AU Freeview for Channels

A Playlist & EPG proxy for Channels DVR

Intended for use with Channels DVR, this Docker image is a Custom Channels provider, providing Playlist & EPG files that works out of the box with Channels.

Inspired and built on by the efforts & resources of the legendary Matt Huisman, this proxies relevant files from i.mjh.nz and transmogrifies them to make them fully work with Channels DVR.

NOTE: This DOES NOT proxy the actual streaming feeds from the networks. You will need an Australian IP to access most of these channels.

Installation

Requires Docker.
Start via your preferred Docker container invocation method:

CLI

docker run -d \
  --name=au-freeview-for-channels \
  -p 11901:3000 \
  -e NODE_ENV=production \
  gabepb/au-freeview-for-channels:latest

Docker Compose

In your preferred location, copy this to docker-compose.yml:

version: '3'

services:
  au-freeview-for-channels:
    container_name: au-freeview-for-channels
    image: "gabepb/au-freeview-for-channels:latest"
    ports:
      - "11901:3000"
    environment:
      NODE_ENV: production

Run docker-compose up -d.
(See docker-compose.yml for additional optional settings.)

You should be able to access http://127.0.0.1:11901; it should return a JSON response of {"up": true}. If the Docker instance is not on the same machine as Channels DVR, you'll need to replace 127.0.0.1 with the IP of the Docker host for this guide.

Usage

Once you've spun up the service, add it to your Channels DVR as a Custom Channel.

• Select the city you wish to use with this Custom Channel; you can check this page for supported cities or see a list of cities using http://127.0.0.1:11901/helpers/cities.
• Go to your Channels DVR (eg. http://127.0.0.1:8089) and go to Settings
• Under Basic Setup, in the X sources found, click the Add Source button
• Choose Custom Channels
• Use these settings:
  • Nickname: your choice eg. Sydney Freeview
  • Stream Format: HLS
  • Source: URL
    • URL: http://127.0.0.1:11901/playlist/SELECTED_CITY, replacing SELECTED_CITY with eg. Sydney
  • Select Options:
    • Refresh URL daily
    • Prefer channel-number from M3U
    • No stream limit
  • XMLTV Guide Data:
    • URL: http://127.0.0.1:11901/epg/SELECTED_CITY, again, replacing SELECTED_CITY
    • Refresh Daily
  • Press Save

Check out your Guide; it should have your new Aussie Freeview channels!

Channel Numbering & Channel Number Blocks

By default, LCNs (Local Channel Numbers) are used for the numbering for the TVG.

However, many Channels DVR users have several channel sources. In this case, the Channel Number Blocks setting may come in handy.

When using Channel Number Blocks, you are able to essentially set a prefix for these channels, eg. setting a Channel Block of 1000 will add a prefix for 1XXX (eg. for 7two, with an LCN of 72, it's 1072).

You can enable/define the Channel Block using the CHANNEL_NUMBER_BLOCK environment variable, eg. CHANNEL_NUMBER_BLOCK=2000.

Channels without official LCNs

Channel that don't have a provided LCN are incremented to the end of the highest LCN.

Not using Channel Number Blocks: eg. the highest LCN is 99, the next non-LCN'd channel is 101.
Using Channel Number Blocks: eg. the highest LCN is 99 and is presented as 1099 with a 1000 block, the next non-LCN'd channel is 1101.

A future release will allow more granular control on how to specify particular channel numbers, eg. if you'd like to group the Channel Seven streaming channels under 1X7X.

Pop-up/Non-linear Channels

Popup & non-linear channels, like channels with an MJH channel prefix of mjh-7-cas and mjh-abc-90-seconds, are not included in the channel list by default.

To re-include them: Define the DISABLE_EXCLUSIONS environment variable as TRUE.
To re-specify excluded channels: Define the EXCLUDE_CHANNELS_PREFIXES environment variable with the prefixes, separated by a comma, eg. EXCLUDE_CHANNELS_PREFIXES=mjh-7-cas,mjh-abc-90-seconds,mjh-another-example.

Contributing

All contributions are certainly welcome & appreciated! Simply branch & submit a Pull Request.

Start development environment

git clone https://github.com/pooh-bear/au-freeview-for-channels.git
cd au-freeview-for-channels
yarn
yarn dev