Mix and shuffle channels: Zino's thread

[zino]

If I use Lraizer's cable plugin side by side with Lraizer's satellite plugin...
Can I use the custom_swap file on the satellite AB 28.2E to swap over the HD channels from the cable bouquet, to the satellite bouquet?

If not, how do I do this? I would love to swap in the HD channels from cable into the satellite bouquet. As I prefer the sky number system.
I would swap manually but the satellite bouquets update every night so need a way to swap and preserve the swap when channels update.

[abu baniaz]

you cannot do this.

you can use ABM for both cable and satellite to mix them. there was a file uploaded by joysleep I believe

[zino]

you cannot do this.

you can use ABM for both cable and satellite to mix them. there was a file uploaded by joysleep I believe

I don't like ABM for satellite, I like certain features of AB 28.2E that I need/use.

Looks like I will stick to AB 28.2E for sat and ABM for cable.

What is this add-on from joysleep? tried searching for it, what does it do?

[abu baniaz]

the custom mix file will be no use to you if you don't use ABM for 28.2.

it mixes in channels, as per your question.

what is it about ABM you don't like for 28.3?

[zino]

the custom mix file will be no use to you if you don't use ABM for 28.2.

it mixes in channels, as per your question.

what is it about ABM you don't like for 28.3?

I use custom_swap file in Lraizer's AB 28.2 to customise some of the channel numbers. for eg, changing SS1 to 401. puttin BT sport channels all together. AB 28.2 is very flexible in this regar and I am familiar with how to change it. Also, I can edit the supplement file to hide/unhide some HD channels, adding channel numbers to EPG. The built-in ABM doesn't allow these things and is less user-friendly.

I want to carry on using Lraizer's AB 28.2 for sat.

I either want to use built-in ABM for cable, alongside Lraizer's AB 28.2 for satellite. OR I want to use BOTH Lraizer's satellite and cable plugins - if it allows me to swap in the HD channels in place of standard def to preserve sky numbers.

To clarify:

1) Can I use both Lraizer's 28.2 for Sat & built-in ABM for Cable, side-by-side, or is there a conflict?
2) Can I swap in HD versions of channels from Cable bouquet, in place of the standard def channels in the Sat bouquet, eg, Sky1HD at 106, Sky Living at 107. (Manually doing this, gets re-written during daily update)

Btw, thanks for all the info abu, I have run into you many times for answers and you have been great at helping me learn more and more, it's been great! :)

[abu baniaz]

1) Can I use both Lraizer's 28.2 for Sat & built-in ABM for Cable, side-by-side, or is there a conflict?
There is no conflict.

2) Can I swap in HD versions of channels from Cable bouquet, in place of the standard def channels in the Sat bouquet, eg, Sky1HD at 106, Sky Living at 107. (Manually doing this, gets re-written during daily update)
Not the way you plan to do it. It is possible with ABM.

In my view, it is very easy to do what you want with ABM, Suppose it is easy when you know how. You can start off a new thread if you want. Have a look at this file, should get you started.

http://www.world-of-satellite.com/showthread.php?47379-ABM-Excel-file-to-help-make-customised-bouquets&highlight=abm+excel

[zino]

1) Can I use both Lraizer's 28.2 for Sat & built-in ABM for Cable, side-by-side, or is there a conflict?
There is no conflict.

2) Can I swap in HD versions of channels from Cable bouquet, in place of the standard def channels in the Sat bouquet, eg, Sky1HD at 106, Sky Living at 107. (Manually doing this, gets re-written during daily update)
Not the way you plan to do it. It is possible with ABM.

In my view, it is very easy to do what you want with ABM, Suppose it is easy when you know how. You can start off a new thread if you want. Have a look at this file, should get you started.

http://www.world-of-satellite.com/showthread.php?47379-ABM-Excel-file-to-help-make-customised-bouquets&highlight=abm+excel
Hmm, interesting.

I have spent a long time building up my custom files and learning how and what to change in AB 28.2...
Can be frustrating to learn a new one from scratch especially if it doesn't do something your old one did. Will defo read into this, if it means I have more overall control over what goes where, it would be worth me learning.

One thing I found was, when new HD channels would launch, adding them via supplement file on AB 28.2 was very easy and from what I could see, on ABM you had to wait for someone to upload something.

I just had a look at the link you posted... surely if you create channel lists using the method you linked to, these get re-written by ABM at every scan? Plus, I don't see Virgin cable in that file.

AB 28.2 custom_swap is preserved at every scan. ABM doesn't?

Upon further research, the following in the README inside the ABM folder seems very interesting:

CustomMiX allows tv channels from one provider to be added to the bouquets of another provider.

provider_key_CustomMix.xml", e.g. for Sky UK the filename
would be "sat_282_sky_uk_CustomMix.xml". For other providers please consult the list of provider
keys below.

