need ATSC and Zap2It guide help (1 Viewer)

[falser]

Is there an FAQ on getting the EPG working for ATSC off air channels. I'm finding this rather confusing.

After auto-tuning in Media Portal I have 24 stations it says I can tune into. For example, here's the two NBC stations I get:

MP channel : call symbol (description)

16 : WRC1 (nbc hd)
17 : WRC2 (nbc weather radar)

And I get reception just fine within MP when manually tuning.

But when I go and do the Zap2It site, this channel list doesn't match up with what Zap2It shows. Also, zap lists ATSC channels with a dash in them like channel 12, 12-1, 12-2 for different minor channels.

For example, the NBC stations are not listed as (16) WRC1 and (17) WRC2, instead they are:

4 : WRC (analog channel which I can't recieve)
4-1 : WRCDT (nbc hd)
4-2 : WRCDT2 (nbc weather radar)

So I need to get data for channels 4-1 and 4-2, but Media portal has these as channels 16 and 17. I cannot update the Media Portal channel list and change 16 to "4-1", the software forces me to select from the list. I even tried changing the MP channel to just "4" so it matches up with Zap2It, but when I go to run the scheduler it asks if I want to add the channel and I then get two "4" channels. And that's as far as I've got.

How can I link what channels MediaPortal has to what data I can recieve from Zap/XMLTV ?

 

[Paul S]

There is a plugin that I think will accomplish what you want:

XMLTVmapper

You can get more info on it from the Plugins section in the downloads section.

 

[falser]

Yeah I stumbled upon it yesterday (it's not in the docs anywhere). I've had a chance to try it out, and it sort of worked. I ended up getting two duplicate sets of channels, but after clearing the database and MP reloaded the TvGuide.xml it seemed alright.

What I'm wondering about the mapper is do I have to manually run the scheduler, run the mapper program, and then clear the database everytime I want to update my EPG? This makes EPG updates not an automatic process. I think the XML mapper tool needs to be integrated directly into the MP Setup program.

 

[Paul S]

There is also a new Zap2it plugin, it seems to do everything automatically. I have not tried it yet, though.

Here's the thread about it:

Zap2it Plugin

Paul

 

[falser]

The Zap2It Plugin doesn't have and mapping functions, and there's no mention of obeying the rules in the ChannelMaps.xml file created by XMLTVmapper.

What I haven't tried yet is to go strictly by the Zap2It listings. I created my channel list using the ATSC auto-tune feature. Then I went to Zap2It and created my channel lineup. This is where the mismatched names and channels come from. I don't know enough yet how ATSC tuning works. I'm wondering if I clear out my channel list and let Zap2It add my channels for me if I'll still be able to tune them. If they don't, perhaps I could write down all the 15-20 or so data parameters and manually enter them into the channel lineup Zap2It creates.

I'll play around with it some more tomorrow, having too much fun at the moment scheduling shows and testing recordings. MP sure feels more alive with episode information in there.

 

[jim tressler]

If you import the channels from the zap2it plug in, those channels can not tune to the station, only channels that mp autotunes can be tuned. I started to play with xmltvmapper yesterday and got it to work.. the real question is how to keep it automated.. the zap2it plug in is great for the listings, however, getting to tune to those channels is tough


jim

The Zap2It Plugin doesn't have and mapping functions, and there's no mention of obeying the rules in the ChannelMaps.xml file created by XMLTVmapper.

What I haven't tried yet is to go strictly by the Zap2It listings. I created my channel list using the ATSC auto-tune feature. Then I went to Zap2It and created my channel lineup. This is where the mismatched names and channels come from. I don't know enough yet how ATSC tuning works. I'm wondering if I clear out my channel list and let Zap2It add my channels for me if I'll still be able to tune them. If they don't, perhaps I could write down all the 15-20 or so data parameters and manually enter them into the channel lineup Zap2It creates.

I'll play around with it some more tomorrow, having too much fun at the moment scheduling shows and testing recordings. MP sure feels more alive with episode information in there.

 

[falser]

If you import the channels from the zap2it plug in, those channels can not tune to the station, only channels that mp autotunes can be tuned. I started to play with xmltvmapper yesterday and got it to work.. the real question is how to keep it automated.. the zap2it plug in is great for the listings, however, getting to tune to those channels is tough

If you look at the ChannelList.xml file that the auto-tune creates, it has all the data that's necessary for you to tune with.

I think I'll give it a try this weekend. Save a backup of the autotuned ChannelList.xml, then clear my channel list and delete the tvgrab_na_dd.conf file. Then rerun the EPG scheduler and let it add my channels. Then go back and compare the new ChannelList.xml to the autotuned one, and fix the stations up to match. Essentially I'd be manually mapping the channels I recieve to what Zap2It uses and I wouldn't need the XMLTVMapper anymore. And I could use the Zap2It program to automate the EPG.

 

[falser]

CONFIRMED.

This works guys, I did it for one channel so far and was able to tune that channel with the zap2it guide information untouched. I'll make sure the zap2it plugin works too.

I can write up a quick howto if you guys aren't sure what I'm talking about.

 

[marshall]

ChannelList.xml is probably faster, but for anyone who might be confused by code, it is possible this way as well:

1. Autotune with MP.
2. Go to the channel config page in MP setup.
3. Open zap2it configuration page in browser and align it so I can see both it and MP setup.
4. Open each channel in MP to edit it. The ATSC tab has major and minor channel numbers that match the channel numbers in zap2it. The first tab in this window also alows you to change the name of the station.
5. Rename the stations to their zap2it names.
6. Ignore the autotuned channel numbers. (I don't think they do anything).
7. Save the channel config in hopes of never having to do this again.


Also, the zap2it plugin is awesome, and should definately be installed.

 

[falser]

It seems the zap2it plugin inserts channels a little differently than the xmltv scheduler. I'll probably have to redit the ChannelList.xml to get that to work.

I also noticed that the plugin doesn't work well if you have more than one channel lineup configured at the zap2it site. I have both cable and atsc lineups, and I will only be using the atsc one for MediaPortal. But the zap2it plugin downloads data for both lineups and inserts new cable channels into my MP config that I won't be using. I guess I can disable those channels later.