Series link recording

[Jeff Layman]

In general, my PVR works well when recording a series. But it can't deal
with a link from one series to the next, which I expect is a problem
with the specifications for Freeview itself.

For example, the series "24 Hours in A&E" finished last week on Channel
4, and I noticed yesterday that my Panasonic PVR's programme check had
an exclamation mark next to the entry for it. That means it couldn't
find the next one in the series, which is fair enough. The problem comes
when the next series is on in maybe 6 months time, and I miss the
announcement for the new series (or it doesn't appear as "new" in the
Radio Times). This is particularly relevant when one series ends on a
cliffhanger, which is resolved in the first episode of the next series.

I wondered if it would be possible to somehow organise a link in the
Freeview specs to the first episode in a new series from the last
episode in the current one. But I wonder how that would work with
something like 5USA's habit of showing several series of "Law and Order"
at different times on the same day or different days!

--

Jeff

[NY]

"Jeff Layman" <JMLa...@invalid.invalid> wrote in message
news:ndjgj6$n1c$1...@news.albasani.net...

I've found with Windows Media Centre that setting series link will record
indefinitely, whenever episodes of that title are shown, even if there is a
long gap between the end of one series and the beginning of the next. You
can tell it to look for episodes either on one specific channel or on all
channels; the former is better if old episodes may be repeated on another
channel and you only want new episodes - unless the old ones are repeated on
the *same* channel.

I'm not sure how the software in a PVR behaves, but I'd expect it to be
similar - to maintain a list of titles for which you want to record every
episode and it will scan the EPG for matches.

The Sky box does this: I set a series link for Home Fires when the first
series was on last year, and it lay dormant after the last episode of Series
1 and it's just come alive again and will record the first episode of Series
2 this Sunday. I didn't have to do anything to resurrect the entry.

[tim...]

"Jeff Layman" <JMLa...@invalid.invalid> wrote in message
news:ndjgj6$n1c$1...@news.albasani.net...

> In general, my PVR works well when recording a series. But it can't deal
> with a link from one series to the next, which I expect is a problem with
> the specifications for Freeview itself.
>
> For example, the series "24 Hours in A&E" finished last week on Channel 4,
> and I noticed yesterday that my Panasonic PVR's programme check had an
> exclamation mark next to the entry for it. That means it couldn't find the
> next one in the series, which is fair enough. The problem comes when the
> next series is on in maybe 6 months time, and I miss the announcement for
> the new series (or it doesn't appear as "new" in the Radio Times). This is
> particularly relevant when one series ends on a cliffhanger, which is
> resolved in the first episode of the next series.

This seems to be down to the channel, not the PVR

I have series linking on my Sat box because it is the only one that allows
linking *and* padding, and sometimes it copes with blank weeks/new series
and sometimes it doesn't

tim

[Indy Jess John]

On 31/03/2016 18:05, NY wrote:

> The Sky box does this: I set a series link for Home Fires when the first
> series was on last year, and it lay dormant after the last episode of Series
> 1 and it's just come alive again and will record the first episode of Series
> 2 this Sunday. I didn't have to do anything to resurrect the entry.
>

My Manhattan Freesat box matches the programme name, and if I don't
delete the entry after the last episode of one series, it picks up the
first episode of the next.

What fools it is the tendency for some entries in the RPG to be
prefixed. If it is looking for ProgrammeName it doesn't find it when
some clown decides they for the first of a new series they will call it
NEW:ProgrammeName

Jim

[critcher]

On 31/03/2016 19:27, tim... wrote:

>
> I have series linking on my Sat box because it is the only one that
> allows linking *and* padding, and sometimes it copes with blank
> weeks/new series and sometimes it doesn't
>
> tim
>
>
>
>
>

wotsat box is that Tim

[Jeff Layman]

On 31/03/16 19:54, Indy Jess John wrote:
> On 31/03/2016 18:05, NY wrote:
>
>> The Sky box does this: I set a series link for Home Fires when the first
>> series was on last year, and it lay dormant after the last episode of Series
>> 1 and it's just come alive again and will record the first episode of Series
>> 2 this Sunday. I didn't have to do anything to resurrect the entry.
>>
> My Manhattan Freesat box matches the programme name, and if I don't
> delete the entry after the last episode of one series, it picks up the
> first episode of the next.
"

How does it deal with the example I gave - Law & Order on 5USA? If the
title is just "Law & Order", I would expect it to record *all* series of
"Law & Order". But if the title was, for example, "Law & Order series
10" I would expect it to record all of series 10, but then what would
happen if the next series was called "Law & Order Series 11"?

