Free Sat or Free to Air?

Hammer of Thor

Freesat or Free to Air?

dragoo

freesat and free to air is working similarly
I get free to air satellite tv

St Senan

dragoo wrote: »

I get installation of freesat system from www.sdi.ie I recomended him
Thanks

They dont do Freesat its just a free to air system they install that needs to be retuned every few months.
I would also advise people to get a long time well established Aerial/Satellite rigger. Over the last few months there is a lot of guys starting to stick up dishes,

dragoo

Free to air don't have to be retuned every few months lots of channels are stay at the same tp

St Senan

dragoo wrote: »

freesat and free to air is working similarly
I get free to air satellite tv

There is a big differance between the two for Example freesat has a 7 day guide and dont need to be tuned every few months.
And free to air boxes can be bought very cheaply from Eastern Europe and sold and installed here for a profit.
this also the wrong forum to be discussing satellite tv can a mod please move this to the right forum.

dragoo

and I Forget, Hi give me receiver with PVR function (recording function)

St Senan

dragoo wrote: »

Free to air don't have to be retuned every few months lots of channels are stay at the same tp

Yes they do have to be retuned I sell and install Satellite systems and TV Aerials.
All free to air boxes need to be retuned constantly because channels move to differant Transponders and frequencies.
Any installer thats long term in the business will say the same as i do.

St Senan

dragoo wrote: »

and I Forget, Hi give me receiver with PVR function (recording function)

Freesat Humax FOXSAT HDR would better than a basic free to air box that can record to USB stick

dragoo

You can bought freesat boxes for the same price like free to air receivers

St Senan

dragoo wrote: »

You can bought freesat boxes for the same price like free to air receivers

You get what you pay for and people nowadays want something that will last and be user friendly not something that needs to be retuned and have a USB stick in it to record programmes.
As i said before free to air boxes can be bought very cheap from eastern Europe and sold here at a big profit

dragoo

But if You wana get installation of freesat is more expensive to free to air that why lots of people choice free to air boxes

Moved from Wexford Forum

St Senan

dragoo wrote: »

But if You wana get installation of freesat is more expensive to free to air that why lots of people choice free to air boxes

You seem to Know a fair bit about satellite tv so you would know that a Technomate would be more reliable than an Opticom/Globo receiver. By the way your English punctuation and spelling is not very good do you own www.sdi.ie {owner is eastern European}

dragoo

tell me what is the different betwen those receivers(technomate, triax and televivs) and opticum/globo

St Senan

dragoo wrote: »

tell me what is the different betwen those receivers(technomate, triax and televivs) and opticum/globo

The first 3 are been sold and installed here for a long time out of the 3 Technomate would be a better box. And i will say it again the opticum/globo can be bought very cheap in Eastern Europe and sold here at a big profit

St Senan

Well dragoo you have not answered my last question.
Again i will ask are you www.sdi.ie or are you connected to them

dragoo

Sorry I was in the shop
every parts are coming from china and don't tell me because opticum/globo are cheap. technomate We can buy very cheap if we get from manufacture and also are coming with big profit if you wana buy in shop. I think that conversation have to be over because if You like technomate or similar boxes thats Your choice and i don't wana fight with You
And I will tell You some more about this receiver what i got there is 2 common interface and 1 conax card reader So, i think no body give You for that price this type of receivers.
Thanks

dragoo

No I'm not from sdi.ie, I just recomended him.
Thanks

St Senan

dragoo wrote: »

No I'm not from sdi.ie, I just recomended him.
Thanks

Thats fair enough but in the origional thread in the wexford forum the OP was recommended 2 long term well expirenced Installers who carry public liabiality insurance and pay taxes. If you are not in the Know about receivers you should not be saying that the opticum box that www.sdi.ie sell does not need to be retuned this crowd offer people who leave sky a free to air satellite sytem for €159 when any honest decant installer will tell you if you leave sky just pull out your card and you will get all the channels for nothing.

dragoo

ok I see that now on him website but if You pull out Your SKY card for example from sky+ box its not possible to record something and as well You have tuned all the channels in other channels and as well You have to jump between all the channels to find fta. i think that is good offer. You can sell Your sky box after that on ebay.
Thanks

St Senan

dragoo wrote: »

ok I see that now on him website but if You pull out Your SKY card for example from sky+ box its not possible to record something and as well You have tuned all the channels in other channels and as well You have to jump between all the channels to find fta. i think that is good offer. You can sell Your sky box after that on ebay.
Thanks

But why would they quote €159 when they sell the box for €99 plus any decent HDD/DVD recorder will work so no need to buy any opticom/globo or sell their never need to be retuned 7 day epg sky box with all free channels moved to favorites on fleabay.

