Replacing Sky

Irishder

Hi Al,
Probably been asked 1000 times but i am replacing sky with a free to air box. Currently have sky Q, box is going back and satellite is staying.

What the best box to get that get me free to air, record, netflix and catch up app.

Appreciate any links for good review sites and best place to buy.


Thanks

shinobi

Irishder wrote: »

Hi Al,
Probably been asked 1000 times but i am replacing sky with a free to air box. Currently have sky Q, box is going back and satellite is staying.

What the best box to get that get me free to air, record, netflix and catch up app.

Appreciate any links for good review sites and best place to buy.


Thanks

The fact that it's wired for SKY Q you could consider one of these type freesat boxs. Meets all your requirements. There are cheaper alternatives but would probably mean replacing the LNB also.

https://www.freesat.co.uk/4k-tv-box/

Irishder

shinobi wrote: »

The fact that it's wired for SKY Q you could consider one of these type freesat boxs. Meets all your requirements. There are cheaper alternatives but would probably mean replacing the LNB also.

https://www.freesat.co.uk/4k-tv-box/

Thanks after reading a few threads here i have bought a Zgemma H7S will that work with my existing LNB?

dulpit

Irishder wrote: »

Thanks after reading a few threads here i have bought a Zgemma H7S will that work with my existing LNB?

If your old LNB was a hybrid (with multiple types of connections) then yes. If standard sky supplied one, then no. I think the standard sky LNBs have only 2 connections possible whereas hybrid have 6, so worth taking a quick peek at the dish to see what current set up is.

Irishder

Just had a look outside, the LNB i have is the one linkde below.

https://www.satshop.co.uk/sky-q-lnb

Does that mean i will have to fit a different LNB to the dish? Could you link a suitable one for me.

Apologies for all the questions i'm a total Newbie to this

shinobi

Irishder wrote: »

Just had a look outside, the LNB i have is the one linkde below.

https://www.satshop.co.uk/sky-q-lnb

Does that mean i will have to fit a different LNB to the dish? Could you link a suitable one for me.

Apologies for all the questions i'm a total Newbie to this

AFAIK if its the one with only two outputs (Wideband) you'll need a sky quad LNB. If it has 6 outputs (Hybrid) you can use any of the other outputs ie any output that's not dedicated to either just Vertical or Horizontal output.

Some Sky Quad LNB's

https://www.google.com/search?client=ms-android-huawei-rev1&sxsrf=ALeKk00nJyLweFauvR89calnHxjT0ioSBA%3A1594651329549&ei=wXIMX-2JIcPQxgPQqK-YAQ&q=sky+quad+lnb&oq=sky+quad&gs_lcp=ChNtb2JpbGUtZ3dzLXdpei1zZXJwEAEYADICCAAyAggAMgIIADICCAAyAggAMgIIADICCAAyAggAOgQIABBHOgQIIxAnOgYIABAWEB46BAgAEEM6BQgAEJECOgUIABCxAzoICAAQsQMQgwE6CggAELEDEIMBEEM6CAgAELEDEJECOgQIABAKULwVWPY_YIdOaAFwAXgCgAFiiAHCBZIBAjEwmAEAoAEB&sclient=mobile-gws-wiz-serp#scso=_QZkMX5DqMeaj1fAP99CagA057:0

henke

shinobi wrote: »

The fact that it's wired for SKY Q you could consider one of these type freesat boxs. Meets all your requirements. There are cheaper alternatives but would probably mean replacing the LNB also.

https://www.freesat.co.uk/4k-tv-box/

Sorry to hijack. Just to confirm. These are a straight swap for SkyQ? I thought there was something propriety about SkyQ that made it necessary to change the LNB if you wanted a different box. Are these such boxes a recent developement?

ted1

Is there anyway of getting Freesat and yhe Irish channels ? And being able to series link and record?

The Cush

henke wrote: »

Just to confirm. These are a straight swap for SkyQ? I thought there was something propriety about SkyQ that made it necessary to change the LNB if you wanted a different box. Are these such boxes a recent developement?

Yes, the newer Freesat receivers are compatible with the 2 output wideband SkyQ LNB, giving you access to 4 tuners for recording/watching.
Connecting a legacy LNB gives access to 2 tuners.

henke

The Cush wrote: »

Yes, the newer Freesat receivers are compatible with the 2 output wideband SkyQ LNB, giving you access to 4 tuners for recording/watching.
Connecting a legacy LNB gives access to 2 tuners.

Excellent, my Sky contract is expired. Now if I had only some tips on how to painlessly cancel as I know from experience there basically going to try force me to stay.

wizardman

henke wrote: »

Excellent, my Sky contract is expired. Now if I had only some tips on how to painlessly cancel as I know from experience there basically going to try force me to stay.

I just keeps saying "no thanks, cancel it please" every time they offer something. Don't take any crap!

dulpit

Ring them, be super blunt and tell them from the get go that you want to cancel, you don't want any offers or anything, but just want it cancelled. They will usually get the message.