> What fools it is the tendency for some entries in the RPG to be
> prefixed. If it is looking for ProgrammeName it doesn't find it when
> some clown decides the



y for the first of a new series they will call it
> NEW:ProgrammeName
>
> Jim
>

--

Jeff

[Dickie mint]

Works OK with both my Humax 9200 and Foxsat HDR.

Richard

[John Hall]

In message <JneLy.154823$iw.1...@fx34.am4>, Indy Jess John
<jimw...@OMITblueyonder.co.uk> writes

I have the same issue with my Sky box. Even within a series, sometimes
some episodes are prefixed with "New:" and some aren't, for no good
reason, which tends to confuse it.
--
John Hall
"Honest criticism is hard to take,
particularly from a relative, a friend,
an acquaintance, or a stranger." Franklin P Jones

[Indy Jess John]

On 31/03/2016 20:34, Jeff Layman wrote:

> How does it deal with the example I gave - Law& Order on 5USA? If the
> title is just "Law& Order", I would expect it to record *all* series of
> "Law& Order". But if the title was, for example, "Law& Order series

> 10" I would expect it to record all of series 10, but then what would
> happen if the next series was called "Law& Order Series 11"?

The quick answer is that I don't know.

However, having had two different programmes recorded under the same
index, it does appear to only look for a limited number of characters,
so it would probably intermingle Series 10 and Series 11 if they were
broadcast together. Once a series starts though, it does seem to be
clever enough to record the main broadcast series and not the repeats
three days later.

Jim

[Jeff Layman]

Is it possible that Freesat specs are different from Freeview specs when
it comes to series linking? I have been recording Sanctuary on series
link on Pick. A couple of weeks ago I missed the start of one episode as
I didn't realise that episode was the first in a new series. The
Panasonic PVR just didn't pick it up, even though Sanctuary was still in
the list of programmes to be recorded.

What about the TV guide the PVR uses? I assume there are different ones,
and maybe how they are set up affects the way the PVR deals with series
links.

--

Jeff

[Max Demian]

Only if the series ID (as provided by the broadcaster) is the same
for the new series as the old, and you don't mind all the old series
links hanging around in the list. (The 9200 only allows 25 series
links at a time I think.)

--
Max Demian

[tim...]

"critcher" <w.gange...@sky.com> wrote in message
news:ndjtbv$gsm$2...@gioia.aioe.org...

Humax (Freesat boxes)

tim

[tim...]

"Indy Jess John" <jimw...@OMITblueyonder.co.uk> wrote in message
news:fOgLy.268030$hz.2...@fx42.am4...

Except that doesn't always work to your advantage.

My stupid box, having (manually) decided that I need to record the 3am
repeat of something on BBC4 because I have two progs on the main channels I
am recording at 9pm, decides that it can record next week's episode at 9pm,
so it set up three recoding for that time.

Had I tried that manually it would have complained loudly, but it seems it's
allowed to automatically decide to do it

Of course it won't actually make three recordings at the same time so when
it gets to next week, one of them will be lost (or would be if I wasn't wise
to its tricks and corrected it before we get there).

tim

[critcher]

On 31/03/2016 16:43, Jeff Layman wrote:
>

> I wondered if it would be possible to somehow organise a link in the
> Freeview specs to the first episode in a new series from the last
> episode in the current one. But I wonder how that would work with
> something like 5USA's habit of showing several series of "Law and Order"
> at different times on the same day or different days!
>

It seems that not all sat boxes or freeview boxes are the same when it
comes to series recording. With Sky, as was said, if the planners put
NEW in front of the title it can record the programme as different to
the title programme without NEW in the title.
I am in the process of getting rid of sky due to their incessant price
rises, and am looking for a pvr, preferably satellite to replace sky.
The problem seems to be EPG and the ease of selection of programmes.
I think we all have to acknowledge that the Sky EPG and its' usability
is first rate, but what about Technomate, are they as good as SKY ?
They manufacture a three tuner pvr, two sat tuners and a freeview tuner
in one machine, has anyone had any use of this pvr.
Has anyone used Icecrypt pvrs'. Humax appear to be good at what they do
but are there any better.

