Freesat

[andycktm]

I've got sky+ at the moment,its in the main room.
But i want to try freesat too.I've just had a look at the Sky LNB
and it looks like a quad with four connections?
Two used and two spare,does anyone know if these spare can be used as feeds for two freesat boxes?
Also are the five main terestial channels on freesat?
Thanks.

 

[yo_chuci]

yup connect em up... you can run 2 std HD freesat boxes or run a single HD freesat pvr.

cable and connectors can be bought off maplin for cheap... hardest part is getting cable from dish to house normally as people don't have long drill bits etc...

enjoy...

 

[andycktm]

Thanks for the reply.
Time to get things underway
Found this cable.
http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/CAPF2100B.html

 

[yo_chuci]

yep... sky use that... not recommended for runs over 30m and DO NOT have it going over a roof... not as strong as std stuff. can go brittle quicker too so put it in shade if pos...

enjoy the HD goodness... planet earth rules in HD.. and next year you will have motoGP and F1 in HD...

 

[paulm]

I've got sky+ at the moment,its in the main room.
But i want to try freesat too.I've just had a look at the Sky LNB
and it looks like a quad with four connections?
Two used and two spare,does anyone know if these spare can be used as feeds for two freesat boxes?
Also are the five main terestial channels on freesat?
Thanks.

Quite interested in this as I've got rubbish terrestial tv signal and pictures in our dining room, nothing I do with the loft arial, amplifiers etc seems to help, and have tried a freeview box which gets no signal either, so was trying to figure if I could use the sky+ box or dish somehow (box is next door in the lounge and dish is nearby on the external wall so could drill and run cable easily from either/both).

Bit confused about the terminology used though (LNB freesat etc :roll: )and whether I would need another box of some sort in the dining room or whether the freeview box is of any use ?

Cheers, Paul

 

[Deejay]

Morning all

Andy, have a look at

http://www.freesat.co.uk/index.php?page=Home

I'm thinking about Freesat for their HD programmes.

The terrestial signals at my place are so poor that I bought a FreeSky box.

Does anybody know if the dish which feeds it can be plugged directly into a Freesat box without realigning it?

Cheers

Dave

 

[andycktm]

Deejay,
From what i can see Sky and freesat are on the same satellite,so
depending what box you've got determines what programmes you get.
But i think you must turn the power off to the box before you disconnect
the sat cable and turn on after reconnecting the cable again(freesat box) or it can blow the box.
And of course you must get an HD freesat box to receive HD.
You need a spare feed from the lnb for every new box(maybe yo_chuci can explain the detail's a bit better)

 

[paulm]

Have been to Maplins today and ran a new cable from the sky dish onto the dining room, just need to pick up a freesat box tomorrow........

Cheers, Paul

 

[andycktm]

Great Paul! What box you getting, if your thinking Humax HD Foxsat think comet
Or you getting a PVR version?

 

[yo_chuci]

ask any questions and ye shall receive answers.

sky and freesat are on the same bunch of satellites. so same dish etc.
in truth there are about 4 satellites in the sky at 28.2deg east which are aimed at the uk for uk satellite tv. after a shift around of channels 1satellite carries the freesat stuff (the 1 with the smallest footprint over uk so its much harder to get freesat outside of uk) the others carry the rest of sky's stuff plus other stuff.

the PVR type boxes (personnel video recorder eg sky+) need 2 feeds from the dish IF you wish to record 1 channel while watching or recording another.
the sky boxes let you record 2 together AND watch something that is already recorded or being recorded. don't know about the freesat hd pvr but i would guess it would do the same. you can run the boxes off 1 cable from the dish (freesat again unsure but the tech is the same so its a good guess) BUT you will not be able to record 2 channels or watch 1 and record 1 together, each action requires a feed.

the only freesat boxes worth getting are the humax hd or the pvr one...
the humax 1 can be setup so you pickup ALL the free to air (FTA) satellite channels not just the ones that pay to be on freesats EPG (guide) tho cos they aint on the EPG you have to look online to findout whats on and where...
can supply links if peeps are interested in that...

