Free to Air/200 channels?

mumof2

Does anyone know about the box you can buy with around 200 channels and costs round Euro 400, but has no monthly subscriptions attached to it??
Is it worth it, I really could not afford SKY or CHORUS, but would like something for the winter months which is about 9 months of the year!!:D
Thanks

watty

if you are talking about cable or MMDS, it's theft & illegal. There is no FTA on Cable.

If you are talking about Satellite then Free To Air Channels are free and a system is around €200. You only subscribe to pay TV, and only a Sky receiver and card works for Sky on Satellite. There might be 300+ Free channels on one Satellite, including radio. If you point at a satellite which has not BBC & ITV, maybe 800, but not much english.

28.2, where Sky comes from has about 40 watchable free channels including all BBC & ITV and about 20 decent radio channels out of the 300+.

On a motorised dish you can get about 3,500 TV and 2000 Radio free, but most are junk or not English. Some nice gems.

Carpenter

Hi
I have a FTA dish and cannot get rte bbc c4 but i can get bbc news can you help me pls

ZygOte

Carpenter wrote: »

Hi
I have a FTA dish and cannot get rte bbc c4 but i can get bbc news can you help me pls

these are not FTA channels simple as that, afaik, you need to pay a subscription for them.

Carpenter

ooooooooooooo:mad:
So what is the best sat to point the dish at for free English speaking
And what can i get
Its an lidl dish yoke thingy

stanley1

Carpenter wrote: »

ooooooooooooo:mad:
So what is the best sat to point the dish at for free English speaking
And what can i get
Its an lidl dish yoke thingy

Go to www.lyngsat.com and have a look at Astra 28.2E

mumof2

Didn't understand much of the above, but i think i should get a dish (of some sort:D) and point it at 28.2 (however I do that I have no idea!!:o), so this is a job obviousely for a tech wiz from my local electrical store who deals with satellite stuff...........

(get the feeling im getting nowhere fast..................:D

byte

Astra 28.2 will get you all BBC channels, all ITV channels, Sky News, Film4, True Movies, Bubble Hits, etc

However, it won't be any good for RTÉ, TV3, TG4, Ch4, etc.

mumof2

Ok, so Astra 28.2 is the name of a dish i take it........does it also get any kids channels?? Where is a good place to buy one, and what should it cost to include installation?? Can it be used at the same time as the normal RTE ariel, and what about a box, does it come with a box of somesort?? Sorry for all the questions, want to get it right before spending any kind of money that I dont have:o
Thanks

highlydebased

Yes it does get some kids channels....cbbc and ceebies etc

You should be able to get dish/lnb/sufficient cable and a reciever box for over 100euro

mumof2

Neon-Circles wrote: »

Yes it does get some kids channels....cbbc and ceebies etc

You should be able to get dish/lnb/sufficient cable and a reciever box for over 100euro

would Maplins in Cork be my best bet or Corksat.ie/com?? Thanks so much for all yer help!! I might get this done before christmas yet!!:D Do maplins have an irish website, does anyone know, or is it only the co.uk one?? cheers

byte

Maplin have no Irish site AFAIK.

Yeah, you could try Maplin alright if a shop is nearby. Corksat.com is down for maintenance atm?

Also try Freesat.ie they've a FTA system for 99EUR.

Kids channels include CBeebies, CBBC, CITV, Tiny Pop

Lossy

mumof2 wrote: »

Ok, so Astra 28.2 is the name of a dish i take it........does it also get any kids channels?? Where is a good place to buy one, and what should it cost to include installation?? Can it be used at the same time as the normal RTE ariel, and what about a box, does it come with a box of somesort?? Sorry for all the questions, want to get it right before spending any kind of money that I dont have:o
Thanks

"Astra 28.2" is the name and position of the satellite in space.

One other option for purchasing is waiting until the next time Lidl have their satellite kit (€80) in stores. They have sold it twice in the last couple of months.

If you do your homework its possible to install the system yourself. The hardest job for me was tackling a ladder. I dont like heights.

A satellite system comes with a set top box that you connect to your scart socket on your tv and your RTE aerial can still still be used along with it (you just have to switch between scart and the internal tuner to get one or the other).

btw, my 4 year old loves "Tiny Pop"

blue banana

Why not subscribe to Sky for a year for a basic package, it won't cost €400, Sky will do the installing, so hassle free if you don't want the bother. You will be able to watch free channels when you cancel your sub after 12 months. This does not include CH4 at the moment, or any of the Irish channels.

Kotek Besar

blue banana wrote: »

Why not subscribe to Sky for a year for a basic package, it won't cost €400, Sky will do the installing, so hassle free if you don't want the bother..

My thoughts exactly. €20 a month would get you 1 mix plus all the Irish channels, FTA satellite channels, plus Channel 4.

€20 per month x 12 = €240 + €45 installation = €285 for the year. Much less than your €400 budget and I'd say has what you want plus is hassle free as far as self installing goes. And as blue banana said, after a year you can stop subscribing to Sky and continue to watch FTA channels without paying a penny.

https://survey.sky.com/order/Default.asp

Heads up though, currently, installation is at €45 which is full price. Sometimes Sky have half price or free installation offers.

mumof2

Lossy wrote: »

"Astra 28.2" is the name and position of the satellite in space.