[TomSawer]

As I understand it the series is defined by the broadcaster and not the
programme title name. The broadcaster sets the series ID for the
programmes within a series and the box responds to this ID. The
broadcasters can be very dillatory about this and I've seen an episode
with the wrong ID part way through a series. Having problems I set up my
Humax freeview box to display the serial and episode IDs so I can check
this.

[Indy Jess John]

On 01/04/2016 19:18, critcher wrote:

> It seems that not all sat boxes or freeview boxes are the same when it
> comes to series recording. With Sky, as was said, if the planners put
> NEW in front of the title it can record the programme as different to
> the title programme without NEW in the title.
> I am in the process of getting rid of sky due to their incessant price
> rises, and am looking for a pvr, preferably satellite to replace sky.
> The problem seems to be EPG and the ease of selection of programmes.
> I think we all have to acknowledge that the Sky EPG and its' usability
> is first rate, but what about Technomate, are they as good as SKY ?
> They manufacture a three tuner pvr, two sat tuners and a freeview tuner
> in one machine, has anyone had any use of this pvr.
> Has anyone used Icecrypt pvrs'. Humax appear to be good at what they do
> but are there any better.

I bought a Manhattan Plaza HDR-S from John Lewis, and I can't find it on
the John Lewis website now, so either I am looking for the wrong
description or they have discontinued it. Nevertheless it does seem to
still be the current product according to the manufacturer's website:
http://www.manhattan-tv.com/products/plaza-hdr-s-freesat
That page has a downloadable user guide if you want to explore its
features in depth.

It is convection cooled, so there is no fan; useful if you like it
quiet. It works best with two connections to your LNB (otherwise you
can't watch and record at the same time). The remote doesn't interfere
with any other box I have.

It has some nice features, like when a programme is available as SD or
HD it asks which one you would like to record. It does proper series
links too, so that if a programme is shunted off because of a football
match (for example) it still finds it weeks later. It also can show
(though not record) BBC iPlayer and ITVPlayer if you connect a CAT5
cable to your router. If you do connect it to your router, it also can
retrieve software updates through that connection.

The EPG is a little slow to populate when you take it out of standby,
but once populated it is easy to navigate, and you have the options of
"Record" or "Remind" for any displayed programme. "Remind" alerts you
when the programme is about to start if you are watching something else
at the time. The EPG can be selected as "All" (= every available
channel), or categories like News, Drama etc. I only use "All" or "On
Demand" (= iPlayer etc) so I can't say how useful the other categories are.

I have found one bug. If you change channels using the channel up/down
control, you have to let the picture appear for each step before going
up/down again. Otherwise if you just repeatedly operate the control the
channel you end up with shows its picture but the sound is still the
channel you started from. The only way out of that appears to be to
power off at the mains for a few minutes.

I have found it a very credible alternative to Humax.

Jim

[alan_m]

On 31/03/2016 20:34, Jeff Layman wrote:

> How does it deal with the example I gave - Law & Order on 5USA? If the
> title is just "Law & Order", I would expect it to record *all* series of
> "Law & Order". But if the title was, for example, "Law & Order series
> 10" I would expect it to record all of series 10, but then what would
> happen if the next series was called "Law & Order Series 11"?

It depends on how the software on the box is working.
On a PVR I owned for around 10 years the linking was performed in two
combined ways, one with the series link information provided by the
broadcaster and the other with a text search of the title and program
information.

My current PVR uses text searches and it can look for total matching of
titles or partial matching of titles so in your example a search for
just "Law & Order" would find both series. Repeats are handles by making
the program description unique or by other filters.
http://www.admac.myzen.co.uk/pvr_timer/

This can all fall over when
i) The broadcaster is somewhat cavalier with the information it supplies
over the air.
i) The broadcaster changes the channel the program is broadcast on and
the series link information changes as a result.
ii) Repeats the same episode 3 times a week and changes the program
description each time.
iii) Makes a new series from old episodes such as the 'viewers best 20
episodes' or the 'directors choice of the best 20 episodes'
iv) Puts together (repeat) episodes of the program you want with repeat
episodes of other programs and assigns a new series link identity - such
as 'comedy greats on channel xx"

The '5' channels seems to have made an art of screwing up PVR
programming based on series linking and program descriptions.

