Combining Saorsat and Freesat

tap28

Hi,

Like lots of people here, I'm trying to get rid of Sky.

At the moment I have Sky+ in one room and Humax Foxsat-HDR in another.

The problem is my wife wants to keep RTE etc. I think the solution is to combine Saorsat and my Humax freesat.

What I think I need to do is:
Change the Sky dish to a bigger one, possibly 80cm or 100cm.
Quad LNB
2 Way Multi LNB Holder
DiSEqC switch

If I use the DiSEqC switch I will only have one output line in the house. I need at least two lines and possibly four for simultaneous viewing of one channel and recording another channel.

Do I need four DiSEqC switch's or is there another product out that will solve my problems (well these tv related problems)?

Tap

excollier

Yes you will need a diseqc switch for each point where you require two (or more) satellite positions to a receiver. Double that for twin receiver pvrs.
A quattro Ku lnb, a Ka lnb and a 9 in/8 out multiswitch would work, but not really financially viable for just one house. Unless someone knows better (most likely)
I assume you cannot receive Saorview via your aerial.

zg3409

Firstly as suggested it is highly recommended you use Saorview via an aerial, not Saorsat. You should get a professional to confirm no Saorview coverage before even considering Saorsat.

Saorsat does not carry TV3 nor 3E. This may be a problem if you want to watch some soaps, TV3 movies etc. It may also not carry other Saorview stations in the future.

In theory your setup sounds like a close to Sky setup, but combining FreeSAT and Saorsat and recording can have problems. FreeSat boxes do not like to be connected to a DiSEqC switch. They can get confused and miss recording.

If you can get Saorview then the simplist for the main room is a genuine FreeSAT+HD box and a seperate Saorview genuine box with external hard-drive for recording. With this setup you can guarantee that recording will work. You can upgrade to a Saorview + box when one comes on the market.
For the second room a combo box or a basic FreeSat box may suffice. You can move the Saorview box in there when a proper Saorview recording box is launched.

If you want to do as you say you need 90cm or 100cm dish (not 80cm) (for combined 28.2 and 9 East), a special KA Saorsat LNB, a diSEqC switch per lead (If you have one recording box and one non recording that's 3 leads so 3 switches) The switches are very cheap. However be warned the recording may not work properly and you will not get TV3 and 3E.

jomarbus

As I understand it in order for this to work your humax foxsat needs to be DiSEqC enabled As I am trying to do something similar can you confirm that it is. I haven't yet bought the equipment so please let me know how you get on.

zg3409

Here is the info on DiSEqC on the foxsat:
http://www.astra2.org/diseqc.html

However there is catches. For starters Saorsat does not have TV3 nor 3E and probably will not have some future stations. Also the extra dish, switching etc.

I do not own one but from reading other boards.ie threads there may be issues recording, in that once in "Saorsat mode" freesat recordings will not work. The time displayed may also be off but I'm not sure. I heard of another receiver that if started up in Saorsat mode took it's time from Saorsat, not from Freesat and would not show listings on the other channels as the time it was set to did not match the time of the shows. E.g. summertime, wintertime, UTC/GMT etc.

Finally RTENL is not sending series link information yet. This should start in the next month or two as the first Saorivew true PVR is to be launched, so no-one can say how series link will work.

I would recommend searching boards as many of these issues have already been dealt with.

I also would like to know all the answers, especially once series link is theoretically possible on Saorsat.

OO7FITZY

Folks,

I bought a Triax ST-HD537combo box from Megavision.ie around Aug 2011 and for the last 3-4 weeks the Saorviewchannels keep dropping out and screen goes black even with the latest firmware installed.

It started off dropping outintermittently but now it can be for most of the day. I have no issue with thesatellite channels.

I did a check on boards.ieand a lot of people who bought this combo-box have the same issue.

So in summary I have learned my lesson in that I am going to wait for Saorview to launch the interactive service and then see what is availble by way of combo satellite receivers. Ideally I would like to also use a Freesat box knowing I won't get/don't want TV3 crap. I just want the series link for ease of recording. Humax have a new box coming out that might bridge the gap and also supports VOD - http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/humax-hdr1000s-freesat-freetime-digital-recorder-500gb-13374267-pdt.html

thoughts?

Peter Rhea

OO7FITZY wrote: »

Folks,

I bought a Triax ST-HD537combo box from Megavision.ie around Aug 2011 and for the last 3-4 weeks the Saorviewchannels keep dropping out and screen goes black even with the latest firmware installed.

It started off dropping outintermittently but now it can be for most of the day. I have no issue with thesatellite channels.

I did a check on boards.ieand a lot of people who bought this combo-box have the same issue.

It's more than likely a problem with your terrestrial aerial setup & nothing to do with the receiver.

zg3409

OO7FITZY wrote: »

Humax have a new box coming out that might bridge the gap and also supports VOD - http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/humax-hdr1000s-freesat-freetime-digital-recorder-500gb-13374267-pdt.html

Video on demand will be blocked to ROI, the same as it is currently blocked to PCs.Not all channels are currently blocked. It needs a good internet connection and a high cap. But due to these new boxes there will be very good cheap second hand FreeSAT + HD boxes available from the UK.

OO7FITZY

can ROI customers just enter a UK postcode to avail of the VOD same as the freesat or can it ID you through your ISP when using the internet?

zg3409

OO7FITZY wrote: »

can ROI customers just enter a UK postcode to avail of the VOD same as the freesat or can it ID you through your ISP when using the internet?

It Id's you from your ISP. We cannot discuss here ways around it