Amiko Alien2 / SAB / GM / ST7162 SPARK Discussion Thread

Gerry Wicklow wrote: »

Things like Film4 HD, ITV 2,3,4 HD and E4 HD etc are subscription channels. You CAN get CH4HD and ITV1HD

Ahh - cheers Gerry, I updated the bouquet with the ITV 2,3,4 SD channels now, however I cannot find ITV1 HD, Channel 4 HD, found the SD versions but no progam can be seen when selected. Also same for Film4 SD and Film4+1 ?

Gerry Wicklow

Heres a list of current FTA HD channels. Ignore the decimal points so for example

CH4HD is on 11127 V DVB-S QPSK 22000 5/6

EDIT:- Note that many ITV1's are just called ITV

DeadSkin wrote: »

Ahh - cheers Gerry, I updated the bouquet with the ITV 2,3,4 SD channels now, however I cannot find ITV1 HD, Channel 4 HD, found the SD versions but no progam can be seen when selected. Also same for Film4 SD and Film4+1 ?

Film4+1 SD Is on 10936, you have this in your service list and you said you could see it. Film4 SD on the same tp however is encrypted, so will be invisible. Fiilm4 SD clear is on tp 10714, so if you do a manual search for this tp, (22000 baud and 5/6 crc) , it will be updated to the service list entry if you select " clear before scan" or just get it from the last scanned bouquet if you don't cbs.
You should has set scan for clear channels only, to prevent encrypted versions filling the slot in the service list.
ITV 1 HD on 11097, 3 regions, Channel 4 HD on 11127.

Kingofsat is your friend for all channel tps.
https://en.kingofsat.net/find.php?question=Channel+4

Gerry Wicklow wrote: »

Heres a list of current FTA HD channels. Ignore the decimal points so for example

CH4HD is on 11127 V DVB-S QPSK 22000 5/6

EDIT:- Note that many ITV1's are just called ITV

deezell wrote: »

Film4+1 SD Is on 10936, you have this in your service list and you said you could see it. Film4 SD on the same tp however is encrypted, so will be invisible. Fiilm4 SD clear is on tp 10714, so if you do a manual search for this tp, (22000 baud and 5/6 crc) , it will be updated to the service list entry if you select " clear before scan" or just get it from the last scanned bouquet if you don't cbs.
You should has set scan for clear channels only, to prevent encrypted versions filling the slot in the service list.
ITV 1 HD on 11097, 3 regions, Channel 4 HD on 11127.

deezell wrote: »

Kingofsat is your friend for all channel tps.
https://en.kingofsat.net/find.php?question=Channel+4

Thanks guys - appreciate the help. Gonna have to wait til tomorrow - kids not impressed with this evening taking over the TV :rolleyes::p

DeadSkin wrote: »

Thanks guys - appreciate the help. Gonna have to wait til tomorrow - kids not impressed with this evening taking over the TV :rolleyes::p

All sorted guys - thanks for the help, Dreambox Edit and the KingofSat website have been a huge help.

One final request - when the box is rebooted it doesn't boot to the Favourites bouquet I created. To show this bouquet I need to press OK button and then Blue button and then select the Favourites button - EPG works fine from here. Is there any way to force the box boot to the Favourites bouquet I created. (Would make it more user friendly for the kids). Cheers!!

DeadSkin wrote: »

All sorted guys - thanks for the help, Dreambox Edit and the KingofSat website have been a huge help.

One final request - when the box is rebooted it doesn't boot to the Favourites bouquet I created. To show this bouquet I need to press OK button and then Blue button and then select the Favourites button - EPG works fine from here. Is there any way to force the box boot to the Favourites bouquet I created. (Would make it more user friendly for the kids). Cheers!!

After pressing blue button and while in Favourites bouquet, select a channel, dont exit epg but press Menu, then second item on the list, Set as Startup Service, then Exit/Exit. Box should boot to this channel in this Bouquet.

Also, pressing 1 on remote usually gets to first channel in the first bouguet in favourites. 'Favourites' using the blue button refers to the bouquet lists, it can be a bit confusing if your bouquet is also named favoutites

deezell wrote: »

After pressing blue button and while in Favourites bouquet, select a channel, dont exit epg but press Menu, then second item on the list, Set as Startup Service, then Exit/Exit. Box should boot to this channel in this Bouquet.