I find that my PVR is quite good at recording what I want with with very
few repeats and I don't go too far with filtering over and above what I
have set as the defaults.


--
mailto: news {at} admac {dot] myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

[alan_m]

On 01/04/2016 19:18, critcher wrote:

> but are there any better.

If you don't mind what can be a steep learning curve look at some of the
Enigma2 boxes

Although technically free to air boxes the Enigma2 Linux HD range of
receivers (from various manufactures at various price points) running
something like the OpenVix image (software) can give you
Freesat/Freeview PVR functionality plus ethernet/wi-fi connections to
get the data off the box and/or for configuration. The boxes can record
to HDD or USB stick and can record 8+ programs at the same time. As
standard the boxes come without a HDD but they have the internal
facilities to support a modern SATA disk - just screw it in and connect
the supplied lead.

Depending on price/manufacturer, the boxes come with 1 to 4 SD/HD tuners
with many boxes having plug in tuners. You can mix satellite with
terrestrial (cable and aerial).

These are not Freeview or Freesat boxes but they are capable of getting
7 day EPG over air which can be optionally modified with extra data from
the Internet.

They don't do Freeview/Freesat series linking but they do have a fairly
powerful set of user settable rules which can work just as well as
series linking.

Possible not a box for those who expect to unpack it and it will work
without any intervention. There are hundreds of menu options/user
configurations.

A brief view of the Openvix software (image) that can be installed on
these boxes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMUwpe2IO0c&feature=youtu.be

Additional video guides (how to configure freeview/freestat EPG etc.)
http://www.openvix.co.uk/index.php/guides-and-tutorials/video-guides/

Buy the box from a reputable supplier as there are some clone products
out there at sightly cheaper prices which may or may not work as
expected. In one case the clone is missing a cooling fan. Often buyers
of the clone products have major problems when trying to update the
software and find that the cloners have hacked the software originally
fitted to the box and the official upgrades don't work.

Often recommended is
http://www.world-of-satellite.co.uk/
http://www.world-of-satellite.co.uk/Digital-Satellite-Receivers

Probably avoid the Andriod boxes on that page - these don't run the
Openvix (or alternative) images and are more suited for IP TV.

User forums can be found at
http://www.world-of-satellite.com/forum.php

I have no connection with World of Satellite or Openvix except as a
customer and user of the software.

The only downside that I've found with terrestrial tuners/hardware on
these box is that some terrestrial HD audio is AAC5.1 encoded which my
AV amp doesn't support. The only option I had was a poor down-mix on the
box to stereo. This had side effect that when a program was transmitted
with AAC5.1 the audio volume fell by 30 to 50%. HD satellite doesn't
have this 'problem' and has surround sound audio encoding which my AV
amp can decode.

[Roderick Stewart]

On Fri, 1 Apr 2016 22:05:02 +0100, alan_m <ju...@admac.myzen.co.uk>
wrote:

>The '5' channels seems to have made an art of screwing up PVR
>programming based on series linking and program descriptions.

That's why I usually program them manually.

Manual programming is necessary anyway in the case of a pair of
episodes broadcast consecutively, as has been done recently with
"Person of Interest" on Ch5, and the Saturday evening foreign dramas
on BBC4. If you've allowed any post-padding of the recording times,
the series linking may miss the beginning of the second episode
because it will not look for it until after the first one has
finished. The solution is to program the pair of episodes manually as
a single recording.

Still, it's only television..

Rod.

[John Hall]

In message <dm89do...@mid.individual.net>, alan_m
<ju...@admac.myzen.co.uk> writes

>On 01/04/2016 19:18, critcher wrote:
>
>> but are there any better.
>
>If you don't mind what can be a steep learning curve look at some of
>the Enigma2 boxes

<snip>

Calling their box Enigma suggests that the manufacturers have either a
droll sense of humour or a lack of awareness of the history of WW2.
Hopefully getting their box to work correctly doesn't actually require
advanced cryptography skills.

