What Box & dish for the Astra Sat'?

richiek67

Hi There,

Sorry if this has been posted before but I want to save on UPC bills so I'm thinking of only getting Broadband from UPC and the TV from the Astra satellite.
I'm sure there's a ton of people out there with this setup, what would people recommend in terms of a decent box and dish? Do I need saorview box too for the native irish DTV?

Many thanks

Rich

Atlantic Dawn

Get a quad lnd dish from Power City, around €50, i recommend getting a humax freesat hd recorder as the receiver, its pretty much Sky+ funtionality as regards recirding, series link and watc one channel while record another functionality, cost around €250, you may need to order it from a UK supplier.

zg3409

If getting broadband from UPC it may actually be cheaper to get broadband + phone as it can be cheaper than broadband alone.

If you get broadband and no phone and no TV there is an extra about 8 euro charge per month, so it works out cheaper to get broadband and phone and no TV.

To get the UK and Irish stations for free you need a dish AND a TV aerial. The UK channels come in the dish, the Irish channels come in the aerial.

As for which TV it depends. If your TV is Saorview compliant you don't need a box for the Irish channels. Some (very few) TVs also have an inbuilt satellite tuner for UK channels. It depends on what TV you have and if you want to buy a new one or not.

Post exact model number from the rear label and we can advise.

As said if recording the UK channels is important a FreeSAT branded (and not a cheap box) is very good but would set you back a couple of hundred euro.

If unsure of anything please ask questions.

richiek67

Hi Guys, Thanks for the advice, much appreciated ok. Well, I imagine then I'd go with just the phone and Internet, drop the TV given that
most of the channels we watch here are freely available. IS the FreeSAT box directed to the Astra satellite ?
By the way, the TV I have is a 37LG7000, lcd. Not too old . I've no problem spending a couple of hundred euro if its going to
work. I've no aerial though. Could I get the whole lot installed by someone I wonder. I can buy the stuff, I can even get the cable. I have Belden 5G cable at work!

Thanks again

Rich

Cantona's Collars

Yeah,it's 28.2e that you want.You need an aerial for Irish tv,not sure if the tv is saorview compatible,plug in a €2 aerial & see if a scan picks up saorview.

It can be fun (and sometimes frustrating) putting up your own dish.Make sure you have a clear line of sight to the South East,take a gander at dishpointer.com to check where you point the dish.

As you said,you can source your own equipment & if you get stuck,have a look at the ISAA website for a reputable installer in your area.

richiek67

Great, Thanks a lot Zerks.

richiek67

By the way, I looked this up but couldn't get a definitive answer, does the Astra Sat' provide the Discovery channel that we get here in Ireland? I ask this because my kids watch this a lot and therefore I think if it wasent then all this would be a bit of a waste of time.

One other question on the same topic but more to do with my elderly parents. They have a sky dish, the signal they get can be fine some days and on other days it can keep loosing it. I keep telling them that its possibly the alignment. My mother seems to have this routine, given to them by sky people on the phone, to turn the box off, then on again etc. I wonder myself if its the box perhaps. It seems to work for a while after they do this but then might go again. It's Eurosport they watch mostly so not sure if this should matter, I imagine it shoulden't given its coming down the same pipe, so to speak!
Anyway, if anyone has experienced this kind of thing my mother would be over the moon to get it sorted. She seems afraid to go to the hassle of getting anyone in, kind of don't blame her, shes 87!
Thanks in advance to the help

Rich

Cantona's Collars

Discovery is not free to air on that sat,you need a Sky sub to get it.

Re: your mother's dish,check all bolts & fittings are tight,there's a rudementary signal strength meter in the box,press services on the remote to find it.The dish might just need to be aligned & tightened.

Howjoe1

Hope you don't mind me adding a question. Likewise, I'm thinking of getting rid of UPC TV. While I have it in one room, in the other e use an old Sky dish and Sky Box to get all the free channels(non Irish).

My question, How big an outdoor aerial would I need to get RTE etc? Don't fancy putting one of the old style large aerials up on the roof if something smaller can work. And if so where to mount it? exterior side wall an option?

JOSman

It will depend on how far from the Saorview mast site your house is. I can see the mast from my house (it's about 10 miles away) so I put the antennae in the attic. The signal strength is 90% with excellent picture quality.
When I was installing mine I bought a combi box and now have free to air plus the Irish channels.
Best of luck to you.

richiek67

thanks folks. Diden't know there was a strength meter, will have to do it next time i,m over,

Cheers

Rich