I want to be able to cheaply watch all the regular TV channels by satellite, including 4 and 5, so I think I need an old sky box and then get a card for about £25 to allow Ch. 4 and Ch. 5 to be decoded. I presume a Sky + box includes a hard drive for recording too.
To watch one channel and record another I think I will need a double LNB but a single LNB will do just to record the one channel. Presumably a phone connection is not needed as I'd not be a sky subscriber.
HD is of no interest whatsoever and I plan an eBay purchase.
Have I understood correctly?
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>> I presume a Sky + box includes a hard drive for recording too.
Yes, but IIRC, you have to pay Sky £10 a month to be able to use the recording facility, pause live TV etc, otherwise it'll only work as a Sky box. If however you're a Sky customer / subscriber, then the £10 cost doesn't apply.
Last edited by: VxFan on Fri 9 Jul 10 at 18:51
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As VxFan says, you need to pay Sky to have the ability to record programmes etc. Otherwise it behaves as a basic Sky box.
And you also do need two LNB connection for it to work properly. Not difficult to swap an LNB and fit a new cable.
I have a Sky+ HD box (without an HD package) and it was free with £30 fitting. I only get 4 packages so pay a total of £21/month. And for this I also get BBC HD and ITV HD. So it's £11 more than getting a second hand Sky+ box working as a PVR.
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Thanks - Now for Plan B. I've lost interest in recording and as it won't be in UK and I want cheap there will be no subscription.
In essence: I have a satellite receiver that does not get Ch 4 - it needs to be unscrambled, so I think the only way to get it is via a Sky box and £20/£25 card.
Is this right ?
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Re-think. I always thought Freesat did not have Ch. 4 but a quick google tells me it does. Strange as I can't get my own box to find it.
Maybe someone can show me the light, please.
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If you want it to primarlly record Free to Air channels and are not bothered about HD why not get a freeview PVR - no monthly fee for a record function, and Rupert Murdoch is £10 a month worse off :-)
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>> why not get a freeview PVR
He says it won't be in the UK - hence satellite and not terrestrial.
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>>Maybe someone can show me the light, please
I think you're mixing up Ch4 and Ch4 HD
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"I think you're mixing up Ch4 and Ch4 HD"
Regrettably not.
A good few years ago (four or maybe five years) Ch 4 was not available on free to air satellite, then a couple of years ago they started hush-hush test transmissions which we picked up in France just fine.
A little more recently Ch 4 became available on freesat and since then we can't get it on our old cheapo satellite box. I've tuned and tuned and box says NO! Living without the News at 7pm UK, 8pm France is not easy. But if I take our UK Sky box to France, which I do sometimes but it's a pain, Ch. 4 and all the rest are all there.
So it may be that my cheapo box just cannot tune in to it.
That's why I first thought we needed a card in a non-subscribing sky box to receive it.
Still with me ?
But a quick google now tells me Ch. 4 can be received on a freesat box with no card, so it's not encrypted.
Maybe I just need a new receiver box.
The reference to recording was a distraction - I don't really need it, but if I was to get a another sky box it seemed worth it as there are plenty available at similar prices.
I think a new box will solve my problem.
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You can obtain a new Pace Sky box from here: tinyurl.com/378hxm9 for £99.85.
Unfortunately, they seem to be out of stock at the moment. You will need to obtain a Freesat From Sky card separately. With a Sky card you will get Fiver, Five US and Sky 3, which you won't get on a normal Freesat box.
The Pace box is one of the best, particularly if you intend to use it in France.
Last edited by: Robbie34 on Sun 11 Jul 10 at 11:26
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Channel 4, E4 and E4+, amongst others, are readily available on Freesat, but not in HD.
Freeview's current HD channels are BBC, ITV1 and Channel 4 (found on channels 50, 51 and 52 respectively); however you will need a TV or set top box with a Freeview SD/HD tuner to receive them, otherwise it's only in SD.
Freesat channels:
freesat.co.uk/index.php?page=whatson.Main
Freeview channels:
freeview.co.uk/freeview/Channels
Sky FreeToAir channels;
www.sky.com/shop/tv/free-to-air-channels/
Last edited by: Stuartli on Sun 11 Jul 10 at 15:48
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That confirms it - Ch.4 etc is available free on satellite but my cheapo box can't tune in to find it. It's time for a new box. But I'm not sure I want to spend £100 though.
Thank all.
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It seems to me TV technology and broadcast arrangements are moving so quickly at the moment, buying any equipment is a risk.
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Nope, now is the time to buy. All standards are settled for a good number of years. The equipment is now available to cover your bases.
Last edited by: Zero on Sun 11 Jul 10 at 21:27
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...Nope, now is the time to buy. All standards are settled...
Really?
Let's look at a telly.
It could contain a various combinations of the following:
Freeview, Freeview HD, Freesat, Freesat HD, a PVR, plasma, LCD, LED, and some sort of internet/iPlayer connectivity.
And those are just the headline features.
You call that settled?
Not to mention the shifting sands of what is being broadcast where.
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>>>And those are just the headline features.
You call that settled?
Not to mention the shifting sands of what is being broadcast where.<<<
You said it yourself! Those are just features not standards! Pay more money, get more features - your choice.
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...those are just features not standards!...
I would say my list is a mixture of features and standards, but whatever you call them, it's a very confusing market.
And did I mention 3D?
Did I read somewhere there are two or three standards of that?
Time was when all you had to choose was your screen size and manufacturer.
