Motorised Satellite System v' LNB Multiblock v' Multiple dishes

marathonic

I'm a newbie when it comes to all this stuff but have always believed in the "buy good or buy twice" mantra.

I've started my 30-day cancellation period with Sky and have ordered a Vu+ Solo 2 receiver (as far as I'm aware, the whole pause, rewind, record facility in my Skybox will end with my subscription).

Given my lack of requirements to begin with, a Vu+ Solo 2 receiver may have been overkill - but I'm now looking to see how I can get the value out of it.

I recently moved across the border from Donegal to Derry and would like to have access to the BBC channels AND RTE channels.

My research today leads me to believe that the above requirement alone will lead me to need access to two different satellites and my options are a motorised system, multiple dishes or a multi-block to point multiple LNB's to the one dish.

My question is, what are the advantages and disadvantages of each (cost and features). I already have a Sky HD system with a mesh dish but, according to Saorview, I need a solid one. Is this true?

Would it be true that multiple dishes, or a multiblock, will allow quicker switching between stations on different satellites and allow me to record from one whilst watching the other?

Obviously, the motorised system won't allow recording from one satellite whilst watching the other so I need to figure out whether the content on the other satellites is worth losing this feature (I've no idea what's on them).

What option would you go for if you were me and why?

marathonic

Just to add, I'm aware that Saorview, as opposed to Saorsat, is also available. However, I don't have an aerial on the house so the cost of accessing that would be a factor too.

codar

Saorsat requires a different dish/ multi dish setup and ka type lnb.
There is no Tv3, 3e or utv ireland broadcast on saorsat (only rte stations)

Saorview has the full range of channels but will require an aerial. (and will probably be the cheaper installation option)

Your Vu solo2 doesn't have a terestrial (dvb-t) tuner installed though, it only comes with two satellite tuners (dvb-s/s2)
You can however add a usb terestrial tuner to one of the usb ports on the rear.
Vu have their own branded terestrial/cable usb tuner (vu turbo)
Sundtek mediatv pro is another usb tuner.
Both of these are great quality but are pricey
I use a hauppauge wintv nova t stick which works well.

winston_1

If you only want BBC and RTE all you need is two aerials. However a dish on 28˚E will give you a lot more than BBC channels.
Saorsat needs a larger dish and special LNB on another satellite but gives you less channels than Saorview with an aerial so is pointless if you can get a good aerial signal.

So existing sky dish for English channels and aerial for Irish would be my recommendation.

lertsnim

I would also put up an aerial for Freeview so you can get channels like Dave which are encrypted on satellite.

marathonic

Thanks all for your input so far. The consensus so far seems to be to go for the aerial and my current Sky dish and forget about the motorised option.

The users on the other forums I've read seem to push for motorised dishes to make the most out of the Vu+ box - albeit, Saorview and Saorsat wasn't a requirement - given the fact that they're not Irish forums.

Would a setup involving the aerial and connection to my sky dish alone mean that I've made the wrong choice in receiver and should have went for something cheaper?

Do any of you have a motorised setup and what are it's additional offerings like? For example, would one expect to have access to most golf, football and boxing matches - albeit in foreign languages. Would it give access to things that would be PPV on sky - like the upcoming McGregor/Aldo fight (now cancelled).

Gerry Wicklow

The main disadvantage of a motorised system is you can only watch whatever satellite the dish is pointing at. With a multi-LNB setup you can watch, say, German football on 19E while recording the soaps on ITV for the boss on 28E. I would agree for Irish TV Saorview is the way to go. Several German and Polish channels also broadcast the original English soundtrack on movies.

watty

Motorised doesn't suit a PVR or multiple tuners. It's slow to change channel to a different Satellite.

Freeview is available in very small area of Ireland as it's Terrestrial via an Aerial from N.I., Wales (and a few people I.O.M. or Cornwall).

Multilnb has instant channel change and if 28E is LNB1 / Port A, most dedicated Freesat boxes and all Sky boxes work. It can be expanded to over 1000 tuners using Quattro LNBFs and Multswitch. Otherwise Quad LNBFs and up to four Diseqc switches.

Single or multiple dish or Toroidal dish depends on which satellites are required on a multilnb setup.

Your TV may have a tuner compatible with Saorview (an aerial), so the sat box only needed for Satellite.

Soarsat is primarily a backup feed system for Transmitter sites and secondarily for people that can't get an aerial signal. TV3, 3E and UTV are not on it as they don't regard a backup or extra coverage important and their licence doesn't require it due to stupidity of BCI. TV3 had nearly 20% less coverage on analogue. TV3 and UTV certainly won't pay for extra coverage or backup (costs more and no real increase in ad revenue) unless forced to by BCI licence.