STV Import: FM Radio STV

[cybrmage]

Ok... Something we've all been waiting for...

Here is an ALPHA version of the default SageTV V5.0.2 STV, and an STVi for SageTV(or client) V5.02+, with FM Radio support.

Limitations:
- No Recording/Timeshifting capabilities
- Radio playback is only available while in the "FM Radio"
- no channel scan
- As Opus4 mentioned, the FM Radio Tuner in the Hauppauge WinTV PVR(2) USB2 does not always work reliably.

Features:
- Compatible with the "Encoder Name" plugin by BobPhoenix
(It is hard to distinguish multiple encoders apart without it)
- it is functional

Tested and working with:
- Hauppauge WinTV PVR USB2
- Hauppauge WinTV PVR2 USB2
- Hauppauge WinTV PVR150 MCE (OEM)
- Hauppauge WinTV PVR150 (OEM)
- PowerColor Theatre 550Pro (ATI Theatre 550 - PCI-E interface)

To use this STV:
1) Extract SageTV3_FM_Radio_vx.xx.zip to C:\Program Files\SageTV\SageTV\STVs\SageTV3
2) Run SageTV and go to Setup/Detailed Setup/Advanced/SageTV Application Package and load SageTV3_FM_Radio_vx.xx.xml
3) Import any other STVi's you wish to use
If you use the Dynamic Menu import by Neilm, you will need to create a new menu item linked to the internal menu named "Music FM Radio"

** OR **

1) Run SageTV and go to Setup/Detailed Setup/Advanced/Import SageTV Application Package and load SageTV3_FM_Radio_vx.xx.stvi
2) Use nielm's dynamic menu feature, or any other dynamic menu mechanism, to create a new menu item linked to the internal menu named "Music FM Radio"


As I mentioned, this is a very simple alpha implimentation of an FM Radio application. It works for me... but your milage may vary.

I don't have much time to work on changes/upgrades/fixes/new features but feedback is welcome, and development is still happening.


Release History
--------------
2006/04/29 - Initial version

2006/04/29 - v0.02 - removed removed extraneous debug info from various popup menus

2006/05/02 - v0.02 STVi added - NOTE: this not a complete import. You must use nielm's Dynamic menus ( or an STV that uses dynamic menus) to create a menu item that links to the "Music FM Radio" internal menu.

2006/05/03 - v0.03 - Zip includes Standard SageTV v5 XML with FM Radio and an STVi for use with dynamic menus
Added - Added "on menu" volume status display
Added - preset highlighting
Fixed - Ability to set a name for a Preset
Fixed? - changing channels without a teuner selected would cause 100% CPU usage

2006/05/03 - v0.04
Fixed - Unable to tune presets
Fixed - Tuner list would include non-functional tuners

2006/05/05 - v0.05
Fixed? - operation with SageTV Client inproved (hopefully fixed)
Fixed - FM Radio will shut down if user elects to allow a channel change for a scheduled recording (to prevent corrupted recordings)
Added - Options menu
Added - Option to automatically release the tuner if it is needed for a scheduled recording
Added - ability to lock the preset (when locked - presets can be added but not cleared or changed) - locked status is indicated by red border on the preset menu
Added - Ability of Clients to use thier local presets or the presets from the server (server presets are automatically locked)
Added - option to force tuning of presets only
Added - option to display FM Radio version in menu title (to help with version control)

2006/05/05 - v0.06
Fixed - presets not working properly (re-introduced in v0.05)
Fixed - spelling error on options menu
Added - option to add an encoder to an Exclude list so that non-functional FM tuners can be removed from the selection list (available on the tuner menu)
Added - option to clear the Tuner Exclude list

2006/05/06 - v0.07
Fixed - channel changes for clients (Integer math anomolies)
Added - Debugging options - Show raw channel frequency - show all capture card inputs
Added - EXPERIMENTAL - Automatic tuner change option for cases where the current tuner is needed for a scheduled video recording

