Help me pick a good set up.

Quazzie

Ok first off I will state that I am a complete n00b to this and don't have a clue about what or cannot be got here in Ireland. I'm currently building my house at the moment and hope to be doing 1st Fix electrical in about a month or so, so I'm really interested in doing it right first time around and future proofing the wiring at this stage rather than retro fit at a later stage.

So I'll try break it down to a few straight forward questions rather than rambling long ones, but first a bit of information. The house is in Rhode, Co. Offaly, its a flat site which has a large hill about 5 miles away WSW of the site. The site itself is flat though with no real trees to interfere with Signal.

Questions:
1. What options are available here?
2. What budget should I be considering? Just an approx figure of a basic system, mid range, and top end please.
3. When I buy the equipment, what are the monthly running costs/subscriptions/maintenance etc?
4. Is there any specific equipment I need or any additional wiring required?
5. I was planning on having just a standard aerial for RTE & TV3 on all TVs so as herself doesn't miss the soaps, can this be incorporated into the system?
6. I was hoping for HD on 2 TVs and SD on another 2, again is this possible?

The main things I would like is to not have to sign up to Sky. At present I have a full subscription but would like the eradicate this bill when I move to my new house. Is there a way to totally replace Sky digital with a motorized dish. I'd also like HD if feasible, and would like a way to get as many EPL games as possible. Also a system that is as user friendly as possible would be a benefit.

A huge Thanks in advance for any advice received.

M5

Quazzie wrote: »

Ok first off I will state that I am a complete n00b to this and don't have a clue about what or cannot be got here in Ireland. I'm currently building my house at the moment and hope to be doing 1st Fix electrical in about a month or so, so I'm really interested in doing it right first time around and future proofing the wiring at this stage rather than retro fit at a later stage.

So I'll try break it down to a few straight forward questions rather than rambling long ones, but first a bit of information. The house is in Rhode, Co. Offaly, its a flat site which has a large hill about 5 miles away WSW of the site. The site itself is flat though with no real trees to interfere with Signal.

Questions:
1. What options are available here?
2. What budget should I be considering? Just an approx figure of a basic system, mid range, and top end please.
3. When I buy the equipment, what are the monthly running costs/subscriptions/maintenance etc?
4. Is there any specific equipment I need or any additional wiring required?
5. I was planning on having just a standard aerial for RTE & TV3 on all TVs so as herself doesn't miss the soaps, can this be incorporated into the system?
6. I was hoping for HD on 2 TVs and SD on another 2, again is this possible?

The main things I would like is to not have to sign up to Sky. At present I have a full subscription but would like the eradicate this bill when I move to my new house. Is there a way to totally replace Sky digital with a motorized dish. I'd also like HD if feasible, and would like a way to get as many EPL games as possible. Also a system that is as user friendly as possible would be a benefit.

A huge Thanks in advance for any advice received.

Thats a huge quiestion, most of them have been discussed to death already so i'll give u a quick ans for each

1 freesat is subscription free, has bbc, itv C4 and all derivatives. Subscription needed for sports or movies, lots of discussions on this forum
2/3. U could get a freesat setup for about 200-250 euro, it would be pretty basic though. HD setup with a motor/multi LNB dish 400-500. and your premium subscription can coust from 90-1200 for the year depending on what you want
4. Dish (80cm advisable), LNB, Coaxial cable and connectors and a receiver are needed. Multi lnb dish/motor optional and depend on which sub(s) you want
5. You can get receivers that pick have two tuners, some can take DTT tuners (such as dreambox dm8000 (expensive)) which would alow you to connect to the DTT testing active at the moment. Not sure of any analog capable satellite receivers exist though
6. Yes, with a quad LNB is needed and a receiver and subscription per tv

Recommend having a coaxial socket everywhere you plan on having a tv. Also an ethernet port may be handy

Dish will need a reasonably unobstructed view of the south. 20M away from most objects i loads for the vast majority of satellites

There is a long thread on subs further down the forum and EPL features heavily!

Quazzie

Thanks for that M5. Now that I have the basics answered I'll try looking into the more specific answers via the search function.

M5

Quazzie wrote: »

Thanks for that M5. Now that I have the basics answered I'll try looking into the more specific answers via the search function.

Keep us posted, sounds like a "fun" project!

Quazzie

Well my reasoning at considering it is at the moment I am paying collosal amounts of money (€134/Month) for a lot of channels but still can't view a lot of stuff that I'd like to. I'm hoping that by getting this I can replace that with a better system even if it does cost the same money. I want to fully get rid of Sky without losing my matches and hopefully add to it. I'm still fairly clueless as to whats needed but hopefully with research that'll change.

Pal

You have to pay for Premier League whatever option you decide.

Different cards have different content such as ;

commentary language
3pm saturday kickoffs
HD
amount of games
choice of games

Do some homework.
The info is all there on satellite card seller websites.
check liveonsat.com for broadcaster lists.

Cheapest and the one I am happy with is Showtime Maghreb.
Nothing special but at least 5 live games a week for a pittance.

The most popular is arguably Digitalb.
The best seems to be Sky Italia but its also the dearest.

Quazzie

Thanks Pal. Just in reference to the cost. Can you give estimated costs for each package.
Example:
Sky Italia = €xx
Showtime Maghreb = €xx

Nothing too definite just rough figures.

Also one more question. If I wanted a sports package so got Sky Italia but also wanted some childrens programmes, do I have to buy a second subscription from someone else for this? Is there a universal package that gives you a bit of everything a la bSKYb

Pal

Quazzie wrote: »

Also one more question. If I wanted a sports package so got Sky Italia but also wanted some childrens programmes, do I have to buy a second subscription from someone else for this? Is there a universal package that gives you a bit of everything a la bSKYb

If you buy a foreign subscription, you should expect to receive most channels and programming in that language.

So a Polish card gives you Polish TV etc.,

The exception is football and movies where you frequently get the option to switch language to English.

So your kids channels are in Italian if memory serves me.

On price, Sky Italia is about the same as Sky Ireland.

many people buy Cyfra from Poland for the Premier League. Worth a look. See satsklep.pl
Good price for football card.

An ART card for Showtime costs £125 a year but don't buy yet as the season is nearly over and every year things change.

hermunkla

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