Streaming Freesat to IPTV
Discussion
Rather than buying Freesat boxes for every TV, I'd like to just buy a single box that takes the Freesat signal and broadcasts it over IPTV.
I have everything apart from live TV setup on one of the new Google Chromecasts, so I want an Android TV app that talks to a thing, that gets the Freesat signal and sends it over.
Live TV is a niche use, everything else is run through a single remote control and a single box at the TV, so I want to add it there rather than add another box and remote control.
I don't really know where to start, anyone any tips?
I have everything apart from live TV setup on one of the new Google Chromecasts, so I want an Android TV app that talks to a thing, that gets the Freesat signal and sends it over.
Live TV is a niche use, everything else is run through a single remote control and a single box at the TV, so I want to add it there rather than add another box and remote control.
I don't really know where to start, anyone any tips?
Basically Freesat because I converted my loft and lost the TV aerial. I don't want to put one on my chimney as it'll look terrible and is really visible from the garden, but I have a satellite dish on the other side of the house that I never see. I don't use live TV at all, so there's no way I'm putting an ugly aerial on the house, it's a step to far. But I'm happy to mess around getting the satellite working.
Just keeping my wife and my parents happy. It's a waste of time, I accept that.
Just thought I should sort it if I can. I was going to buy a couple of the new Freesat boxes, but if I can add live TV as an App within Google TV, then that will be better as it gets rid of the "How do I get it onto the TV" thing too.
I still might not bother, but I thought I'd explore options and then decide.
Just thought I should sort it if I can. I was going to buy a couple of the new Freesat boxes, but if I can add live TV as an App within Google TV, then that will be better as it gets rid of the "How do I get it onto the TV" thing too.
I still might not bother, but I thought I'd explore options and then decide.
You could do it fairly simply with a Sat IP server, eg:
https://www.megasat.tv/en/produkt/sat-ip-server-3/...
That takes 4 x satellite feeds (from a standard quad LNB), and converts it to IP streams. You can use something like Kodi as a client, or there are Sat IP clients for Android. You can watch 4+ concurrent channels at once with that, more if some of the channels are on the same mux.
If you want more flexibility you can add TV Headend on a PC / Pi and convert it to an IP TV feed. I use the box linked above with TVH and some HD Homerun tuners for recording TV, and live playback on a ShieldTV / FireTV in rooms where there's no aerial connection.
https://www.megasat.tv/en/produkt/sat-ip-server-3/...
That takes 4 x satellite feeds (from a standard quad LNB), and converts it to IP streams. You can use something like Kodi as a client, or there are Sat IP clients for Android. You can watch 4+ concurrent channels at once with that, more if some of the channels are on the same mux.
If you want more flexibility you can add TV Headend on a PC / Pi and convert it to an IP TV feed. I use the box linked above with TVH and some HD Homerun tuners for recording TV, and live playback on a ShieldTV / FireTV in rooms where there's no aerial connection.
https://www.silicondust.com/about/
sadly they don't make a freesat version of this - I have the freeview version and can stream live freeview to pretty much any device on the network - smart tvs included.
sadly they don't make a freesat version of this - I have the freeview version and can stream live freeview to pretty much any device on the network - smart tvs included.
I’m planning (not tried it all yet) on...
Freesat (local freeview transmitter is about 15 channels only, plus sat is really nice HD quality!)
DVB-S card in PC.
PC running media portal TV server.
Kodi running into TV server with EPG.
(untested bit)
Apple TV 4K running mrmc (App Store kodi basically, and kodi would do otherwise), and EPG/recording/viewing.
Agree with OP, live tv is missing link with these boxes.
My humax box YouTube and iplayer stopped working, and no nowtv or prime etc.
Plus no way to get recorded films off to a pc/media library.
If above works I’m just gonna run that.
Then films etc I want to ‘tape’ can get recorded at the tv server end for transcoding and serving from library.
Freesat (local freeview transmitter is about 15 channels only, plus sat is really nice HD quality!)
DVB-S card in PC.
PC running media portal TV server.
Kodi running into TV server with EPG.
(untested bit)
Apple TV 4K running mrmc (App Store kodi basically, and kodi would do otherwise), and EPG/recording/viewing.
Agree with OP, live tv is missing link with these boxes.
My humax box YouTube and iplayer stopped working, and no nowtv or prime etc.
Plus no way to get recorded films off to a pc/media library.
If above works I’m just gonna run that.
Then films etc I want to ‘tape’ can get recorded at the tv server end for transcoding and serving from library.
Have a rummage round here https://www.world-of-satellite.co.uk/index.php?rou...
I have used an xtrend et8500 for about 5 years, it runs 4 feeds and send iptv to my network. Most of the boxes will do it easily.
