Want Rid of Sky/Recommendations Please

Ginger83

Hi, I want to get rid of my sky bills but am unsure what to get in/done. As far as I know I own the dish now so would anyone be able to recommend one of those free view or free sat boxes that would pick up channels through the dish I have.

I'm not up to speed on whats what in the tv area but would like the bbc's, itv's, and was also told I might need to get an outdoor aerial for the irish channels.

The thing I'm getting hardest to understand is this changing of tv, I read after a certain date a number of channels will be unavailable to view.

Thanks all.

Mossy Monk

Use your Sky box to receive the free channels. That is yours too. An outdoor aerial will be required for RTÉ, TV3 and TG4.

Ginger83

Thanks, never even thought of that.
Do I need to cancel sky so or what?
And can I somehow arrange the channels in the order on the menu I want instead of going through pages to find them?

IrishHomer

You really need to write to sky requesting closure.

A tetter is most effective because if you phone them you will be on hold for a bout a half hour and then they will do everything including offer you cut price offers for a short period to tempt you to keeping your subscription.

I did this last April and i am delighted and saving a fortune.

I also did the upside down card trick which gets me the English EPG. I went to sky news, press red button and wait for the interactive news screen, then take card out of box and then press sky button. Then wait 2 minutes and the english EPG channel list is the default list which gets everything without having ot go the "other channels" route for the BBC3 etc.

Once you have that English EPG leave the card out at all times because if you reinsert the card the irish list will recommence on the box.

You can then make a favourites list like i did which is very convenient. So when you look up your channels you just press favourites or the blue button and your available free channels are easily accessed.

Alternatively if you don't want the hassle buy a freesat box there are alyays some bargains for it popping up on adverts.ie or else Powercity sell cheap sat4free boxes for under €70 and they plug straight in replacementn of the Sky boxes.

cjt156

Ginger83 wrote: »

The thing I'm getting hardest to understand is this changing of tv, I read after a certain date a number of channels will be unavailable to view.

Thanks all.

Analog Terrestrial (what you see with an aerial) is due to be switched off in 2012, but its replacement is going through a lot of teething problems so don't sweat it for a while yet. (lots of info over on the Terrestrial forum)

I've got Sat4Free and an attic aerial (for 4 Irish channels) and I can't recommend it enough.

Barack Obama

cjt156 wrote: »

Analog Terrestrial (what you see with an aerial) is due to be switched off in 2012, but its replacement is going through a lot of teething problems so don't sweat it for a while yet. (lots of info over on the Terrestrial forum)

I've got Sat4Free and an attic aerial (for 4 Irish channels) and I can't recommend it enough.

What ariel did you get and does it work ok in bad weather?

I got an indoor one from Maplin (not a large attic one and no booster) and the results were not good. Had to bring it back.

IrishHomer

I got an outdoor one in Maplin last week.

Salesman told me indoor ones are crap unless yourl located in a strong area for signal.

He also told me no need for an amp or booster unless feeding to more than one tv. Anyway i bought the outdoor one for €40 and its excellent!

Crystal clear on all 4 irish terrestrial channels.

IrishHomer

I got an outdoor one in Maplin last week.

Salesman told me indoor ones are crap unless yourl located in a strong area for signal.

He also told me no need for an amp or booster unless feeding to more than one tv. Anyway i bought the outdoor one for €40 and its excellent!

Crystal clear on all 4 irish terrestrial channels. I also have that working in tangent with the Sky box FTA channels.

Barack Obama

IrishHomer wrote: »

I got an outdoor one in Maplin last week.

Salesman told me indoor ones are crap unless yourl located in a strong area for signal.

He also told me no need for an amp or booster unless feeding to more than one tv. Anyway i bought the outdoor one for €40 and its excellent!

Crystal clear on all 4 irish terrestrial channels. I also have that working in tangent with the Sky box FTA channels.

Any chance you remember which one? Do you have it mounted outside or in the attic like cjt156?

Thanks

IrishHomer

Yes here is the link below:

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=221128

I put mine outside on the same bar that holds my old Sky minidish.

It was on a weekly half price offer almost two weeks ago and salesman said it was going back to full price that Friday.

I also asked him iwas it guaranted to work and he said yes and he said nobody has ever returned or complained about them. Good thing too is they work with the new DTT also.

branners69

I dumped Sky earlier this week. I rang and got through in 10 mins, the guy did offer me discounts on my current sky packages but I stood stayed and cancelled.

I ordered one of these from Richersounds.ie last Friday and I had it installed and all by midday on the Monday! It costs the guts of €300 but I was paying Sky €60 per month so in 5 months it will have paid for itself!

I have been using it since Monday and I cant praise it enough, being able to record BBC HD is great! Freesat for me cover 90% of the channels I would look at so I am delighted!

