Kaffeine for Astra Satellite Reception

[Just17]

Is there anyone using Kaffeine to play Astra FTV satellite channels?
If so you might be able to help ....

The FTV programme information (EPG) is delivered per transponder.
It provides only Now & Next programming information.

I have two questions for which I am trying to get answers ......

1.   Is it possible to use some external means to extend the Kaffeine EPG so that it shows programming for a week or so on each channel?
      I know it is possible to get the info, so the question mostly is ..... is it possible for Kaffeine to use it.

2.   The EPG of a channel is not populated until some channel on that transponder is selected, (thus I presume tuning to the trasnponder and
      then able to get the now & next prog info). So, is there any way to force Kaffeine on selection of TV to scan the transponders for this info,
      so that it could be viewed before selecting any TV channel?

Kaffeine is rapidly becoming my app of choice for viewing TV from my HTPC.

I can find precious little on line about it. The forums seem very weak.

I am hoping that someone reading this might have some information what would help to get it working even better than presently.

Thanks for any help you might be able to provide.

[Just17]

I have not found any answers to my questions on line, and apparently no one here has the answer either  

For information purposes here is a list of the more popular channels which are Free To Air in my locality. As you can see it would be a great help if I found a means of populating the EPG on launching the Kaffeine TV option.
So, if anyone has any ideas please post, thank you.


STANDARD UK FTA SD CHANNELS

BBC ONE
BBC TWO
UTV
CHANNEL 4
CHANNEL 5

BBC THREE
BBC FOUR
BBC ALBA

ITV+1
ITV 2
ITV 2+1
ITV 3
ITV 3+1
ITV 4
ITV 4+1

CHANNEL 4+1
4SEVEN
E4
E4+1
MORE 4
MORE 4+1
FILM 4
FILM 4+1

CHANNEL 5+1
5 USA
5 USA+1
5★
5★+1


STANDARD UK FTA HD CHANNELS

BBC ONE HD
BBC HD
ITV HD
STV HD
CHANNEL 4 HD



ENTERTAINMENT CHANNELS

PICK TV
PICK TV+1
CHALLENGE
CHALLENGE+1
CBS REALITY
CBS REALITY+1
CBS DRAMA
CBS ACTION
CBS HORROR
CBS HORROR+1
HORROR CHANNEL UK
TRUE ENTERTAINMENT
TRUE ENTERTAINMENT+1
FOOD NETWORK
FOOD NETWORK+1


MOVIE CHANNELS

MOVIES 4 MEN
MOVIES 4 MEN+1
MORE>MOVIES
MORE>MOVIES+1
TRUE MOVIES 1
TRUE MOVIES 2


NEWS CHANNELS

AL JAZEERA
BBC NEWS
BBC PARLIAMENT
BLOOMBERG
CCTV NEWS
CNBC
CNN
EURONEWS
FRANCE 24
NHK WORLD HD
PRESS TV
RUSSIA TODAY
RUSSIA TODAY HD
SKY NEWS UK
SKY NEWS IRELAND


KIDS CHANNELS

CBBC
CBEEBIES
CITV
KIX!
POP!
POP GIRL
POP GIRL+1
TINY POP
TINY POP+1

[Martin Goose]

I have not found any answers to my questions on line, and apparently no one here has the answer either 

I also use Kaffeine with a Hauppauge DVB-S card to view/record TV programs from time to time. I also have a Humax Foxsat PVR which utilises the Freesat EPG which makes scheduling recordings easy.  Kaffeine on my PC is only used for recording when I cannot record in the way I want elsewhere.

I cannot solve your problems but would be equally interested in any solutions!

I am not sure that your list of channels are all Free To Air (FTA). Aren't some of them Free To View (FTV) which is different.  I may be wrong as I am not an expert!

Having just done a rescan for FTA channels only ITV shows up in HD (3 times). I think that the rest are FTV and need some type of viewing card.

[Just17]

Hi, thanks for the response 

As far as I can tell they are all FTA channels.
I have most, if not all of them tuned in using Kaffeine on a HTPC box I built myself and running PCLOS.

I have a dual Sat tuner card ....  TBS 6981 (I think) and a DTT USB dongle for the Irish DTT channels.
I don't have any card in the box.

I have a card in an Ariva box in another room and can get some extra 'FTV' channels on that ...  a couple of Sony channels amongst them.

Must be something to do with the scan if those channels are not showing.

Can you list a few that are not showing when you scan with Kaffeine?
It might indicate why they are not being picked up.

BTW .....  have a look at this post ....  the list of channels that can be received in Ireland from Satellites at 28.2E (IIRC)

It gives the tuning info so you might be able to check ......

