I tried to understand the differences between Cable and Terrestrial tuning and I discovered the Media Center 2005 doesn't support DVB-C from itself. Digital Everywhere (the maker of FireDTV) however developed special drivers for MCE that make the tuner look like a terrestrial one, while the drivers translate terrestrial frequencies into DVB-C tuples using a table stored in the registry.
These drivers also seem to work for MC13, and I managed to have all cable channels scanned in my region.
So far I did not succeed in getting the TV video shown in the window, I guess this is codec problem (still to be solved).
What I did:
1) install drivers form digital anywhere: in MCE mode
2) add translation table to registry (might be installed automatically when installing drivers,
I extracted the registry entry to show the content and key):
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\DigitalEverywhere\FireDTV\Transponder\Cable]
"473833"="168000, 6875"
"474000"="170000, 6875"
"474167"="234000, 6875"
"481833"="235000, 6875"
"482000"="236500, 6875"
"482167"="247000, 6875"
"489833"="252000, 6875"
"490000"="255000, 6875"
"490167"="260000, 6875"
"497833"="263000, 6875"
"498000"="268000, 6875"
"498167"="271000, 6875"
"505833"="276000, 6875"
"506000"="279000, 6875"
"506167"="284000, 6875"
"513833"="287000, 6875"
"514000"="292000, 6875"
"514167"="297000, 6875"
"521833"="305000, 6875"
"522000"="308000, 6875"
"522167"="313000, 6875"
"529833"="316000, 6875"
"530000"="321000, 6875"
"530167"="324000, 6875"
"537833"="329000, 6875"
"538000"="332000, 6875"
"538167"="337000, 6875"
"545833"="340000, 6875"
"546000"="345000, 6875"
"546167"="348000, 6875"
"553833"="353000, 6875"
"554000"="354000, 6875"
"554167"="356000, 6875"
"561833"="361000, 6875"
"562000"="362000, 6875"
"562167"="364000, 6875"
"569833"="369000, 6875"
"570000"="370000, 6875"
"570167"="372000, 6875"
"577833"="377000, 6875"
"578000"="380000, 6875"
"578167"="385000, 6875"
"585833"="388000, 6875"
"586000"="393000, 6875"
"586167"="396000, 6875"
"593833"="401000, 6875"
"594000"="404000, 6875"
"594167"="409000, 6875"
"601833"="412000, 6875"
"602000"="412500, 6875"
"602167"="417000, 6875"
"609833"="420000, 6875"
"610000"="425000, 6875"
"610167"="426000, 6875"
"617833"="428000, 6875"
"618000"="433500, 6875"
"618167"="434000, 6875"
"625833"="436000, 6875"
"626000"="442000, 6875"
"626167"="444000, 6875"
"633833"="450000, 6875"
"634000"="452000, 6875"
"634167"="456000, 6875"
"641833"="458000, 6875"
"642000"="460000, 6875"
"642167"="466000, 6875"
"649833"="482000, 6875"
"650000"="498000, 6875"
"650167"="506000, 6875"
"657833"="514000, 6875"
"658000"="538000, 6875"
"658167"="551500, 6875"
"665833"="562000, 6875"
"666000"="562750, 6875"
"666167"="578000, 6875"
"673833"="610000, 6875"
"674000"="618000, 6875"
"674167"="629750, 6875"
"681833"="634000, 6875"
"682000"="650000, 6875"
"682167"="658000, 6875"
"689833"="658750, 6875"
"690000"="662000, 6875"
"690167"="666000, 6875"
"697833"="674000, 6875"
"698000"="682000, 6875"
"698167"="682750, 6875"
"705833"="690000, 6875"
"706000"="691500, 6875"
"706167"="698000, 6875"
"713833"="706000, 6875"
"714000"="714000, 6875"
"714167"="730000, 6875"
"721833"="754000, 6875"
"722000"="762000, 6875"
"722167"="786000, 6875"
"729833"="794000, 6875"
"730000"="802000, 6875"
"730167"="810000, 6875"
"737833"="811750, 6875"
"738000"="818000, 6875"
"738167"="831500, 6875"
"745833"="862000, 6875"
"746000"="224000, 6900"
"746167"="404000, 6900"
"753833"="506000, 6900"
"754000"="538000, 6900"
"754167"="554000, 6900"
"761833"="570000, 6900"
"762000"="618000, 6900"
"762167"="626000, 6900"
"769833"="634000, 6900"
"770000"="642000, 6900"
"770167"="650000, 6900"
"777833"="658000, 6900"
"778000"="666000, 6900"
"778167"="674000, 6900"
"785833"="682000, 6900"
"786000"="690000, 6900"
"786167"="698000, 6900"
"793833"="706000, 6900"
"794000"="730000, 6900"
"794167"="738000, 6900"
"801833"="746000, 6900"
"802000"="754000, 6900"
"802167"="770000, 6900"
"809833"="778000, 6900"
"810000"="786000, 6900"
"810167"="834000, 6900"
"817833"="842000, 6900"
