Recording RTE/ITVs for World Cup

almighty1

Hi,

Just a thread in a follow on from the previous discussion that was locked. Most people will already know this but for those who dont, there is a legitimate and cheapish way to be able to record the RTE (terrestrial) and ITVs (Satellite) during the RWC.

Basically you can buy a combo box that will allow you to watch Saorview (Digital Irish Television) and Free-to-Air satellite channels. It will allow you to record one and watch the other via a standard USB drive. Now the interface isnt as slick as Sky+ but you can set timers to record.

There is a large discussion about a particular box here

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056284276

There are many advantages of getting a Saorview/FTA combo. Here are just a few for the rugby followers.

1) Watch RTE2 rugby in High Definition. Even post RWC the Robodirect Pro12 will be displayed in HD.
2) ITV1 is also FTA in High Definition. Which I understand is the main English channel for RWC.
3) ITV4 will be showing highlights and some live games also. Although this channel isnt HD yet, it is scheduled to be upgraded soon (sorry dont know exact date)
4) Allows you to watch RTE coverage and record ITV coverage simultaneously and vice versa.

Digifriendly

almighty1 wrote: »

Hi,

Just a thread in a follow on from the previous discussion that was locked. Most people will already know this but for those who dont, there is a legitimate and cheapish way to be able to record the RTE (terrestrial) and ITVs (Satellite) during the RWC.

Basically you can buy a combo box that will allow you to watch Saorview (Digital Irish Television) and Free-to-Air satellite channels. It will allow you to record one and watch the other via a standard USB drive. Now the interface isnt as slick as Sky+ but you can set timers to record.

There is a large discussion about a particular box here

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056284276

There are many advantages of getting a Saorview/FTA combo. Here are just a few for the rugby followers.

1) Watch RTE2 rugby in High Definition. Even post RWC the Robodirect Pro12 will be displayed in HD.
2) ITV1 is also FTA in High Definition. Which I understand is the main English channel for RWC.
3) ITV4 will be showing highlights and some live games also. Although this channel isnt HD yet, it is scheduled to be upgraded soon (sorry dont know exact date)
4) Allows you to watch RTE coverage and record ITV coverage simultaneously and vice versa.

Excellent suggestion and summary. Also to inform those who maybe don't know, if you get Freesat (same dish will do as for Sky) you get ITV1/4 on EPG and if you purchase a Freesat PVR can watch one channel while recording another and set recordings the same way as with Sky+. Obviously no RTE but I presume most people can already get RTE via an aerial.

justsomebloke

just a couple of points on this

Your satellite feed will only give you access to the satellite channels, you will probably need an aerial as well to get the saorview channels.

The original firmware on the box had lip-sync issues, AFAIK this has been sorted and links and everything will be in the discussion thread linked above, so don't have a panic if you first plug it in and have this

Digifriendly

Another point is that ITV4 HD is only available via UK Sky subscription service so probably unlikely to go FTA HD in immediate future.

Tomtom364

If any of the ITV channels are on freeview UK then you can just take your sky card out of yout sky+ box to record things on that channel i believe.

did it to record the wales vs england highlights on bbc3 at the weekend.

justsomebloke

Tomtom364 wrote: »

If any of the ITV channels are on freeview UK then you can just take your sky card out of yout sky+ box to record things on that channel i believe.

You can take out your card and have the itv channels in the epg but you won't be able to record them as you have to have an active sky subscription card in the box to use the recording function

Tomtom364

Joe the Santa wrote: »

You can take out your card and have the itv channels in the epg but you won't be able to record them as you have to have an active sky subscription card in the box to use the recording function

thought that too.
but it worked at the weekend.

Maybe because sky+ is now a free service they have removed the checking for a subscription?

Digifriendly

Tomtom364 wrote: »

thought that too.
but it worked at the weekend.

Maybe because sky+ is now a free service they have removed the checking for a subscription?

Can you give links to Sky+ being a free service? I was under the impression it was still a minimum subscription package or c£10per month without a package for those in UK to use full recording facilities.

Tomtom364

Well, when i say sky+ is free. I mean if you have skytv even with a basic package then sky+ is at no extra cost.

Not sure if you have a skybox but dont have any subscription.

I may well be wrong about being able remove the card to record freeview.
But it worked for us.
Maybe it worked for us because at the same time as having the cardless sky+ box setup we also had a sky+hd box, with a subscription card, hooked up to the same satalite dish.