UK Satellite EPG - Freesat?

metropolis · 2007-12-24, 04:32

Hi, Anyone have any knowledge about the EPG info for UK satellite in relation to the freesat service? Is it going to be embeded as with DVB-T, etc? Is it up and running now? whats the deal?

Kind regards,
Kev.

Mew · 2007-12-24, 11:24

Hi Kev

UK satellite EPG is currently available in the DVB-S signal but it is only now and next programme, which is not very helpful when trying to record days ahead.

From the speculation I have read on the internet, when Freesat launches this EPG should be expanded, the assumption being to Freeview levels which I believe is 7 days.

It is rumoured that Freesat will launch in spring 2008, but then it was originally supposed to launch in Autumn 2006 so I guess we will have to wait and see.

Mew

Nemulate · 2007-12-24, 12:59

Yes the non Sky freesat service is sposed to be up and running March/April time and should have a full epg as I've heard there's a number of tv hard drive recorders coming out similar to the freeview ones!

Mew · 2007-12-24, 14:19

I think they may try and tie in the launch of Freesat with Channel 4 going Free To Air on satellite. It's contract with BSkyB for encryption is due to run out failry soon (it is either the end of the year or spring 2008, I can't remember) and it joined the Freesat consortium some time ago along with BBC and ITV.

I also think ITV HD is probably set to launch to coincide with the the start of Freesat as well.

Mew

Paranoid Delusion · 2007-12-24, 17:45

Hi guys

A bit topic related.

This is info finding, got to justify getting sattelite you know

, are there any real channel advantages over freeview, besides a couple of hundred shopping channels.

Cannot give advice if i do not know

.

how does the Hauppauge behave with MP overall, including recording\watching.

Thanks for any help and have a great Christmas and New Year.

Mew · 2007-12-24, 17:56

Hi Ray

I would not say there are huge advantages at present. In fact there are disadvantages in that Channel 4 (and +1, More 4 and E4) and Five (and Five Life and Five US) are not currently Free To Air as they are on DVB-T. There is strong speculation that Channel 4 will go Free To Air in the spring as Film 4 and Film 4+1 are already Free To Air on satellite.

You will find a full list of FTA channels at:

http://www.astra2d.com/sky-fta.htm

I have noticed on the Virgin Media box I received when I moved (as I changed to the 2 for £20 package (although you get 3 for some reason)), some of the channels that are not available (i.e. you have to pay for) are Free To Air on satellite (e.g. Classic FM TV).

An advantage that there will be is that BBC HD is already on FTA satellite and ITV HD is expected to launch there. How much of an advantage this is depneds on when you expect to get an HD TV.

I am hoping to get satellite installed at my new house to have the best of both worlds (DVB-T and DVB-S)

Mew

Paranoid Delusion · 2007-12-24, 18:02

Quote:

I am hoping to get satellite installed at my new house to have the best of both worlds (DVB-T and DVB-S)

May be going down that line myself, especially if HD channels are not being broadcast on Freeview, even with the freeing up of possible extra bandwidth with the closure of the analogue signals at this moment.

Thanks for the link, will take a look later.

Avigrace · 2007-12-24, 19:02

I get freeview through an aerial at the moment and use two DVB-T cards to decode it. I also have a sat on my roof but not connected to anything and just realised I could probably get a sat card and get the HD channels now. what card would you guys recommend for decoding HD sat channels?

Mew · 2007-12-24, 20:14

Hi Avigrace

I use a pair of Hauppauge HVR-4000s.

The reasons were:

I also wanted some future proofing (well as much as you can get with technology) so I wanted a card that could do DVB-S2 (although Hauppauge need to fix their drivers to allow this to work OK). I did check that BBC HD worked OK which it did. It is however currently broadcast using DVB-S but I think it is due to change when Freesat is launched to DVB-S2. I guess Hauppauge need to sort out their drivers by then.
Saying that, I have read that high definition Freeview will use DVT-T2 so I am not covered for that.
I only had 3 PCI slots available (although I have 3 PCI-E, 2 free) and I wanted to make best use of them.
Although I started with DVB-S I knew I might be moving where I could use DVB-T as well.

