To get SKY/Freesat or not??????

Kashkai

We've been using the (not so) good indoor ariel for the past year and are fed up with it now and we're thinking about getting satellite installed. However, we are torn between SKY (I want HD) and Freesat. The wife doesn't think SKY is worth the money with a load of muck that we won't watch but on the other hand, she wants the national stations which are not available on freesat.

With the advent of DTT next year, will this make Freesat a waste of money as we'll have to get a set top box as well to view RTE and the like and thus we'll have the national stations in digital format.

If we went the SKY route, will we be paying for something that will be free and in digital next year.

Advice please as we are going round in circles on this one.

pa990

if u get sky.. It'll be a 12month contract.
You can reaccess your options then,

biologikal

Depends on what you want: RTE's, BBC's/ITV's/CH4's, Sky Sports, Eurosport, ... Whether you want HD or SD, or can "endure" analogue for another 5+ years, and/or if your TV/LCD/Plasma is going to look bad with analogue.

Personally, I wouldn't dive into DTT for another few years, but then the cheapest package with Boxer might be just up your street - have a look at the terrestrial forum for more details.

Regardless, you'll probably need to think about getting a good ariel put up in your loft or outside, whether you go the analogue (for now) or DTT route (or don't want to buy Sky).

Vic Vinegar

Prosperous Dave wrote: »

We've been using the (not so) good indoor ariel for the past year and are fed up with it now and we're thinking about getting satellite installed. However, we are torn between SKY (I want HD) and Freesat. The wife doesn't think SKY is worth the money with a load of muck that we won't watch but on the other hand, she wants the national stations which are not available on freesat.

With the advent of DTT next year, will this make Freesat a waste of money as we'll have to get a set top box as well to view RTE and the like and thus we'll have the national stations in digital format.

If we went the SKY route, will we be paying for something that will be free and in digital next year.

Advice please as we are going round in circles on this one.

If you're going to watch sports/movies i heartily recommend getting sky HD! I got it last week and i'm super impressed with the pic quality (on 42in plasma!)

watty

Freesat + free RTE DTT.
Freesat is best value for 45+ decent UK TV
Free Irish DTT only has the Main Irish channels free, which are subscription only on Sky.

Luxe, BBC, ITV and C4 have or will have free HD on Freeview. Requires HDTV and HD setbox.

Unless you want Discovery, Sky Sports etc... then you need Sky.

jaggiebunnet

Watty - how long do you think it will be before RTE DTT is rolled out through the country realistically - are we talking months, years?

Kashkai

So will I need a dish for freesat/SKY and a separate ariel for DTT or will this also be broadcast via satellite?

When we built the house, we had satellite standard cable installed in 3 rooms with the cables terminated in the attic awaiting the installation of SKY etc. Can these cables be used to connect to an ariel in the attic so we won't have an ugly lump of wire hanging off the outside of the house? And secondly, if we use these cables for the ariel, will we need to put in spearate cables if we go for the satellite at some point or could we disconnect them from the ariel and route them to the dish?

biologikal

Prosperous Dave wrote: »

So will I need a dish for freesat/SKY and a separate ariel for DTT or will this also be broadcast via satellite?

DTT is only transmitted via terristrial masts, like analogue currently is.

Eventually, you will have to get RTEs/TG4/TV3 via a digital medium, either via DTT, or subscribe to Sky (though this is further complicated by talk of some RTE channels going FTA on satellite).

For Freesat or Sky (or indeed FTA), you will need a dish.

Prosperous Dave wrote: »

When we built the house, we had satellite standard cable installed in 3 rooms with the cables terminated in the attic awaiting the installation of SKY etc. Can these cables be used to connect to an ariel in the attic so we won't have an ugly lump of wire hanging off the outside of the house?

Yes. Though signal quality may be attenuated by your roof tiles and any insulation (Kingspan-type materials) you may have installed, so this and how you're located to your nearest mast, will determine whether you will need a big ariel, whether it needs to be amplified, or ultimately placed outside. So many variables and options!

Prosperous Dave wrote: »

And secondly, if we use these cables for the ariel, will we need to put in spearate cables if we go for the satellite at some point or could we disconnect them from the ariel and route them to the dish?

Not necessarily. You could route the cable(s) from the satellite dish to your attic, and use a combiner(s) in the attic to combine the frequencies from the dish with the signal coming from the ariel, attach the combiner(s) to one cable (already in place) to each of your 3 rooms, then use a splitter(s) in the room that directs the correct frequencies to your DTT box/tuner and satellite box.

But you really need to decide what you want to watch and whether you want to subscribe to pay TV, because the only thing (nearly) certain is that you want the Irish channels. If you're not interested in Sky Sports in particular, then the €10/month for the most basic DTT might suit you. On the other hand, if you want HD, satellite (either Freesat or Sky) is the only way to go). Free DTT will only give you maybe 5 or 6 free channels. DTT is in a bit of flux at the moment, and no one knows for sure how it will transpire.

Kashkai

Thanks for all that info Bio.

If it were up to me, it would be SKY HD to go with my new 46inch full HD tv but the wife has a thing about paying to watch RTE and the like when we already pay our licence fee - she has a point there I'll admit but thats another argument.

Interesting that we can use the existing cables for the ariel and for satellite with the use of the gizmos you mentioned. Must look into that as it would be the best halway option, i.e. freesat for me and the national stations for her.

David

slegs

Prosperous Dave wrote: »

Thanks for all that info Bio.

If it were up to me, it would be SKY HD to go with my new 46inch full HD tv but the wife has a thing about paying to watch RTE and the like when we already pay our licence fee - she has a point there I'll admit but thats another argument.

Interesting that we can use the existing cables for the ariel and for satellite with the use of the gizmos you mentioned. Must look into that as it would be the best halway option, i.e. freesat for me and the national stations for her.

