freeview for xmas

shygal

Hi boardsies!;)

I need your help guys,ive just after buying my boyfriend a new tv for xmas.its a 42 inch LG tv (http://www.powercity.ie/?par=10-13-42PJ35).

But....my boyfriend has never had sky or upc or anything,no dish either.all he has are the basic 16 channels that we all used to have (rte1 rte 2 utv c4 e4 sky1 etc.)

what does he need to get freeview or at least more channels than the basic ones without having to join sky or upc?
any help or recommendations would be greatly apreciated as my knowledge of tvs is fairly limited

12 element

I'm assuming that he is receiving the channels you mentioned from a UPC cable running into the house? Freeview is a digital terrestrial service in Great Britain and you can only receive it if you are near the border to the north or along the east coast.
If you can put up a satellite dish you might be interested in Freesat which carries a good few Free To Air channels.

shygal

yeah the house has a upc cable running through it that gives him the 16 channels.plus he lives in wicklow so receiving the signal shouldnt be a problem (finally theres a benefit to living in wicklow )

i was thinking could i just buy him one of those freeview boxes that many people have nowadays and and indoor ariel that can pick up the signal because installing a sattelite sounds like alot of hassle and money.
what do you guys think?

watty

Indoor aerials are fairly useless unless you can see the TV mast from a window on the side of the house that has window & TV.

You only entitled to ANY stations on UPC if you pay subscriptions.

A dish is not much difference in cost to a good outdoor aerial and can actually be cheaper to install.

You need outdoor aerial on pole for UK Freeview via aerial even in good parts of Wicklow. Not all locations are suitable.

You also need usually a different outdoor aerial (pointed in different direction) for Irish Digital TV, Saorview

http://www.saortv.info

shygal

so what do you guys suggest i should get/do?
thanks in advance:D:D

Sam Russell

If you have just bought the LG TV, it should have all the Freeview and Saorview capability. All you need is a good aerial on a long pole pointing at presselli or some other Welsh transmitter depending on where you live, and you should get some or all UK stations. You might get Saorview as well, but you might need another aerial and diplexor for that. You never know your luck.

Booms

Maybe you could check what have his neighbours got?
Only dishes or no dishes - probably not a good spot for UK TV from an aerial, or area is fully cabled.

Small aerials on roof pointing East/South East - good chance a small outdoor aerial will pick up welsh TV okay.

If any aerials are big or on long masts then a dish would be a better proposition

JDxtra

shygal wrote: »

But....my boyfriend has never had sky or upc or anything,no dish either.all he has are the basic 16 channels that we all used to have (rte1 rte 2 utv c4 e4 sky1 etc.)

what does he need to get freeview or at least more channels than the basic ones without having to join sky or upc?

Sounds like he already has basic UPC cable if he has Sky 1. Why not upgrade to their digital package? It's cheaper than basic cable. Not free though.

JDxtra

The hassle of trying to get Freeview from Wales is not worth it if he already has basic cable, in my opinion.

12 element

A lot of people don't pay for the basic package with UPC. If you have broadband with them then they can't stop if coming down the cable as well. It is often left connected after somebody cancels a digital package too.

JDxtra

I understand that, but I think if somebody is receiving a pay TV service they should really pay for it.

12 element

I think the same, but not everybody does unfortunately!

shygal

so can somebody suggest what i should do in plain english please im not as teech savvy as you guys:D:D:D,should i buy my bf a freeview box and dish?

regards

12 element

A freeview box will not work with a dish. The best option is probably a freesat box and dish.

Mr McBoatface

If your boyfriend can live without RTE a FreesatHD box or TV along with satellite dish would give him access to the channels listed here. A FreesatHD PVR box would allow for recording one TV channel while watching another.

Powercity also have this very nice Sony Bravia KDL32V5810 32" TV. If you get a satellite dish It will give all the Freesat channels listed above but It also works with an Aerial and you can get the new Irish DTT service Saorview. Currently RTE1, RTE2HD, TV3, 3e, TG4 and RTE News Now are available on this service but more a couple more channels including a Film channel should be joining the line up next year. RTE1 and TV3 should be switching to HD too, the new Film channel may also be in HD.

JDxtra

If you simply want "more channels" then by far the least hassle option for you is to subscribe to UPC. You'll get a lot more quality channels than would with a box receiving free channels (from an aerial or satellite). Plus all the usual UK and Irish channels will be on the same guide, one remote etc and in digital quality.

€20.75/month - http://www.upc.ie/deals/made_to_measure/

Job done.

watty

Depends on personal preferences.

Over 87% of TV watched is FTA channels

The most watched pay Channel gets about 2% viewing time.

Picture Quality is higher on FTA satellite than UPC.

That PayTV will be over €750 spent in 3 years.

shygal

upc hasnt come to his area yet.where can i get a cheap freesat box n ariel/dish? mucho thanks guys:D:D

12 element

shygal wrote: »

upc hasnt come to his area yet.where can i get a cheap freesat box n ariel/dish? mucho thanks guys:D:D

You already mentioned that he receives the 16 channels from UPC analogue? UPC=NTL=Chorus