One other option for purchasing is waiting until the next time Lidl have their satellite kit (€80) in stores. They have sold it twice in the last couple of months.

If you do your homework its possible to install the system yourself. The hardest job for me was tackling a ladder. I dont like heights.

A satellite system comes with a set top box that you connect to your scart socket on your tv and your RTE aerial can still still be used along with it (you just have to switch between scart and the internal tuner to get one or the other).

btw, my 4 year old loves "Tiny Pop"

Ha ha, have tuned in many TV's for people that cant do it, but a Satellite System?? :rolleyes: Anyway, will see if LIDL come up with one soon.

BTW, I live in a rental house, (which is no problem yer thinking just bring it all with me when i leave), but thats not the question!! Im wondering can I use the SKY dish thats here already, and yes I have my own box which I brought here too, don't have a card cause I gave up on Sky years ago, but what can I do with what I have? Or would I be better off with a new system (box is old - its a Panasonic)? I did get free channels on this box when the Ariel guy came up and set up the TV for me (booster had gone missing), and got him to connect my sky box for me, it was going grand, then gave up on me for some reason..............

(BTW - sorry thread is so long).......im a rambler:D

John R

mumof2 wrote: »

Ha ha, have tuned in many TV's for people that cant do it, but a Satellite System?? :rolleyes: Anyway, will see if LIDL come up with one soon.

BTW, I live in a rental house, (which is no problem yer thinking just bring it all with me when i leave), but thats not the question!! Im wondering can I use the SKY dish thats here already, and yes I have my own box which I brought here too, don't have a card cause I gave up on Sky years ago, but what can I do with what I have? Or would I be better off with a new system (box is old - its a Panasonic)? I did get free channels on this box when the Ariel guy came up and set up the TV for me (booster had gone missing), and got him to connect my sky box for me, it was going grand, then gave up on me for some reason..............

(BTW - sorry thread is so long).......im a rambler:D

So you have a dish, cable run and reciever already but it has stopped working?

If that is correct you should be able to get a working system again for less than €100, don't go buying more equipment until you find out what you have already.

An old Panasonic Sky Digital box is perfect for FTA use as long as it is working.

What happens when you try to use it?

Either the system isn't connected properly or there is a problem with part of it which would most likely be either;

the dish is mis-aligned, the reciever box broken, the LNB (part on the arm of the sat dish) broken or the cable has been damaged.

Kotek Besar

mumof2, maybe the easiest thing for you to do would be to call Sky and request a second hand (or second year) contract. For €20 a month you could have all the Irish channels plus 1 mix of your choice. Without subscription you can still get FTA, but remember no Irish channels.

mumof2

John R wrote: »

So you have a dish, cable run and reciever already but it has stopped working?

If that is correct you should be able to get a working system again for less than €100, don't go buying more equipment until you find out what you have already.

An old Panasonic Sky Digital box is perfect for FTA use as long as it is working.

What happens when you try to use it?

Either the system isn't connected properly or there is a problem with part of it which would most likely be either;

the dish is mis-aligned, the reciever box broken, the LNB (part on the arm of the sat dish) broken or the cable has been damaged.

I think whats happened is that SKY realised ive no card at all, and cut off the free channels, the only thing i get is " no further scheduled information available" and "searching for programme listings" but it stays at that point.

Am i right about thinking SKY just cut me off? Would I be able to get a fta card from them if i rang up?

byte

Have you tried unplugging the box from the mains power for a few minutes, and plugging it back in again? If you've an old subscription card in the box, remove it.

Sky wouldn't have just cut you off. They have no control over FTA channels, and no card exists to unlock what is already FTA (not to be confused with FTV, where channels are free to watch, but not until you obtain a card for unscrambling them).

mumof2

byte wrote: »

Have you tried unplugging the box from the mains power for a few minutes, and plugging it back in again? If you've an old subscription card in the box, remove it.

Sky wouldn't have just cut you off. They have no control over FTA channels, and no card exists to unlock what is already FTA (not to be confused with FTV, where channels are free to watch, but not until you obtain a card for unscrambling them).

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS, ive tried that (thought id done that before and it didn't respond at the time:o:o), and now ive got a handful of channels, not great, but will check tomoro to see if anything good for young kids, otherwise will still have to check out other option.

Thanks so much, your all great!!!!!!!!!!:D

mumof2

And BTW, FTV channels, are these extra on top of the FTA channels if I had a card (which i don't at all unfortunately)........there isn't a great selection right now.....TV3 is better that all the stuff i just got!!! Thanks again.

Kotek Besar

There are no FTV channels in Ireland. That's a UK thing. Don't confuse things even more.

mumof2

benifa wrote: »

There are no FTV channels in Ireland. That's a UK thing. Don't confuse things even more.

Haha!! Thanks.........:D Im not blond btw, just dark blond!!:D