Breaking ties

Kemar

Hi all,

After being a sky customer for over 12 years I'm looking to break ties, just need to save a few bob at the moment, reduction in work etc , childcare etc and unfortunately sky will have to go. Currently I am paying €39/month, sky variety/news/kids and a discounted multi room (€10/pm).

I'm looking to get rid of everything and put in saorview and FTA. I need to get an aerial installed and both TVs have the DVBt-mpeg 4 digital tuner. I currently have 1 sky HD box (no HD sub for last 2 years) and 1 standard sky + box.

I hope to do the following and was wondering what type of once of cost would be involved.

1) Get Aerial for saorview
2) Maybe use existing sky boxes for FTA but how much is a saorview combi box with recording facilities, and are they reliable, or maybe just a FTA box that records.
3) My brother is leaving me use his Sky ID to sign in and use his channells for sky sports etc whenever there is matches. I hook up my old laptop to the TV but its not ideal as its not the most convenient thing to do, and the laptop isnt high spec or anything so im sure this effects quality , nevertheless its good for seeing the games. Is there a better option , is it worth getting a multimedia hard drive just for this ability and what are steps involved. Is it a costly set up? I am a complete novice at hooking up pc cards etc so would very much appreciate the feedback or advice. Do you need a really good computer? The quality of the sky from the internet is good as i said when hooked up to tv and it would be great to be able to control this from a remote device.

I know there may be an initial set up at the start but what would you be talking about to get all this up and running, is there any way that I could save a few bob?

Thanks and sorry for all the questions, hope you can help!!

shinobi

Good post over on Techtir.ie with distributing Satellite and DTT around the house. One solution might be to install one of the combo boxes here and also here which are very reasonably priced which will accomodate both DTT & satellite signals in a single box. Down side is these are not Saorview approved, in a lot of cases there is no 7 day satellite EPG and there is no MHEG5 middleware on them (Interactive features & text).

The Cush

This is a scan from a newspaper I posted in another thread recently, it gives installer guide prices for Saorview installs



You could also do it yourself, some Irish online stores where you can buy what's required
http://www.tvtrade.ie/
http://www.satellite.ie/
http://www.freesat.ie/
http://www.satellitetv.ie/shop/
http://astraltv.ie/

Kemar

The Cush wrote: »

This is a scan from a newspaper I posted in another thread recently, it gives installer guide prices for Saorview installs



Thanks for the adice and links!

Saw the thread on the ariva 120 , looks like a good option. Whats the main difference between the 120 and the 200, can you record on to them both?

Thanks again:)

shinobi

120 is for FTA only the 200 has a slot for a card reader. See Here.

Some details of the boxes capability & recording via External HDD.

Johnboy1951

shinobi wrote: »

120 is for FTA only the 200 has a slot for a card reader. See Here.

Some details of the boxes capability & recording via External HDD.

The Ariva 120 Combo does have a card slot.
It combines both DTT and SAT inputs ...... it is not Saorview approved and does not presently have MHEG5 functions.

It records to an external HDD connected via USB.

Because it only has one tuner for each DTT & SAT ..... when recording what is available to view is limited.

Argos have a Bush Saorview DTT receiver for about €50 .... no Satellite ..

regards

Tony

shinobi wrote: »

120 is for FTA only the

Thats incorrect both have card slots and can be used for pay tv

Thanks for the link Shinobi

shinobi

Apologies folks, I quickly scanned through the thread on the 120 vs 200 and read about the 120 being suitable for FTA. I'll read more carefully in future.

Tony

shinobi wrote: »

Apologies folks, I quickly scanned through the thread on the 120 vs 200 and read about the 120 being suitable for FTA. I'll read more carefully in future.

Don't worry about it, the man that never made a mistake never made anything else.

Kemar

Tony wrote: »

Thats incorrect both have card slots and can be used for pay tv

Thanks for the link Shinobi

Hi Tony, When you say pay TV, what options do you mean , are there alternatives to sky in the form of English channels etc? Would love to know more about this. All i would be interested in apart from FTA would be the Disney channels for the kids, whats the cheapest alternative for this?


Also , rang an installer today re saorview and 160 for aerial and installation which is pretty much the going rate i guess. However, I did mention to him about the ariva 120 and he said stay well away as he had 5 faulty ones picked up in the last couple of months. Im edging towards the triax 120 but would love a reliable combo.

Tony

Kemar wrote: »

Hi Tony, When you say pay TV, what options do you mean , are there alternatives to sky in the form of English channels etc? Would love to know more about this. All i would be interested in apart from FTA would be the Disney channels for the kids, whats the cheapest alternative for this?

As far as English langiage channels are concerened I'm afraid sky is the main player , most guys who use the 120 for pay tv are interested in foreign sports like Al Jazeera and Tring etc discussued at length on another thread on foreign satellite

Kemar wrote: »

Also , rang an installer today re saorview and 160 for aerial and installation which is pretty much the going rate i guess. However, I did mention to him about the ariva 120 and he said stay well away as he had 5 faulty ones picked up in the last couple of months. Im edging towards the triax 120 but would love a reliable combo.

Its not the going rate, aerial prices vary depend on how much work is involved . Talk to some ISAA members before you go ahead.

I think if there were 5 faulty ferguson boxes in a month I would have heard about it since we are the main importers . Does this guy actaully sell ferguson ? Ask him what the faults were and see what kind of answer you get .

