which xmltv uk data source(s)?

[fluffykeith]

I'm using xmltv gui with the Bleb source, but limited channels. I can't get radio times to work, I think it's not worked for a long time. OTA guide only has a short number of days.
So what are folk in the UK using for their guide source? or is there a way to get RT to work?

cheers

Keith

[gromgsxr]

for dvb-s or dvb-t sources?

[fluffykeith]

Both dvb-s and -t sources. I have 2 tuners of each, but tend to watch the freeview set of channels. BBC1,2, ITV1,2,3,4, Channel 4,5 Dave, Really, etc and the +1 versions. And all the children channels get watched by the smaller members of the household!!

[gromgsxr]

i only have dvb-s, but i use epg collector to grab the epg from the sky transponders via a dvb-s tuner and it saves it to a xmltv that gets used by npvr. this would possibly work for you as most of the dvb-t channels should be available via sky as well.

you can set a updateepg.bat so the epg grabber is set to run when npvr does its nightly epg update as well.

[Lao Pan]

All of the UK Freeview and Freesat have 7 days of EPG in the OTA Guide - which is why I use NPVR DVB-T Native guide.
If you are getting less than 7 on an update, try changing the update time from 2am to around 5am - seems that the data is updated around 2-3 in the morning.
Also check your pc is not going back to sleep before it has finished updating.

If you want more than 7 days, try Schedules Direct, I think they do up to 14 days for a small subscription.

[fluffykeith]

Thanks for the info. I think I was only getting a few days from Freesat OTA but you're right it would have updated around 1am to 2am.

EPG collector - sounds good but is it doing the same as NPVRs grabbing the OTA? Or would it save NPVR going through the frequency range to each of the channels. Why does it do that? It takes so long and I'm sure my TV doesn't just to create the guide or does it but just quicker!

[gromgsxr]

epg collector will get its data from one transponder stream, its the epg data for sky tv takes a couple of min to get everything. i never used ota but did use the freesat setting for some of the freesat channels thats quicker than scanning every channel for ota. the epg collector will output its data to a xmltv file and you could if you had bbc1 on dvd-s and dvb-t to the same listing then

[gEd]

Unless you actually enjoy rolling your own solution or money is tight, the best way to go is to pay £17 a year for schedules direct. You just set it and forget it in NextPVR and the quality if the data (programme classification, series / episode numbers, unique IDs) is far better than I ever got from any XMLTV source.

There is a 7 day free trial or a 2 month trial for £4.25 available as well.

[jcjefferies]

For me the OTA EPG data is good enough for my needs and seems to be at least 8 days. I use EPG Collector to create both a Freeview and Freesat XML file. The EPG data seems to be identical from either source. The same Freeview EPG data is broadcast on all MUX so you you only need to download from one. The advantage of EPG Collector is that it can extract Unique Programme ID used by PVRs to avoid duplicate recordings.

[sub]

The advantage of EPG Collector is that it can extract Unique Programme ID used by PVRs to avoid duplicate recordings.

The built in DVB EPG does this too.