Awesome, cheers for the help again deezell.

Anyone know if TVHeadend would be able to see the tuners on the Amiko Alien2?

m8 wrote: »

Anyone know if TVHeadend would be able to see the tuners on the Amiko Alien2?

If there was a build for AA2, then it should I guess. Its not clear what tvheadend is, it seems to be a streaming server working off the linux device. AA2 can already do this using any web browser and the Webif interface, or various client apps such as Dreamdroid (Android) or E2streamer (pc).
What it might offer over the inbuilt server would be transcoding, reducing the resolution and bit rate sourced from the device tuners to assist transmission over low rate data paths. You can forget this in an AA2, it simply doesn't have the processor power or memory to crunch the stream.
The only way I achieved this on a Sab/AA2 was using a pc based server called Enigma TV, which interfaced to the AA2 locally, then presented to the remote Android app of the same name. It worked way back when my home data rate was 4Mb down / 380Kb up, I recall watching the 2016 Grand National picnicing on the banks of the royal canal. You had to leave the server running on the pc, so not ideal for a long break from home. Later E2 boxes such as the Edision OS mega were powerful enough to support on board transcoding, iirc, there was an additional setting on WebIf served from these which allowed you to set trancoding bit rate and resolution.

Johnboy1951

@deezell

Its not clear what tvheadend is

tvheadend is a tuner management software that manages all aspects of DVB-T, DVB-S and Sat>IP tuners in one locations and allocates tuners as appropriate to client devices that request access. It will transcode if required.

It also manages EPG, DVR/PVR functions, including timed and series recordings and storage.

There are various client device front ends for it .... such as an addon for Kodi ...... to seamlessly use its functions.

It is probably the best software of its type available.

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

@deezell
tvheadend is a tuner management software that manages all aspects of DVB-T, DVB-S and Sat>IP tuners in one locations and allocates tuners as appropriate to client devices that request access. It will transcode if required.

It also manages EPG, DVR/PVR functions, including timed and series recordings and storage.

There are various client device front ends for it .... such as an addon for Kodi ...... to seamlessly use its functions.

It is probably the best software of its type available.

Ah I get it. Similar to the commercial products used in Hotels to distribute tv around to the rooms, or perhaps an apartment block as an alternative to distributing actual raw satellite rf to each tv point, allowing a managed access to the system. How would you implement this in a home installation? Maybe an example of how it would be deployed, and the advantages.

There are lots of posts on TVheadend here for more detailed info. It can run on something as small as a Rasberry Pi and use tuners like a USB DVD-T and DVB-S2. There are boxes available for both DVB-T and DVB-S2 in which TVHeadend can connect and manage. I was just wondering if TVHeadend would be able to see the tuners in the Amiko Alien. Has anyone used a setup like this here?

Johnboy1951

m8 wrote: »

There are lots of posts on TVheadend here for more detailed info. It can run on something as small as a Rasberry Pi and use tuners like a USB DVD-T and DVB-S2. There are boxes available for both DVB-T and DVB-S2 in which TVHeadend can connect and manage. I was just wondering if TVHeadend would be able to see the tuners in the Amiko Alien. Has anyone used a setup like this here?

Would it not be dependent on the operating system in use?
One that would share the tuners maybe as Sat>IP tuners?

Johnboy1951

deezell wrote: »

Ah I get it. Similar to the commercial products used in Hotels to distribute tv around to the rooms, or perhaps an apartment block as an alternative to distributing actual raw satellite rf to each tv point, allowing a managed access to the system. How would you implement this in a home installation? Maybe an example of how it would be deployed, and the advantages.

No.
It distributes the data on the LAN, not on coax.
It only distributes data that has been requested by client devices .... such as one TV station or one stored video.

For some use cases read here
https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=643

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tvheadend

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

No.
It distributes the data on the LAN, not on coax.
It only distributes data that has been requested by client devices .... such as one TV station or one stored video.