Harry.c

Any installer like myself or scaller that are in this buisness a long time and are established, well known and are recommended from people who trust us and our work,

Any chancer can install a sat system and believe me there are a lot of them around these days, also anybody that tells you that a free to air sat reciever of any make or model dosent need updating clearly is not in the buisness that long and does not know what they are talking about.

You need technicial knowledge and experience for this buisness,

People... you get what you pay for, if it costs 130 - 170 uro, ask your self whay am I getting???

dragoo

I send him email and hi have public liability and pay taxes because I got invoice.
Thanks

St Senan

dragoo wrote: »

I send him email and hi have public liability and pay taxes because I got invoice.
Thanks

Send who an email. and for what reason
You say you pay taxes and have insurance so if your an installer then surely you should know the differance between a cheap Free to Air box with a hoorray USB stick that needs to be retuned often and a proper Freesat pvr box that dont need to be retuned and comes with a seven day epg. It sounds like you are getting in to deep with your posts starting to contradict your self a bit mate. Just look here http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=63223524&postcount=15

dragoo

are You work for someone or You working for Your self?????

St Senan

I work for many people. but i am not the topic here. The real point here is you are a new poster pimping an installer and you are saying its not you or you are not associated with www.sdi.ie who are known around wexford for misinforming people who want to leave sky with regards to whats available free. Yes a lot of us installers in co wexford who know each other compare stories and that crowd or man has been discussed a fair bit they or he is charging €159 for a cheap free to air and usb stick when people who are wanting to leave sky need nothing.
those opticom boxes with usb pvr can be bought here http://www.pricemania.sk/katalog/satelitne-prijimace/opticum-8000-2cicx-pvr-ready-613230.html for €63 and i am sure they can be got cheaper elsewhere

SDI

hello everybody
I tell You something for the price 159 I replace dish and lnb for new because lots of people have problem with signal and thats why cancel contract with sky( sky is charge 120 euro for repair).

Good Luck

SDI

I dont wana fight with anybody if somebody wana get install from allsat for 150 euro or different company its him choice.
I think we can close this conversation
SDI

St Senan

SDI wrote: »

I dont wana fight with anybody if somebody wana get install from allsat for 150 euro or different company its him choice.
I think we can close this conversation
SDI

No body is fighting with anybody but your mate/you was pimping you its suspicious and pimping yourself or the crowd you work for is not allowed here on Boards.ie. The point i tried to make to him/you was all free to air boxes need to be retuned fairly often and Freesat/sat4free boxes are not like bog standard Free to air satellite receivers and that they dont need to be retuned would you agree or disagree. And i can say that myself or harry.c are not involved with allsat in wexford i dont even work down there. It seems a bit strange when you joined he is not online?????????

Hammer of Thor

Thanks for all the replies lads, no offense to anyone but I would never sign up for a free to air installation package, I find them to be very overpriced. We can get a new dish and lnb for €35 in Wexford market, and my coz is looking for someone to align the dish for about €50 (hell its only 10 minutes work, the dish will already be up!), and so far as the box goes I've recommended a Bush Freesat HD, do any of you guys in the know have any input on it?

Details -
http://www.argos.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Search?storeId=10001&langId=-1&q=FREESAT+HD&pp=20&r_001=1|Brands|Bush|1

# Digitally interactive.

# Digital text.

# LNB in.

# Digital video broadcasting (DVB) subtitles.

# Auto setup.

# Auto detection of new channels.

# Now and next electronic programme guide.

# 8 day electronic programme guide.

# 2 SCART sockets.

# HDMI output socket.

# HDMI cable included.

# Upscales to 1080i.

# Remote control.

# Access over 140 Freesat digital channels and radio stations (Freesat service dependent).

# Audio description (broadcast mix) (Freesat service dependent).

# Fully interactive with LAN port for connection to broadband (Freesat service dependent).

# Stunning high definition programmes.

# Subscription free.

# Remote control requires 2 x AAA batteries (included).

# Power consumption in use 13 watts.

# Standby power consumption 14 watt.

# Size (H)4.2, (W)25.7, (D)16.5cm.

# Weight 0.82kg.


So far as getting someone to align it my cousin will be going with one of your reccomendations that have been doing this sort of work for a while, better safe than sorry......

St Senan

Go for any of the branded Freesat boxes In my opinion Humax is the best.

St Senan

Hammer of Thor wrote: »

Thanks for all the replies lads,
So far as getting someone to align it my cousin will be going with one of your reccomendations that have been doing this sort of work for a while, better safe than sorry......

I would agree Yes its better to be safe than sorry. As a fellow installer always says cheap is not always cheerful

SDI

Sorry for late answer freesat are better to free to air boxes
But tell me something if RTE is going digital that boxes will pick up RTE??

