Looking for a hard drive recorder for free to air

Pangea

Hey all, I have seen how great sky plus is,
I have free to air, but I was wondering could someone recommend a good hard drive recorder for me to use with my free to air channels?

Also is their anything specific I should be looking out for to ensure it works with free to air? Would the hard disc recorders for sale in shops all work on my free to air?
Im looking for a hard drive space of around 200gb +.

Thanks.

TheDriver

plenty around, freesat humax + is what I have and its brilliant, one touch recording on the schedule/planner etc. Lots of FTA hdd around but you must still set the time etc which makes them not as easy.

Pangea

Thanks for that,
Humax looks very good, i did a search on argos on lots showed up with varying price ranges , although to a newbie like me I cant really spot the differences in them.
http://www.argos.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Search?storeId=10001&catalogId=1500002201&langId=-1&searchTerms=HUMAX

It would be much appreciated if someone could suggest a particular one for me via a link.
Also does a hard disk recorder replace my current set top box?

Oh and would FTA work on a free sat box?
Thanks

givecredit

You will struggle to get cheaper than here. Excellent service included:

http://www.richersounds.ie/asp/product.asp?ObjectID=938&Mode=0&CategoryID=6&SUB=101&ProductID=840

Pangea

Thanks that looks like the best one alrite,
so tell me , this twin tuner worries me, I will prob have to get local tv guy to put down a second wire to the box,
or can i still record one channel and watch another one with just one feed?
and would that box defintley work with my FTA , I have a white dish and technomate tm 100 D at the moment if that helps.

Experts please help answer these simple questions , it would mean a lot!
Thanks.

Sam Russell

Pangea wrote: »

Thanks that looks like the best one alrite,
so tell me , this twin tuner worries me, I will prob have to get local tv guy to put down a second wire to the box,
or can i still record one channel and watch another one with just one feed?
and would that box defintley work with my FTA , I have a white dish and technomate tm 100 D at the moment if that helps.

Experts please help answer these simple questions , it would mean a lot!
Thanks.

I have the Humax and it works fine. I used one cable with a link from the feed through to the second feed. This gave me the ability to record, but restricted what you can watch while recording, about a quarter of channels were available but it was difficult to know which would be available. I now have the two cables and life is much better. I can now record any channel and watch any other. It is worth putting in the second channel, but many programmes are shown more than once, repeated quite often in the wee small hours, so it is possible to record them then. There are a few 'features' with recording that are odd. If you are watching a programme and decide to record it, the recording starts from when you push the button even though up to two hours are in the buffer. Also the buffer gets zapped when you change channels, even if it was the dog that changed the channel. This can be a serious nuisance, if you are on catch-up. You can only record from the satellite.

Having said all that, it is a brilliant piece of kit.

Martin_F

givecredit wrote: »

You will struggle to get cheaper than here. Excellent service included:

http://www.richersounds.ie/asp/product.asp?ObjectID=938&Mode=0&CategoryID=6&SUB=101&ProductID=840

Amazon can be cheaper with free delivery (super saver 5 days) even including Irish VAT which is better for our public finances.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Humax-FOXSAT-HDR-Freesat-Digital-Recorder/dp/B001L5YU36/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1268228534&sr=8-1

Pangea

Thanks lad, Would it be reccomended to get a tv guy to bring down an extra feed ,or would it be difficult to do it myself.

Does the twin tuner just mean that its two feeds coming into the box ,or is it something that has to be installed specially on the dish?
The humax seems the way to go ,although a few niggles as sam russell just suggested.

Sam Russell

Pangea wrote: »

Thanks lad, Would it be reccomended to get a tv guy to bring down an extra feed ,or would it be difficult to do it myself.

Does the twin tuner just mean that its two feeds coming into the box ,or is it something that has to be installed specially on the dish?
The humax seems the way to go ,although a few niggles as sam russell just suggested.

The LNB has to be at least a twin, that is it must have two connectors on it. A quad would have 4 and an octo has eight. Each one is the same and downconverts the satellite signal for the tuner. A DC and a frequency selects the appropriate polarization and sideband for the receiver [four possibilities] which is why each tuner needs its own cable. If you have only a single LNB, look on advets for a twin or quad.

Running the cable is easy if it is straight down a wall, but you would know that. You need good quality cable, with 'F' type connectors on each end. Easy enough to do. [I did all my own, no problems.]

You could try with one cable to start with and add the other later if you wanted to, after it drove you mad.