Which is exactly how the examples i gave work, "as an alternative to distributing .. rf". Most new commercial and institutional builds these days will only have a network of cat6 cable, and this can be used to shift all data, telemetry, cctv, telephone and entertainment media traffic around a building. Even somthing as simple as a vga or Hdmi connection to a conference room or theatre no longer requires runs of bulky multi core dediicated cable with failure prone repeaters. Now you can use Cat5e or 6, or wireless to receiver devices or directly to the device if it has the capability. Receiver devices can be powered over the lan.
Again, if someone wants to build the code to run on a linux box, I can't see any problem. Some of the most recent boxes used a broadband tuner to catch the full astra band, a twin tuner version of this would in theory be able to stream multiple channels across the lan, limited only by the processing power of the box. The AA2 always struggled with 3 streams, I recall some posts on this from years ago on the old threads.

Tuesday13

I'm running open ATV on an AMIKO alien box. I have this re-occurring issue whereby it freezes when booting. It normally loads as far as '49' or '99' and then it just hangs. Recently I've had to load the enigma image again but within weeks it happens again, any ideas? Thanks

Tuesday13 wrote: »

I'm running open ATV on an AMIKO alien box. I have this re-occurring issue whereby it freezes when booting. It normally loads as far as '49' or '99' and then it just hangs. Recently I've had to load the enigma image again but within weeks it happens again, any ideas? Thanks

not sure soundls like somthings building up epg or logs or something -

try boot more often - might be the hard drive ?

Tuesday13

Nowso wrote: »

not sure soundls like somthings building up epg or logs or something -

try boot more often - might be the hard drive ?

Thanks....pretty sure I tried disconnecting the hard drive and I had the same issue last week. It loaded fine this morning. I'll try disconnect the hard drive next time it happens. Not sure on the logs/epg suggestion but will check that out also.

Big Wex fan

Nowso wrote: »

not sure soundls like somthings building up epg or logs or something -

try boot more often - might be the hard drive ?

Could be the hard drive is on its way out.

Big Wex fan

My zgemma H2S image corrupted, anyone got a backup to share. Thanks in advance.

channelsurfer2

So I bought the Sab triple tuner from freetv this week for spark only.I believe is a clone of the amiko.Problem is crossepg won't load the details or go past the day to display next days into. I have set it to net for time,formatted to ntfs. No joy. Spark ap says no net connection on box every time I try to connect. Firmware is 2016.

Nigzcurran

channelsurfer2 wrote: »

So I bought the Sab triple tuner from freetv this week for spark only.I believe is a clone of the amiko.Problem is crossepg won't load the details or go past the day to display next days into. I have set it to net for time,formatted to ntfs. No joy. Spark ap says no net connection on box every time I try to connect. Firmware is 2016.

Nowso is the resident spark genius and he'll be on shortly to help you out im sure

channelsurfer2 wrote: »

So I bought the Sab triple tuner from freetv this week for spark only.I believe is a clone of the amiko.Problem is crossepg won't load the details or go past the day to display next days into. I have set it to net for time,formatted to ntfs. No joy. Spark ap says no net connection on box every time I try to connect. Firmware is 2016.

1.2.76 or 3 is lastes on there i think -

if u go on epg and then f1 button to set uo epg select 28.2 in providers

how is your box connected to the internet

Zardoz

Tuesday13 wrote: »

I'm running open ATV on an AMIKO alien box. I have this re-occurring issue whereby it freezes when booting. It normally loads as far as '49' or '99' and then it just hangs. Recently I've had to load the enigma image again but within weeks it happens again, any ideas? Thanks

So that bug is still present with OpenAtv on the Amiko's years later .:o

I found formatting the hard drive as Fat32 would reduce the risk of this issue happening.

channelsurfer2

Nowso wrote: »

1.2.76 or 3 is lastes on there i think -

if u go on epg and then f1 button to set uo epg select 28.2 in providers

how is your box connected to the internet

sent you a pm. I selected 28.2 all steps followed . I'm using two tuners on the box and the saorview. All I get is the days program guide with no details of each program only the name.

channelsurfer2 wrote: »

sent you a pm. I selected 28.2 all steps followed . I'm using two tuners on the box and the saorview. All I get is the days program guide with no details of each program only the name.

try rebooting that may help

there is the 1.2.76 from 2015

https://www.sabsatellite.nl/en/product/766/sab-unix-triple-hd-s903

channelsurfer2

Thanks nowso. Tried rebooting it didn't work. The time setting is not updating when I set it to net.ill keep trying