequencies".

You might find of interest the following response, by another Forum user - JoeWillis - who has kindly given permission for me to reproduce his answer in full here:

"I've been doing a bit of research on differences between XPMCES2005 and VistaMCE with the Frecom stick and drivers. No answers but hopefully the information here might provide some clues.

Hardware
Laptop Fujitsu Siemens E8020 2Gb RAM
Freecom DVB-T Stick, Feb 06

OS : Dual boot VistaMCE and XPMCE2005
Freecom Drivers - latest driver downloads for Vista on Vista MCE (v 3.0.1.18) and for XP on XPMCE2005 (v2.0.1.7) Freecom DVB-T stick on same USB port - so hardware identical on both OS builds.

Both OS's clean build with all Microsoft Update patches applied before installing Freecom drivers. Note, no beta or other drivers were installed for the Freecom stick. These have caused me problems on previous occasions.

On both OS's driver installation was clean (apart from unsigned message)and worked first time. VistaMCE and XPMCE2005 both identified the Freecom DVB-T stick and (after a reboot) allowed channel scans.

First test : Take laptop to France (near Angers, Loire Valley) and scan for channels on both OS builds. Both found 15 Channels and both could correctly play all broadcasting channels. Both OS builds could record TV programs but XPMCE2005 could not play back recorded TV. Could be a codec issue but I didn't follow this up. Regretably I didn't compare the frequencies shown in the Guide. I'll do this at another time.

Next test : Take laptop to London - Crystal Place transmitter. VistaMCE found 76 channels and XPMCE2005 found 53 channels.

Vista MCE would only play Sky 3, UKTV History and E4+1. All other TV channels reported a "No Signal" error. (I suspect SmileTV would also play but it was not broadcasting at the time).

XPMCE2005 would play all broadcasting TV channels.

Looking into the Guide configuration:

VistaMCE reported channels broadcasting on the following frequencies (MHz)
505
481
561
530
537
578

XPMCE2005 reported channels broadcasting on the following frequencies (MHz)
506
482
562
538
578

So with the exception of 578MHz, all other channels show a difference of 1Mhz. Sky 3, UKTV History and E4+1 (and SmileTV) all broadcast on 578MHz. This is reported identically on both OS builds and works correctly on both. None of the others are reported the same and none of the others work on VistaMCE. This is consistent with the frequency rounding problems reported elsewhere on this forum.

So in conclusion, I found the following. Freecom DVB-T drivers for both Vista and XPMCE2005 installed correctly on a clean build of each OS. The Vista Freecom drivers can work on Vista MCE but there is a frequency problem which is geographical. I can't say if this problem is down to Freecom or Microsoft or both. Interesting to note that Hauppage have provided a fix for the frequency problem so hopefully Freecom will do the same. I also note from reading bullutin boards on this subject the frequency problem is common to many hardware suppliers and affects many countries and areas.

Final point. Apart form the frequency problem, I found VistaMCE to be more stable than XPMCE2005 and was generally smoother in operation".

Another Forum user posted the following response to the JoeWillis message:

"Thank you for an excellent post. Your findings are similar to what I have found out. I managed to find an excellent little program called ScanChannelsBDA_UK from the hauppauge support forum. Using this utility it scans for channels and reports back what is found on the frequency (note it does not actual display any channels). I compared the output i received from the program with the frequencies reported from VistaMCE and they were all 1mhz out. This was apart from those broadcast on 578mhz, again the same as your findings.

To me this looks like a problem with Vista. However as you said, other manufacturers have been quick in issuing drivers which correct this issue. I hope Freecom can hurry up and do the same"

"My stick doesn't work with Vista Media Centre ....it's all Freecom's Fault....!"

While the last Forum user expresses the view this may be a Vista problem and says other manufacturers have sorted it, so Freecom should as well, that's not what is being reported on other Forums on the Internet. Users of other digital receiver sticks are complaining they don't work satisfactorily with Vista Media Centre but they do work with Vista and they do work with alternative media programmes. . It prompts an interesting question. Is it Microsoft's responsibility to ensure that Vista Media Centre be made to work with the, probably reasonably large, number of digital receiver sticks on the market? Or do the manufacturers of the sticks have the responsibility of making them work with Vista Media Centre?

And there's a third angle worth considering. My stick came specified as compatible with Windows XP and XP Media Centre. It worked perfectly with those. Do I have a right to expect Freecom to sort things so that the stick works if I choose to upgrade to Vista, or to use Vista Media Centre?

As I say, it's an interesting conundrum and one upon which, judging by posts on the Freecom Forum, various people hold firm, and opposing, views. My opinion? This site is not about opinions - we try to stick to objective facts rather than opinions - I'll leave it to other to make up their own mind!

The Techie from Sneckie