Pangea

Sam Russell wrote: »

The LNB has to be at least a twin, that is it must have two connectors on it. A quad would have 4 and an octo has eight. Each one is the same and downconverts the satellite signal for the tuner. A DC and a frequency selects the appropriate polarization and sideband for the receiver [four possibilities] which is why each tuner needs its own cable. If you have only a single LNB, look on advets for a twin or quad.

Running the cable is easy if it is straight down a wall, but you would know that. You need good quality cable, with 'F' type connectors on each end. Easy enough to do. [I did all my own, no problems.]

You could try with one cable to start with and add the other later if you wanted to, after it drove you mad.

Ok thanks, but one question whats a LNB is that on the dish? How would I find out if i have a single or a twin etc.

slegs

Pangea wrote: »

Ok thanks, but one question whats a LNB is that on the dish? How would I find out if i have a single or a twin etc.

Doubtful you have a twin. If you bought a DIY satellite dish pack it would come witha single lnb 90% of the time. You wont find too many twins for sale these days mostly quad LNBs.

Sam Russell

Pangea wrote: »

Ok thanks, but one question whats a LNB is that on the dish? How would I find out if i have a single or a twin etc.

The LNB is the bit near the dish that the cable is connected to, LNB stands for Low Noise Block. It does the first bit of receiving the signal. If you do not have at least a twin, I would go first with the Humax, and see how you get on, but do connect the extra cable at the back to join the loop-through to the second input.

You can always upgrade later.

Pangea

Sam Russell wrote: »

The LNB is the bit near the dish that the cable is connected to, LNB stands for Low Noise Block. It does the first bit of receiving the signal. If you do not have at least a twin, I would go first with the Humax, and see how you get on, but do connect the extra cable at the back to join the loop-through to the second input.

You can always upgrade later.

thanks very much lads,
by upgrade I take it you mean get a twin LNB fitted onto the dish? ,I might be better off just buying the humax as u said and then getting the tv guy to do the fittering with the wires and that, as I want to get the satellite into my bedroom also into my PC TV card

Pangea

The reviews on The Humax FOXSAT-HDR Freesat+ 320GB HD is quite mixed, people say the remote is dreadful and the interface is pretty hard to use and the manual too, another review said it takes 40 seconds for it to start up.
I dont think I would like to fork out 238 pounds on something that has annoying glitches like this.


Also What is this talk of having to switch to a different mode to watch another set of channels?
Does anyone recommend another hard disk recorder?

Sam Russell

Pangea wrote: »

The reviews on The Humax FOXSAT-HDR Freesat+ 320GB HD is quite mixed, people say the remote is dreadful and the interface is pretty hard to use and the manual too, another review said it takes 40 seconds for it to start up.
I dont think I would like to fork out 238 pounds on something that has annoying glitches like this.


Also What is this talk of having to switch to a different mode to watch another set of channels?
Does anyone recommend another hard disk recorder?

The FTA mode is just a satellite receiver with no epg, and can get any fta channel, there are hundreds and hundreds of them, many of them repeated. The Freesat mode is a BBC controled configuration that can only see channels on the Freesat EPG, and retunes itself automatically when there are changes. SkyNews is not on Freesat for example, but a lot of news channels are.

I think the remote is quite good, it is actually a four-in-one, and can control the TV, DVD and audio as well as the Foxsat itself. The unit is designed to work as a freesat recorder and this it does very well, with a few minor problems. With Freesat, there is a 7 day EPG, which you do not get with the FTA mode, only now and next. Most channels that are worth watching are on Freesat and plenty that are not worth watching, in my opinion, but each to his own. With the EPG, you can record one programme or the whole series easily. All of these types of equipment are slow to start, but it is quick enough to change channel.

I have no experience of other Freesat PVRs, but I think there are some.

LordSutch

I have a FTA PVR in the shape of a Technomate 5200D USB Super + and I must say, its a great machine (for a basic one), it comes with a USB port on the back so you can choose what HDD you wish to record on, be it a 8 Gig flash stick, or something much bigger! > I opted for the WD My Passport Essential USB hard drive, €60 in PC World, this stores up to 320 Gig of stuff, admittedly it took me a while to format & configure the WD HDD, but once I did it, I never looked back > highly recommended.

Plus points . . .
Solid construction.
Rave reviews.
Very user friendly remote control (sturdy too).
Well laid out buttons on key pad.
Fast channel changes.
Good marriage with the WD passport HDD.

Minus points . . .
This machine only has one tuner)!

