How to set up UK Freesat

[ianb]

I currently have a working setup using two, Haupage Twin Nova T Freeview cards, giving me 4 tuners. However I now would like to add one or more DVB-S cards so I can get the "Freesat" HD channels, but have a number of questions that I am hoping some of you already know the answer to:

1. Can I install DVB-S card/cards in addition to my Freeview cards?

2. If I install a DVB-S card, where will the EPG come from? I understand that the EPG is not available "over the air"? For that matter, I am not really sure where my existing EPG for my Freeview cards comes from - I accepted the default setup and thought that the EPG data came over the air, but something tells me that it comes over the Internet - I am confused!

3. If I have Satelite and Freeview cards present, what happens in the EPG if the channel lineups are different?

4. Which DVB-S cards would anyone recommend? Are there any twin tuner cards?

5. Has anyone written an "idiots guide" to setting up what I want?

Any advice will be greatfully received!

[starfire]

Originally Posted by ianb

I currently have a working setup using two, Haupage Twin Nova T Freeview cards, giving me 4 tuners. However I now would like to add one or more DVB-S cards so I can get the "Freesat" HD channels, but have a number of questions that I am hoping some of you already know the answer to:

1. Can I install DVB-S card/cards in addition to my Freeview cards?

yes

2. If I install a DVB-S card, where will the EPG come from? I understand that the EPG is not available "over the air"? For that matter, I am not really sure where my existing EPG for my Freeview cards comes from - I accepted the default setup and thought that the EPG data came over the air, but something tells me that it comes over the Internet - I am confused!

If you have not setup xmltv your EPG will be over the air, I suspect you would need Freesat only channels via xmltv

3. If I have Satelite and Freeview cards present, what happens in the EPG if the channel lineups are different?

as above

4. Which DVB-S cards would anyone recommend? Are there any twin tuner cards?

the hauppauge nova dvb-s and s-hd2 seem popular, you dont currently need an DVB-S2 card for HD

5. Has anyone written an "idiots guide" to setting up what I want?

No but by searching on here you should be able to find all your answers

[ianb]

Originally Posted by starfire

yes


If you have not setup xmltv your EPG will be over the air, I suspect you would need Freesat only channels via xmltv


as above


the hauppauge nova dvb-s and s-hd2 seem popular, you dont currently need an DVB-S2 card for HD



No but by searching on here you should be able to find all your answers

Many thanks for your reply.

[brewston]

Originally Posted by ianb

5. Has anyone written an "idiots guide" to setting up what I want?

This will should start you off...

http://forums.freytechnologies.com/f...8&postcount=53

[grandalf]

As Sage is more geared to the US/Canadian market quite a few DVB tuners are not well supported to date. You need to check on their site for suitable cards. There is a channel called epg background audio on Sky and another called something like Freesat info on 28.2. These transmit epg data that can be used by the right sofware. As fare as I am aware, Sage cannot use this. The only program that I know that makes current use of this data is Mediaportal. If you want a free service with Sage, then it could be Bleb or Radio Times epg. Bit of a faff to set up and not all channels supported, but useable. Hope this helps a little.

[keefb]

Ianb

I use a Twin Nova-T for Freeview & a Nova HD S2 for Freesat. You need a DVD-S2 card to get HD. The Hauppauge card is fully "understod" by SageTV. You WILL need XMLTV to get the Freesat EPG, (well all that's available). Stephan's importer is the one to go for as it works well with Sage. Use Alan Birtle's grabber & use the RadioTimes site as your free source of program info. You can use Digiguide but you need to buy a subscription.

The process is not straightforward. There is a whole bunch of channels that the Nova HD finds that you can't or don't want to see. Below are the steps from Stephan to do it:

1) Add the DVB-S tuner as a new video source and do a channel scan, this will get the .frq file produced.
2) Load the XMLTV Importer GUI and creates a new lineup, use the .frq file created in 1) for adding the channels into the lineup. Then associate channels with the XMLTV guide data (and eventually customize the logical channel number).
3) Go back in SageTV, remove the DVB-S videosource, add it back, this time choose the new XMLTV lineup and DON'T scan for channels (otherwise it will screw up everything)

I would add that, before you do step 2 you manually edit the frq file to get rid of the dross.

The Freesat channels appear in the EPG alongside the Freeview ones,where they exist so Channel 4 Freesat appears below Channel 4 Freeview. This can be a bit confusing deciding which is which. The unique ones like "MoviesforMen", (no, it's NOT soft porn!) appear depending on how you sort tthe guide.

Brewston is a veteran in this area & has helped me on many occasions.

[MCE-Refugee]

Originally Posted by keefb

You need a DVD-S2 card to get HD.

Actually all the Free To Air HD channels on Freesat (BBC HD, ITV HD, STV HD & Luxe TV HD) can be received using a regular DVB-S tuner. It has been said that possibly at some future date that the BBC HD transmissions will move to a DVB-S2 transponder but it hasn't happened so far. I suppose that one could make an argument to buy a DVB-S2 tuner for future-proofing but there are advantages to DVB-S tuners as they are cheaper & you can find dual tuners on a single card.

[paulie]

I am using a TechnoTrend 3600 dvb s2 usb tuner for freesat and find it great, never any problems and easy to setup. I use this with three Hauppauge cards 2x DVB-t and 1x pvr 150 analogue with a skybox for extra freesat via S video input. All work fine together using xmltv and Radio Times for epg.

[jim22]

I used to find this frq file useful (when I used sage direct tuning) as it replicates the sky numbering and saves having to scan and then edit:
http://sagetv.wikia.com/wiki/Freesat_frequency_list

[MCE-Refugee]

Originally Posted by jim22

I used to find this frq file useful (when I used sage direct tuning) as it replicates the sky numbering and saves having to scan and then edit:
http://sagetv.wikia.com/wiki/Freesat_frequency_list

Sadly that file is woefully out of date as it was last updated in January 2009. There are a couple of more up to date files to be found in this thread http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=49291