 

[newt]

Paul let us know how it goes.

 

[paulm]

Hi Guys,

I'm lost again with the terminology on the boxes :roll:

I'm not really interested in future proofing at the moment for High Definition (our tellies would need upgrading for that as well and that makes it too big and expensive a project for the moment), and we record on the Sky+ box in the lounge, so all I really want to do in the dining room is get a decent picture quality for the terrestial channels (they are rubbish at the moment and I'm fed up messing about with the arials in the loft trying to get decent pics) and a few extra channels and ideally radio channels to increase choice.

The telly in the dining room is just an old small one that gets used to watch while cooking in the kitchen (kitchen/dining arrangement), or as an emergency if the women in the house insist on watching something I can't stand on the main telly :lol:

So I guess based on that I just need a plain vanilla freestat box from Curry's or Argos ?

All help/advice gratefully received :-k

Cheers, Paul

 

[RogerS]

Hi Guys,

I'm lost again with the terminology on the boxes :roll:

I'm not really interested in future proofing at the moment for High Definition (our tellies would need upgrading for that as well and that makes it too big and expensive a project for the moment), and we record on the Sky+ box in the lounge, so all I really want to do in the dining room is get a decent picture quality for the terrestial channels (they are rubbish at the moment and I'm fed up messing about with the arials in the loft trying to get decent pics) and a few extra channels and ideally radio channels to increase choice.

The telly in the dining room is just an old small one that gets used to watch while cooking in the kitchen (kitchen/dining arrangement), or as an emergency if the women in the house insist on watching something I can't stand on the main telly :lol:

So I guess based on that I just need a plain vanilla freestat box from Curry's or Argos ?

All help/advice gratefully received :-k

Cheers, Paul

Paul ...if you are having trouble with analogue TV signals at the moment then I think you're on a hiding to nothing if you want to get terrestrial FreeSat at the moment (at least until after the switchover for your area when the digital transmitters will go on full-power).

I can't comment on satellite stuff as haven't got it nor interested in it. But I have found out that for terrestrial digital signals you definitely need a proper (ideally new) downlead (the bit from aerial to the TV) that is capable of digital signals and then maybe a correct (for your transmitter frequencies) aerial mounted externally.

Which is your local transmitter? Do you know or give us your postcode (pm it if it's going to pinpoint where the mansion is :wink: ) as there are several sites that detail coverage.

Cheers

Roger

PS Bit confused on re-reading your posts as it seems you may be going down the satellite route instead?

 

[andycktm]

Think you've got it covered Paul,Maplin do them with usb2 connection for recording but you need an external hard drive.
But i would of thought any SD box will do!
Just remember to connect dish feed before you turn the box on

 

[paulm]

Okay, all sorted

Nice and easy, popped out to Argos and picked up a freesat box from them, just the Standard Definition (SD) for £48 rather than a High Definition (HD) or recording type.

Got home and plugged it in to the new cable I ran from the dish yesterday, connected to the TV and after tuning in all the channels for a half hour or so, now up and working and crystal clear

Hadn't even heard of freesat till I saw this thread, works great and all sorted for £15 of cable and £48 for the box

Thanks, Paul

 

[llangatwgnedd]

Got one on my sited caravan.
Dish £20 from ebay, receiver£20 from maplins (Free to air)




As shown, doesn't need to be high up to receive a signal, and much cheaper than having a aerial installed.

 

[llangatwgnedd]

Anyone thinking of going the HD route with Freesat, get the Humax HD+ box, well worth it.

Records in SD as well as HD.

 

[Deejay]

Thanks Andy. Good idea to down power before you do anything.

Yo, you said ...

'the humax 1 can be setup so you pickup ALL the free to air (FTA) satellite channels not just the ones that pay to be on freesats EPG (guide) tho cos they aint on the EPG you have to look online to findout whats on and where...
can supply links if peeps are interested in that...'

A link would be useful.

Cheers

Dave

 

[yo_chuci]

have found a couple...

digital spy

not in freesat list but worth a look

how to access non freesat mode

 

[Deejay]

Thanks Yo

Dave