[mythtv-users] UK: managing Freeview and Freesat

[Mike Perkins]

On 07/04/11 10:57, Nick Morrott wrote:
> On 6 April 2011 16:26, Mike Perkins<mikep at randomtraveller.org.uk>  wrote:
>> On 06/04/11 14:42, Nick Morrott wrote:
>>>
>>> Below is what I posted to the xmltv-dev list in March - the lack of a
>>> functioning bathroom at present has temporarily stopped my work on
>>> this in the past few weeks, but I will pick it up again in the next
>>> week. My current work would seem to do almost everything everyone in
>>> the thread is after on a per-platform and per-postcode basis. It is
>>> yet to renumber one platform lineups to that of another (to allow easy
>>> mixing of multiple platforms on a single system), and leans toward
>>> aiding XMLTV configurations (it is part of the XMLTV lineups work),
>>> but it also allows matching of digital services by way of service ID.
>>>
>>> The overall idea for the lineups work is to allow configuration of
>>> XMLTV grabbers directly in MythTV via a series of simple
>>> question/answers to determine location, TV services and packages
>>> subscribed to.
>>>
>> (snip interesting script example)
>>>
>> Nick, I hope you'll include code which covers circumstances such as mine when
>> you finish up these scripts. For a single postcode, DVB-T viewers in this area
>> (RG14) can receive from three different transmitters - in three different TV
>> regions - depending on which way the topography allows them to position their
>> aerials. I'm sure this isn't the only one in the UK.
>>
>> When using the current xmltv scripts I have to check the result afterwards to
>> ensure the lineup it has given me corresponds with what I can actually receive.
>> (The display everything option is very helpful here!)
>
> One of the issues with adding support for postcode matching is that
> the only data we have (which was sourced from ukfree.tv which in turn
> was sourced from Sky and the BBC) provides a 1-to-1 mapping between
> postcodes and BBC/ITV regions, with no knowledge of other regional
> services receivable in a given postcode. I'm guessing that the
> estimated strongest signal received in a given postcode is the one
> listed. I have already made a few corrections to the mappings when
> users have volunteered the information, but there is no knowledge of
> transmitters receivable in a location.
>
> Based on older channels.conf data I think (some please correct me here
> if I am wrong) that each of the regional BBC1/ITV1 services on
> Freeview has a different service ID, so it should be possible to do
> the scan->XMLTV matching against _all_ of the possible regionalised
> services and configure the channel seen in the scan. At the moment
> however, the scripts use the mappings made available, which as you
> have written may not be optimal for all Freeview users.
>
> Perhaps asking at the outset for the user's BBC1/ITV1 region and then
> using this information for more behind the scenes configuration might
> help here? This can be used in addition to the user's postcode to
> allow for both regional and local TV services to be determined as best
> as possible.
>
I guess if you asked for the BBC and ITV regions you wouldn't need the postcode 
at all... Ah, I see you mention 'local' TV services, whatever they are.

I might do some checking of service ids this weekend, see what gets thrown up. 
My aerial can see Hannington, Oxford and Crystal Palace :(

Thanks for your efforts.

-- 

Mike Perkins