Freeview in Ireland?

qu1nn7

Hello everyone,

Hoping someone can help me. Moved back to Ireland last year and immediately had Sky installed but have now decided it's time to save some money so I'm getting it disconnected.

Is it possible to get a freeview box which has all the Irish & UK terrestrial channels that has the capability of recording, pausing etc, like a sky+ box?
Someone has told me that if I finish with Sky the box will still pick up the terrestrial channels, is this true?

Or are there any better options I should look at?

I apologise for how basic these questions probably are but I have no knowledge of this kind of stuff and don't trust anyone in an electronics store to give me any genuine advice.

Apologies to anyone who does actually work in an electronics shop but I've had bad experiences before.

Cheers

Randyleprechaun

If you cancel your sky sub, the sky box will still receive free channels such as BBC's, ITV's, CH4's more4, e4, sky news, some movie, music and kids channels and radio. You'll still have 7 day program guide etc.

You will need an aerial(s) to receive Irish terrestrial channels. That is the only way to get Irish channels if you don't have sky.

STForSale

A humax foxsat hdr box should do the job.
Connected to your existing sky dish.
Had this myself a few years back and switched to UPC.
Soon to be switching back!

Tom Slick

Depending on where you are, if you already have a suitable aerial & tv, you should receive Saorview (DTT) or even just analogue.
This site: http://www.saortv.info has plenty of useful advice & links to other relevant sites.

STForSale

Poster is specifically looking for UK Channels, very few people would get by with just bog1 and bog1

OP, what you need is a Freesat solution, you can use the existing sky dish and there are any number of boxes available to get you dozens of channels depending on what satelite you point at.

I'm sure the regulars will be along shortly to explain this and outline the various options much better than I can.

Have a look here for an ideahttp://satellite.ie/

qu1nn7

Thanks lads,
I had a look at the saortv website but they make it pretty clear that it won't have UK channels on it.

Someone already mentioned the humax foxsat hdr box to me. Is that something I would need to get installed or is it a matter of just buying the box?

qu1nn7

Cheers STforsale, I'll check it out

STForSale

You could buy the humax foxsat box, plug it in to your dish using the same cable that is currently in your sky box and just run the auto tune feature.
Gets you BBC1,2,3,4, ITV1,2,3,4, film4 and a whole lot of other stuff you'll find listed on the freesat website.
A seperate aerial for about €50 will get you RTE.

qu1nn7

It's a rented house and I think there's an old RTE ariel in the attic, have to check it out.
Am I right in saying that there won't be an option for one freeview box giving me Irish & UK channels?

STForSale

Don't think so but I could be wrong.

Sponge Bob

qu1nn7 wrote: »

It's a rented house and I think there's an old RTE ariel in the attic, have to check it out.

If it is a large H shape aerial it will probably not give you a digital signal unless the transmitter is very close.

Am I right in saying that there won't be an option for one freeview box giving me Irish & UK channels?

Near the border and on the east coast "Freeview+HD" badged gear like the Sagem Freeview HD set top box will give you both.

gtg60

Or a Combo box will get you Irish and UK channels in digital on one box, not a true PVR solution though. Do a search, these questions come up all the time.

just to add to what sponge said,in those eastern/southeastern and border areas any mpeg4 tv will also do this-except recording obviously.

qu1nn7

No luck location wise, I'm down in Kinsale so presume I'm out of range

qu1nn7

Will the sky+ box still have it's full recording, pause, etc facilities if I cancel my sky subscription?

fat-tony

That narrows it down quite a bit. I think you may have confused some people with the use of the term "Freeview" (it's in the title of the thread also). Freeview is specifically the UK terrestrial digital service. It's an easy mistake to make as the terminology is bandied about all over the forums.

To receive the UK national stations (BBC ITV CH4 plus others) you can continue to use the SKY box as a "free to air" satellite receiver - but you won't be able to record. If you want a nice programme guide (EPG) and a recording facility like SKY+, you can get a Humax Foxsat PVR (as indicated by another poster) or other similar Freesat recorders and just swap it with your SKY+ box. Neither option will provide the Irish channels as they are encrypted on satellite and you need a SKY sub for that.

To receive the Irish channels on digital, you need a suitable MPEG-4 receiver or TV. There are combo boxes available, also as mentioned earlier in the thread, but there is really no "one box does all and is guaranteed compatible" solution just yet. I would recommend you visit watty's website for all the info you need (and more) - www.saortv.info

qu1nn7

Was living in UK for a while so that's probably where I picked up the term freeview

Thanks for all the help lads, Think I'll look into the Humax box.

Any recommendations as to the best place to get one?

Sponge Bob

qu1nn7 wrote: »

Will the sky+ box still have it's full recording, pause, etc facilities if I cancel my sky subscription?

No. It becomes a vewing only box and you lose your store of programs.

qu1nn7

Last question hopefully.
Is it pretty straightforward to have a Humax Foxsat PVR and a Saorview both connected up to the same telly?

Digifriendly

qu1nn7 wrote: »

Will the sky+ box still have it's full recording, pause, etc facilities if I cancel my sky subscription?

Unfortunately no. It will work as a FTA box which you could connect to e.g. external DVD recorder and record to it but you can only record channel you're watching. AFAIK the only way to continue full recording facilities of Sky + is take out a subscription for recording only with no subscription channels (here in NI it's about £10 a month). Regarding Foxsat and Saorview connected to telly this shouldn't be a problem as long as your TV has 2 scart connections.
Out of interest here in NI when you cancel Sky subscription you continue to have FTV channels available with your card e.g. Sky 3/Fiver/Five US. What is the situation in the ROI since there is no equivalent of Freesatfromsky or FTV cards?

Sponge Bob

You lose all of the sub channels Digifriendly and the box defaults to ITV Central/BBC London too I think it is London.

Digifriendly

Sponge Bob wrote: »

You lose all of the sub channels Digifriendly and the box defaults to ITV Central/BBC London too I think it is London.

Thank you very much for info. Here in NI we are at a distinct advantage over ROI when it comes to Sky Digital in this respect - we do not have to pay for channels that require a subscription across the border.

gtg60

qu1nn7 wrote: »

Will the sky+ box still have it's full recording, pause, etc facilities if I cancel my sky subscription?

No.

watty

Digifriendly wrote: »

Thank you very much for info. Here in NI we are at a distinct advantage over ROI when it comes to Sky Digital in this respect - we do not have to pay for channels that require a subscription across the border.

We don't pay either. Just cancel sub and Box here works as per N.I.

Digifriendly

watty wrote: »

We don't pay either. Just cancel sub and Box here works as per N.I.

I'm confused. I thought Sponge Bob's answer suggested box became FTA in ROI not FTV i.e. no Sky3/Fiver/Five US. Is this not correct?

fat-tony

Digifriendly wrote: »

I'm confused. I thought Sponge Bob's answer suggested box became FTA in ROI not FTV i.e. no Sky3/Fiver/Five US. Is this not correct?

SB is correct - box becomes an FTA receiver not FTV. Watty may be referring to something else. RoI is not provided with FTV cards officially by SKY. I'm not aware of any cheapo sub option for the RoI which allows recording.

watty

Sorry..

Referring to Sky box with no card or sub. FTV cards only supplied to UK post codes.

Sky3/Fiver/Five US isn't much to miss though. It does have all the regions, not just London. I use the Favorites.

Didn't follow the thread of the conversation.

The Cush

qu1nn7 wrote: »

Last question hopefully.
Is it pretty straightforward to have a Humax Foxsat PVR and a Saorview both connected up to the same telly?

No problem, scart or hdmi.