ditching upc but confused

mylesm

Hi

I am not up to speed at all with all this freeview and saorview as I have always been UPC

I am now thinking of ditching UPC TV Service and going freeview and saorview route

Can someone please tell me simply how to achieve the following

want to recieve all normal Irish channells with ability to series link and record

ditto for all UK Channells would like a good EPG pause facility etc basically

all i have now with basic UPC sub can i do this with a combo box

Located in Blanchardstown willing to pay for installation

Any advise greatly appreciated

thx

Phoenix3

I have set up the same system.Results are stunning,I acquired a tv with both tuners built in to keep it all very simple.Send me a PM if you would like to see my set up-I am also based in Blanch.

B.A._Baracus

Generally, in order to get the EPG for the english channels you would have to buy a FreeSat box. The difference between FreeSat, Free to Air and Freeview are as follows: (We all can get confused at the start to what each is )

FreeSat - The official service. Owned by BBC and ITV. Only official FreeSat boxes come with an EPG and as new channels are added they automatically tune in.
Free to Air - To sum it up, unofficial boxes. Just regular satellite boxes that can recieve the free channels. But come without the EPG and new channels do not automatically tune themselves in. The term 'free to air' is also used to describe the service as a whole (This is where confusion starts) But when talking about Free to Air boxes, just think unofficial.
FreeView - Doesnt apply to us. Only for people in the UK. The service is for use with an aerial to recieve the free UK channels. But of course people within Ireland cannot recieve this signal.


If we were to take the option of buying a tv with dual tuners away (As Phoenix3 said) The set-up you require is 'awkward' - For example if you wanted the EPG for the UK channels and the ability to record you'd have to shill out for something like this .... Bit pricey tho.

Perhaps you would be better off going with a combo box (which are 'unofficial') so you'd wouldnt get the epg but you would only have to have on box for the UK and Irish channels and you could record the two.

mylesm

i was looking around would this do what i want

Thanks

http://www.tvtrade.ie/saorview-combo-kit.html

The Cush

mylesm wrote: »

Can someone please tell me simply how to achieve the following

want to recieve all normal Irish channells with ability to series link and record

ditto for all UK Channells would like a good EPG pause facility etc

There is no easy one box solution to replace the convenience of UPC.

A 2 box solution, Saorview+ (Irish channels) and Freesat+ (UK channels) PVRs get closest with series link, 7 day programme guide, built in HDD, digital text, watch one/record one or record two/playback one etc.

There are combi receivers out there but can be lacking in certain areas such as no digital text, no 7 day guide for satellite channels, no built-in HDD, no series link.

Saorview+ PVR (only 1 official Saorview PVR on the market)
http://www.powercity.ie/?par=10-23-WP6500&pages=1&prod=WP6500&brands=WALKER&image=
http://www.tvtrade.ie/saorview-pvr.html

Freesat+ PVR
http://www.joinfreesat.co.uk/ (rh column) - the Manhattan Plaza HDR-S and other Freesat+ PVRs start about £150

Satellite dish and aerial will be required.

phelixoflaherty

There is no 7 day EPG with that kit.

Although a bit pricey you should be looking for a Humax HDR box and set up Saorsat(IRL) and freesat(UK) on this.

The initial outlay is a bit steep but ease of use after that is top.

Although there will be no Irish EPG any recording can be scheduled manually

You can also add 3rd party software to the humax to make it accesible on home LAN

The Cush

mylesm wrote: »

i was looking around would this do what i want

http://www.tvtrade.ie/saorview-combo-kit.html

No series link, external HDD required.

May only be able to record one channel, FTA Sat or Saorview, at a time.

FTA satellite epgs, now & next info only, no 7 day guide.

mylesm

phelixoflaherty wrote: »

There is no 7 day EPG with that kit.

Although a bit pricey you should be looking for a Humax HDR box and set up Saorsat(IRL) and freesat(UK) on this.

The initial outlay is a bit steep but ease of use after that is top.