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=83421344#post83421344

[Martin Goose]

Hi, thanks for the response 

BTW .....  have a look at this post ....  the list of channels that can be received in Ireland from Satellites at 28.2E (IIRC)

It gives the tuning info so you might be able to check ......

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=83421344#post83421344

I have checked this URL and it states:

CHANNEL 5 HD	NOT FTA YET
ITV 2 HD	NOT FTA YET
ITV 3 HD	NOT FTA YET
ITV 4 HD	NOT FTA YET
E4 HD	NOT FTA YET
MORE 4 HD	NOT FTA YET
FILM 4 HD	NOT FTA YET

This consistent with my scan.

[Just17]

Hi, thanks for the response 

BTW .....  have a look at this post ....  the list of channels that can be received in Ireland from Satellites at 28.2E (IIRC)

It gives the tuning info so you might be able to check ......

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=83421344#post83421344

I have checked this URL and it states:

CHANNEL 5 HD	NOT FTA YET
ITV 2 HD	NOT FTA YET
ITV 3 HD	NOT FTA YET
ITV 4 HD	NOT FTA YET
E4 HD	NOT FTA YET
MORE 4 HD	NOT FTA YET
FILM 4 HD	NOT FTA YET

This consistent with my scan.

Ah!
My apologies!
I thought I omitted those channels 
I will amend the list immediately.

    

EDIT:   List corrected 

[Just17]

Tell me ......  have you tried XBMC on PCLOS?

How does it compare (for you) with using Kaffeine?

Although XBMC is better looking as a front end, I have found that using Kaffeine has been easier .....  easier to see EPG, or select another channel while still viewing the present channel.

I have also tried Openelec with TVHeadend backend .....  and I never really got to grips with TVHeadend.
I never got the EPG to populate correctly, and also found great difficulty is ordering the channels as I wanted without messing up the EPG.
I guess I never really figured out how to use the dang thing!

I will try again when XBMC 12 hits the repo ...  should be a couple of days from now (I hope).
I can then try doing the settings in PCLOS using XBMC and TVHeadend.

Would like to hear what you found most suitable for your needs.

[Martin Goose]

Tell me ......  have you tried XBMC on PCLOS?

Yes but only as a media player on the Acer Revo that currently sits behind my TV.

[Just17]

Tell me ......  have you tried XBMC on PCLOS?

Yes but only as a media player on the Acer Revo that currently sits behind my TV.

XBMC 12 is in the 64 bit repo today, so I might try a new install on the HTPC, this time using 64 bit.

It will mean trying to deal with TVHeadend again .....  not something I look forward to

[Martin Goose]

XBMC 12 is in the 64 bit repo today, so I might try a new install on the HTPC, this time using 64 bit.

It will mean trying to deal with TVHeadend again .....  not something I look forward to

I have both 32 and 64 bit installs on an SSD in the PC with the DVB-S card in it. In time I will give it a go. I may have to investigate TVHeadend which I have not tried so far.

[Just17]

XBMC 12 is in the 64 bit repo today, so I might try a new install on the HTPC, this time using 64 bit.

It will mean trying to deal with TVHeadend again .....  not something I look forward to

I have both 32 and 64 bit installs on an SSD in the PC with the DVB-S card in it. In time I will give it a go. I may have to investigate TVHeadend which I have not tried so far.

Hopefully you will have a good experience with TVHeadend and can point me in the right direction 

I look forward to your post after you try it 

[Martin Goose]

Hopefully you will have a good experience with TVHeadend and can point me in the right direction 

I look forward to your post after you try it 

Just installed XBMC on KDE64. Looks nice.

TVHeadend fails to install with the error:

tvheadend:
 Depends: pwgen  but it is not installable

I will be leaving it for now, but using XBMC for live TV is very desirable, and with a working EPG even better!

[Just17]

Hopefully you will have a good experience with TVHeadend and can point me in the right direction 

I look forward to your post after you try it 

Just installed XBMC on KDE64. Looks nice.

TVHeadend fails to install with the error:

tvheadend:
 Depends: pwgen  but it is not installable

I will be leaving it for now, but using XBMC for live TV is very desirable, and with a working EPG even better!

Damn!

Must report it as missing and see if we can get it.

[Just17]

pwgen in repo today!

 

[Just17]

I installed TVHeadend and upgraded XBMC on a 64 bit install.

I set up TVHeadend with my DTT dongle .........  had to get a firmware file from 32 bit install as it was not available in 64 bit.

Finally set up TVHeadend and got a list of services & channels available.

So then to XBMC .........  and unfortunately it seems the XBMC add-ons to use TVHeadend or other backend have not been compiled into the repo version of XBMC 12. 

Abandoned again ......  until we get an update to XBMC 12 which includes the add-ons.

..........  unless you can find them? ........  I cannot ..........