dvbshout - streaming a complete DVB-T or DVB-S multiplex!

[florca]

I have just finished putting together a new Linux (Ubuntu Edgy Server) Slimserver / AlienBBC / DVB-T streaming solution (which should also support DVB-S radio streaming) using icecast and a very neat and efficient piece of software called dvbshout - http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~njh/dvbshout/ . This has replaced my old DAB Wavefinder / DABBar solution and has the major benefit over other DVB-T/S solutions I’ve seen in that it will serve an entire multiplex concurrently – eg one client can listen to BBC Radio 3, another to Radio 4 and (using Streamripper) a Radio 2 show could be recorded.

I’m using it with a current Hauppauge Nova-T card but I guess it would work with all DVB-T/S/C cards supported by current Linux kernels. It takes selected channels from a tuned Multiplex and fires them at an icecast2 server, from where they can be received by Squeezebox(es) (or any other Shoutcast-compatible client such as foobar2000, ITunes, Winamp or Windows Media Player). Unlike my old solution, which needed separate boxes – Win98 for Wavefinder / DABBar and XP for Slimserver, this brings it all together on one system, which seems much snappier and, so far, more stable than the old combination.

Other benefits over DAB are that the station bitrates are higher (>better quality) and changing channels is snappier. I think something similar could be done using VLC, but after lots of time with Google it looks like VLC would be far more resource hungry. My setup all runs quite happily on an old 733MHz PIII.

There is a submitted Debian dvbshout package available at http://sponsors.debian.net/viewpkg.php?id=286 . It’s not 100% clean (the Perl script to build the required config file had some minor bugs) but once running it’s been completely stable. A DVB-S (Nova-S) solution would deliver more radio stations in a single multiplex but for now the DVB-T card is good to work with.

My next challenge is to setup some Streamripper jobs to record and tag my favourite shows so that I have “full quality” versions of Late Junction etc. to complement the AlienBBC / Listen Again complete 7-day archive, and figure out the best way to file them in Slimserver.

If there’s any interest in more detailed instructions, or if someone has any ideas for a better capture / archive / Slim database solution (I’ve considered a minimal MythTV install) then let me know…

Brgds
Phil

[funkstar]

very interesting Florca, good to hear you got it all working reliably. The only down side of DVB-x vs DAB is the lack of local stations...but then again, i never listen to them anyway

[adamslim]

I'm most jealous. Do you know of a Windows solution to DVB broadcasting? Bitrates of DVB are higher than DAB, so I'd be keen to see if they sound alright outside of my PC.

Adam

[Countryman]

Florca,

Congratulations on your work so far! I am very interested in the DVB-S solution as we can not (fortunately) get DAB. Can you give further details as they become available as the ‘debian’ link does not seem to work.

Cheers

[florca]

Some answers...

1) The Debian link. I'm not sure why this doesn't work for you but I can reach it fine from my browser. I'm pretty sure it's not an "official" Debian package (a bit like Slimserver...) but I found it as the 3rd link on a Google of "Debian dvbshout". As you'll see below I'm far from an expert at this but the "wget" package listed on this "sponsor" page seems to work for me. The direct link to the package is "wget: http://www.informatik.uni-bremen.de/...0.2-1_i386.deb ".

2) Windows.... This is my first direct experience of any type of Linux. As per the first post my setup so far has consisted of an (ancient, very noisy) Win 98SE system with a Wavefinder and DABBar and my main desktop system running XP SP2. As the Wavefinder won't work with SP2 and current Slimservers won't work with Win98 something had to give, so I thought I'd give Ubuntu a go - partly to see if all the hype was justified. I'm a total convert, although I have to admit there's a pretty steep learning curve. You can easily / cheaply get an old Pentium 3 type system (my local council tip has them by the skip-load, or try ebay if you want a more conventional route<g>). It's taken me a couple of weeks (most evenings) to get it working but having done it I can't imagine any reason to revert to a Windows-based server system. The kid's games prevent me from converting the XP desktop to Ubuntu Desktop, otherwise I'd be sorely tempted. Before going down this route I did a lot of searching into Windows based alternatives but couldn't find any with the same set of Slimserver / DVB Radio streaming options.

If you want to follow the same path I suggest starting with Ubuntu Desktop to get familiar then, if you want to strip things down / speed things up a bit, start again with the server version. The server has quite a long list of packages you need to add to get up and running but it all seems to slot together pretty neatly.

Brgds
Phil

[braice]

Hello

To stream television (dvb) over a lan, you can also use mumudvb

http://mumudvb.braice.net

It corresponds well for doing what you want to do

[325xi]

Is there anything that can run on SLUG or one of those Linux routers? All my Linux stuff runs on these, and I don't want to break the tradition

[florca]

There's a comment at the bottom of the linked MUMUDVB page above that someone has it running on a SLUG (NSLU2), so maybe it's not completely impossible. However MUMUDVB (or DVBSHOUT..) on their own won't work with Squeezeboxes, as both natively deliver multicast streams, and neither Squeezeboxes (definitely) or Squeezecenter (I think) understand multicast sources. The trick with DVBSHOUT is that it can also deliver source streams to a Shoutcast / Icecast server, but my guess is that it would be pushing it to run both DVBSHOUT and Icecast2 on a single SLUG - maybe you'd have a chance if you split them across two seperate devices?

However there may be more hope with the latest generation of punchier NAS devices - in particular the latest Synology DS-209+ looks like it might have more than enough power. It may be overkill but I'm waiting for the arrival of a fanless motherboard which combines a dual core Atom 330 with a low power 945GSE chipset for my long planned server rebuild - you can have either individually, but not both together right now (see http://www.mini-itx.com/reviews/atom...ult.asp?page=1 ). The MSI board (now released as the IM-945GSE ) in particular looks really good, but I'd still like to hold out for a 330 processor.

Brgds
Phil

[f948lan]

Those reading this thread may also be interested in my alternative solution.

See: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=54713