Irishder

i cancelled last week, no real hard sell. offered 40% discount i said no and that was that.

henke

Cheers, will give them a call. Had a bad experience last year where I wasn't prepared the fella was real ignorant practically giving me a telling off for wanting to leave. Now I was only with them year and eventually caved to there basic package at 23. I'd say midway through the year it went to 25 and now to 33 that I'm out of contract so there going this time. Freesat + Saorview is as good as the basic package and no worries about monthly subscriptions or bargaining them every year.

greasepalm

As i said to them years ago i could not afford it and have to cancel many things even if you gave it to me for e10 a month as times have got harder.

decor58

ted1 wrote: »

Is there anyway of getting Freesat and yhe Irish channels ? And being able to series link and record?

You won't get the Irish channels on a freesat box, but any reasonably new TV should have a Saorview tuner, so aerial to tv and dish to freesat box. You could get a free to air combo box, Saorview and UK channels in one box, down side is no 7 day epg on Sat, just now and next, no auto updates etc. There is another option but it takes a bit of set up, look at the other posts, on here, for zgemma h7, Tiviar, etc.

ted1

decor58 wrote: »

You won't get the Irish channels on a freesat box, but any reasonably new TV should have a Saorview tuner, so aerial to tv and dish to freesat box. You could get a free to air combo box, Saorview and UK channels in one box, down side is no 7 day epg on Sat, just now and next, no auto updates etc. There is another option but it takes a bit of set up, look at the other posts, on here, for zgemma h7, Tiviar, etc.

Cheers may just for Freesat. Seems to be less messing , internal hard drive , EPG, Seems to just work.

I’d have to change LNB to get a 2 boxes working. I’ve Q but only 2 outputs

Cyrus

henke wrote: »

Cheers, will give them a call. Had a bad experience last year where I wasn't prepared the fella was real ignorant practically giving me a telling off for wanting to leave. Now I was only with them year and eventually caved to there basic package at 23. I'd say midway through the year it went to 25 and now to 33 that I'm out of contract so there going this time. Freesat + Saorview is as good as the basic package and no worries about monthly subscriptions or bargaining them every year.

They make leaving a nightmare I was laughing at the end of it he was trying so many angles !!

Cyrus

ted1 wrote: »

Cheers may just for Freesat. Seems to be less messing , internal hard drive , EPG, Seems to just work.

I’d have to change LNB to get a 2 boxes working. I’ve Q but only 2 outputs

I use the zgemma h7 there’s a little work setting up but once you do it’s great and covers saorvoew and free satellite channels with 7 day epg, recording etc etc

decor58

ted1 wrote: »

Cheers may just for Freesat. Seems to be less messing , internal hard drive , EPG, Seems to just work.

I’d have to change LNB to get a 2 boxes working. I’ve Q but only 2 outputs

Might be of interest, I was in Curry's in Jervis, Dublin today and they had 1tb Humax Freesat boxes for 139€, that's, about 1/2 price. They may be factory repairs or similar but still a good price.

greasepalm

Maybe it was a good price for the Humax but a Zgemma H7s can do a lot more i would think.

machiavellianme

Cancel sky via the new online form.

You have to sign in for the form but the link is at the bottom of this page under "Mail us".

https://www.sky.com/help/canceltvroi

andy1249

decor58 wrote: »

Might be of interest, I was in Curry's in Jervis, Dublin today and they had 1tb Humax Freesat boxes for 139€, that's, about 1/2 price. They may be factory repairs or similar but still a good price.

Humax lost the contract for Freesat boxes , all newer ones are Arris I think.
So this is a fire sale , get rid of old stock.
The Humax boxes have some serious issues , had one myself , a 1000s and it developed the infamous Hard drive / Motherboard issue which Humax refused to acknowledge.

ZGemma is a way more capable box.
Yes you have to set it up yourself but all satellite boxes require some setup , for the technophobic ex sky subscriber I recommend get a Zgemma with openvix , and install the "bluehd" skin.
Openvix because it has a full manual to download , none of the others do ( openATV , puree2 etc. ) and bluehd skin for very obvious reasons.

Setup is straighforward enough.
Hook up your satellite and terrestrial feeds.
Start the box.
Got to setup and check your tuners are recognised.
Go to ABM and configure for your preferred freesat zone and your saorview area.
Run it
Set up your favourites
Set up EPGrefresh to scan all channels in your favourites folder
Done .....

It will look like this ....

screengrab attached .....

micks_address

machiavellianme wrote: »

Cancel sky via the new online form.

You have to sign in for the form but the link is at the bottom of this page under "Mail us".

https://www.sky.com/help/canceltvroi

Will sky seek early termination charges of you are on a basic enough package? We are on basic contract up end of.thw year..just setup a Vu box for freesat plus saorview recording. Will sky look for the 250 or so I'd be paying between now and end of the contract?

Cyrus

micks_address wrote: »

Will sky seek early termination charges of you are on a basic enough package? We are on basic contract up end of.thw year..just setup a Vu box for freesat plus saorview recording. Will sky look for the 250 or so I'd be paying between now and end of the contract?

Yes I’m pretty sure they do

micks_address

Cyrus wrote: »

Yes I’m pretty sure they do

I'll probably just hold on till end of contract to cancel. I'll see what they say anyway