Getting BBC interactive on a FTA receiver

logjam · 02/09/06 - 13:25

I thought it might be a good idea to get all this in one place.

A FTA receiver can't use Sky 'red button' software but the interactive screens and multiscreens are available. They need to be treated like channels. This means you can select them a lot more quickly than you can with a Sky box.

You need to tune them in manually. (See your manual

)
Most automatic scans won't get them.

To do manual tuning you generally need . . . .
A frequency
Polorisation (H or V)
A symbol rate
FEC (Foreward error correction)
VPID (Video programme indentity number)
APID (Audio programme identity number)

BBC interactive 'channels'
12441 V
27500
2/3

Service...VPID APID
BBCi 1....2305 2306
BBCi 2....2321 2322
BBCi 3....2325 2326
BBCi 4....2329 2330
BBCi 5....2333 2334
BBCi 6....2337 2338
BBCi 7....2345 2346

The interactive channels are always active. A blue place marker with the identity (0 to 6) appears when they are not being used. If you get a blank screen you've put in the wrong values.

BBC Multiscreens
11954 H
27500
2/3

News Multiscreen 2306 2308
Other Multiscreen 2320 2321

All 6 screens appear on the picture. The audio for each one can be selected by your remote control. (See your manual)

Other interactive channels (rarely used)

Test D7-3 2338 2340
Test D7-4 2342 2343

Assign each one a channel number on your EPG. You will need to name each one, for instance 'BBCi1, BBCi2, News Multiscreen' etc. Then you can select them whenever you want, as quickly as any other channel.
For instance I have the BBC interactive channels on EPG numbers 51 to 57.
No 'Please wait' or 'Blue menu' banners. No red buttons!!!

TV DUNIYA · 02/09/06 - 14:22

Many Thanks for that thorough posting.
Great help for many FM's,with fta receivers.
Maybe,you should request,that it gets posted as a sticky,so it doesn't get lost in the swarms of daily threads.

rai uno · 02/09/06 - 16:36

Agree with that - acted upon it - Done!

logjam · 02/09/06 - 20:26

I had better clarify that FTA receivers vary in their ability to get these streams. Some receivers might get them with just the frequency polarisation and symbol rate.
If that doesn't work then you will have to go for an 'advanced' scan (or whatever it is called on a particular receiver) You need the VPID (Video) and APID (Audio) as mentioned in post #1

Sometimes even this doesn't work and you might need to input the 'PCR'. This sort of synchronises the picture and sound. The number used for these stream is the same as the VPID.

You can safely ignore NIDS and SIDS and any other numbers you may come across.

JamesE · 04/09/06 - 19:13

Well done loggers. I know we've discussed this on and off but that was a nice succinct post - especially withh the extra one - most necessary.

[Deleted User] · 13/09/06 - 20:37

Hi This BBCi have not a clue how it works? Whats it for?

I have a digibox, and can get the multiscreen up but what to do next, i have sound from one of the six screens, but i cant change that, tried every button on my remote but nothing changes.

Any help would be great thanks.

Thomas

[Deleted User] · 13/09/06 - 21:01

Its used for "extra channels" for big events (Wimbledon / World Cup / The Flower Show / Dr Who Christmas Special etc). You occasionally get pop concerts on one of them when Radio 1 is doing something special.

They are NOT generally available to Sky Digiboxes, so stop wasting your time trying to get them.

speculator · 24/09/06 - 11:29

This weekend shows how useful these BBCi streams are. Today (Sunday) we have :

Stream 0 : Video menu with audio for all streams

Stream 1 : Davis Cup - Ukraine v Great Britain - 0830

Stream 2 : World Road Race Cycling - 0930

Stream 3 : MotoGP - live from Japan - 0540
(repeated at 0830, 1000 and 1130)

Stream 4 : Ryder Cup audio feed from BBC Radio Five Live - 1100

Stream 5 : BBC Sport - headlines loop (full stream)

Yesterday, I was watching the Davis Cup on Stream 0 with audio tuned to Stream 4 so I could also follow the Ryder Cup. I like the idea of Stream 4 (Radio Five Live with scorecard). I like it to be a permanent option replacing Score-i. I can't see the benefit of Ray Stubbs & pundits staring at laptops when we could have Radio Five Live commentary with a live ceefax scorecard instead.

Lakeuk · 25/09/06 - 22:31

Future BBCi sport streams (exc usual Sat football scores)

OCTOBER
Saturday 7
Football, England v Macedonia
1645-1900 BST, choice of commentary, highlights and Your Shout

Saturday 21-29
Snooker Grand Prix
Live coverage of two tables from Aberdeen at the following times:
From 1145 BST on 21-24 October
From 1330 BST on 25-28 October

NOVEMBER
Thursday 2-Friday 3
World Bowls Tour
1500-1800 GMT daily, Live coverage

Sunday 5
Rugby Union, England v New Zealand
1500-1810 GMT, audio, highlights and post-match forum

Saturday 11-Sunday 12
Football - FA Cup first round
24 hrs, goals round-up

Saturday 25
Wales v New Zealand
1645-1930 GMT audio, highlights and post-match forum

DECEMBER
Saturday 2-Sunday 3
Football, FA Cup second round
24 hrs, goals round-up

