Server Version: 1.25.7.5604
Player Version: N/A
Tuner Make/Model: TBS 6984 Quad DVBS/S2
Guide/Lineup name: Freesat
Using XMLTV?: No
Channel number/Name: 126 / Channel 4 HD
Hi Everyone:
It would seem “Channel 4 HD” is now back on Freesat, However, Plex does not show this as an EPG option.
Additionally, Plex shows “Channel 4 HD” as a protected channel when in fact this is not the case, and is freely streamed on the satellite stream. Other PC tuner software does play this channel but does not offer the EPG updates that Plex does.
Any ideas why this is missing off the list of allowed channels within Plex?
Could someone help me tune into this channel and have an EPG for it?
I suspect you may be right generally, but it is a shame as it being Freesat is a bit of a red herring in my understanding.
We can have Plex find and tune to many satellite free-to-air channels, including many in HD. So capability wise we know it works.
We can also map EPG listings to those channels, so data wise we know we can view the guide.
But somewhere in that pipe (Tuner? Plex? Gracenote?), 4HD is marked as ‘protected’ and can’t be used.
There are protected versions of 4HD being broadcast on Astra, so is it that it is picking the wrong one in the channel scan? But then why are the others not shown?
Why even are protected (encrypted) channels blocked? Presumably to prevent a valid support headache as they can’t be viewed in Plex, but would be nice to have an override.
Or it is the data side where it is assuming it is protected (as it used to be) therefore blocking it even when it really isn’t?
I wonder if it is the former and the channel scan is choosing the encrypted stream instead of the open one, but I’ve played around with INI files and can’t seem to stop it or have it list the unencrypted one even if it is in the wrong place in the EPG. (Although frankly I can’t stop it finding all ~500 FTA channels even if I only have one transponder in the INI file, so who knows what I am doing.)
As it stands I am running TV Headend with a HDR proxy and it’s working fine. I’d just like to get rid of the extra piece seeing as it is really there just for one channel.
@hepto I did contact Freesat about this a while ago and the response they gave me this that the data that is sent out within the Satellite data is encrypted for the Freesat channels. They also told me that in order for things like set-top-boxes to be able to get Freesat they would need to be licensed from Freesat, therefore if an independent set-top-box maker or in this instance Plex want’s to provide Freesat using there hardware/software they would need to pay Freesat the license and that would then enable Plex to get the data needed to view the Freesat channels.
In the past I have managed to manually tune into Channel 4HD using a DVB viewer software, but I don’t know if Plex would ever provide such a feature that you could manually tune and then add the channel yourself to the EPG and therefore bypassing the EPG that Plex gets from Gracenote.
Yes that is essentially what I am doing now. I use TVHeadend to manually find and tune to channels (where I get every Freesat channel unencrypted), and I have that proxied into Plex so it thinks it is an HDHomeRun rather than a satellite tuner.
To get round the EPG issue I then have TVHeadend pull the EPG from the satellite stream itself (the same source used on the set top boxes), then that is published into Plex as XMLTV, bypassing Gracenote entirely and ensuring an exact 1:1 match between the channel and its guide data.
So I have 4HD working in Plex with the actual 4HD EPG that is broadcast with that channel working fine. I just don’t get all the ‘enhanced data’ that Gracenote provides.
TBH it works perfectly from the Plex side - it would just be nice to get rid of TVHeadend as it only runs on Linux and (for unrelated reasons) I am running Plex on Windows so have to keep a VM going just for this.
The challenge of channel mapping and availability of channels does depend on the type of tuner you are using. I started off with a quad PC tuner card and TV Headend but the setup and channel mapping was arduous compared to what I have now.
I now use an enigma2 type of tuner (Zgemma H9.2S) and add the hrtunerproxy plugin to it which allows plex to see the tuner over my network. Once you have set up the tuner with the channels you want (autobouquetsmaker) plex uses the channel mapping direct from the tuner. The tuner is set to periodically scan and will pick up new channels as they are added i.e recently TalkTv you then just go to channel mapping within plex and add it to the plex epg. Plex does not scan the tuner for channels itself as the tuner has already done that.
My tuner is set up to only show Freesat Meridian channels (You choose whichever region you are in) so I don’t need to sift through all the other reginal channels or guess which one is right for my region. I also pre exclude the religious, shopping and radio channels.
For example here I’m using channel 126 (4HD) mapped to 104, plex sees it as a non encrypted channel as it should.
I’m actually using two enigma2 twin tuners to give me up to 4 tuners, you could add more if wanted. Note that I’m only providing plex with 107 channels of which I’m using 99.
Using the enigma2 tuners has proved to be very reliable for us with Live Tv and Dvr.
I’d be happy to help if you have any questions or with setup etc if you consider this an option.
This is essentially identical to what I do, expect I’m using a Digitbit Twin SAT>IP tuner, TVHeadend and Antennas rather than having it all built in like it is on the Engima.
I don’t know how the Enigma tuning works but a turning point for me was discovering that if you configure a single specified Freesat transponder (11425H) and scan that, then it will pull in the rest of the Freesat relevant transponders (e.g. ignoring Sky or other providers) AND pull in the correct Freesat bouquets (also using Meridian) so you get the exact channels from Freesat. This is how set-top boxes work and can be updated in the field.
SAT>IP is incredibly simple, so from what I understand this would be entirely possible with the the current Plex implementation if some of the apparent hardcoding or coupling with Gracenote was relaxed.
We’ve hijacked this thread, maybe I should write up some of this to help other people.
Yes, I used a Telestar DIGIBIT R 1 with 4 tuners for a while but didn’t figure out the specified transponder like you have so kept getting hundreds of channels that I didn’t need. It’s now not really any use to me if you’d be interested in upgrading etc?
Also taking out the TVHeadend was another bonus.
My tuners are sat in a remote networked building at the end of my garden with a quad lnb dish and I access the tuners with Webif if I need to do any tweaks. Plex server is on a windows PC in a cupboard under the stairs. All remotely accessed and running really well for the last few years.
Using Roku/ android clients and a Hisense Roku Tv in the living room.
Apart from the usual channel tuning transcoding delay it’s all good.
I’m sure it would be very useful for others to know of your setup.
Hi There
i got a 6984 too now it works and from dvb dream work fine but on plex nothing nothing nothing how did u get yours to work ?
i see it’s recognised as satellite 0 channels need scan ) and i can go forward by setting my postcode
the i have only tree option and i followed the guide you followed for those parameters
after a few seconds it comes back with 0 channels ? what am i doing wrong ? any help would be great please and thank you
