Watching TV on an RTL2832U R820 USB dongle stick

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I got one of these dongles with the RTL2832U
and the R820 chips. But I couldn't find any 
Guides on how to use it for watching TV. 

If you have a Linux system and use Ubuntu,
no drivers are necessary. If you use another 
Linux distro, chances are you won't need
drivers either. Just plug in the dongle and 
open VLC. If you installed VLC as a snap, 
you will need to connect VLC to Linux's 
DVB interface by running on the command line
"snap connect vlc:dvb" then open VLC, on the 
upper left corner go to Media, Open Capture
Device then from the first dropdown menu,
Select tv-digital.


The most important part however, is knowing the
Frequency and the bandwidth of the channels.
To do this, you will need to know the frequency 
Allocation plan for your area. There are projects
That aim to scan channels automatically but they
Don't work in a lot of locations because they lack
Frequency allocation data. 

The frequency allocation data can often be
Found on your local government regulator website
With a Google search. Digital TV will use 
Frequencies in the UHF range. Keep this in mind
Because frequency allocation data will include
other Frequencies outside this range. The tables 
Should be labeled according to the frequency range
Such as VHF, UHF, FM, AM...

The data will contain tables with several 
Columns with different frequencies, each 
assigned to a channel number which is at the 
left of the table.

We are only
Interested in the lower edge frequency which is
Often the first column on the with frequencies in the 
Tables and right next to the channel number.
Look at how far apart the frequencies are from
Yeah other by subtracting two frequencies that
Are next to each other. The result should be 
A number between 6 and 8. This number is the 
bandwidth you have found and it is something you will 
use shortly.
It's technically the 
Channel spacing which technically is not the 
Same as bandwidth although the bandwidth in
this case is the same as the channel spacing.

You government regulator should also have information 
About the channel numbers assigned to the TV channels.
Look up the channel number for your Tv channel,
Then in the frequency allocation plan, look up
the channel number to find its lower edge frequency.


Go here 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television_channel_frequencies#UHF
Look at the row that says "lower edge" and look 
up the frequency according to the frequency allocation 
data you got from your government regulator.
according at the row that says "center"
It doesn't matter that if it also says "ISDB-T" or 
Something else, like for example "ISDB-T/Tb center", 
what Matters is that it is the
center frequency in our channel. 

For example channel 46 has a center frequency of 665.142857 MHz. 
You don't need to enter this exact frequency only remember the 
number before the decimal point which is 665. 

In Vlc, after you have selected tv-digital in 
the dropdown, it will ask you to select a 
standard. Select DVB-T, since the RTL2832U 
does not support any other digital TV standard.  
Below that VLC will ask for a frequency in KHz. 
Take the number we saw before the decimal point, 
in this case 665, and type it there then add 3
 zeros after the number. Below that there is an
 option for adjusting the bandwidth with several
 options in MHz like 6 MHz, 7 MHz, 8 MHz. You 
will need to pick an option with a number
 between 6 and 8  depending on the bandwidth
 you found earlier. 

If you found 6, pick 6 MHz. 
If you found 7 pick 7 MHz and if you found 8, 
pick 8 MHz. Then click play and wait. Then 
video should appear if you have good enough
 reception. 

To record, you can go to the top 
left corner, click playback and then click
 record. VLC will give no indication that it
 is recording however the recordings will be
 saved to your downloads or videos folder.