I have used an xtrend et8500 for about 5 years, it runs 4 feeds and send iptv to my network. Most of the boxes will do it easily.
ARHarh said:
Have a rummage round here https://www.world-of-satellite.co.uk/index.php?rou...
I have used an xtrend et8500 for about 5 years, it runs 4 feeds and send iptv to my network. Most of the boxes will do it easily.
So is IPTV two way so the LNB is adjusted as necessary for polarity etc?I have used an xtrend et8500 for about 5 years, it runs 4 feeds and send iptv to my network. Most of the boxes will do it easily.
Ie...
Kodi EPG will ask the IPTV streamer for the correct stream?
Are these boxes essentially a PC dvb-s capture card and the tv server software all in one?
It’s a big gap in the way they’re sold because it never seems fully explained how you’d integrate it.
Ie, in this case it seems your front end would need to do recording of the IPTV stream (the kodi or whatever) for pausing and rewinding and all that stuff?
Yep, have full control if the box can tune the stream whatever system you use will ask the box to tune then relay it. it works with kodi, plays reordings as well. It works with android apps, direct access in web browser, or in media player via *.mu3 files. In kodi ot shows EPG so you can set recordings etc. I use it via an app on a tablet in the garden, raspberry pi and kodi in the workshop, pc in the office and kodi box in the bedroom.
Can I just jump in to ask about Freesat boxes? I live on the Continent and used to be able to watch BBC via a VPN, but that no longer works. There is a dish in the garden and all the cabling into the house, so I imagine if I attach a box to the end of it and then plug it into the TV I'll be able to watch that way, won't I?
So which Freesat box should I get, or are they all pretty much the same? I don't need to record anything, just watch programmes (and only then very occasionally).
So which Freesat box should I get, or are they all pretty much the same? I don't need to record anything, just watch programmes (and only then very occasionally).
ARHarh said:
Yep, have full control if the box can tune the stream whatever system you use will ask the box to tune then relay it. it works with kodi, plays reordings as well. It works with android apps, direct access in web browser, or in media player via *.mu3 files. In kodi ot shows EPG so you can set recordings etc. I use it via an app on a tablet in the garden, raspberry pi and kodi in the workshop, pc in the office and kodi box in the bedroom.
Cheers for that. If I struggle with my setup I might go for that.Thinking now I might have been best going with an nvidia shield pro as upscaling and kodi with dvbs streams would be pretty much covering everything.
Apple TV using mrmc might not cover same width of stuff as kodi.
That said it’s always all the stuff in the details... often hard to know till you buy all the bits and experience it.
Mr Whippy said:
Agree with OP, live tv is missing link with these boxes.
There's three things at play here unfortunately; It's not in anyone's interest to integrate Live TV because the main players are selling us their online services
There's not much demand because most people that buy them, including me, are perfectly happy to watch live TV via the Apps or go to the TV Tuner to watch TV. I'm only asking because it's pointless trying to buy a Freesat TV as they're just not a thing and the TV boxes are expensive extra clutter.
The new Chromecast, which is brilliant, is £50. It'll double the price to add a live TV, there's probably only me that would pay the extra. And that's before your limited audience starts pointing out that they need to be able to record, so it needs stuff developing to allow for that.
It's just too niche basically.
Mr Whippy said:
That said it’s always all the stuff in the details... often hard to know till you buy all the bits and experience it.
That's why I'm researching. I remembered have a twin DVB-S tuner in my server, plugged into the satellite. I never managed to get it working (with TV Headend) when I was using Ubuntu, but now I've moved to UnRaid there's no chance I'll get it up and running is there!
I should maybe try that first though.
I'm inclined to try one of those indoor aerials as well though, it would be a lot simpler running freeview as there's far more support.
CharlesdeGaulle said:
Can I just jump in to ask about Freesat boxes? I live on the Continent and used to be able to watch BBC via a VPN, but that no longer works. There is a dish in the garden and all the cabling into the house, so I imagine if I attach a box to the end of it and then plug it into the TV I'll be able to watch that way, won't I?
So which Freesat box should I get, or are they all pretty much the same? I don't need to record anything, just watch programmes (and only then very occasionally).
As long as the dish is on Astra 28.2 you should be ok. The Humax boxes are well regarded, get one with a built in recorder. So which Freesat box should I get, or are they all pretty much the same? I don't need to record anything, just watch programmes (and only then very occasionally).
I've been tinkering with this for probably 5-6 years now with iterations of PC capture cards, MythTV, TVHeadend etc. My current setup is pretty stable and has been working well for a few years now, mainly for recording from Freeview / Freesat but it will also do liveTV (with some caveats, see below):
Backend:
Megasat Sat:IP server as linked above. Apart from a few early firmware niggles it works pretty much flawlessly now.
HD Homerun. Works fine for freeview, but is only really used for the few channels not on Freesat.