Pangea

Sam Russell wrote: »

The FTA mode is just a satellite receiver with no epg, and can get any fta channel, there are hundreds and hundreds of them, many of them repeated. The Freesat mode is a BBC controled configuration that can only see channels on the Freesat EPG, and retunes itself automatically when there are changes. SkyNews is not on Freesat for example, but a lot of news channels are.

I think the remote is quite good, it is actually a four-in-one, and can control the TV, DVD and audio as well as the Foxsat itself. The unit is designed to work as a freesat recorder and this it does very well, with a few minor problems. With Freesat, there is a 7 day EPG, which you do not get with the FTA mode, only now and next. Most channels that are worth watching are on Freesat and plenty that are not worth watching, in my opinion, but each to his own. With the EPG, you can record one programme or the whole series easily. All of these types of equipment are slow to start, but it is quick enough to change channel.

I have no experience of other Freesat PVRs, but I think there are some.

Excellet reading thanks a lot.
So youre saying the box itself actually can get FTA and Free Sat?

I thought you could only get one or the other depending on the setup , I didnt know you could get both? Dont i need a bigger dish to get Free sat.
I have FTA here in my tv , it only shows the now and next option.

As you said there is no EPG on my FTA ,which would make setting recordings a tedious task as I would have to jumble through tv guides, and many of the fta channels like true movies etc. are not on the normal tv guides.

Sorry for all the questions but I like to know what im letting myself in for

Pangea

Camelot wrote: »

I have a FTA PVR in the shape of a Technomate 5200D USB Super + and I must say, its a great machine (for a basic one), it comes with a USB port on the back so you can choose what HDD you wish to record on, be it a 8 Gig flash stick, or something much bigger! > I opted for the WD My Passport Essential USB hard drive, €60 in PC World, this stores up to 320 Gig of stuff, admittedly it took me a while to format & configure the WD HDD, but once I did it, I never looked back > highly recommended.

Plus points . . .
Solid construction.
Rave reviews.
Very user friendly remote control (sturdy too).
Well laid out buttons on key pad.
Fast channel changes.
Good marriage with the WD passport HDD.

Minus points . . .
This machine only has one tuner)!

Nice thank you for that , I actually have that very hd, the western digital 320gb. Seems like a good technomate you have there, and Im sure if u wanted u could transfer the recordings to your PC, Pity theres no twin tuner, so u can only record something when ur not watching tv then?
Im not sure if there is a usb port on the Humax.

Sam Russell

Pangea wrote: »

Excellet reading thanks a lot.
So youre saying the box itself actually can get FTA and Free Sat?

I thought you could only get one or the other depending on the setup , I didnt know you could get both? Dont i need a bigger dish to get Free sat.
I have FTA here in my tv , it only shows the now and next option.

As you said there is no EPG on my FTA ,which would make setting recordings a tedious task as I would have to jumble through tv guides, and many of the fta channels like true movies etc. are not on the normal tv guides.

Sorry for all the questions but I like to know what im letting myself in for

Freesat is just the EPG you get. The Foxsat box can be setup as a FTA box or Freesat. When in Freesat mode, you only get those channels on the EPG, which you can record from very easily. To switch to FTA is a pain IMO, and I never bother. The TV guides in the papers are mainly directed towards UPC and $ky, as it lists channels only found on thosee providers and does not list many channels on Freesat, not even BBC HD.

The big difference as far as I am concerned is that the various regional versions of ITV and BBC are hidden from you on Freesat, while all of them appear on the FTA list, and must be moved out of the way or deleted, along with various God stations from around the world. A total pain, and they come back if a rescan becomes necessary. Freesat just works.

Later this year, ITV1 HD (April 2) and CH4 HD (Autumn) should start.

It is up to you to choose, but be aware that recording is only from the satellite, no RTE.

evilivor

Pangea wrote: »

Im not sure if there is a usb port on the Humax.

There are two USB ports of the Humax so you can, if you like, connect an external drive to the rear one for archiving stuff and use the front one, which is more accessible, to transfer stuff to a pc for editing or conversion. I find this very handy for converting files to so I can watch ‘em on my iPod when travelling.

I can’t recommend the Humax strongly enough - the boot time and the badly laid out remote you’ll find are not really issues when compared to the things it does right like series record; finding alternative screenings of shows; auto prompting for HD versions – now with a whole new HD channel as of start of April! (ITV1 HD); full-eight day EPG. I find it very user friendly and yes, the manual is a bit crap but machine is very straightforward after a few days use.