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Before you shell out on a new satellite receiver, have a look at the following site:
www.lyngsat.com/28east.html
and see if your existing box will tune to 10714 H with symbol rate 22000 and FEC 5/6
While there are plenty of cheap generic satellite receivers about - they appear in Lidl and Aldi frequently enough for £50 or less (Silvercrest SL65 or similar), there is the problem that you get no EPG, which can be useful to see what's coming up, and any movement of "stations" means you have to retune and then work out where it has gone to.
Then there is the business of picking your list of "favourites" out of the huge number of virtually identical stations (regional and national BBC 1 and 2, regional ITV, regional channel4...etc) rather than having them nicely ordered...
A basic Freesat receiver is probably worth the extra (if it actually costs anymore) if you are going to have to spend.
www.joinfreesat.co.uk/index.php/digital-boxes/grundig-gufsat02sd
is £49 from Comet
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>>
>> It could contain a various combinations of the following:
>>
>> Freeview, Freeview HD, Freesat, Freesat HD, a PVR, plasma, LCD, LED, and some sort of
>> internet/iPlayer connectivity.
Then there's LED backlit sets versus proper OLED displays :-/
The only TV I've seen in the last 13 weeks is 'Family Guy' dubbed into German with Swedish subtlitles. I can honestly say I haven't missed TV at all.
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Thats all consumer choices, not standards.
For the first time we have standards to buy kit to meet. Freeview or Freesat HD tuners, Blue Ray DVDs, and internet connectivity for view again services.
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All sorts of kit was designed & built to the Freeview standard, plenty fell over post DSO. Humax 9200T being a current example.
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>> All sorts of kit was designed & built to the Freeview standard, plenty fell over
>> post DSO. Humax 9200T being a current example.
The recent OTA for the Humax 9200 has fixed all of the problems.
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A Humax product is still one of the most outstanding and reliable in its particular field; the FOX-T2 Freeview STB, for instance, is still regarded as the benchmark in this area some six years after it was first launched.
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Are you sure that the T2 has been around for 6 years ?
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>> Are you sure that the T2 has been around for 6 years ?>>
100 per cent certain - it's the Freeview F2 FOX-T STB I'm talking about to give it the correct model number.
My best mate sold dozens of them in his independent audio/visual/appliances outlet, plus the other Humax products.
See:
www.stevelarkins.freeuk.com/humax_f2foxt.htm
Also this comment from one website from more than 100 in all:
"David Ashling, on September 27th, 2004
"This Set Top Box has been possibly one of the best i've ever used. Everything has been thought out carefully. Great Tuner Inside, Extremely Swish and modern Casing with LED Display, The Remote is great, and the Guides and Menus are really easy to navigate. The Box Separates TV and Radio Channels, and provides you with a wealth of information. The inclusion of a Serial cable and easy to use Humax Software update software makes this box one of the easiest to update off the Internet. I couldn't Fault This Box at all. 10/10!"
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>>> Are you sure that the T2 has been around for 6 years ?>>
>>
>>100 per cent certain - it's the Freeview F2 FOX-T STB I'm talking about to give it the correct model number.
Not actually the T2 then?
Never mind, it was close.
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>> A Humax product is still one of the most outstanding and reliable in its particular
>> field; the FOX-T2 Freeview STB, for instance, is still regarded as the benchmark in this
>> area some six years after it was first launched.
>>
I agree, Humax have been the default PVR recommendation on many forums for yonks, the point I should've made is that even Humax were caught out by the post DSO broadcast format.
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>> >> All sorts of kit was designed & built to the Freeview standard, plenty fell
>> over
>> >> post DSO. Humax 9200T being a current example.
>>
>>
>> The recent OTA for the Humax 9200 has fixed all of the problems.
>>
True, but it took months to sort out, not terribly impressive i've you're putting up with a remote control with a response time in minutes, and the various other peculiarities caused.
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but it wasnt unuseable. The slow remote response ( a second or two) was annoying but once known not a show stopper. I never had any other problems (except multiple channels after DSO - easily sorted once figured out)
Oh And i had to reseat the eide cable.
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Z
Nobody seemed to understand my post above, and I doubt whether they will understand yours.
To the average punter, standards, features, services, products.... are indistinguishable.
Last edited by: pmh on Mon 12 Jul 10 at 20:12
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My recently acquired Panasonic TXC-P42G20B will serve me well for quite a number of years to come....
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...Nobody seemed to understand my post above, and I doubt whether they will understand yours...To the average punter, standards, features, services, products.... are indistinguishable...
That's because we are all stupid.
But, frustrating as it might be to you higher beings, we are allowed out on our own to visit shops.
To me, the vast number of choices involved in buying a television is off-putting.
This fact remains now matter you define features, benefits, standards, products etc etc.
Last edited by: ifithelps on Tue 13 Jul 10 at 03:12
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clearly you shouldnt be allowed out to buy a car either then. They are not all ugly with blue script on the badge you know. ;)
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...They are not all ugly with blue script on the badge you know. ;)
I've seen the light - I'm off to part-exchange it for an anonymous secondhand Japanese estate car.
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We are in SW France and have a perfectly standard digital satellite receiver, price - even in France - about 35 euros. It is aimed at the Astra 28.2 east satellite and gets all BBC, all ITV, 4, More 4, E4, Film Four, 5 and lots more. No HD of course. In fact, we rarely use it for anything other than BBC radio 3 and 4 when we are indoors during the winter.
I reckon Rupert Murdoch has been lifting a leg over the British for far too long.
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...in blue?...
I might have to settle for that, because I don't suppose you can get such a boring car in such an exciting colour as mine - Blue di Cina.
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Sky + Box - Second-hand - VxFan