It was an expensive solution as they cost about £126 each but as I was building a dedicated HTPC from scratch I was not replacing existing cards. I bought one HVR-4000 to check that it would work OK in MediaPortal which it did, so I then bought a second so I could watch TV and record, or record 2 programmes at once. They have worked well like this in both Windows XP SP2 and Windows Vista x86.

The one thing I haven't yet tried is defining them as a hybrid card as I have not had both DVB-T and DVB-S available at the same time. I know there have been issues with this in TVE3 and I am not sure if they are fully resolved. There could also be an issue in TVE3 in that both the HVR-4000 DVB-S tuners have exactly the same name when they are listed. This is also true for the two DVB-T tuners, so I am not sure which I would pair with which.

I haven't tried the analogue part of the card as I know it has a software decoder. I bought a Hauppauge PVR-500 and used that. The picture was not great (especially compared to DVB-S) but I think that was because I split the TV signal so many times.

As I have said, this is an expensive solution but it suited my needs and I have have been very happy with the results so far.

Mew

funkstar · 2007-12-24, 20:23

HD Satelite channels are usually broadcast as DVB-S2 which narrows the choices somewhat. FireDTV cards are highly regarded and well supported in MP.

I believe the latest plan is for some HD channels on terrestrial Freeview, this will be in DVB-T2 and MPEG-4 so new tuners will be needed.

see here:
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/digitalt...w-hd-plan.html

and here:
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/digitalt...-freeview.html

2007-12-24, 04:32	#1 (permalink)
metropolis Portal Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 114 Thanks: 1 Thanked 4 Times in 4 Posts Country: My System	UK Satellite EPG - Freesat? Hi, Anyone have any knowledge about the EPG info for UK satellite in relation to the freesat service? Is it going to be embeded as with DVB-T, etc? Is it up and running now? whats the deal? Kind regards, Kev.

2007-12-24, 17:45	#5 (permalink)
Paranoid Delusion Super Moderator Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Cheshire UK Posts: 5,084 Thanks: 59 Thanked 121 Times in 119 Posts Country: My System	Hi guys A bit topic related. This is info finding, got to justify getting sattelite you know , are there any real channel advantages over freeview, besides a couple of hundred shopping channels. Cannot give advice if i do not know . how does the Hauppauge behave with MP overall, including recording\watching. Thanks for any help and have a great Christmas and New Year. __________________ Ray Check your codecs are fine with Filmerit. XP\Vista known issues FOR FULL SUPPORT PLEASE GIVE USER SPECIFICATIONS AND RELEVANT LOG's as per HERE

2007-12-24, 20:14	#9 (permalink)
Mew Portal Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Hertfordshire Age: 37 Posts: 182 Thanks: 8 Thanked 10 Times in 7 Posts Country: My System	Hi Avigrace I use a pair of Hauppauge HVR-4000s. The reasons were: I also wanted some future proofing (well as much as you can get with technology) so I wanted a card that could do DVB-S2 (although Hauppauge need to fix their drivers to allow this to work OK). I did check that BBC HD worked OK which it did. It is however currently broadcast using DVB-S but I think it is due to change when Freesat is launched to DVB-S2. I guess Hauppauge need to sort out their drivers by then. Saying that, I have read that high definition Freeview will use DVT-T2 so I am not covered for that. I only had 3 PCI slots available (although I have 3 PCI-E, 2 free) and I wanted to make best use of them. Although I started with DVB-S I knew I might be moving where I could use DVB-T as well. It was an expensive solution as they cost about £126 each but as I was building a dedicated HTPC from scratch I was not replacing existing cards. I bought one HVR-4000 to check that it would work OK in MediaPortal which it did, so I then bought a second so I could watch TV and record, or record 2 programmes at once. They have worked well like this in both Windows XP SP2 and Windows Vista x86. The one thing I haven't yet tried is defining them as a hybrid card as I have not had both DVB-T and DVB-S available at the same time. I know there have been issues with this in TVE3 and I am not sure if they are fully resolved. There could also be an issue in TVE3 in that both the HVR-4000 DVB-S tuners have exactly the same name when they are listed. This is also true for the two DVB-T tuners, so I am not sure which I would pair with which. I haven't tried the analogue part of the card as I know it has a software decoder. I bought a Hauppauge PVR-500 and used that. The picture was not great (especially compared to DVB-S) but I think that was because I split the TV signal so many times. As I have said, this is an expensive solution but it suited my needs and I have have been very happy with the results so far. Mew