This is an example xml configuration file for Sky UK. Filename as above.

<custommix>
<inserts>
<insert provider="cable_uk_virgin" source="150" target="171"></insert> <!-- channel5 hd -->
<insert provider="cable_uk_virgin" source="110" target="106"></insert> <!-- sky one hd -->

Using this method I can add the hd chnnls from vginintothe sky bouquet? And even after scan this will be preserved?

[zino]

Ooo, just found this abu:

http://www.world-of-satellite.com/showthread.php?46795-28-2e-HD-and-cable-mix

You uploaded a file that is exactly what I could be looking for! From this I can also learn exactly how it works.

Okay, so I think I got my head around how to swap channels between sky and cable boouquets. If I'm learniing right, ABM is far more customisable than I thought and perhaps more so than AB 28.2.

I want to learn how to swap channels within SAME bouquet.
eg sky sports 1 from 402 to 401.

and would these 2 files contradict each other, for eg. How I swap sky sports hd from cable bouquet into sky bouquet at 401 instead of 402. I need to edit 2 different files right, how do I get the them to work together, cos one swaps in channel from a diff bouquet and the other swaps channels within same bouquet.

(ps this stuff is kinda fun!)

[zino]

My next problem is...
on my 2nd box, I don't have a cable tuner so I use remotestreamconverter to "borrow" the cable tuner from 1st box downstairs.

Can AutoBouquetsMaker be configured so that the remote virgin cable HD channels (bouquet copied to the 2nd box by the remotestreamconverter plugin from ABM bouquet on 1st box) replace the satellite hd channels?

Essentially what I am asking is... can AutoBouquetsMaker swap channels between bouquets, even if one of the bouquets wasn't originally created on the 2nd box by AutoBouquetMaker (it is a "remote" bouquet)?

[duoduo]

My understanding is you are fundamentally choosing which bouquet from the main receiver you are taking to the remote receiver. Therefore if it's an option you choose the custom bouquet you have created to remote stream to the 2nd receiver.

[abu baniaz]

My next problem is...
on my 2nd box, I don't have a cable tuner so I use remotestreamconverter to "borrow" the cable tuner from 1st box downstairs.

You cannot run ABM via a remote tuner. There is a request to add ABM functionality via remote tuners. I doubt very much that it can be implemented as there is no effective way to check the availability of the tuner on the host receiver.

You are not borrowing the tuner. You are borrowing the service. It does not matter if the service is HD or SD, you can still import it using RCSC. However, HD channels use greater bandwidth.

[zino]

My understanding is you are fundamentally choosing which bouquet from the main receiver you are taking to the remote receiver. Therefore if it's an option you choose the custom bouquet you have created to remote stream to the 2nd receiver.

I only want to remote stream HD channels, and insert the remote channels into the existing bouquet on my 2nd box, to replace SD with HD, thereby only using remote stream for HD. Not the whole bouquet. As the 1st box might is being used, I only want to remote stream channels I can't get on my 2nd box, that is the HD ccable ones.


You cannot run ABK via a remote tuner. There is a request to add ABM functionality via remote tuners. I doubt very much that it can be implemented as there is no effective way to check the availability of the tuner on the host receiver.

You are not borrowing the tuner. You are borrowing the service. It does not matter if the service is HD or SD, you can still import it using RCSC. However, HD channels use greater bandwidth.

I wanted to run ABM on my 2nd box for sat, and make it swap in the Remote HD channels I pull from 1st box. So all ABM would do is replace the non-working HD sat channels with Remote HD channels... you are saying ABM will only swap channels it creates? ABM cannot swap channels between the bouquet it created and a bouquet I manually?

If I can't use ABM to swap SD for remote HD channels, then I suppose I will carry on using Lraizer's AB 28.2 on my 2nd box.

I'm excited to set up my 1st box with ABM for cable and sat so that I can swap in the HD channels.

Abu, can I use one custom file to...
replace HD sat channels with HD cable channels (custom mix)
AND
swap some channels within the SAME bouquet.

Or do I need to make 2 custom files, 1 for each thing?

I've got my head around the replacing stuff coding, what does the coding look like for simple swaps within same bouquet?

(I have 100megabit ethernet between host and slave box for remote HD, not gigabit unfortunately. I know 100 is enough for one HD stream but is 100meg ethernet enough for 2 HD streams to remote box? Essentially, how much bandwidth does a HD stream via RCSC require?)

[abu baniaz]

ABM cannot swap channels between the bouquet it created and a bouquet I manually?
Correct.