David

Go for Freesat HD and a suitable UHF aerial to pick up RTE DTT test transmissions from Clermont Cairn. No subscription, EPG, digital tV and BBC/ITV HD. For maybe 300 EUR investment you have a top notch setup with maybe 80% of the channels you would ever watch anyway.

If you have lived without Sky Sports and Movies up to now then dont bother. Its not worth the money. Rent a DVD or go to the pub to watch a match.

Limeup with no subscription Freesat HD/Irish DTT

RTE 1
RTE 2
TV3
TG4
BBC1,2,3,4
ITV1,2,3,4
BBCHD
ITVHD
Channel 4
E4
More4,
Film4,
BBC News,
5 Kids channels
5 Music Channels
Zone Channels
+more

Channel 5 channels and more HD channels to come including Channel 4 HD with lots of American HD content.

Kashkai

Thanks for that. Don't suppose you could pm the details of someone who woul dbe able to supply and install that gear you mentioned.

IrishOnion

Slegs,
Could you post more details on the kit needed ?

I'm getting a new Panasonic plasma (with freesat) in the next couple of weeks. Currently have NTL. To get the HD feed from Freesat, I think I just need to put up some kind of dish - is that right ?

Thanks for the help.

Onion.

Tony

you need a 60cm dish and good quality cable to your tv

IrishOnion wrote: »

Slegs,
Could you post more details on the kit needed ?

I'm getting a new Panasonic plasma (with freesat) in the next couple of weeks. Currently have NTL. To get the HD feed from Freesat, I think I just need to put up some kind of dish - is that right ?

Thanks for the help.

Onion.

slegs

IrishOnion wrote: »

Slegs,
Could you post more details on the kit needed ?

I'm getting a new Panasonic plasma (with freesat) in the next couple of weeks. Currently have NTL. To get the HD feed from Freesat, I think I just need to put up some kind of dish - is that right ?

Thanks for the help.

Onion.

Yes, as Tony says

For satellite
- Freesat HD box (Humax is best). In your case the Panasonic TV has the Freesat HD tuner built in
- a standard mid size dish
- universal LNB
- decent satellite grade cable

For DTT you will need
- a suitable UHF aerial (wideband will cover all possibilities)
- possibly a powered masthead amplifier
- the satellite grade cable will be fine here also

Any experienced satellite/aerial installer can supply and install most of this kit. Freesat boxes are available from many Irish web retailers and satellite stores in the UK.

Mark#1

If the TV you're getting is a Panasonic PZ81, you will only need the dish and cable to get Freesat.

I considered one of the PZ81s, but will more likely get a PZ80 for a few reasons:

1. ATH-46PZ81 is in the region of £300 (€380-ish) dearer than a TH-46PZ80, if you're shopping in the UK.

2. Sky+ now costs €50 for the box, €50 for installation, and €20 a month for the basic channel package.

3. The only reason to get Freesat instead of (or as well as) Sky+ is for UTV (which isn't on Sky, IIUC?) and to avoid the €20 a month. The €380 saved on the PZ81 would cover Sky+ for 19 months.

I've already bought the Lidl Freesat package, but am now considering getting Sky+ cos it's so cheap. They'd align the dish on installation, and I could then feed my Freesat set-top box from the same dish (with an extra LNB) so I'd get both.

I thought the free DTT trial was finished, and that it'd be at least another year before the full shebang is rolled out? I also thought that the technology likely to be used for Irish DTT will be different to that used for the UK's DTT equivalent?


Mark

Liam Byrne

Mark#1 wrote: »

3. The only reason to get Freesat instead of (or as well as) Sky+ is for UTV (which isn't on Sky, IIUC?) and to avoid the €20 a month.

UTV is on "Services - Other Channels". Feck-all difference between UTV & TV3 either, really.

OP, I'd be of the same opinion as your wife.....and having gotten in Sky I'm even more convinced; there's regularly SFA on!

So why did I get Sky then ?

1) Had a Freesat box but couldn't relay it to other rooms, so those TVs only had the aerial signal; got the house wired so that the eye (connected to the UHF cable) transmits the signal back to change channel. Unfortunately these eyes only work with Sky.

2) Sky box - at the time - would have been €199 to buy without a subscription, in order to achieve the above. Sky box was free with a contract.

3) €24 x €12 isn't too far off the €199, so I opted to get the channels for the year - extra cost roughly €70, or €5 per month - definitely worth that. But if the content doesn't improve soon then it definitely won't be worth €24 a month and I'll dump it at year-end....

Then I just keep the current setup and use it for the Freesat channels; and all the better if those "talks of RTE going Freesat" come to fruition.

IrishOnion

Thanks for the help folks

Reesy

Hey guys,

I've recently had coax cable installed from a splitter box to 4 points round the house. Any ideas how I can tell if it's satellite quality? As far as I can see, it's just bog standard black coax.

Damn, I wish I had known in advance & made sure the sparky put in the proper cable...

biologikal

Reesy wrote: »

Hey guys,

I've recently had coax cable installed from a splitter box to 4 points round the house. Any ideas how I can tell if it's satellite quality? As far as I can see, it's just bog standard black coax.

Damn, I wish I had known in advance & made sure the sparky put in the proper cable...

You want it to look like this:
http://www.futureautomation.co.uk/new%20pics/ct100.png

Wire braid and metal sheet on the outside of a foam insulator around the inner wire. Anything less, use it to pull the good stuff through.

Reesy

Many thanks Biologikal.

Tony

Reesy wrote: »

Damn, I wish I had known in advance & made sure the sparky put in the proper cable...

Its a common problem, the majority of electricians are clueless when it comes to installing good quality coax cable.