Switching from Chorus

frozenfrozen

We're pretty sick of the bad channel selection for the money we're paying so it's time for chorus to go!

Would freesat and saorview be a decent replacement?
I've lurked for a few weeks around here and the idea of recording tv sounds nice and it would be good to be able to access movies stored on the network here too, is that possible from the same box or would I be looking for something different?

The budget for this stuff would I imagine be 400 euro, since that's like two years of chorus, which hopefully this new stuff would outlive!

Could anyone point me in the right direction for what we would need here? I'm in Clare if that would effect the signal we would get?

Cantona's Collars

frozenfrozen wrote: »

We're pretty sick of the bad channel selection for the money we're paying so it's time for chorus to go!

Would freesat and saorview be a decent replacement?
I've lurked for a few weeks around here and the idea of recording tv sounds nice and it would be good to be able to access movies stored on the network here too, is that possible from the same box or would I be looking for something different?

The budget for this stuff would I imagine be 400 euro, since that's like two years of chorus, which hopefully this new stuff would outlive!

Could anyone point me in the right direction for what we would need here? I'm in Clare if that would effect the signal we would get?

If it's the MMDS service you are getting (via the square aerial) on the roof,then a mix of saorview/freesat would be perfect as an alternative (remember that you won't get Sky channels on freesat) .Check the channel lineup on http://www.freesat.co.uk/ Saorview for the Irish channels.Picture & sound quality will be vastly superior to the MMDS service also.

Talks of the MMDS service from UPC (Chorus) being switched off anyway in the next year or two so you'll be looking for an alternative.

Have a look on http://www.isaa.tv/ for a reputable installer in your area,they'll also offer good advice.

If you want Sky sports etc. then your only option is Sky.

frozenfrozen

zerks wrote: »

If it's the MMDS service you are getting (via the square aerial) on the roof,then a mix of saorview/freesat would be perfect as an alternative (remember that you won't get Sky channels on freesat) .Check the channel lineup on http://www.freesat.co.uk/ Saorview for the Irish channels.Picture & sound quality will be vastly superior to the MMDS service also.

Talks of the MMDS service from UPC (Chorus) being switched off anyway in the next year or two so you'll be looking for an alternative.

Have a look on http://www.isaa.tv/ for a reputable installer in your area,they'll also offer good advice.

If you want Sky sports etc. then your only option is Sky.

Thanks this seems like it will be a perfect replacement! But oh no Dave isn't on the list! I'm going to have to acquire all series of Qi and Mock the week through some other means! :P

What way would the setup work, do I just need a satellite installed and then to purchase a triax SC114 (I believe that would be the right one) and then maybe an external harddrive or just mount an old 3.5" HDD in a cage for it

Cantona's Collars

You will need an aerial for saorview,depending on where you live,an indoor aerial might do.If not simply use the UPC pole as a mount for an outdoor aerial & use the existing coax to run to the box.Take down the square mesh as it's not needed.
You need a dish for the freesat & away you go.Are you tempted to try a diy install?

frozenfrozen

zerks wrote: »

You will need an aerial for saorview,depending on where you live,an indoor aerial might do.If not simply use the UPC pole as a mount for an outdoor aerial & use the existing coax to run to the box.Take down the square mesh as it's not needed.
You need a dish for the freesat & away you go.Are you tempted to try a diy install?

Could I use the whole existing UPC aerial and just plug it into the new box for saorview? I would definitely like to do the install myself, it sounds like a bit of fun .

Cantona's Collars

frozenfrozen wrote: »

Could I use the whole existing UPC aerial and just plug it into the new box for saorview? I would definitely like to do the install myself, it sounds like a bit of fun .

The UPC one isn't suitable,an outdoor aerial isn't expensive and as I said you can save effort & money by attaching it to the UPC pole.you might be able to use the same pole to mount a dish but be careful,I've seen dishes mounted on them before above the chimney only to have cables & lnbs melted by the heat from the fire.
Dishes can be got cheaply and who knows you could end up with a multi lnb set up for foreign satellite tv aswell as freesat.

zg3409

If recording is important for you a FreeSAT + HD box gives better recording options such as series link, pause etc than other boxes.