2006/05/08 - v0.08
Added - Automatic Frequency band and channel seperation configuration
Added - Frequency Band and channel seperation display

2006/05/09 - v0.09
Updated - Updated the base STV to SageTV3.xml from SageTV v5.0.2
Fixed - Typo in STVi importer that prevented re-import
Added - Single click tuning for presets. If you set "Automatically tune valid presets when clicked" then a single click on the preset will tune it and a right click (or whichever key on your remote that is mapped to "Options") will bring up the standare preset options.
Added - Manual tuning - In the manual tuning input you may enter the exact frequency (IE: 92100000) or the frequency in Mhz multiplied by 10 (IE: 921). There is no checking for correct multiples of the tuning band, only that the frequency entered falls within the frequency band. (IE: will allow 92150000, but not 109200000)

2006/05/09 - v0.10
Fixed: Themes corrupted in the update to SageTV3.xml from SageTV v5.0.2

2006/05/11 - v0.11
Changed - UI layout changed to provide more usable screen real estate
Changed - reverted left menu properties to that of v0.08 to fix problem with left menu not being draw in some instances.

2006/05/12 - v0.12
Fixed - unusable (experimental) UI elements removed
Added - Option to disable Screen saver while in FM Radio... When this option is first turned "ON", the screen saver MAY still trigger a final time. Once SageTV is awoken, the screen saver will no longer trigger.

2006/05/20 - v0.13
Added - Experimental - Internal FM Radio screensaver - This screensaver is independant of the SageTV Screensaver/Sleep mechanism and is currently set to trigger after 5 minutes of inactivity. If you use a mouse to control your SageTV install, DO NOT enable the FM Radio screensaver, as mouse clicks and mouse movements will not currently reset the screensaver timer. It does work correctly if you control your SageTV system with the keyboard or a remote control.
Changed - Code cleanup
Fixed - Using the cursor left key (on keyboard or remote) when in the left hand menu will no longer exit the FM Radio Menu... You must explicitly select the "Exit FM Radio" menu item OR send a Sage Command that changes menus (IE: Guide, Home, My Music, Sage Recordings on many remotes or the equivilent keyboard commands).
Added - Numeric Text entry keyboard added to the Set Preset option to allow easier entry of preset names when using a remote control.

2006/05/20 - v0.14
Fixed - using transport controls (FFwd, Frew, pause, play, stop) causes undesirable results. "Stop" can be used to release the current tuner, and selecting a new tuner or preset will now restart the radio.


Enjoy!

[nlancaster]

Works for my dual PVR-500s. now to see if it works with the media MVP.

[raulinigo]

This seems like it has potential but I am having problems.

Is there any other way to set your presets or tune a station without using studio? I am currently using the trial version of SageTV 5 and am about to purchase it. Since I haven't yet, I can not use studio.

When I go to the FM Radio menu, I can select a tuner and get to the preset menu but can not set any presets, nor any names. I am guessing this has to be done in studio?

And under "station" is says not tuned. One would think you could just hit the channel up or down button to tune to a channel, but this immediately puts my CPU at 100% usage and doesn't do anything else. I have to close sage in the task manager to get back to normal.

If there was a way to set presets within the sage interface, this would be a very nice addition to the software. Even if it requires studio, assuming it works as mentioned above... it will be my default SVT once purchasing a license.

Thanks


Edit: Ok, I have a pvr500mce. When I go into Music -> Song Titles, there are 4 separate FM radio capture devices. If I select the last one and click on "Play Song Now" I hear FM radio. But when I got to FM Radio -> Tuners, only 2 FM radio capture devices are listed and it appears neither work. One gives me TV, the other says no signal. I don't know whats up.