St Senan

SDI wrote: »

Sorry for late answer freesat are better to free to air boxes
But tell me something if RTE is going digital that boxes will pick up RTE??

Rte will eventually go digital but not on any satellite receiver.
what people will need is an Mpeg4 dtt receiver and a appropriate Aerial

SDI

I hear some more news rte will come on free to air in january 2011 as well
thats why I asked You about freesat.
Thanks anyway

Wizard007

RTE will never be free to air. There's are several threads about this on the Terrertrial forum.

Pal

this thread has nothing to do with foreign sat.
can we bin it please

St Senan

Pal wrote: »

this thread has nothing to do with foreign sat.
can we bin it please

Two days ago i asked for this thread to be moved from the Wexford forum to the satellite forum instead a mod moved it here i have asked the mods here again to move it to the satellite forum.
The reason being i was suspicious of a new member pimping. And two new members being the same poster there has being no reply from any of the Mods as yet.

bk

First off, if modding is needed, please PM a mod or use the reporting facility. We don't have the time to read all the threads.

Second please try and keep this thread civil or I will close it.

Third RTE is already "digital" on three platforms, Sky (encrypted), DTT and iPlayer.

Fourth it is extremely unlikely RTE will go Free To Air on sat, due to show rights issues. Now they should go FTA/FTV, it is in their business interest to do so, however it will be very difficult for them to do and there are certainly no rumours of them going FTA in 2011. I believe you are getting the DTT Digital Switch Over dates mixed up with FTA. I certainly hope you are not saying this to potential customers to get a FTA sale, that would be very dishonest.

recycler1

Hammer of Thor wrote: »

Freesat or Free to Air?

For the information of others with similar queries....

There is NO right answer, it truly is horses for courses.

If you're only interested in picking up the UK FTA Channels you have the advantage of a 7 day EPG with Freesat. The Freesat receivers are not very expensive, either. However, not all FTA channels are on the EPG (e.g. CNN/Sky News), and watching these is a real pain. They don't have an RF In or RF Out which means that you must be able to connect them directly to your TV via a SCART or HDMI lead. This means that an additional convertor is required if you want to share existing coax for your terrestrial TV signal, This can be an issue where you want to swap a Sky box with a Freesat box.

You can also use a spare Sky box with, or without, a UK FTV card. (The FTV card gives you additional UK channels.) The main disadvantage, compared to Freesat, is all the unwanted/scrambled channels on the EPG. Hence why I have two unused boxes in my attic.

Many FTA receivers also work well. Most, dont offer a 7 day EPG, but have other advantages. You can select all the FTA channels on the EPG, order the channels on the EPG as you want, and delete channels you are not interested in. Some have an RF in for a terrestrial aerial and an RF Out. (Freesat boxes don't.) This means that, as with a Sky box, you can use your existing coax to carry your terrestrial TV and a single satellite channel.

If you want multi-satellite capability, or to watch non-Sky scrambled channels freesat is not much of an option. The Humax PVR provides limited capability, only, in this area.

If you want subscription free PVR functionality, then Freesat is an excellent choice. I have used the Humax PVR for nearly a year and, following a recent firmware update, it really is pretty good. PVRs that require an external HD, via USB, are somewhat cumbersome and IMO not for the casual domestic user.

I currently use Sky HD, a Humax PVR and a Fortec Star box. The latter can be upgraded to use the Freesat EPG, but I haven't bothered. I have used many other satellite receivers, ranging from boxes from Aldi and Lidl to profesional receivers for niche applications. One LIDL receiver failed after 2.5 years, and was replaced FOC in a little over a week.

Despite using non-Freesat/non-Sky boxes for many years I haven't had an issue with retuning. In my experience is not a frequent requirement for the main UK channels, and certainly not on a "monthly basis". Having said that, it does arise from time-to-time and does weaken the case for non-Freesat/non-Sky equipment.

No matter how many times stated, it is not a question of "you get what you pay for". Good installers, and bad installers, exist all price points. Some installations, including those by well established installers, are truly awful. Poor dish positioning, bad terminations, innappropriate cable routing, large lumps of plaster gone from outside walls - I've seen them all. I've also seen very professional jobs done at relatively low cost.

The best reference, as always, is word of mouth.

evilivor

recycler1 wrote: »

If you're only interested in picking up the UK FTA Channels you have the advantage of a 7 day EPG with Freesat. The Freesat receivers are not very expensive, either. However, not all FTA channels are on the EPG (e.g. CNN/Sky News), and watching these is a real pain.