[alan_m]

On 02/04/2016 10:19, Roderick Stewart wrote:

> If you've allowed any post-padding of the recording times,
> the series linking may miss the beginning of the second episode
> because it will not look for it until after the first one has
> finished.

Not on the two PVRs I've owned since 2006.

The series link or text based searching occurs as the program enters the
EPG (or a search of the complete current EPG when first set up). The
timers for both programs will be set-up well in advance of them being
broadcast.

The software on my Topfield PVR was intelligent enough to identify back
to back recordings and merged the two thus cancelling the padding
between the programs.

My current PVR, can record 8+ programs simultaneously. Two back to back
programs, both with padding, will result in the first being recorded and
ending when the post padding period ends and the second recording
starting whilst the first is still in progress.

[tim...]

"Martin" <m...@address.invalid> wrote in message
news:b75vfbtso35oefj1d...@4ax.com...

> On Sat, 2 Apr 2016 10:34:37 +0100, John Hall <john_...@jhall.co.uk>
> wrote:
>
>>In message <dm89do...@mid.individual.net>, alan_m
>><ju...@admac.myzen.co.uk> writes
>>>On 01/04/2016 19:18, critcher wrote:
>>>
>>>> but are there any better.
>>>
>>>If you don't mind what can be a steep learning curve look at some of
>>>the Enigma2 boxes
>><snip>
>>
>>Calling their box Enigma suggests that the manufacturers have either a
>>droll sense of humour or a lack of awareness of the history of WW2.
>>Hopefully getting their box to work correctly doesn't actually require
>>advanced cryptography skills.
>

> nor capturing one from a U Boat.

but you do appear to have to buy them from eBay (and similar) traders

I like my electronics purchases to come with an enforceable warranty thank
you very much, and the possibility that I can't buy them this way is
telling.

Looking forward to being proved wrong

tim

[alan_m]

On 01/04/2016 23:01, alan_m wrote:

>
> The only downside that I've found

For completeness - these boxes don't support interactive services (red
button) but the red button channel(s) can be added to the EPG and have
EPG information, and the can be recorded in the normal way. At the time
of posting BBC RB1 is transmitting "World Figure Skating Championships'
followed by 'Radio 2 In concert with a-ha'

[Peter Duncanson]

On Sat, 2 Apr 2016 10:34:37 +0100, John Hall <john_...@jhall.co.uk>
wrote:

>In message <dm89do...@mid.individual.net>, alan_m
><ju...@admac.myzen.co.uk> writes
>>On 01/04/2016 19:18, critcher wrote:
>>
>>> but are there any better.
>>
>>If you don't mind what can be a steep learning curve look at some of
>>the Enigma2 boxes
><snip>
>
>Calling their box Enigma suggests that the manufacturers have either a
>droll sense of humour or a lack of awareness of the history of WW2.
>Hopefully getting their box to work correctly doesn't actually require
>advanced cryptography skills.

The original meaning of "enigma" is "a person or thing that is
mysterious, puzzling, or difficult to understand".

That was used as the name of a commercial cipher machine introduced in
1924. The military versions came later.

Is the Enigma or Enigma 2 firmware mysterious, puzzling, or difficult to
understand?




--
Peter Duncanson
(in uk.tech.digital-tv)

[alan_m]

On 02/04/2016 11:03, tim... wrote:



>
> but you do appear to have to buy them from eBay (and similar) traders

Although a small company, World of Satellite is a UK trader who appears
to honour the warranty and offers customer service. From what I've seen
in the past year the boxes they sell are sourced direct from the
manufacturer.

I've purchased two boxes from this company. My fist box had a fault and
it was replaced without hassle.

I personally would avoid random Ebay sellers for these boxes -- too many
clones being passed off as the original manufacturers product.

[tim...]

"Martin" <m...@address.invalid> wrote in message

news:6r6vfb5tu4plo64b4...@4ax.com...

