Periodic update EPG not just daily

[GlenH]

I wish for the ability to schedule multiple EPG updates, or periodic such as every 3 hours or so.

Reason:
Most of the local ATSC broadcasts around here only supply from a few hours to maybe a dozen hours of data. Only a couple of channels supply a day's worth. I have to manually update EPG data in order make sure that recordings via TV Guide work, or to see what's coming on.

[sub]

Sorry, but it's unlikely I'd do that. If you're getting this little EPG from the broadcast stream, you really should look into using xmltv or schedules direct. Only having a few hours of listings is next to useless on a PVR.

[mvallevand]

You should definitely go the Schedules Direct route, it is not expensive and it will give you a great guide, ATSC data is very limited in comparison. However Windows users have lots of unused power at their disposal and you can learn a lot by doing things yourself. Here is how to schedule tasks
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/docum...tasks.mspx (you could set up your own task to run every 3 hours), and NextPVR does have a command line option to update the guide

"C:\Program Files\NPVR\NextPVR.exe" -updateepgonly

Martin

[Jaggy]

I was actually going to suggest the exact same thing, but I was wondering what happens if NextPVR is running at the time the schedule runs?

[mvallevand]

Jaggy, NextPVR.exe is running all the time for NMT/MVP users and it picks up changes when I do external command line updates. Also you can manually do an EPG update inside NextPVR, so I can't see how this would cause an issue.

Martin

[GlenH]

I set up a couple of recordings via TV Guide.
If the listings are not updated, the recording doesn't happen because it doesn't show the program.
It is quite disruptive to have to wake up in the middle of the night to update the listings to catch a program that is broadcast overnight but the listing wasn't there before I started to snooze.
It is also impossible to do a manual update if I'm away on a business trip or vacation but still want to record the programs.
A subscription service is unlikely to have accurate, if any, information about local ATSC broadcasts.

Setting up most of these add-ons is not an easy thing to do. Most are not self-installing and require knowledge of terminology known to the developers of software like this but not the general public. How many of people of the general public know what XML is, yet XMLTV is recommended as a possible solution? I like NPVR overall, but going into the add-ons and their cryptic installation is a whole other can of worms and not the topic of this request.

Thanks Martin for the command line and scheduled tasks option. That appears to be a possible solution but outside the normal use of the NPVR product. "Command line" items are things of the past as most programs show everything as options and entries in "menus" and "windows". I'll give it a try though.

[ga_mueller]

When I was using OTA, I used mc2xml to get schedule information, but used the info for our local cable company (Comcast) for the appropriate OTA channels. In my area, the shows are broadcast at the same time, and the program guide was never wrong.

[sub]

I set up a couple of recordings via TV Guide.
If the listings are not updated, the recording doesn't happen because it doesn't show the program.
It is quite disruptive to have to wake up in the middle of the night to update the listings to catch a program that is broadcast overnight but the listing wasn't there before I started to snooze.
It is also impossible to do a manual update if I'm away on a business trip or vacation but still want to record the programs.
A subscription service is unlikely to have accurate, if any, information about local ATSC broadcasts.

Setting up most of these add-ons is not an easy thing to do. Most are not self-installing and require knowledge of terminology known to the developers of software like this but not the general public. How many of people of the general public know what XML is, yet XMLTV is recommended as a possible solution? I like NPVR overall, but going into the add-ons and their cryptic installation is a whole other can of worms and not the topic of this request.

Most of the world get good multi-day listings with their broadcast EPG, but unfortunately the ATSC OTA EPG isnt great usually. It often only carries a few hours of listings, which is next to useless.

NPVR doesnt require any plugins, and will work fine without extra EPG sources, but if you find the broadcast EPG is crappy, you'll pretty quickly find you're wanting to use a better EPG source. This isnt a problem with NPVR - its caused by the really limited data your broadcaster is transmitting. There is free, easy to use EPG sources out there though, like mcxml etc. No one is making you use them, but you'll definitely enjoy having a week or so of listings, and not having to tie up tuners downloading the EPG.

[johnsonx42]

A subscription service is unlikely to have accurate, if any, information about local ATSC broadcasts.

That's rather ridiculous. Of course the subscription services have accurate local TV listings.

Setting up most of these add-ons is not an easy thing to do. Most are not self-installing and require knowledge of terminology known to the developers of software like this but not the general public. How many of people of the general public know what XML is, yet XMLTV is recommended as a possible solution?

the xmltv grabbers are really not that hard to setup (particularly MC2XML), but if you want something simple and easy that's already integrated into NPVR just use Schedules Direct. You can get a free trial to see how easy it is to setup, and how accurate the listings are, then it's only $20 per year. Also, technically Schedules Direct is really the only fully legal source of EPG data for US users; the other grabbers use various listing sources without permission.

[SickBoy]

A subscription service is unlikely to have accurate, if any, information about local ATSC broadcasts.

That has not, in the least, been my experience with SchedulesDirect. Granted, I don't use an antenna for ATSC channels (I get them over ClearQAM on cable), but the SchedulesDirect program data for a local over-the-air channel should be updated and accurate. The only time I have run into inaccuracies is when live coverage of something (sports event going over alotted time, breaking news bulletins, etc) disrupt what's in the EPG data.

w.r.t. your issue with using "command line" utilities - NPVR is a program based around more advanced users. While it's not open-source, it is open interface and has hooks in it for scripting tasks and running secondary/tertiary tasks via command line or script. If you're looking for more of a polished product that requires less programmer-style aptitude, WMC might be more appropo.