For recording the Irish channels you would then need a seperate Saorview approved box that can record. You end up with two boxes, but it's the best for recording.

frozenfrozen

zerks wrote: »

The UPC one isn't suitable,an outdoor aerial isn't expensive and as I said you can save effort & money by attaching it to the UPC pole.you might be able to use the same pole to mount a dish but be careful,I've seen dishes mounted on them before above the chimney only to have cables & lnbs melted by the heat from the fire.
Dishes can be got cheaply and who knows you could end up with a multi lnb set up for foreign satellite tv aswell as freesat.

Luckily our pole is attached to a chimney stack that has been blocked off for 50+ years so no problem about that melting. Is there any specific thing I need to look out for when buying the dish or is it a kind of one fits all thing?

zg3409 wrote: »

If recording is important for you a FreeSAT + HD box gives better recording options such as series link, pause etc than other boxes.

For recording the Irish channels you would then need a seperate Saorview approved box that can record. You end up with two boxes, but it's the best for recording.

That does sound like it would be better but then there would be the nuisance of having to switch display inputs between boxes all the time. Is there a kind of very good box that would be able to receive all the channels and record etc?

Cantona's Collars

frozenfrozen wrote: »

Luckily our pole is attached to a chimney stack that has been blocked off for 50+ years so no problem about that melting. Is there any specific thing I need to look out for when buying the dish or is it a kind of one fits all thing?

Keep the dish as low as possible on the pole to prevent movement in windy weather,if the pole is very long which can be the case with UPC installs then cut it.

frozenfrozen

zerks wrote: »

Keep the dish as low as possible on the pole to prevent movement in windy weather,if the pole is very long which can be the case with UPC installs then cut it.

Will keep that in mind! Noticed today that the aerial is very high and moves a lot!

I was messing around and plugged the tv straight into what I think is a wall adapter leading to an aerial that doesn't exist, but anyways did that and ran a scan on the tv and it found 18 'services' about 10 radio and the rest are what seems to be the saorview lineup bar rte2HD. Audio only mind, and no epg. The tv must have DVB, it's a Sony Bravia from maybe 6 or 7 years ago.

There was a problem with ghosting on the HDMI input so when watching something through the playstation 3 there would be a second image always a little bit to the left, fixed that too today so things are going well!

If I fixed the aerial (Actually connect this random wire in the wall to something!) would I be able to get a decent saorview signal? And then it would just be a case of putting up a dish and buying a nice freesat pvr box(!)

zg3409

frozenfrozen wrote: »

. Audio only mind, and no epg. The tv must have DVB, it's a Sony Bravia from maybe 6 or 7 years ago........If I fixed the aerial (Actually connect this random wire in the wall to something!) would I be able to get a decent saorview signal? And then it would just be a case of putting up a dish and buying a nice freesat pvr box(!)

If you get audio and no picture then the TV is not Saorview compatable. So you would need a seperate box to decode the Saorview and connect that to the TV.

If you put up an aerial, and a dish, and get the proper boxes inside then you will get the channels. Putting up an aerial and a dish yourself is a big challenge, it is not easy to point a dish.

For a first timer I would suggest looking at all the options and then get a professional install. If you want, decide which box you need, and have a go at putting up a Saorview aerial pointed towards the nearest mast. Then look into getting a dish later.

polaris68

I switched from UPC MMDS to a saorview/ fta satellite setup and was able to do it myself.

Loads of instructional videos on:

tvtrade.ie

frozenfrozen

zg3409 wrote: »

If you get audio and no picture then the TV is not Saorview compatable. So you would need a seperate box to decode the Saorview and connect that to the TV.

If you put up an aerial, and a dish, and get the proper boxes inside then you will get the channels. Putting up an aerial and a dish yourself is a big challenge, it is not easy to point a dish.

For a first timer I would suggest looking at all the options and then get a professional install. If you want, decide which box you need, and have a go at putting up a Saorview aerial pointed towards the nearest mast. Then look into getting a dish later.

Damn I thought I was a bit lucky with that, ok back to getting a saorview box so.
Fair enough pointing a dish may be challenging if I have no idea what I'm doing but I think I'll be able to handle mounting both an ariel and dish, and if it all goes wrong I can look at getting some professional help.

Currently ripping QI series from disk so I can stream them when I switch over and lose my beloved Dave channel.