> On Sat, 2 Apr 2016 10:55:28 +0100, alan_m <ju...@admac.myzen.co.uk> wrote:
>
>>On 02/04/2016 10:19, Roderick Stewart wrote:
>>
>>> If you've allowed any post-padding of the recording times,
>>> the series linking may miss the beginning of the second episode
>>> because it will not look for it until after the first one has
>>> finished.
>>
>>Not on the two PVRs I've owned since 2006.
>>
>>The series link or text based searching occurs as the program enters the
>>EPG (or a search of the complete current EPG when first set up). The
>>timers for both programs will be set-up well in advance of them being
>>broadcast.
>>
>>The software on my Topfield PVR was intelligent enough to identify back
>>to back recordings and merged the two thus cancelling the padding
>>between the programs.
>

> It's the same on a Freesat Humax.

>
>
>>
>>My current PVR, can record 8+ programs simultaneously. Two back to back
>>programs, both with padding, will result in the first being recorded and
>>ending when the post padding period ends and the second recording
>>starting whilst the first is still in progress.
> --
>

> Martin in Zuid Holland
>
>
>

Have Hummy fixed the problem with their implementation of AR whereby, if you
have one program ending at 09:00 and another one starting at 09:00, and the
first program runs late so that it hasn't received the "end" signal from the
broadcaster by 09:00, it thinks to itself "I have to stop recording now
because I have to use this Rx to look for the start signal for the next
recording", chopping off the ending of the first program?

It did this to me even when both programs where on the same channel and it
knew (well it ought to have known, but obviously didn't) that it didn't need
to look for the next start signal until it had received the previous stop
signal.

(It's nonsense implementations like this which is the reason that I don't
use AR BTW).

tim

[alan_m]

On 02/04/2016 12:31, Peter Duncanson wrote:

> Is the Enigma or Enigma 2 firmware mysterious, puzzling, or difficult to
> understand?
>

Much too much information and user configuration for the average punter
who just wants the it to work out of the box.

For those with little technical ability the learning curve can be very
steep. For others it's just a matter of playing around for a number of
hours with the settings and using a few FAQ/guides or youtube type videos.

OpenVix, one of the images that can run on the box is designed by geeks
for geeks :) The boxes are not just for the UK market,.

Mainly hobbyist programmers but I've found the software to be robust and
stable and there is no real need to upgrade once you have purchased the
box. Often the software upgrades are to incorporate manufacturer
drivers for a box you don't have or to support another box new to the
market. There are already some 4k boxes being supported.

[John Hall]

In message <flavfblgnvofqvun9...@4ax.com>, Peter Duncanson
<ma...@peterduncanson.net> writes

>On Sat, 2 Apr 2016 10:34:37 +0100, John Hall <john_...@jhall.co.uk>
>wrote:
>
>>In message <dm89do...@mid.individual.net>, alan_m
>><ju...@admac.myzen.co.uk> writes
>>>On 01/04/2016 19:18, critcher wrote:
>>>
>>>> but are there any better.
>>>
>>>If you don't mind what can be a steep learning curve look at some of
>>>the Enigma2 boxes
>><snip>
>>
>>Calling their box Enigma suggests that the manufacturers have either a
>>droll sense of humour or a lack of awareness of the history of WW2.
>>Hopefully getting their box to work correctly doesn't actually require
>>advanced cryptography skills.
>
>The original meaning of "enigma" is "a person or thing that is
>mysterious, puzzling, or difficult to understand".

<snip>

I know. Winston Churchill is supposed once to have said: "I cannot
forecast to you the action of Russia. It is a riddle, wrapped in a
mystery, inside an enigma."

[Dickie mint]

On 31/03/2016 22:55, Max Demian wrote:

> Only if the series ID (as provided by the broadcaster) is the same for
> the new series as the old, and you don't mind all the old series links
> hanging around in the list. (The 9200 only allows 25 series links at a
> time I think.)
>

I think the relevant specs insist on this. Just proved it with 'you've
been framed'. Has recorded the first of the new series. We forgot to
check, but it was still there in the List.

There have been some weird recordings made, relying on the schedule.
We've regularly had BBC1HDEngland and BBC1NI recording the same
programme. No idea what causes that!

