Tvheadend

Try deleting one of the channels and then assigning the orphaned service (make a note of it first :-) ) to the channel that remains in Configuration -> Channels/EPG -> Channels, e.g. delete BBC One HD (ASTRA/10847V/BBC One HD) and then assign that service as a second entry on the multi-select drop-down by editing BBC ONE HD, something like that. Or create an additional, new channel and assign both others. Not exactly automated, but you're not looking at dozens of channels.

FWIW, though, I gave up doing this a long time ago. If you have a tuner issue, and tvh decides it really, really wants BBC One instead of BBC ONE, your recording will fail even if the tuner was free (in my experience). I also have had too many problems with audio on BBC Freeview, particularly when switching from 2-channel to 5.1.

So, I've found it useful to be able to track Freesat (lower case/mixed case names) separately from Freeview (upper case) BBC channels - Channel 4 is more consistent and merges more easily - ITV is all over the place. I find the bitrate on DVB-S is higher, and the audio track more likely to be superior, so that way I can specifically select Freesat if it's something I'm genuinely interested in versus just time-shifting until tomorrow.

YMMV, of course. You get more entries in the EPG, but you can filter those with gratuitous use of tags (e.g. "HD channels I actually watch" versus "HD channels that contain random Russian news that doesn't interest me", combined with "Movie/Drama" as a genre and perhaps a duration filter and you've got a manageable list of upcoming films).

Hi thanks for your reply

Ok I have tried your suggestion to delete BBC One HD (ASTRA/10847V/BBC One HD) and then assign that service as a second entry on the multi-select drop-down, unfortunately this has not worked, initially it is added as a second entry but with a small red triangle in the top left of the multi-select drop-down; then after you refresh the page the DVB-S2 option is automatically removed...

Worth a shot though...

any other thoughts out there or is this a dead end?

cheers

4D

There's one immediate suggestion, based on your description: click 'Save' on the left of the button bar after making the change... the red triangle means a field has changed, but it hasn't yet been committed, so 'Undo' will reverse it while 'Save' will make it permanent.

Aha! excellent thank you for that, this now seems to be working!, I shall do some testing but it's looking very promising so far, many thanks again, champion!