[Deleted User] · 26/09/06 - 19:27

Just to add the multiscreens and interactive screens each have 6 audio channels as well so if you get a problem with interactive press audio on your rc and go through the audio channels until you get the right one. For the bbc news 24 multiscreen I have it after news 24 with audio channel 6 selected (weather)

I forgot to mention that the bbc sometimes rotate the audio channels on their interactive screens hence when you tune into the tennis or golf you get no sound.

givecredit · 02/11/06 - 21:18

Need help tuning my Topfield tf5000 tdr. Using above vpids/apids/ppids and using advanced mode search i got one BBCi channel tuned in BBCi 1. But when i search for the others all i get is The same BBCi 1. The box says it has found the various bbci s but when i go to channel it has only saved the first found, in my case bbci 1.

My cheap Eur45 Kaon 220 found all BBCi channels automatically as well as plently of other sky feeds from astra2.

givecredit · 03/11/06 - 00:40

Solved the Topfield problem. In advanced tuning i had to tell the Topfield that each BBCi channel was on a different satellite. Then the toppy tuned in each channel separately. The Toppy seemed to think that each bbci was one and the same channel and kept overwriting each other. To fool the toppy i told it each channel was on a different sat. No issue for me, as the toppy is only connected to Astra2.
I also had to search for FTA channels only.

Dogmatix · 25/12/06 - 16:19

Thanks for those tips, givercredit, I was having the same trouble with my TF5500 - now solved.

However, sometimes the sound is missing, sometime it's there - is there any reason why? Could it have something to do with the PCR PID?

All we need now is some sort of programme guide for these channels. The BBC must have internal schedules, is there any way of getting at them?

John259 · 25/12/06 - 16:46

Dogmatix wrote:

All we need now is some sort of programme guide for these channels. The BBC must have internal schedules, is there any way of getting at them?

The schedule for the sports programmes on these channels can be found on http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tv_and_radio/4341486.stm (click the "Interactive" tab after the page loads)

John

Dogmatix · 25/12/06 - 18:13

Thanks, John, but I'm not actually interested in sports. I'm hoping that the Dr Who special today might be on one of the BBCi channels as it apparently was last year (I can't get the mainstream BBC channels as I'm out of Astra 2D range). BBCi channel 6 (listed above as BBCi7) is currently showing the Children in Need Dr Who musical special event for the second time around, and according to the Radio Times, a 'range of special features' can be accessed during the actual programme today.

Dogmatix · 25/12/06 - 22:46

Dogmatix wrote:

a 'range of special features'

ha! All they showed was that concert, again and again!

[Deleted User] · 10/01/07 - 15:36

Hello, is there any possibility to check schedules for all BBC interactive services? I'm also out of Astra 2D footprint

I've seen Just the two of us last week there. Thanx

[Deleted User] · 16/01/07 - 09:44

Done all this and I get pictures but no sound

Also screen says "this channel is scrambled or unavailable"

or am I doing something daft :eek:

Marten · 20/02/07 - 22:03

I don't get BBCi channels, with a Dreambox 7025. What am I doing wrong? They are simply not in my list...

JamesE · 21/02/07 - 12:39

Hi Marten, no you'll have to put them in yourself in accordance with logjam's frequencies, pids etc. in his opening post #1.

[Deleted User] · 21/02/07 - 18:38

They are flagged as data channels. You will need to modify your channel list xml file and change their attributes from data to tv.

JamesE · 21/02/07 - 18:56

That's interesting. That must be why my Humax doesn't find them on a normal scan. I have to do what they call an "advanced scan" and enter the PIDs manually. Much as I would like to be, I am not familiar with the Dreambox.

rai uno · 21/02/07 - 19:07

Perversely, all my FTA Boxes had no problem registering and permitting viewing of these Streams with a straightforward FTA Scan.

(Fortec Star Lifetime Classic Prehistoric Version; Kaon KSF200 that thinks it's a KSF230 and Silvercrest SL65 Little Beauty)

[Deleted User] · 23/02/07 - 13:48

Like James, my Humax does very much the same thing, although what is also very annoying is that it requires me to put in my pin number everytime I want to view one of the streams. Now, I have never used, or even activated the parental control and it was sheer luck that I guessed the pin. Also, once I have done all this, I get a strange effect of the picture being pushed over to the left side of the screen, something I had only previously seen on a couple of shopping channels and had never bothered me.
I have also played with a couple of 'cheapy' FTA boxes that don't have any of these problems.
Any suggestions anyone??

Regards - Tim

rai uno · 23/02/07 - 13:55

Regardless of the fact that the "problem" Box is a Humax, can't you disable PIN protection? Somewhere in your User Options?

You can in all Boxes I've ever used.

[Deleted User] · 23/02/07 - 14:02

Well Rai - thanks for your quick response by the way - as I said, I've not had any dealings with the parental control system on this box until I started messing about with PIDs and SIDs etc. I have had a quick scout around the menu and looked at options for disabling it with no luck so far. I am getting close to resorting to looking for the manual!! Desperate measures indeed.
Regards - Tim

Hey there!

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Getting BBC interactive on a FTA receiver

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