Richard

[Peter Duncanson]

On Sat, 2 Apr 2016 17:52:30 +0100, John Hall <john_...@jhall.co.uk>

wrote:

>In message <flavfblgnvofqvun9...@4ax.com>, Peter Duncanson
><ma...@peterduncanson.net> writes
>>On Sat, 2 Apr 2016 10:34:37 +0100, John Hall <john_...@jhall.co.uk>
>>wrote:
>>
>>>In message <dm89do...@mid.individual.net>, alan_m
>>><ju...@admac.myzen.co.uk> writes
>>>>On 01/04/2016 19:18, critcher wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> but are there any better.
>>>>
>>>>If you don't mind what can be a steep learning curve look at some of
>>>>the Enigma2 boxes
>>><snip>
>>>
>>>Calling their box Enigma suggests that the manufacturers have either a
>>>droll sense of humour or a lack of awareness of the history of WW2.
>>>Hopefully getting their box to work correctly doesn't actually require
>>>advanced cryptography skills.
>>
>>The original meaning of "enigma" is "a person or thing that is
>>mysterious, puzzling, or difficult to understand".
><snip>
>
>I know. Winston Churchill is supposed once to have said: "I cannot
>forecast to you the action of Russia. It is a riddle, wrapped in a
>mystery, inside an enigma."

A more frequently used word is a close relative of "enigma", the
adjective "enigmatic".

[critcher]

On 01/04/2016 20:00, Indy Jess John wrote:

> I have found it a very credible alternative to Humax.
>
> Jim
>
>
>

thanks for that, Jim sorry I had to snip.

[critcher]

On 02/04/2016 11:10, alan_m wrote:
> On 01/04/2016 23:01, alan_m wrote:
>
>>
>> The only downside that I've found
>
>
> For completeness - these boxes don't support interactive services (red
> button) but the red button channel(s) can be added to the EPG and have
> EPG information, and the can be recorded in the normal way. At the time
> of posting BBC RB1 is transmitting "World Figure Skating Championships'
> followed by 'Radio 2 In concert with a-ha'
>
>

I note that a lot of theses sat pvrs will not record BBC Iplayer or any
of the other catch ups, why is this ? Sky is able to do this.

[alan_m]

On 03/04/2016 19:19, critcher wrote:

> I note that a lot of theses sat pvrs will not record BBC Iplayer or any
> of the other catch ups, why is this ? Sky is able to do this.

Because the BBC keep f***** up the Iplayer.

A short while ago there was a plug-in that supported BBC Iplayer etc.
and then on day it stopped working. However, this is not unique to STB -
a friend has a not inexpensive smart TV less than a year old and many of
the catch-up services no longer work on this TV.

[PeterC]

On the Foxsat HDR I could record a series of, IIRC, Dream Homes (on one of
the minor channels) in the evening but, due to a clash, wanted to do it in
the daytime. Series wasn't available so I didn't bother. I don't know if it
was the channel or the PVR.
I've found that RB1 won't allow series recording either, so had to go
through day by day to get what I wanted.
--
Peter.
The gods will stay away
whilst religions hold sway

[Ian]

In message <agf0gbl15bme6atii...@4ax.com>, Peter Duncanson

Usually used to describe actors who can't act.
--
Ian

[Ian]

In message <flavfblgnvofqvun9...@4ax.com>, Peter Duncanson
<ma...@peterduncanson.net> writes

I doubt it, but I'm sure it'll be cool, awesome, wicked and totally
sick.
--
Ian

[Peter Duncanson]

RB1 isn't a "proper" channel.

The BBC is licensed to operate the BBC One, Two, Three, Four, News and
Parliament TV channels and various radio channels. The red Button
channel(s) is/are permitted *only* as a subsidiary service to handle
material related to the licensed TV and radio channels. It lurks in the
undergrowth as "a channel that is not a Channel". That may be why it
does not offer series link.

[critcher]

On 03/04/2016 22:26, alan_m wrote:
> On 03/04/2016 19:19, critcher wrote:
>
>> I note that a lot of theses sat pvrs will not record BBC Iplayer or any
>> of the other catch ups, why is this ? Sky is able to do this.
>
>
> Because the BBC keep f***** up the Iplayer.
>
> A short while ago there was a plug-in that supported BBC Iplayer etc.
> and then on day it stopped working. However, this is not unique to STB -
> a friend has a not inexpensive smart TV less than a year old and many of
> the catch-up services no longer work on this TV.
>

still doesn't explain why Sky can record catch ups but Freesat can't.