Edit 2: I don't know what I did, but it appears to be working great now. Maybe messing around with the song title menu cause it to switch tuners. The FM Radio tuner menu still gives me two devices expect now one is TV and the other is FM. I was able to set all my presets and tune easily. Thank you very much for this. The Hauppauge radio player I was using was crap. If I had it in focus, I would get a static sound every second. This appears to work much better. Good job!

[Homebuilder]

Thanks for making this, is it still being developed?

I use germsage stv due to it being able to read .my files for my imports, so I can not switch to this stv but I want this ability.

Anyway to make this an stvi? or anyway to cut and paste this into germsage stv?

Thanks!

[raulinigo]

Now that I have it set up right it is working great. I do have some suggestions (if you care to hear any). Ideally, I think it would be nice if you could click on a preset and have it tune to that station instead of bringing up the select an option window. And if that isn't possible due to the whole set/clear preset option needing to be where it is... then I think that the "clear preset" option is too close to the "tune" option. I have already gotten a little sloppy with the mouse clicks and acidently cleared a preset instead of tuning to it.

I am really loving this though. It is awesome and I like how it handles conflicts.

Great stuff. Thanks again.

[cybrmage]

Raulinigo:
I coded it to enumerate the capture devices and all their inputs, and only selects the "FM Radio" input. The standard "Media Center" always displays 2 entries for each card with an FM Tuner - so for a PVR500 with 2 tuners it will display 4 entries (I don't know why this is). Enumerating the inputs eliminated the two non-functional entries.

The "NOT TUNED" message indicates that a tuner has not been selected. Once you select a tuner, it will tune the station. If it is the first time you have used FM Radio, it will default to 88.1MHz. You can then use the channel up/channel down buttons to tune a station and then use the preset buttons to set a preset. The use of Studio in not required. As was mentioned, setting a name does not work yet.

I don't know why the tuner menu would display a TV tuner... I filter the inputs on "FM Radio", so no TV tuners should appear here. It may be because the PVR500 only has one FM tuner. The drivers shouldn't report a second FM tuner at all. What does the working FM Tuner get reported as? "Hauppauge WinTV PVR PCI II Capture" or "Hauppauge WinTV PVR PCI II Capture #2"?

Homebuilder: Yes, it is still being developed... but I can make no promises as to how much development will get done, as work is particularly busy at the moment.

As far as germsage is concerned... I have not used it so I don't know if it will work. If you can use neilm's dynamic menu plugin then you can import the STVi that I have attached to the first post, then use dynamic menus to create a link to the "Music FM Radio" internal menu.

Beyond getting the basic import made, I haven't yet had time to figure out how to get the STVi to like into the existing menus... that will come with time.

[JUC]

How would this work with sagemc? I do not believe it uses dynamic menus
thanks
JUC

[BobPhoenix]

I believe "My Menu" is NIELM's dynamic menu system.

BobP.

[JUC]

Originally Posted by BobPhoenix

I believe "My Menu" is NIELM's dynamic menu system.

BobP.

ah yes! I haven't used the my menu yet but that's it
Thanks
JUC

[raulinigo]

Originally Posted by cybrmage

Raulinigo:
I coded it to enumerate the capture devices and all their inputs, and only selects the "FM Radio" input. The standard "Media Center" always displays 2 entries for each card with an FM Tuner - so for a PVR500 with 2 tuners it will display 4 entries (I don't know why this is). Enumerating the inputs eliminated the two non-functional entries.

The "NOT TUNED" message indicates that a tuner has not been selected. Once you select a tuner, it will tune the station. If it is the first time you have used FM Radio, it will default to 88.1MHz. You can then use the channel up/channel down buttons to tune a station and then use the preset buttons to set a preset. The use of Studio in not required. As was mentioned, setting a name does not work yet.

I don't know why the tuner menu would display a TV tuner... I filter the inputs on "FM Radio", so no TV tuners should appear here. It may be because the PVR500 only has one FM tuner. The drivers shouldn't report a second FM tuner at all. What does the working FM Tuner get reported as? "Hauppauge WinTV PVR PCI II Capture" or "Hauppauge WinTV PVR PCI II Capture #2"?

