Replacing UPC with combo-box set up

Some_randomer

So my friend in Dublin 9 is ditching cable TV after several years and wants all the free UK and Irish channels. She's asked me for help so I'm thinking of going with one of the Dublin based installation companies that offer a combo-box with saorview and the UK channels with one remote control. She never had Sky so no existing satellite dish.

I'm a bit confused about the difference between freesat and freeview, and which type of combo box I need. I've googled several installers in and around Dublin and they all have similar offerings - a combo-box setup with satellite dish and saorview aerial for 260 - 280 ish, plus a price per room to get extra rooms wired up.

Also my friend is completely non-technical so I need something that won't have to be re-configured regularly.

Some questions:

- Are the combo boxes currently available freeview + saorview or freesat + saorview, and which one should I get?
- Is there much configuration / re-setting involved i.e. do the combo-boxes need to be re-tuned after a while?
- Are there different types of satellite dish available or are they all the same? Do they rust or break over time?
- Are there any further costs down the line i.e. will boxes or dishes have to be replaced / upgraded, etc.?
- Anything else I should look out for?

If anyone cares to pm me a good installation company (or person) I'm all ears..

amikoalien2

Some_randomer wrote: »

Some questions:

- Are the combo boxes currently available freesat + saorview, and which one should I get?


- Is there much configuration / re-setting involved i.e. do the combo-boxes need to be re-tuned after a while?
yes and no



- Are there different types of satellite dish available or are they all the same? Do they rust or break over time?

- Are there any further costs down the line i.e. will boxes or dishes have to be replaced / upgraded, etc.?


- Anything else I should look out for?

Lets just call it Free satellite the important bit being free
combo box like the Amiko or ferguson technomate or vu+
can have a combination ( Combo ) of satellite tuners and terrestial tuners ( triple Tuner )
Satellite for BBC / Channel 4 UTV ITV and so on 2 sat tuners will allow you to record 1 sat station while watching another
and a terrestial tuner for saorview ( RTE )


yes every few months some of the sat stations will change frequency and need a rescan
you can use a plugin called autoboquets on linux boxes which will do all the work for you

Just a bog standard sky dish €30 ( unless you require foreign sat )
Yes it will rust and fall apart after a few years out in the elements
But if you have the cash you can buy better quality dishes
even transparent ones


Upgrades will usually be software and as such should be free


if you need to record try get a box with a little umph and can take a internal hard drive like the edission or vu
budget permitting

Gerry Wicklow

Just to clarify, FreeView is the UK equivalent of Saorview. It is terrestrial tv using a conventional aerial and is only available in border counties and some parts of the east coast.
FreeSat is a brand name for software that controls the EPG, auto-tuning and red button functions. There are several different makes of FreeSat boxes and TVs available. FreeSat boxes will not get Irish channels.
At present combo boxes only support Terrestrial (Saorview) and Free-To-Air (FTA) satellite. Basic combo boxes only show now/next EPG for satellite and have very basic recording functions. More expensive Linux based boxes have full 7 day EPG and better recording functions like live pause, series linking etc.
There are rumours of a Saorview and FreeSat box coming, but so is Xmas

BTW Each box, be it FTA, Sky or FreeSat uses the same dish pointing at the same satellites