Guide data for non-FreeView channels

Forums › Home Theatre (including HTPC and EPG Collector) › Guide data for non-FreeView channels

blur

384 posts

Ultimate Geek

#73854 24-Dec-2010 10:50

Hi Guys

Firstly, I hope you all have a good Xmas and New Year break.

I was just wondering how many people out there are bringing in other channels off different satellites in addition to the usual FreeView stuff off Optus D1?

I have just added another dish to receive BBC World News, Australia Network, and a host of rubbish of Optus D2, of which I have to say there are only 3 channels that look even remotely worth watching:

Press TV
NHK World
Russia Today

My question is:

The above channels (in addition to BBC World News, Australia Network) don't broadcast the guide data over the DVB-S signal. Annoying, so ss anybody out there importing the guide data for these channels in any other way???

It would be good to know what's coming up on BBC for example.

EDIT: I should point out that I am using Windows 7 Media Center

My HTPC - Case Antec Fusion Remote, MOBO Intel DH67BLB3, CPU Intel Core i5-2400S 2.5 GHz, RAM 8GB DDR3 1333, HDD 120Gig Corsair Force Series 3 SSD system | WD Caviar Black 2TB data, Tuners Black Gold BGT3595 dual DVB-S/S2, dual DVB-T, Video nVIDIA GeForce GT 520, 1024MB, Sound Intel® High Definition Audio (onboard), OS Windows 7 x64

mm1352000

1149 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#421383 24-Dec-2010 17:09

I wrote a Perl script to scrape the websites for a number of D2 channels including the 3 you mentioned. I haven't used it for about a year now though as I got distracted in the middle of the process of tidying it up and making it more modular. Shouldn't be hard to get data for NHK World as they provide an XML EPG (not in XMLTV format unfortunately). I'd imagine there should be XMLTV guides available for all those channels floating around somewhere as they're available on other satellites...

blur

384 posts

Ultimate Geek

#422048 28-Dec-2010 10:45

Ok, so without looking into this in too much detail, what you are telling me is that I can populate my guide on Windows 7 Media Centre with both the channel data from the DVB-S source (Freeview channels) and also XML data?

Can anybody point me in the direction of a post that talks about this?

mm1352000

1149 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#422113 28-Dec-2010 14:04

What do you use to get data for Freeview at the moment? [Edit: I think you're saying you get it direct from the tuner but I wan't certain.]

My understanding is that WMC7 uses the mxf format for its guide data. There are apparently plenty of utilities out there that convert from XMLTV to mxf. Ultimately what you need is to get the guide for the Freeview and other channels into an mxf together. The best way to do this will depend on how you get your guide for Freeview and how you intend to get your guide for the other channels...

blur

384 posts

Ultimate Geek

#422121 28-Dec-2010 14:39

Sorry, I wasn't very clear about this was I?

Yes, I just grab the EPG off the DVB-S tuner. Obviously this is good and reliable.

I've been doing some digging around the net and something like Big Screen EPG seems like it would fit the bill.

My only thoughts though is that I'd be going back to effectivly "scalping" the guide data, converting it into XML and then putting it into this utility for displaying.

This seems like a backward step to me, so being able to stipulate the source for each channel seems like the way to go. i.e. DVBS-S for say channels 1, 2 and 3 etc. and via XML for BBC World and Australia Network etc.

Anything spring to mind?

mm1352000

1149 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#422129 28-Dec-2010 15:06

I've been doing some digging around the net and something like Big Screen EPG seems like it would fit the bill.

That is the name I had heard too.

My only thoughts though is that I'd be going back to effectivly "scalping" the guide data, converting it into XML and then putting it into this utility for displaying.

You could use the EPG Collector. Maybe not ideal for you, but better than scraping. And lets face it: you're going to have to scrape for D2 data anyway (and possibly IS5 too) if you want that in your guide.

This seems like a backward step to me, so being able to stipulate the source for each channel seems like the way to go. i.e. DVBS-S for say channels 1, 2 and 3 etc. and via XML for BBC World and Australia Network etc.

I don't know whether that is possible within MC7. Certainly you have to jump through hoops to even get XML data in there in the first place. I don't use MC7 so I could be wrong...

Anything spring to mind?

No, not really. I think your best option is EPG Collector + BS EPG + custom D2/IS5 scraper or live with what you have.

By the way just so we're clear, I'm not really willing to put my scraper out in the wild. I don't want to end up in a situation where I'm supporting it, and I also don't want any legal problems. It wouldn't be hard to write your own if you know a scripting language such as Python, Perl or PHP.