Kemar

Tony wrote: »

As far as English langiage channels are concerened I'm afraid sky is the main player , most guys who use the 120 for pay tv are interested in foreign sports like Al Jazeera and Tring etc discussued at length on another thread on foreign satellite



Its not the going rate, aerial prices vary depend on how much work is involved . Talk to some ISAA members before you go ahead.

I think if there were 5 faulty ferguson boxes in a month I would have heard about it since we are the main importers . Does this guy actaully sell ferguson ? Ask him what the faults were and see what kind of answer you get .

The guy said he only recommends triax ones, thats what led me to the triax112, after a quick google search it came up with good reviews, but its not a combi.

He said with the ariva there was problems tuning , software issues or something but he didn't elaborate any further he said to just stay well clear? However, the ariva would have been my first choice had i not spoken to him , he kinda put me off them. I take it you are happy with them and would recommend them as a good receiver? I think im back looking at the ariva now as preferred choice.

Thanks again for your input.:)

Tony

No problem, to be brutally honest he sounds like hes talking BS, if there were fauts on fergusons A. I would have heard about it and B . he would have been able to tell you what the faults were. We have a review system on our site and you can see on this url what customers think about the ferguson 120 http://www.soapbox-reviews.net/cgi-bin/iwsoapbox.dll/EXEC/0/0m5fwgn0dzp6q01f3vid40ml7kx1 . Hope you enjoy whatever you decide to go ahead with

Kemar

Tony wrote: »

No problem, to be brutally honest he sounds like hes talking BS, if there werre fauts on fergusons A. I would have heard about it and B . he would have been able to tell you what the faults were. We have a review system on our site and you can see on this url what customers thing about the ferguson 120 http://www.soapbox-reviews.net/cgi-bin/iwsoapbox.dll/EXEC/0/0m5fwgn0dzp6q01f3vid40ml7kx1 . Hope you enjoy whatever you decide to go ahead with

Cheers Tony,

For starters , im going to get an aerial installed for saorview, then i think its the ariva as the receiver, will be placing an order with very soon! also the fact it plays different media is a bonus. This is with a view to getting rid of sky completely, possibly 4-6months, maybe sooner if the saorview/FTA combi works out. At the moment will just hang on to the basic sub

Then when I have the time, energy and know how I will look at hooking up a mini pc, small media centre (read somewhere about turning old xbox into a media center) for various things but mainly watching TV using broadband etc:)

Tony

No problem, good luck with your set up.

shinobi

Just for your own information some Triax STB's have had their own teething problems.
Recording issue Specific to the 112 and a few issues with the 537.

I've no affiliation here with anyone, just wouldn't like to see anyone getting landed with a lemon.
Hope the installation goes well for you.

Kemar

shinobi wrote: »

Just for your own information some Triax STB's have had their own teething problems.
Recording issue Specific to the 112 and a few issues with the 537.

I've no affiliation here with anyone, just wouldn't like to see anyone getting landed with a lemon.
Hope the installation goes well for you.

I appreciate the heads up! thanks!

I guess with all devices there is going to be some glitches , some more pronounced and problematic then others.

Ive defo decided on the ariva, minds made up! bring it on!:)

Mal78

Hey tony, I've come across 3 faulty 120's out of about 15 that i've installed. all with DTT tuner issues. great signal areas, the boxes show 78%-100% strength and quality yet the picture pix-elates and freezes for a second every 4-5 seconds but the sound keeeps going. the satellite channels were fine on them and one of the boxes I left installed for a further day because I couldnt get to the customer and when I got to the box the DTT probs were the same but there was no sound on DTT or satellite. I'll reluctantly keep installing the 120's but if I get 2 more problems with them in a short space of time I'll be dumping them. We just need a decent priced combi box with Mheg5

Tony

Hope you dont mind me asking but where are you buying these from ?

Edit: Mal if I'm not mistaken you are around Howth is that right? Seems to be some issue with Clermont Cairn which you may be aware of in this thread http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056347567

STB

Mal78 wrote: »

Hey tony, I've come across 3 faulty 120's out of about 15 that i've installed. all with DTT tuner issues. great signal areas, the boxes show 78%-100% strength and quality yet the picture pix-elates and freezes for a second every 4-5 seconds but the sound keeeps going. the satellite channels were fine on them and one of the boxes I left installed for a further day because I couldnt get to the customer and when I got to the box the DTT probs were the same but there was no sound on DTT or satellite. I'll reluctantly keep installing the 120's but if I get 2 more problems with them in a short space of time I'll be dumping them. We just need a decent priced combi box with Mheg5

First thing I would check is that the right firmware has been put on them. It is easy not to complete the procedure.

You cannot kill them. All of the Ali M3602 chip boxes have a small CPU with serial port BootROM loader inside so the upgrade tool works in wrong flash scenarios.

The reception problems on DTT and Sat sound like outisde influences rather than hardware issues.....

On DTT, too much RF probably from an overset masthead amp or old and bad cable. On the Sat side the True movies problem sounds like a badly installed Sat Dish probably in conjuction with cable issues - the stations you are having problems with are typically the weak transponders.

You are an installer in Howth right ? Is DTT reception particular to that area ? Are the existing aerials in situ the right aerials ?

I presume you have been getting the boxes from Satsklep.

It would be unlucky to be in receipt of a dodgy batch. I dont know what the returns % is, but I am sure Tony does. Thomson are a reputable OEM. A lot of these boxes have been sold here. Even Electric retailers are selling them now. It wont be long before clones start appearing.