Saorview / Freeview advice and installer needed

Rael

Hey folks,

I’ve been looking at getting a Saorview aerial and box for my parent’s room. They just want a basic system if someone is ill or just wants to watch the Late Late etc.

I saw last night that if you have a box such as the Humax HDR-FOX T2 then it’s possible to get Saorview and Freeview HD from the UK.

I’m based in Portmarnock, approximately 800m uphill from the beach front, so according to the guide on TVtrade.ie, I should be within the Freeview overspill area.

Normally I’d recommend they get a Saorview / Freesat system but:

• they already have a Sky dish with the 4 ports in use;
• they don’t want anyone to mess around with it (eg fit a new 8 port LNB) as it works fine at present; and
• they don’t want a second dish cluttering up the back of the house.

Can anyone recommend an installer for a Saorview / Freeview aerial. Will a single aerial work, would I have to get a dedicated Freeview aerial or do I have to get the TVTrade kit? (Here) If I got the kit would an installer use it or would they insist on their own equipment.

Also, can anyone recommend an installer or are there any on the boards who might be able to help?

Hope you can help & thanks for any and all advice received.

Ken

Peter Rhea

You won't get reliable Freeview at that location. I'd go with satellite for the UK channels.

Fitting an octo lnb shouldn't mess anything up.

zg3409

Can you explain what they have at the moment and so what the 4 ports on the current dish are used for. Do they regularly record, do they pay for multiroom?

If they already have Sky, and intend keeping Sky, and there is only 2 people in the house then an RF2 connection to the main Sky box may be a better solution.

If they have no need to record then a combo box might be simpler to use. Also is the current TV Saorview compatable?

As suggested I would not bother with freeview overspill from Nothern Ireland. It will not be reliable and there are more free channels available from satellite.

Rael

zg3409 wrote: »

Can you explain what they have at the moment and so what the 4 ports on the current dish are used for. Do they regularly record, do they pay for multiroom?

If they already have Sky, and intend keeping Sky, and there is only 2 people in the house then an RF2 connection to the main Sky box may be a better solution.

If they have no need to record then a combo box might be simpler to use. Also is the current TV Saorview compatable?

As suggested I would not bother with freeview overspill from Nothern Ireland. It will not be reliable and there are more free channels available from satellite.

There's three of us in the house. We currently have a Sky dish with a quad LNB which is connected to 2 Sky+ boxes. One in the main TV room, the other is in the garage conversion (my TV room).

They've redecorated their bedroom and have a 40" lcd mounted on the wall, it's from 2006 and I think it has a DVB-T logo but can't confirm if it's compatible.

I suggested that they could get Saorview so they could have something to watch if one of them ever got sick or just fancied watching something different to the other. I offered to go 1/2s on the cost and get it in my bedroom too.

I was looking at the different Saorvew boxes and then read up about the possibility of freeview to get the UK channels.(which is a non runner according to the last poster)

I'm not sure the magic eye / RF2 would work because of the distance between the bedrooms and the Sky+ boxes downstairs

I'd personally be infavour of getting Saorview & Freeview but they'd be against getting a second dish and they'd be hesitant for anyone to go near the exisiting dish to fit an Octo LNB (I'd prefer this option to allow for SKY & Freeview off the same dish). In a way I can see their point, if something stopped working who would be responsible for fixing it, Sky or the second installer.

zg3409

Rael wrote: »

They've redecorated their bedroom and have a 40" lcd mounted on the wall, it's from 2006 and I think it has a DVB-T logo but can't confirm if it's compatible.

I suggested that they could get Saorview so they could have something to watch if one of them ever got sick or just fancied watching something different to the other. I offered to go 1/2s on the cost and get it in my bedroom too.

So is this 40" TV actually connected to anything at the moment? Can you get the exact model number from it, as otherwise your guess is as good as mine.

I'm not sure the magic eye / RF2 would work because of the distance between the bedrooms and the Sky+ boxes downstairs

Cables can be run on the outside of the house too. You would need some sort of a cable to the TV in any case.

they'd be hesitant for anyone to go near the exisiting dish to fit an Octo LNB (I'd prefer this option to allow for SKY & Freeview off the same dish). In a way I can see their point, if something stopped working who would be responsible for fixing it, Sky or the second installer.

After 1 year you own the dish, which means if it breaks it's up to you to pay to get it fixed. Sky don't really have any installers, they just call in normal guys and charge you extra. It usually works out cheaper to call local installers direct and agree a price. If your dish is over 5 years old, and if you are paying an installer to visit, it's probably best to jsut replace the whole dish while at it. The dish is only worth 20 or 30 Euro anyway.

Based on what you say so far I would suggest connecting the beroom TV to the Sky box and remotely controlling it via a Sky eye, if that has not already been done.

If the TV is already Saorview compatable, and if it is already connected to the Sky box, then you would need an indoor or outdoor aerial connected to the "aerial in" on the Sky box. This would then feed up to the bedroom. In this way they would get the Sky channels and the option of Saorview channels.

Rael

zg3409 wrote: »

So is this 40" TV actually connected to anything at the moment? Can you get the exact model number from it, as otherwise your guess is as good as mine.

TV isn't connected to anything at present, they used to have an old 9" portable with rabbit's ears and decided to take it off my hands when I upgraded

Model is a Sony KDL-40S2010.

zg3409

Rael wrote: »

Model is a Sony KDL-40S2010.

I suspect that model is no use for Saorview as it only has an MPEG2 Tuner. So for Saorview you would need an external box. Depending on the layour this may be impractical for wall mounted TVs.

I suggest start by running a cable to the RF2 of the Sky box. Also buy a remote eye and a second remote control. There are online guides on how to set this up.

This is fairly do-able DIY. On ebay there is even some complete kits.

After you get this working you can consider adding extra boxes and aerials etc.