Pangea

Great stuff lads thanks.

I do not have a HD TV yet, would the box still work with a SD TV?
Would the HD channels just not show up or how would it work?
I plan to buy a HD Tv soon but it would be a lot of cash to buy a HD TV and Box at once.

Thanks

Sam Russell

The Humax has a SCART port as well as HDMI, so yes it will work with SD.

DublinWriter

I've got both the Foxsat Humax and an AZBox.

The problem with the Foxsat Humax is that you won't be able to externally access your files once you record them - i.e. transfer and watch them on your PC. There is an Ethernet port on the Humax, but it's not implemented via the current firmware.

Having said that, the latest model released last month may address some of the above.

No problems with the AZBox - records in bog-standard MPEG4 format and can act as an FTP server.

Sam Russell

DublinWriter wrote: »

I've got both the Foxsat Humax and an AZBox.

The problem with the Foxsat Humax is that you won't be able to externally access your files once you record them - i.e. transfer and watch them on your PC. There is an Ethernet port on the Humax, but it's not implemented via the current firmware.

Having said that, the latest model released last month may address some of the above.

No problems with the AZBox - records in bog-standard MPEG4 format and can act as an FTP server.

The ethernet port is used to access BBC iPlayer, which can not be accessed from Ireland.:mad:

Also you can only record from the satellite, not the hdmi, or scart.:mad:

Otherwise ........

dixiefly

evilivor wrote: »

There are two USB ports of the Humax so you can, if you like, connect an external drive to the rear one for archiving stuff and use the front one, which is more accessible, to transfer stuff to a pc for editing or conversion. I find this very handy for converting files to so I can watch ‘em on my iPod when travelling.

I can’t recommend the Humax strongly enough - the boot time and the badly laid out remote you’ll find are not really issues when compared to the things it does right like series record; finding alternative screenings of shows; auto prompting for HD versions – now with a whole new HD channel as of start of April! (ITV1 HD); full-eight day EPG. I find it very user friendly and yes, the manual is a bit crap but machine is very straightforward after a few days use.

Thats interesting, what software is used to access this?

evilivor

dixiefly wrote: »

Thats interesting, what software is used to access this?

Not quite sure I quite understand your question but the ability to transfer recordings to USB/external drive is built into the Humax. To convert the recordings to my iPod I use iSquint.

Pangea

Sam Russell wrote: »

The ethernet port is used to access BBC iPlayer, which can not be accessed from Ireland.:mad:

Also you can only record from the satellite, not the hdmi, or scart.:mad:

Otherwise ........

What do you mean by that, can you not record the HD channels?

DublinWriter wrote: »

The problem with the Foxsat Humax is that you won't be able to externally access your files once you record them - i.e. transfer and watch them on your PC.



No problems with the AZBox - records in bog-standard MPEG4 format and can act as an FTP server.

What would a FTP server do?, make it a media server?
Also Evilvor disagrees with you about files being able to transfer them to the PC?

evilivor wrote: »

There are two USB ports of the Humax so you can, if you like, connect an external drive to the rear one for archiving stuff and use the front one, which is more accessible, to transfer stuff to a pc for editing or conversion.

Sam Russell

Pangea wrote: »

What do you mean by that, can you not record the HD channels?

The Foxsat will only record from the satellite, SD or HD, makes no difference. It will not record the buffer, for example if you press record after 10 mins, it will only record from when you press the record button even though it has the 10 mins in the buffer. It will not record from external sources such as the scart. This means that you cannot record any RTE as they are not on the satellite.:mad:

gar32

Yes the C word is coming. (Christmas) I was thinking of getting my Dad a hard drive recorder for his free to air stations. Reading this I see you can not record from RTE, TV3 etc. Is there a hard drive recorder that does? Looking at €300 max as he has revicer already.

Many thanks

I have the Humax Foxsat, excellent piece of equipment, and I upgraded the HDD to 1tB, which was very easy and straight forward. Highly recommended

Sam Russell

gar32 wrote: »

Yes the C word is coming. (Christmas) I was thinking of getting my Dad a hard drive recorder for his free to air stations. Reading this I see you can not record from RTE, TV3 etc. Is there a hard drive recorder that does? Looking at €300 max as he has revicer already.

Many thanks

No Freesat receiver/PVR will record RTE. It is part of the spec. Freesat is a closed service intended for the UK, not meant for us. If you want the Freesat 7 day EPG, then you do not get the ability to record RTE.