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2007-12-24, 11:24	#2 (permalink)
Mew Portal Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Hertfordshire Age: 37 Posts: 182 Thanks: 8 Thanked 10 Times in 7 Posts Country: My System	Hi Kev UK satellite EPG is currently available in the DVB-S signal but it is only now and next programme, which is not very helpful when trying to record days ahead. From the speculation I have read on the internet, when Freesat launches this EPG should be expanded, the assumption being to Freeview levels which I believe is 7 days. It is rumoured that Freesat will launch in spring 2008, but then it was originally supposed to launch in Autumn 2006 so I guess we will have to wait and see. Mew

2007-12-24, 12:59	#3 (permalink)
Nemulate Portal Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: IOW Posts: 452 Thanks: 7 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts Country: My System	Yes the non Sky freesat service is sposed to be up and running March/April time and should have a full epg as I've heard there's a number of tv hard drive recorders coming out similar to the freeview ones!

2007-12-24, 14:19	#4 (permalink)
Mew Portal Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Hertfordshire Age: 37 Posts: 182 Thanks: 8 Thanked 10 Times in 7 Posts Country: My System	I think they may try and tie in the launch of Freesat with Channel 4 going Free To Air on satellite. It's contract with BSkyB for encryption is due to run out failry soon (it is either the end of the year or spring 2008, I can't remember) and it joined the Freesat consortium some time ago along with BBC and ITV. I also think ITV HD is probably set to launch to coincide with the the start of Freesat as well. Mew

2007-12-24, 17:56	#6 (permalink)
Mew Portal Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Hertfordshire Age: 37 Posts: 182 Thanks: 8 Thanked 10 Times in 7 Posts Country: My System	Hi Ray I would not say there are huge advantages at present. In fact there are disadvantages in that Channel 4 (and +1, More 4 and E4) and Five (and Five Life and Five US) are not currently Free To Air as they are on DVB-T. There is strong speculation that Channel 4 will go Free To Air in the spring as Film 4 and Film 4+1 are already Free To Air on satellite. You will find a full list of FTA channels at: http://www.astra2d.com/sky-fta.htm I have noticed on the Virgin Media box I received when I moved (as I changed to the 2 for £20 package (although you get 3 for some reason)), some of the channels that are not available (i.e. you have to pay for) are Free To Air on satellite (e.g. Classic FM TV). An advantage that there will be is that BBC HD is already on FTA satellite and ITV HD is expected to launch there. How much of an advantage this is depneds on when you expect to get an HD TV. I am hoping to get satellite installed at my new house to have the best of both worlds (DVB-T and DVB-S) Mew

2007-12-24, 19:02	#8 (permalink)
Avigrace Portal Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 63 Thanks: 3 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts Country:	I get freeview through an aerial at the moment and use two DVB-T cards to decode it. I also have a sat on my roof but not connected to anything and just realised I could probably get a sat card and get the HD channels now. what card would you guys recommend for decoding HD sat channels?

2007-12-24, 20:23	#10 (permalink)
funkstar Portal Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Home Posts: 318 Thanks: 4 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post Country:	HD Satelite channels are usually broadcast as DVB-S2 which narrows the choices somewhat. FireDTV cards are highly regarded and well supported in MP. I believe the latest plan is for some HD channels on terrestrial Freeview, this will be in DVB-T2 and MPEG-4 so new tuners will be needed. see here: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/digitalt...w-hd-plan.html and here: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/digitalt...-freeview.html