[PeterC]

On Mon, 04 Apr 2016 15:39:59 +0100, Peter Duncanson wrote:

>>> I note that a lot of theses sat pvrs will not record BBC Iplayer or any
>>> of the other catch ups, why is this ? Sky is able to do this.
>>
>>On the Foxsat HDR I could record a series of, IIRC, Dream Homes (on one of
>>the minor channels) in the evening but, due to a clash, wanted to do it in
>>the daytime. Series wasn't available so I didn't bother. I don't know if it
>>was the channel or the PVR.
>>I've found that RB1 won't allow series recording either, so had to go
>>through day by day to get what I wanted.
>
> RB1 isn't a "proper" channel.
>
> The BBC is licensed to operate the BBC One, Two, Three, Four, News and
> Parliament TV channels and various radio channels. The red Button
> channel(s) is/are permitted *only* as a subsidiary service to handle
> material related to the licensed TV and radio channels. It lurks in the
> undergrowth as "a channel that is not a Channel". That may be why it
> does not offer series link.

I see, thanks.

[Johnny B Good]

True enough. That problem with capturing a series of programmes using
DTVR on a win2k PC was solved using the same technique, ie calculate the
total running time for the whole block, treat the whole thing as a super
long programme of however many hours (sometimes as much as 7 hours!) and
add the padding.

DTVR would fire up the whole player when the scheduler launched it into
record mode. There was no 'stealth record option'. You could minimise the
app's window but the only way to mute the TV sound was by muting the
master volume. :-( I tended to put up with the TV sound as background,
often being lured into watching the programmes I'd scheduled. I never
watched so much Live TV in my life as when I was using my computer in the
evenings.

Just over a year ago, a radical hardware upgrade finally gave me cause
to replace win2k with Linux Mint 17.1 . Now, despite being able to record
everything the BBC has to offer on its SD FreeView mux, I've never
watched *so little* Live TV! The reason being that Kaffeine supports
conflict free streaming of whatever chosen programme streams I have
scheduled (BBC1, BBC2, and BBC4, each with their own overlapping padding)
to disk as a silent background task.

Gone are the days of trying to work out how best to use my (now ten year
old) laptop to resolve record scheduling conflicts and maybe still have
to resort to recruiting the Toppy on occasion.

Now I can simply plod through the epg and add whatever takes my fancy to
the recording schedule without the slightest concern for padding
conflicts or even the odd confusion whereby the same programme appears
more than once and gets accidentally scheduled to run as two simultaneous
recordings or when, as recently happened, the Beeb decide to switch two
back to back programmes around whereby the epg update shows them in both
orders and you're not sure which is correct so you include all four in
the schedule so you can "Shoot First and Ask Questions Later." :-)

That ten year old laptop proved quite capable of dealing with at least 3
pairs of back to back programmes with the same 2 & 8 minute paddings and
it only has a single core Celeron and a humble 250GB *IDE* laptop drive
(no SSD and quad core cpu to explain away Kaffeine's ability to make
standard domestic PVRs look like the crap that they are).

An even bigger bonus when I made the switch from win2k + DTVR to Linux +
Kaffeine, was the ability to start watching any of the recordings whether
completed or not unlike before when I had to wait for the recording to
finish before I could start watching it.

The closest approximation to "Series Link" recording in Kaffeine is the
ability (like DTVR's) to schedule daily/weekly recordings based on start
times of programmes such as Eggheads (selecting by days of the week).

This works best on programmes that have an almost guaranteed schedule
like Eggheads but not so much with other programmes which tend to suffer
"Movable Feast" syndrome. Since it's no big deal to pick my way through
the epg and manually add programmes to the schedule and I'm a bit of a
control freak anyway, this suits me quite nicely (there's nothing so
unreliable as a TV schedule so it's a case of "Discretion being the best
part of Valour." in this case).

Luckily for me, my loathing of the commercial TV broadcasters means I
only have the BBC to rant at when the schedulers play their silly games
of "Fast and Loose". If I were to subject myself to the commercial
broadcaster's scheduling nonsense, I'm pretty sure I'd be a raving
headcase by now (I suspect I'm already dangerously close to the edge
coping with BBC scheduling madness as it is).

--
Johnny B Good