Although there will be no Irish EPG any recording can be scheduled manually

You can also add 3rd party software to the humax to make it accesible on home LAN

thanks do you mean one sat input for freesat and one for saorstat is it possible to watch one program and record another with that setup

phelixoflaherty

You can do that yes. The two feeds are Teed together twice one for the channel you are watching and the one you are recording.




http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056812054

All the info is in here somewhere
I just followed (Watty) username knows his stuff if a bit technical

Will you be doing it yourself? It's a nice challenge but will melt your head at the start

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=70957311

The Cush

mylesm wrote: »

do you mean one sat input for freesat and one for saorstat is it possible to watch one program and record another with that setup

Just one thing to note with Saorsat, it doesn't carry Saorview channels TV3 or 3e.

http://www.saorview.ie/about-saorview/saorsat/

Johnboy1951

The 'not so easy' solution (and probably a bit pricey) is to build your own HTPC.

Doing so can provide the functions you require, including 7 day EPG for all channels and multiple simultaneous recordings.

Not for the faint-hearted, but the end result is probably the best available.

There is a boards.ie section for HTPC which would be of use, if considering this approach.

mylesm

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

The 'not so easy' solution (and probably a bit pricey) is to build your own HTPC.

Doing so can provide the functions you require, including 7 day EPG for all channels and multiple simultaneous recordings.

Not for the faint-hearted, but the end result is probably the best available.

There is a boards.ie section for HTPC which would be of use, if considering this approach.

Im bad enough without trying to do that I was hoping for a simple solution but it looks like a 2 box solution is the only one that will give 7 day epg on both saorview and freesat

livEwirE

Can a 7 day epg with series link for both freesat and saorview be done on a linux box such a VU+ Duo?

Phoenix3

I am out -all getting too complicated for me

mylesm

now everyone please remember I have no experience of all this sat world

so over the last couple of days i have learned something about it

Almost bought a triax combo kit from tvtrade but at the last minute I asked the question can i record one freesat chanel and watch another

I got a reply to that question not from TVtrade as i asked it elsewhere the answer was

Hi Myles,

You can record and watch channels on the same transponder, but not different transponders.

For example if you want to watch BBC and record ITV, you can’t do this on the Triax, only on the Alien2 Triple.

Now I have no idea what a transponder is so I am still confused

Can someone tell me can i install a box that will allow me to record ant channel
either saorview or freesat and watch any other channel either saorview or freesat like record rte1 and watch tv3 or record bbc and watch rte or record bbc and watch chan 4

I hope someone knows what i mean

thanks nearly there probably going to get amiko alien I know 7 Day epg is not available for freesat but cant live with 2 boxes

Thanks again

Mylesm

Gerry Wicklow

A particular radio frequency can carry several TV and radio channels at the same time. For terrestrial signals at the moment we only have one carrying all RTÉ and TV3 stuff. This is called a MUX (multiplex). Others were planned and may appear in the future.
Satellite signals are similar with a group of TV and radio stations on one frequency known as a transponder (TP). The normal satellites we watch have many transponders and so we get hundreds of stations.
Many boxes can only watch or record one radio frequency at a time. Therefore if you are watching, say, RTÉ1 you might be able to record TG4 because it is on the same frequency (MUX).
Likewise with satellites, you could, say, watch Channel 4HD and record 4Seven as they share the same transponder.
Not every box can do this as it is depending on the software fitted.
If you want to record one TP or MUX and watch another, you will need separate tuners for each, so the box can "watch" both radio frequencies at the same time.

I hope this makes sense to someone so they can explain it back to me

The Cush

mylesm wrote: »

Now I have no idea what a transponder is so I am still confused

You can see the list of transponders/frequencies/multiplexes (all basically the same thing) for the Astra FTA channels here (LH column) - http://www.lyngsat.com/Eutelsat-28A-and-Astra-1N-2A-2F.html

All the Saorview channels are carried on a single Mux/frequency from your local transmitter - http://www.2rn.ie/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/SAORVIEW-Frequencies-Rev-2.6.pdf