PC running TVHeadend. I have a media server anyway so it can live on there, but could as easily be on a Pi.
Frontend - Generally running Kodi as a client for TVHeadend:
Nvidia Shield (the older one). Works perfectly for live TV / recordings. There's also the Live Channels tvheadend and HD Homerun plugins which integrate a bit more nicely with the Android TV launcher.
Fire TVs - mix of original 4K / 4K pendant / new 4K stick. LiveTV can be a bit flaky on these - Amazon only delivers content in MP4 with certain audio codecs so their hardware is optimised for this, while SD / HD TV is delivered with different codecs, and can be interlaced. Some of the sticks don't have the horsepower to do proper deinterlacing (so you get jaggies on motion), some will just crash out (new 4K stick). The Shield is a better option if you want reliable live TV.
If I was starting from fresh I'd jump straight to Sat:IP and not bother with capture cards etc. I believe some TVs will also support it natively, and some of the cheapy sat boxes as listed above do too.
Backend:
Megasat Sat:IP server as linked above. Apart from a few early firmware niggles it works pretty much flawlessly now.
HD Homerun. Works fine for freeview, but is only really used for the few channels not on Freesat.
PC running TVHeadend. I have a media server anyway so it can live on there, but could as easily be on a Pi.
Frontend - Generally running Kodi as a client for TVHeadend:
Nvidia Shield (the older one). Works perfectly for live TV / recordings. There's also the Live Channels tvheadend and HD Homerun plugins which integrate a bit more nicely with the Android TV launcher.
Fire TVs - mix of original 4K / 4K pendant / new 4K stick. LiveTV can be a bit flaky on these - Amazon only delivers content in MP4 with certain audio codecs so their hardware is optimised for this, while SD / HD TV is delivered with different codecs, and can be interlaced. Some of the sticks don't have the horsepower to do proper deinterlacing (so you get jaggies on motion), some will just crash out (new 4K stick). The Shield is a better option if you want reliable live TV.
If I was starting from fresh I'd jump straight to Sat:IP and not bother with capture cards etc. I believe some TVs will also support it natively, and some of the cheapy sat boxes as listed above do too.
The goal for me is a unified input interface.
Messing about swapping tv inputs and remotes in this day and age is frustrating.
Kodi is the closest I’ve got to flattening the system down.
The real end goal is a Hdplex pc where I can run stuff like forza horizon right back to c64 emulators, then live tv and all the on demand jazz.
However baby steps are required to get it all working as you want.
I’ve been happiest with media portals tv server over tv headend.
Kodi linked into it nicely.
Epg offline worked best at time, vs streamed (sure streaming can work ok just feels so slow at initial point)
Flirc to do all basic controls and then a keyboard with touchpad mouse backup, and a linked in Xbox controller.
Then win10 integrated for everything else possibly needed.
Webcam and WhatsApp and all that jazz for lockdown grandparent visits etc.
Just need more time in the day to set it all up.
Messing about swapping tv inputs and remotes in this day and age is frustrating.
Kodi is the closest I’ve got to flattening the system down.
The real end goal is a Hdplex pc where I can run stuff like forza horizon right back to c64 emulators, then live tv and all the on demand jazz.
However baby steps are required to get it all working as you want.
I’ve been happiest with media portals tv server over tv headend.
Kodi linked into it nicely.
Epg offline worked best at time, vs streamed (sure streaming can work ok just feels so slow at initial point)
Flirc to do all basic controls and then a keyboard with touchpad mouse backup, and a linked in Xbox controller.
Then win10 integrated for everything else possibly needed.
Webcam and WhatsApp and all that jazz for lockdown grandparent visits etc.
Just need more time in the day to set it all up.
With Kodi you will need something else as a 'backend' to do the recording, it supports multiple different backends with EPGs, programming etc - there are plenty of options.
I started with Plex, but always used Kodi as a frontend for it. Plex (IMHO) has moved away from what I want from a media server over the years with their slightly vague policies about data collection on what you are watching, and their enforced login through their systems meaning that if your internet drops you have to jump through hoops to watch anything so I ditched them.
Currently using Emby (which seems to be wanting to go down the same path as Plex - pay for features etc) but am also keeping an eye on Jellyfin, which is the free & open source fork of Emby. It's a bit raw round the edges, but shows potential.
I started with Plex, but always used Kodi as a frontend for it. Plex (IMHO) has moved away from what I want from a media server over the years with their slightly vague policies about data collection on what you are watching, and their enforced login through their systems meaning that if your internet drops you have to jump through hoops to watch anything so I ditched them.
Currently using Emby (which seems to be wanting to go down the same path as Plex - pay for features etc) but am also keeping an eye on Jellyfin, which is the free & open source fork of Emby. It's a bit raw round the edges, but shows potential.
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