--- name: "w_scan" section: "1" platform: "linux" package: "w-scan" version: "20210218-1" release: "Debian 13 (Trixie)" platforms: ["linux"] url: "https://new.carta.tech/w_scan" --- # w\_scan(1) a universal ATSC and DVB blind scanner ## NAME w\_scan - a universal ATSC and DVB blind scanner ## SYNOPSIS **w\_scan** **-fa** *-c \* **\[ options \]**\ **w\_scan** **-fc** *-c \* **\[ options \]**\ **w\_scan** **-ft** *-c \* **\[ options \]**\ **w\_scan** **-fs** *-s \* **\[ options \]** ## DESCRIPTION **w\_scan** scans for DVB-C, DVB-S/S2, DVB-T, ISDB-T and ATSC channels. Any other program accessing the DVB hardware (like e.g. VDR) has to be closed in order to avoid conflicts while running w\_scan.\ w\_scan provides the channels in different output formats (Default: VDR channels.conf). For other output formats see OPTIONS. ## OPTIONS The following options are available. - **-f TYPE** Frontend type,\ "a" = ATSC,\ "c" = DVB-C,\ "s" = DVB-S/S2,\ "t" = DVB-T (and ISDB-T) \[default\]\ Depending on "TYPE", either of the arguments "-s" or "-c" is mandatory. - **-c COUNTRY\_ID** Mandatory argument for ATSC scans, cable scans and terrestrian scans, see option -f.\ Specifies the country where you try to scan for channels as uppercase two letter identifier, e.g.\ DE = Germany,\ US = United States,\ FR = France\ Use "-c?" for a list of all known identifiers. - **-s SATELLITE\_ID** Mandatory argument for satellite scans, see option -f.\ Specifies the satellite you wish to scan as uppercase identifier, e.g.\ S19E2 = 19.2° east,\ S13E0 = 13.0° east,\ S0W8 = 0.8° west.\ Use "-s?" for a list of all known identifiers. - **-A N** specify ATSC scan type\ 1 = terrestrial \[default\],\ 2 = cable,\ 3 = both, cable and terrestrial. - **-o N** VDR channels.conf format\ 2 = VDR-2.0 \[default\],\ 21 = VDR-2.1 - **-X** generate zap/czap/xine output instead of VDR channels.conf. - **-x** generate initial tuning data output for (dvb-)scan instead of VDR channels.conf. - **-k** generate channels.dvb for kaffeine instead of VDR channels.conf. - **-L** generate VLC xspf playlist (experimental) - **-M** mplayer output instead of vdr channels.conf - **-G** generate output for Gstreamer dvbsrc plugin - **-h** show help - **-H** show expert help ## EXPERT OPTIONS - **-C CHARSET** specifies the output charset, i.e. "UTF-8", "ISO-8859-15"\ use 'iconv --list' to see full list of charsets. - **-I FILE** import dvbscan initial\_tuning\_data - **-v** verbose (repeat for more) - **-q** quiet (repeat for less) - **-R N** Radio channels\ 0 = don't search radio channels\ 1 = search radio channels \[default\] - **-T N** TV channels\ 0 = don't search TV channels,\ 1 = search TV channels \[default\] - **-O N** Other services\ 0 = don't search other services \[default\]\ 1 = search other services - **-E N** Conditional access / encrypted channels\ 0 = only Free TV channels,\ 1 = include encrypted channels \[default\] - **-a N** use device /dev/dvb/adapterN/ \[default: auto detect\]\ (also allowed: -a /dev/dvb/adapterN/frontendM)\ *NOTE: This option is deprecated and should be usually omitted.* - **-F** Long filter timeout for reading data from hardware. - **-t N** Tuning timeout, increasing may help if device tunes slowly or has bad reception.\ 1 = fastest \[default\],\ 2 = medium,\ 3 = slowest - **-i N** spectral inversion setting for cable TV\ 0 = off,\ 1 = on,\ 2 = auto \[default\] - **-Q** DVB-C modulation \[default: choosen by country\]\ *NOTE: for experienced users only!*\ 0 = QAM64,\ 1 = QAM256,\ 2 = QAM128 - **-S** *RATE* set DVB-C symbol rate, see table: \[default: choosen by country\]\ *NOTE: for experienced users only!!*\ 0 = 6.9000 MSymbol/s\ 1 = 6.8750 MSymbol/s\ 2 = 6.9565 MSymbol/s\ 3 = 6.9560 MSymbol/s\ 4 = 6.9520 MSymbol/s\ 5 = 6.9500 MSymbol/s\ 6 = 6.7900 MSymbol/s\ 7 = 6.8110 MSymbol/s\ 8 = 6.2500 MSymbol/s\ 9 = 6.1110 MSymbol/s\ 10 = 6.0860 MSymbol/s\ 11 = 5.9000 MSymbol/s\ 12 = 5.4830 MSymbol/s\ 13 = 5.2170 MSymbol/s\ 14 = 5.1560 MSymbol/s\ 15 = 5.0000 MSymbol/s\ 16 = 4.0000 MSymbol/s\ 17 = 3.4500 MSymbol/s\ - **-e** extended DVB-C scan flags.\ *NOTE: for experienced users only!*\ Any combination of these flags:\ 1 = use extended symbolrate list,\ 2 = extended QAM scan - **-l TYPE** choose LNB type by name (DVB-S/S2 only) \[default: UNIVERSAL\],\ "-l?" for list of known LNBs. - **-D Nc** use DiSEqC committed switch position N (N = 0 .. 3) - **-D Nu** use DiSEqC uncommitted switch position N (N = 0 .. 15) - **-p \** use DiSEqC rotor Position file - **-r N** use Rotor position N (N = 1 .. 255) - **-P** ATSC scan: do not use ATSC PSIP tables for scan (PAT and PMT only) ## EXAMPLES - scan satellite 19.2° east: **w\_scan -fs -s S19E2** - scan cable (DVB), Germany: **w\_scan -fc -c DE** - scan aerial (DVB), France: **w\_scan -ft -c FR** - scan cable (ATSC), United States: **w\_scan -fa -A2 -c US** - scan aerial (ATSC), United States: **w\_scan -fa -A1 -c US** - use output format kaffeine: **w\_scan \[ OTHER OPTIONS \] -k** - use output format zap/czap/xine: **w\_scan \[ OTHER OPTIONS \] -X** - use output format dvbscan/scan/scan-s2 initial tuning data. **w\_scan \[ OTHER OPTIONS \] -x**\ *NOTE: w\_scan also performs full scans, so there is generally no need for this.* ## REPORTING BUGS see README file from source code package. ## AUTHOR Written by W.Koehler Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU General Public License, Version 2 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation. ## SEE ALSO [**vdr**(1)](/vdr/1.md)