CNN is on the Freesat EPG.

recycler1

Hammer of Thor wrote: »

Thanks for all the replies lads, no offense to anyone but I would never sign up for a free to air installation package, I find them to be very overpriced. We can get a new dish and lnb for €35 in Wexford market, and my coz is looking for someone to align the dish for about €50 (hell its only 10 minutes work, the dish will already be up!), and so far as the box goes I've recommended a Bush Freesat HD, do any of you guys in the know have any input on it?

.......

So far as getting someone to align it my cousin will be going with one of your reccomendations that have been doing this sort of work for a while, better safe than sorry......

The mechanics of putting up a dish is not difficult, just be sure it has a direct line-of-sight to the satellite. If you're in an urban area just look at the direction your neighbours dish is pointing. You can get a "satellite tuner" for about 20 bucks, that screws in between the LNB and coax feed, to help with dish alignment. Once you have this you should be able to align the dish, no problem.

The installation takes some care, if it is to last in the longterm. You need to use quality coax, make watertight connections, and ensure that external cable runs are secured properly, to avoid chafing. If you don't, you'll end up with water in the coax and LNB and even the receiver. If you're locating the dish in an exposed location, e.g. a rooftop, it should be earthed to protect against lightening. This is all straightforward, but can take experience. If you're unsure you would be better off going to an established installer.

recycler1

evilivor wrote: »

CNN is on the Freesat EPG.

Yeah, hadn't realised that, it was not there initially.

St Senan

recycler1 wrote: »

Yeah, hadn't realised that, it was not there initially.

That is another advantage Freesat/sat4free have over free to air boxes when a channel say CNN for example becomes free or available it does not need to be added manually.

LordSutch

Freesat or Free to Air?

Can somebody please explain the difference in laymans terms!

If I buy a setellite dish & receiver in Power City (for example) can I receive the BBCs 1-4, ITV1, SKY News, Sky One, CHN4, + UK Radio channels (for free), or must I retune the dish every month

Digifriendly

Camelot wrote: »

Freesat or Free to Air?

Can somebody please explain the difference in laymans terms!

If I buy a setellite dish & receiver in Power City (for example) can I receive the BBCs 1-4, ITV1, SKY News, Sky One, CHN4, + UK Radio channels (for free), or must I retune the dish every month

Sky One is subscription and not free. Sky Three is maybe what you're thinking of although it is FTV not FTA and requires a FTV viewing card so is unavailable with both FTA and Freesat. All other channels you refer to are free and AFAIK can be received on a FTA system as well as Freesat although on latter system Sky News has to be added under non-freesat channels.

Darth Maul

Basically I would use a FTA box for everything except PVR installs, where a box without a 7 day epg is next to useless.

If you want a PVR box then the Humax Foxsat is the best out there at the moment.

As for a FTA box I always find the Technomates the best, hate the triax ones and had a few fail on me,

A technomate TM-3000d is a nice cheap reliable FTA Box

SDI wrote: »

But tell me something if RTE is going digital that boxes will pick up RTE??

Am I the only one that found SDI's language and the poster that was pimping him to be remarkably similiar (if I had to guess that the were the same polish person). If the mods do an IP check I'm sure a ban is in order.
I also find it quite worrying that a person going around doing installs would have to ask that question about RTE.......it is the first question a customer would ask when you do FTA install (although alot more coherently).

St Senan

Myself and wizard007 have said the same. I have asked the mods to do an ip check

Hammer of Thor

Not meaning to throw this thread off on a tangent, and I'm not interested in purchasing the setup myself, but out of interest how does Freeview rate against FTA/Freesat? I've seen other threads discussing good spots for receiving transmission from Wales etc, but are the channel lineup, picture/sound quality, equipment/aerial price etc. any good???

recycler1

Camelot wrote: »

Freesat or Free to Air?

Can somebody please explain the difference in laymans terms!

If I buy a setellite dish & receiver in Power City (for example) can I receive the BBCs 1-4, ITV1, SKY News, Sky One, CHN4, + UK Radio channels (for free), or must I retune the dish every month

You can buy a Freesat receiver and dish in many outlets including Power City (branded Sat4Free) and Maplin. FTA receivers are also widely available. The main difference is that with Freesat you get a 7-day Electronic Program Guide or EPG. With a FTA receiver you only get details on the current and upcoming program on each channel. (So-called "Now & Next".)

Either system will receive all the UK FTA channels, which doesn't include SKY 1.

With the generic FTA receiver, you will need to re-tune the satellite receiver, not the dish, occasionally. You only need to do this if you "lose" one or more channels. It's not a big deal and it doesn't happen often.

alexmaxoks

dragoo wrote: »

You have to jump between all the channels to find fta

thats a good point. )) sky box is an absolute crap IMHO. no changes can be done to the list of channels, does not work with DiseqC switch

I was using Opticum for a long time. works great.
tryed Technomate as well (( now using AB Com IPBOX900HD;)