Can I use one custom file to...
replace HD sat channels with HD cable channels (custom mix) AND swap some channels within the SAME bouquet.
When you first started, you just said about mixing in channels, this is why custom mix was suggested. You then said you wanted to shuffle them around. IMO, it is far easier to use the favourites.xml system.

you could have something similar to this





<insert target="401" source="402" provider="sat_282_sky_uk"></insert> <!-- Sky Sports 1 -->



<insert target="402" source="403" provider="sat_282_sky_uk"></insert> <!-- Sky Spts Ashes -->



<insert target="403" source="404" provider="sat_282_sky_uk"></insert> <!-- Sky Sports 3 -->



<insert target="404" source="504" provider="cable_uk_virgin"></insert> <!-- Sky Sports 3HD -->



<insert target="405" source="406" provider="sat_282_sky_uk"></insert> <!-- Sky Sports 5 -->



<insert target="406" source="502" provider="cable_uk_virgin"></insert> <!-- Sky Sports 1HD -->






Sorry not sure about the stream details. Best to try it. Other activities on network will also affect things.

[zino]

ABM cannot swap channels between the bouquet it created and a bouquet I manually?
Correct.

Can I use one custom file to...
replace HD sat channels with HD cable channels (custom mix) AND swap some channels within the SAME bouquet.
When you first started, you just said about mixing in channels, this is why custom mix was suggested. You then said you wanted to shuffle them around. IMO, it is far easier to use the favourites.xml system.

you could have something similar to this





<insert target="401" source="402" provider="sat_282_sky_uk"></insert> <!-- Sky Sports 1 -->



<insert target="402" source="403" provider="sat_282_sky_uk"></insert> <!-- Sky Spts Ashes -->



<insert target="403" source="404" provider="sat_282_sky_uk"></insert> <!-- Sky Sports 3 -->



<insert target="404" source="504" provider="cable_uk_virgin"></insert> <!-- Sky Sports 3HD -->



<insert target="405" source="406" provider="sat_282_sky_uk"></insert> <!-- Sky Sports 5 -->



<insert target="406" source="502" provider="cable_uk_virgin"></insert> <!-- Sky Sports 1HD -->






Sorry not sure about the stream details. Best to try it. Other activities on network will also affect things.

I thought i'd start with one question at a time. I need to do both, which is why I use AB 28.2 as I am familiar with it's workings and it is easy to do all that.

On a side note Abu, you seem very capable so I thought I might aswell ask you here... have you any idea how I can get EPG for cable to work with RemoteChannelStreamConverter?
The PVR_EPG method and Rytec method don't seem to load EPG for my Remote Bouquet.

[abu baniaz]

there was an issue with rytec providers. I think it has been fixed in 017.

you currently cannot grab EPG data via remote tuner or a streamed service. there have been a few posts about rcsc and EPG over last fortnight. Its not something I'm familiar with. it'll probably involve mounting the main box's HDD and using that as the EPG store.

[zino]

there was an issue with rytec providers. I think it has been fixed in 017.

you currently cannot grab EPG data via remote tuner or a streamed service. there have been a few posts about rcsc and EPG over last fortnight. Its not something I'm familiar with. it'll probably involve mounting the main box's HDD and using that as the EPG store.

I fixed the rytec issue. Copied the .py file over.

I cant seem to use rytect pull EPG info from the net for the remote cable channels

Anyways, the mount idea sounds good. I would get main box to handle download everyday. remote box would only read.
I may have to use the NAS if remote box cant mount 1st box for EPG.

Thanks!!

[zino]

it'll probably involve mounting the main box's HDD and using that as the EPG store.
After trying for an hour and a half... my 2nd box doesnt Load EPG from 1st box. 1st Box does not Save EPG in HDD, it just keeps it in its temporary memory. Tried Save on 1st box and Load on 2nd.
Dont understand why it doesnt work.

Any other ideas?

Need a way for 2nd box to dload cable epg from internet
or
a way for 2nd box to copy 1st box's epg

[zino]

Just a thank you to Abu.
There is a weird bug on my boxes where it will only save EPG to a USB not the HDD.
I have mounted the USB from 1st box on my 2nd via the network and EPG is now working on the 2nd box! You always come through. Very knowledgeable, helping people to be self-sufficient with this stuff.

This was major issue for me so having this big hurdle resolved is fantastic!!

My last thing is getting the cable epg to populate without gaps. trying pvr_epg (with epg refresh plugin 5mins) and rytec, both seem to leave small leave gaps (very minor) though but it's working! :D

[DaMacFunkin]

You cannot run ABM via a remote tuner. There is a request to add ABM functionality via remote tuners. I doubt very much that it can be implemented as there is no effective way to check the availability of the tuner on the host receiver.

You are not borrowing the tuner. You are borrowing the service. It does not matter if the service is HD or SD, you can still import it using RCSC. However, HD channels use greater bandwidth.could it not be implemented and just time out on the tuner and not run if no tuner is available?