Best Freesat setup.

Vick7

What I want is freesat and DTT for two TV's. SD is fine but I don't mind paying a little more for HD if it's really worth it with freesat.
I was all ready to buy the Freesat kit in Aldi last week until I came on here and saw the warnings. Thank you for that.
Today I was gonna order some old Sky gear from this guy but now I am reading Sky isn't the best for freesat.
I read somewhere on here this is €40 in B&Q at the moment which seems really good but I would have to get another LNB if I want two TV's hooked up.
Also do I need to buy a Sat finder to install myself.
As you can see I am a bit clueless so some guidance would be much appreciated.

Sam Russell

Freesat and Free to air (FTA) are not quite the same. With Freesat you get a 7 day EPG, with FTA you only get Now and Next.

I would advise you to go for a Freesat HD and a Soarview box as you get a full 7 day EPG, but on two boxes. I would avoid old Sky gear.

Alternatively check out this thread on the Terestial threads.
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056284276

Mr Keek

What Sam said.

I had the B&Q set up for the bedroom and I upgraded to a branded Freesat box. Got this Sagam and its great, and a good price for a budget, deffo worth the extra few pound.

If you want to spend a big and have all the comforts similar to Sky+ like, Live Pause & Rewind, Recording and Series Link, We have the Humax in the living room, and it's a great bit of kit.

As Sam said, you get a Full proper TV guide for 7 Days and Channels often change their frequency now and again, the FTA box will require you to retune it every couple of months, the Freesat box will update itself automatically.

Sam Russell

To continue the point, I have the Foxsat HDR which is great as it does the full UK TV FTA, with HD channels. It does everything for me that I need, allowing series link, pause live TV, one touch record, etc. etc. The TV has built in Saorview.

In the other room I have a Lidl FTA satbox that works well, but has no HD and no recording. I also have one of my DTT boxes with a 1Tbyte HDD, so I can record anything on RTE etc. By chance, the two remotes have a very simmilar lay out, and it is a doddle to change to and from the sat.

I would definitely go with the Freesat HD, as the BBC moved its HD channels to DVB S2 and I did not have to do anything to get them back because it all happened at 3AM while I was asleep.

Randyleprechaun

Totally agree with the above comments.

The Freesat boxes are extremely good and easy to use/navigate etc.

One advantage of the 2nd hand sky gear is that if you wanted to use magic eyes for changing channels from other rooms, it can be done easier/more efficiently. Having said that, it can still be done with the freesat receivers.

Sam Russell

Sky boxes cannot record if they are out of contract. Also, the only reason to use magic eyes is to save on subs, with Freesat or FTA there are no subs.

Randyleprechaun

Valid points Sam but I think the OP isn't bothered with recording(that's what I take from the post anyway...may be wrong)

Also, quite a few people do want link eyes to control the box from other rooms even when there is no sub. It saves them buying extra receivers, cabling etc etc. A dist. amp in the attic and a few link eyes makes for a quite efficient setup.

Each to their own I suppose and would depend on household habits etc etc.

Frank Black

We went down the freesat/saorview route late last year and it's great not to be getting upc bills anymore.
We got the €80 kit from Lidl and then bought the Humax box (which as mentioned above is a fantastic piece of kit) for the living room and have the cheap Lidl receiver for the bedroom tv, we also got a 4way LMB from amazon.

If you have a ps3 you can avoid having to get a Saorview box by getting the Play TV accessory. It allows you to plug you digital aerial into the ps3 and get all the Irish saorview channels with 7day guide and recording capabilities.

If you are going down the Freesat route I'd definitely recommend spending a bit extra to get a HD receiver for your main tv as the picture is superb.

lucernarian

I have the Sagem freesat HD box linked to above, and the EPG is not very intuitive to use and the remote is not very responsive. Navigating through the EPG is a pain in comparison to other FTA boxes I've used or indeed Sky. The box works very reliably and it has never frozen to my knowledge. Picture quality is also very good. The box doesn't have HDMI-CEC which means that (along with other less noticeable functionality) you'll have to change over to the Sagem box manually if you switch it on, unlike when using SCART.

I've used Humax equipment before but not specifically for Freesat. I found their equipment to be excellent and well-designed.

O'Prez

So what's the difference between the 320GB and the 500GB one apart from the latter being cheaper? Humax 500GB

John mac

O'Prez wrote: »

So what's the difference between the 320GB and the 500GB one apart from the latter being cheaper? Humax 500GB

different sellers. ?

NIMAN

O'Prez wrote: »

So what's the difference between the 320GB and the 500GB one apart from the latter being cheaper? Humax 500GB

Ones 320gb and the others 500gb ?

Widescreen

Randyleprechaun wrote: »

Valid points Sam but I think the OP isn't bothered with recording(that's what I take from the post anyway...may be wrong)

Also, quite a few people do want link eyes to control the box from other rooms even when there is no sub. It saves them buying extra receivers, cabling etc etc. A dist. amp in the attic and a few link eyes makes for a quite efficient setup.

Each to their own I suppose and would depend on household habits etc etc.

Agree with you on that Randyleprechaun. Have sky box for freesat and sky plus box for the sky sub located in same spot by main tv and both operated by magic eyes on three other tv's. Very handy.

Just in case economic situation forces me to cancel whats left of my sky sub you mentioned about changing channels in other rooms on the likes of the humax-would you mind just explaining best way to do that? thanks

Randyleprechaun

Widescreen wrote: »

Agree with you on that Randyleprechaun. Have sky box for freesat and sky plus box for the sky sub located in same spot by main tv and both operated by magic eyes on three other tv's. Very handy.

Just in case economic situation forces me to cancel whats left of my sky sub you mentioned about changing channels in other rooms on the likes of the humax-would you mind just explaining best way to do that? thanks

You'd probabaly need seperate wiring and a tri link kit if you wanted to keep the sky boxes(with no subs) going aswell for FTA. Might end up doing it myself yet with Humax PVR's. I'm open to correction if I'm wrong.

Out of interest, are you using a global SPC4 to combine your 2 sky boxes onto your distribution system for the magic eyes. if so, i have to say...it's a great setup. Have mine running to 7no TV's and it gives great flexibility

smartblaa

Thanks for the wealth of information provided so far.
I was considering getting sky, but now I think it would be a waste of money.

Can someone recommend a good spec dish for hooking up to the Quad LNB and Humax HD box?

Also, if I get an integrated Saorview TV, does this mean that I still require an antenna feed for the TV, or can it bring it in through the same dish?

Thanks again

Western501

Does anybody know somebody where I can buy (& get installed) a freesat satelite dish (Saorview compliant) in the Westport area?

homer911

Western501 wrote: »

Does anybody know somebody where I can buy (& get installed) a freesat satelite dish (Saorview compliant) in the Westport area?

Saorview is not accessible via a satellite dish - it is terrestrial TV only

Western501

Just to clarify, I'm to buy/get installed freesat satelite dish, to pick up additional channels that will be lost when analog signal is switched off. I know that this is separate from the saorview boxes

John mac

http://www.isaa.tv/features.php?county=mayo

or you could try snaps (think he is in Ballinrobe.)