Joining the Live Bandscan

Note: These instructions will focus on Windows users. Users of Linux or Mac should e-mail me with any additional questions.

Joining the live bandscan requires only a few items.

• HDHomeRun receiver
• Always-on computer (Windows, Mac, or Linux) and Internet connection

The HDHomeRun receiver has two tuners and attaches directly to your home network. The HDHR2 or HDHR3 receiver can be found used or refurbished for around $50 on eBay or Amazon. I can also recommend the HDHR5, which is currently new enough that it will be hard to find used. While the HDHR4 also works, there have been some issues with how it reports signal levels on channels without stations actively being received. Do NOT buy the HDHR Prime for the live bandscan; it is a cable-only receiver.

Once you have your tuner, install the official software from SiliconDust. (If you are using Windows XP, the latest official software no longer works, but I can provide an older version that does.) Once the official software is installed, you need to e-mail me with a few details:

• The tuner's 8-digit ID number
• Whether you will be using tuner0 or tuner1
• What operating system you will be using
• Your geographic coordinates
• How you would like to be identified, if at all, beyond your location
• Information you're willing to share about your antenna setup

Then I need to do some server-side configuration and send you the code to install and run for your operating system. The software runs from the command line, and has several useful switches:

• -t /tuner0/ - Allows you to choose whether to use tuner0 or tuner1
• -x FFFFFFFF - If you have multiple HDHR receivers on your network, allows you to specify which one to use
• -o 52,WWWW,37,KKKK - If certain stations do not contain identifying information, you can force them to send with this switch
• -d - Outputs debugging information for use if the scanner is not functioning properly for you

If you run it without any switches, it will default to using tuner0 on the first tuner it finds. To run it with switches in Windows, (press Enter wherever {Enter} appears):

• Windows XP:
  • Start > Run > type: cmd{Enter}
  • Type: C:{Enter}
  • Type: cd "Program Files\TV Channel scan\bin"{Enter}
  • Then type scan_tuner.exe and follow it with your switches and Enter; for example:
    

    scan_tuner.exe -t /tuner1/ -x 101B48F4{Enter}

  • Unless you used the -d switch, the software will not give you feedback
  • To see it scan, open the HDHomeRun Config utility and click the tuner you are using
    • The scan will go down from 69 to 2, then upload and repeat
  • Close the window or type Ctrl+C to kill the auto-scanner
• Newer Windows:
  • Start > type: cmd{Enter}
  • Type: C:{Enter}
  • Type: cd "Program Files (x86)\TV Channel scan\bin"{Enter}
  • Then type scan_tuner.exe and follow it with your switches and Enter; for example:
    

    scan_tuner.exe -t /tuner1/ -x 101B48F4{Enter}

  • Unless you used the -d switch, the software will not give you feedback
  • To see it scan, open the HDHomeRun Config utility and click the tuner you are using
    • The scan will go down from 69 to 2, then upload and repeat
  • Close the window or type Ctrl+C to kill the auto-scanner

If you encounter any problems, e-mail me.

One Mac user sent me this pointers about running the software:

• Had to make the script executable
• Had to install Brew, then cpanm, then JSON (I am no expert on these, I just Googled the error I got)
• Had to use the -p option to define the path to hdhomerun_config, which is /usr/local/bin/hdhomerun_config

Separately, here are some instructions a user sent me for using a Raspberry Pi:

1. Install a clean Raspbian OS on the Raspberry Pi.
2. Update Raspbian OS.
3. If rebooted enter:
   sudo apt-get update
   sudo apt-get install libgtk2.0-dev
4. sudo cpan JSON
5. sudo cpan LWP
6. Create the "tvdx" directory under /home/pi
7. Create the "bin" and "etc" directories in the "tvdx" directory and place the Bandscan software in the correct directories.
8. Download the Linux Silicon Dust HDHomerun GTK fireware for the model you have from:
   https://www.silicondust.com/support/linux/
   libhdhomerun (source)
   HDHomeRun Config GTK (source)
9. Follow the instructions for HDHomeRun Config GTK instructions on the download page.
10. Edit the bin/scan_tuner.pl file with your site information. Make sure you know where the hdhomerun_config file is located on your system. It could be in /usr/local/bin or /usr/bin. Point the my $CONFIG_PROGRAM line in the scan_tuner.pl file to the correct location.
11. From the tvdx/bin directory enter ./scan_tuner.pl and see if there are any error messages. If so, correct and rerun. If no error messages come up, the spots are being sent to the main server and should begin to show up on the main map shortly.

Once the software is known to work, you will want to set your computer to run it automatically, in the background, every time it starts. In Mac and Linux, you should be able to use crontab as normal to automate the process (please e-mail me with questions). In Windows, the process is more complicated:

• Windows XP:
  • Coming soon
• Newer Windows:
  • Stop the auto-scanner if you have it running manually
  • Start > type Admini > click on "Administrative Tools" under Control Panel in the search results
  • Double-click on "Task Scheduler"
  • In the pane at the right, click "Create Task"
  • Type "HDHR Scanner" in the "Name" field
  • Under Security Options, choose "Run whether user is logged on or not"
  • In the Triggers tab, click the New button
  • Set Begin the task to "At startup", and click "OK"
  • In the Actions tab, click the New button
  • Under Settings, click Browse
  • Navigate to the folder scan_tuner.exe is installed in and click the Open button
  • If you are using any command line switches noted above, put them in the Add Arguments (optional) field
  • Click "OK" and then "OK" again
  • In the pane at the left, click "Task Scheduler Library"
  • In the center top pane, find the HDHR Scanner entry, right-click it, and click "Run"
  • If you check the HDHomeRun Config tool, you should see the scan occurring; you're done!

If you have any further questions which are not answered here, please let me know. Enjoy!