"818000"="232000, 6875"
"818167"="240000, 6875"
"825833"="290000, 6875"
"826000"="298000, 6875"
"826167"=" "
"833833"=" "
"834000"=" "
"834167"=" "
"841833"=" "
"842000"=" "
"842167"=" "
"849833"=" "
"850000"=" "
"850167"=" "
"857833"=" "
"858000"=" "
"858167"=" "
"865833"=" "
"866000"=" "
"866167"=" "
3) I have inserted my region in the DVB frequencies.xml file in JRiver/Mediacenter/TV and made sure that all frequencies correspond to the first row of the translation table above:
<Country Name="Netherlands" CountryCode="31" NetworkType="DVB-T" Bandwidth="8">
<Channel Freq="473833"/>
<Channel Freq="474000"/>
<Channel Freq="474167"/>
<Channel Freq="481833"/>
<Channel Freq="482000"/>
<Channel Freq="482167"/>
<Channel Freq="489833"/>
<Channel Freq="490000"/>
<Channel Freq="490167"/>
<Channel Freq="497833"/>
<Channel Freq="498000"/>
<Channel Freq="498167"/>
<Channel Freq="505833"/>
<Channel Freq="506000"/>
<Channel Freq="506167"/>
<Channel Freq="513833"/>
<Channel Freq="514000"/>
<Channel Freq="514167"/>
<Channel Freq="521833"/>
<Channel Freq="522000"/>
<Channel Freq="522167"/>
<Channel Freq="529833"/>
<Channel Freq="530000"/>
<Channel Freq="530167"/>
<Channel Freq="537833"/>
<Channel Freq="538000"/>
<Channel Freq="538167"/>
<Channel Freq="545833"/>
<Channel Freq="546000"/>
<Channel Freq="546167"/>
<Channel Freq="553833"/>
<Channel Freq="554000"/>
<Channel Freq="554167"/>
<Channel Freq="561833"/>
<Channel Freq="562000"/>
<Channel Freq="562167"/>
<Channel Freq="569833"/>
<Channel Freq="570000"/>
<Channel Freq="570167"/>
<Channel Freq="577833"/>
<Channel Freq="578000"/>
<Channel Freq="578167"/>
<Channel Freq="585833"/>
<Channel Freq="586000"/>
<Channel Freq="586167"/>
<Channel Freq="593833"/>
<Channel Freq="594000"/>
<Channel Freq="594167"/>
<Channel Freq="601833"/>
<Channel Freq="602000"/>
<Channel Freq="602167"/>
<Channel Freq="609833"/>
<Channel Freq="610000"/>
<Channel Freq="610167"/>
<Channel Freq="617833"/>
<Channel Freq="618000"/>
<Channel Freq="618167"/>
<Channel Freq="625833"/>
<Channel Freq="626000"/>
<Channel Freq="626167"/>
<Channel Freq="633833"/>
<Channel Freq="634000"/>
<Channel Freq="634167"/>
<Channel Freq="641833"/>
<Channel Freq="642000"/>
<Channel Freq="642167"/>
<Channel Freq="649833"/>
<Channel Freq="650000"/>
<Channel Freq="650167"/>
<Channel Freq="657833"/>
<Channel Freq="658000"/>
<Channel Freq="658167"/>
<Channel Freq="665833"/>
<Channel Freq="666000"/>
<Channel Freq="666167"/>
<Channel Freq="673833"/>
<Channel Freq="674000"/>
<Channel Freq="674167"/>
<Channel Freq="681833"/>
<Channel Freq="682000"/>
<Channel Freq="682167"/>
<Channel Freq="689833"/>
<Channel Freq="690000"/>
<Channel Freq="690167"/>
<Channel Freq="697833"/>
<Channel Freq="698000"/>
<Channel Freq="698167"/>
<Channel Freq="705833"/>
<Channel Freq="706000"/>
<Channel Freq="706167"/>
<Channel Freq="713833"/>
<Channel Freq="714000"/>
<Channel Freq="714167"/>
<Channel Freq="721833"/>
<Channel Freq="722000"/>
<Channel Freq="722167"/>
<Channel Freq="729833"/>
<Channel Freq="730000"/>
<Channel Freq="730167"/>
<Channel Freq="737833"/>
<Channel Freq="738000"/>
<Channel Freq="738167"/>
<Channel Freq="745833"/>
<Channel Freq="746000"/>
<Channel Freq="746167"/>
<Channel Freq="753833"/>
<Channel Freq="754000"/>
<Channel Freq="754167"/>
<Channel Freq="761833"/>
<Channel Freq="762000"/>
<Channel Freq="762167"/>
<Channel Freq="769833"/>
<Channel Freq="770000"/>
<Channel Freq="770167"/>
<Channel Freq="777833"/>
<Channel Freq="778000"/>
<Channel Freq="778167"/>
<Channel Freq="785833"/>
<Channel Freq="786000"/>
<Channel Freq="786167"/>
<Channel Freq="793833"/>
<Channel Freq="794000"/>
<Channel Freq="794167"/>
<Channel Freq="801833"/>
<Channel Freq="802000"/>
<Channel Freq="802167"/>
<Channel Freq="809833"/>
<Channel Freq="810000"/>
<Channel Freq="810167"/>
<Channel Freq="817833"/>
<Channel Freq="818000"/>
<Channel Freq="818167"/>
<Channel Freq="825833"/>
<Channel Freq="826000"/>
</Country>
4) I scanned the TV channels for DVB in MC 13 and found all channels
I hope this helps for the DVB cablers around!
Frank