IrishHomer

branners69 wrote: »

I dumped Sky earlier this week. I rang and got through in 10 mins, the guy did offer me discounts on my current sky packages but I stood stayed and cancelled.

I ordered one of these from Richersounds.ie last Friday and I had it installed and all by midday on the Monday! It costs the guts of €300 but I was paying Sky €60 per month so in 5 months it will have paid for itself!

I have been using it since Monday and I cant praise it enough, being able to record BBC HD is great! Freesat for me cover 90% of the channels I would look at so I am delighted!

I 2nd that too have same.

I have one in my bedroom and its great feeling knowing not paying out hard earned cash every month for something you can have for free after the initial outlay.

Sorry to slightly drift but was amazed i had a quick flick through Eddie hobbs money saving mag for this month and there is 2 pages on digital tv and how to save money. Everything he recommends costs lots of money and he never mentioned any digital tv for free

tap28

just received one those today, from Richersounds (really quick delivery). I had sky+ already, took out the sky+, pluged in the Humax and bob's your uncle.
How many HD channels is there? I only have BBC HD

steveon

ITV HD. Bbc Hd AND luxe HD are the current 3 free HD channels

Itv is only available at certain times, press red when watching itv and the HD channel will load when available.

You will need to search for the other channels in order to receive Luxe HD.

branners69

tap28 wrote: »

How many HD channels is there? I only have BBC HD

There is ITV HD which shows extremely limited programmes, you get into it by pressing the red button when prompted whilst watching ITV. The tv guide is here.

The other HD station is Luxe HD which is only available in the non-freesat mode and basically from what I have seen shows hotels and scenery, it looks impressive just a pity about the content!

Channel 4 is in HD on Sky in the UK and I dont know why it isnt on Freesat in HD?

I also had Sky HD but really never made use of the HD stations, maybe the odd Ross Kemp or Discovery/History programme but already I have made more use out of BBC HD. Jonathan Ross, Dragon's Den and Who Do You Think You Are? are just a couple of programmes. I am hoping they will do a Mad Men re-run in HD soon

cjt156

Barack Obama wrote: »

What ariel did you get and does it work ok in bad weather?

I got an indoor one from Maplin (not a large attic one and no booster) and the results were not good. Had to bring it back.

I got this one - was on special for €50 as opposed to the next smaller one for €49.

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?moduleno=221124

Its HUGE! I put it in the attic and so don't have to worry about wind, I cable-tied it into place at exactly the best angle for reception. TV3 can be a bit grainy at times but who watches TV3?

54kroc

your paying a lot of money for these aeriels you'd save a pile of money going to your local electrical wholesaler

RandomName2

IrishHomer wrote: »

I 2nd that too have same.

I have one in my bedroom and its great feeling knowing not paying out hard earned cash every month for something you can have for free after the initial outlay.

Sorry to slightly drift but was amazed i had a quick flick through Eddie hobbs money saving mag for this month and there is 2 pages on digital tv and how to save money. Everything he recommends costs lots of money and he never mentioned any digital tv for free

Hi. I'm in the unusual position that I have the rouse wired for satellite (renovation) but no dish.

Can I just stick up any old dish and it will work with that box you reccomended... or do I have to get Sky and then cancel after a while...?

Martin_F

yes any 60cm dish should be suitable to receive all the freesat channels. You can pay to have it installed - or it is a do-able diy job. I did my own Quad LNB, 3 room setup - with the HDR box from richersounds. A good machine - very pleased with it so far - although I did have problems with my series recordings while on holidays - they all seemed to stop after a fews days - and have now continued on return.

oh - i got my dish and LNB from satellite.ie - Tony is a regular poster on here. There's a few other too in the stickies - take a look around.

Dermondo

Martin_F wrote: »

yes any 60cm dish should be suitable to receive all the freesat channels. You can pay to have it installed - or it is a do-able diy job. I did my own Quad LNB, 3 room setup - with the HDR box from richersounds. A good machine - very pleased with it so far - although I did have problems with my series recordings while on holidays - they all seemed to stop after a fews days - and have now continued on return.

oh - i got my dish and LNB from satellite.ie - Tony is a regular poster on here. There's a few other too in the stickies - take a look around.

Hi, I currently have a sky box with a uk card to enable me to watch a few extra channels but would like the record facility, so just asking what channels can you get with this box, many thanks in advance.

Martin_F

In freesat mode it gets all the freesat channels

see www.freesat.co.uk

I guess the main ones are :-

bbc 1-4 + hd (+ all the regions)
ITV 1-4 +1's + HD, UTV as well I think
C4, Five E4, More 4, Film 4, +1's etc

in non freesat it will tune all the FTA channels - I'm not sure if/how the recording works in that mode - never tried.

IT Loser

How long do Sky keep customer records?