Sat4free GSAT200HDEX Freesat Questions!

liamtech

HI folks

Thanks for your help on my previous thread. I have more problems im afraid!!!

I recently purchased a GSAT200HDEX Goodmans Sat4free box. Initially i was very pleased with it. BBC HD and ITV HD is brilliant and looks terrific on my Philips 32PFL5604H
This particular TV is full HD and is irish Digital ready. So i have RTE1, 2, TV3, TG4 and RTE NEWS in perfect digital and my sat4free HD box with perfect Digital English stations!
Brilliant!!! I have a full suite of Digital stations free. Everything's great right!

WRONG!

My HD Box seems to have a few issues... Firstly manual tuning is a nightmare.... i cant get CNBC which i was quite fond of.... This is an issue that is unsolvable apparently as the freesat equivalent has the same issue

Second problem is the HD BOX seems to be breaking up every now and again. i can describe an example where the picture seems to stall for a split second... almost like a scratched dvd would: This is a seriously annoying problem. It happens on both
HD stations and SD stations. My satellite dish is fixed(i previously had an issue with wind moving the dish but this is sorted thanks to a new mount).

The picture stall is worrying me as i have noticed it so many times.... But i am genuinely unsure of the source of the issue.... Is it the HD BOX, the HDMI cable or the TV!

And now we get to the root of my concern... What is sat4free.... Is it freesat?
The reason i ask is my box will not update firmware over satellite despite there being a dec09 version available. Are these
sat4free boxes rigged only to work in Ireland and to ignore freesat updates? If so, is there a way around this.
Im concerned and now believe i might have been better to hightale it up to Belfast and buy a genuine freesat box. the sat4free website is enormously usefull(NOT!!! see link)
Do these guys still exist?!? Are they breaking some law by selling these boxes. im totally confused..

Has anyone else got this box, and are they having any issues? Has it upgraded/updated via satellite>?

Looking forward to hearing from you folks! Hope i can get it sorted!

Links to TV, Box and sat4free's glorious site below!

http://www.powercity.ie/?par=10-23-500026&pages=2&prod=500026&brands=GOODMANS

http://www.consumer.philips.com/c/televisions/5000-series-32-inch-full-hd-1080p-digital-tv-32pfl5604h_12/prd/ie/

http://www.sat4free.ie/

JDxtra

liamtech wrote: »

Im concerned and now believe i might have been better to hightale it up to Belfast and buy a genuine freesat box.

Indeed you would have. And the box would be fully supported with over the air updates. I'm not sure sat4free are operational anymore, it was always a bit of a dodgy idea to begin with to be honest.

What are the signal readings (strength / quality) from the box? There should be an option to show these within the menu system. Your issue sounds like it might be your dish again, the LNB or the cabling from the dish.

tinofapples

OP how have you been getting on with this box ? I recently bought one in tesco in Ballinsloe for €89 to replace a FTA box I used.

What was the default password for your receiver ? My manual said 0000 but that's not correct.

GeneHunt

liamtech wrote: »

My HD Box seems to have a few issues... Firstly manual tuning is a nightmare.... i cant get CNBC which i was quite fond of.... This is an issue that is unsolvable apparently as the freesat equivalent has the same issue

Second problem is the HD BOX seems to be breaking up every now and again. i can describe an example where the picture seems to stall for a split second... almost like a scratched dvd would: This is a seriously annoying problem. It happens on both
HD stations and SD stations. My satellite dish is fixed(i previously had an issue with wind moving the dish but this is sorted thanks to a new mount).

I have the Freesat version (GSAT200HD) of this Goodman box. It used to lose the sound if you flicked through the channels too quickly, but that doesn’t happen as much now (after a update). It was a real pain, because the only way I found to fix it was to kill the power (unplug it). I haven’t seen the picture to break up on my box, however this does sound more like a signal problem as JDxtra asked (strength / quality).

The menu interface is poor, and adding channels is a nightmare, the new channel appear as a four-digit channel number - note, you need to turn on non-freesat services (MENU>SETTINGS>SHOW NON-FREESAT SERVICES>YES) but maybe the Sat4free box has some of these functions disabled.

Does anyone know if it’s possible to convert the box from Sat4Free to FreeSat firmware? If this was possible it would fix the updates too. Also do the Sat4Free boxes add and remove channels as the FreeSat boxes does?

el diablo

I see that Power City are still promoting Sat4free and I was considering purchasing their package (http://www.powercity.ie/?par=10-23-28212R&pages=1&prod=28212R&brands=PHILEX) but this thread has given me second thoughts.

I'm guessing that the freesat.ie DIY satellite and receiver (http://www.freesat.ie/index.php?cat=Freesat_DIY_Systems) would appear to be a better option?

thanks for any feedback.

tinofapples

GeneHunt wrote: »

I have the Freesat version (GSAT200HD) of this Goodman box. It used to lose the sound if you flicked through the channels too quickly, but that doesn’t happen as much now (after a update). It was a real pain, because the only way I found to fix it was to kill the power (unplug it). I haven’t seen the picture to break up on my box, however this does sound more like a signal problem as JDxtra asked (strength / quality).

The menu interface is poor, and adding channels is a nightmare, the new channel appear as a four-digit channel number - note, you need to turn on non-freesat services (MENU>SETTINGS>SHOW NON-FREESAT SERVICES>YES) but maybe the Sat4free box has some of these functions disabled.

Does anyone know if it’s possible to convert the box from Sat4Free to FreeSat firmware? If this was possible it would fix the updates too. Also do the Sat4Free boxes add and remove channels as the FreeSat boxes does?

I have the same problem with losing sound.Can anyone tell me what the default password was/is on these machines ??

Badgermonkey

el diablo wrote: »

I see that Power City are still promoting Sat4free and I was considering purchasing their package (http://www.powercity.ie/?par=10-23-28212R&pages=1&prod=28212R&brands=PHILEX) but this thread has given me second thoughts.

I'm guessing that the freesat.ie DIY satellite and receiver (http://www.freesat.ie/index.php?cat=Freesat_DIY_Systems) would appear to be a better option?

thanks for any feedback.

Thats not Sat4Free, it's simply a free to air system. Sat4free piggybacked on the UK Freesat products and service but rebranded the boxes as Sat4Free.

Pick up a decent Freesat HD box on Amazon or Argos in NI.