Homebuilder: Yes, it is still being developed... but I can make no promises as to how much development will get done, as work is particularly busy at the moment.

As far as germsage is concerned... I have not used it so I don't know if it will work. If you can use neilm's dynamic menu plugin then you can import the STVi that I have attached to the first post, then use dynamic menus to create a link to the "Music FM Radio" internal menu.

Beyond getting the basic import made, I haven't yet had time to figure out how to get the STVi to like into the existing menus... that will come with time.

In the FM Radio Tuner menu I had the option below at first:

Hauppauge WinTV PVR PCI II Capture #2 FM Radio
Hauppauge WinTV PVR PCI II Capture FM Radio

Neither would tune to anything when selected so I tried the Ctrl+V command to see what was selected/playing. One gave me TV and the other gave me "no signal" then switched to TV. This is when clicking on channel up or down gave me 100% CPU usage.

After messing around in the Music->Song Title menu with all four FM tuner options listed (again using the Ctrl+V command to check) I found the working FM tuner. Then when I returned to the FM Radio Tuner menu, it still listed the same devices as before:

Hauppauge WinTV PVR PCI II Capture #2 FM Radio
Hauppauge WinTV PVR PCI II Capture FM Radio

But now, selecting a tuner produces sound without having to use the Ctrl+V command to check. The first tuner listed (the #2 one) gave me TV audio, and the second tuner gave me FM audio. I was then able to use the channel up/down and set presets.

Something just got messed up in my case I guess. The previous pvr500 user didn't mention any problems.

[raulinigo]

I just thought of something else that would be nice. Could you fix it to outline the preset when it is tuned. I know it says what channel you are currently tuned to at the bottom under "station", but it would be nice if the currenty selected preset was outlined or highlighted. Like how it does in the TV Guide for your shows that are recording or scheduled to be recorded. That would allow for even faster and easier recognition.

That would be neat.

[BBCritical]

Does this work on the mvp's if I add the stvi?

[raulinigo]

Originally Posted by BBCritical

Does this work on the mvp's if I add the stvi?

I can't seem to get it to work on my mvp using the STV. Anyone have any luck?

[cybrmage]

New version... took some suggestions... tried to fix some issues... added a bit...

I don't have an MVP, so I can't do much about problems with them... If you can give some feedback on what it does on an MVP (ie error messages, etc), I will see what I can do about it. I do have a SageTV client, which I haven't tried this on yet... I have a feeling that it may have the same issue as the MVP... If that is the case, I should be able to get it working once I get some time later in the week.

Regards

[BBCritical]

I can tune the channels but no sound comes through on my MVP

[raulinigo]

Originally Posted by cybrmage

New version... took some suggestions... tried to fix some issues... added a bit...

The new version 0.03 is broke. I love the added features, but the presets no longer work. After you set a preset, even though it shows the correct channel on the preset... when you click on one and tell it to tune to that preset, it always tunes to NullMHz.

I tried both the STV and the STVi.

I had to revert back to version 0.02. Which retains the station names, but if you did not put in a name it shows a dash. I got rid of all the name because just seeing the station number works good for me.... but after reverting to the previous version, all my stations look like negative numbers.

I love the highlighted presets you included. I hope you can fix it!

Thanks for the hard work!!!

[cybrmage]

another new (bugfix) version....

[raulinigo]

Originally Posted by cybrmage

another new (bugfix) version....

Excellent! The new version works greats. You rock. Now the real question is why didn't SageTV do this a loooong time ago.

Good job.

[marneb17]

Aloha,
it works through my client but the tuning isn't really working for me. the station is sometimes way of.
Tried to set them in the properties file, but that didn't work either.
But otherwise it is great!!!!
Thx
Marneb

[BBCritical]

Anyone had any luck through an MVP yet?