Free to Air/Freeview box recommendation

christy11

I am looking for a recommendation for a FTA or Freeview box that can be used to view UK based channels on my parents TV.

They have a old Silvercrest which is on the verges of giving up and I am looking for one to replace it. with the silvercrest one, I would have to rescan channels every few months and it was very time consuming deleting the duplicates/adult/rubbish channels that appear and organising them so the BBC's, Channel 4 would all be after each other instead of randomly placed everywhere. I would like one where it is possible to auto update via the box, or even if I can load the channel list/frequecy etc via USB it would suit.

Ideally I would like to get one with a EPG (7 days if possible) but even 1 day would be sufficient.

The following would be a bonus but not necessairy: Wifi connection to watch RTE Player and other on demand web based services, recording via USB or internal had drive.

Could anyone recommend one for me?

They also have Saorview on the TV so that doesnt need to be connected to the box.

athlone573

By far the easiest to use would be a Freesat box such as the Manhattan SX. They auto retune and have 7 day EPG.

You won't get Freeview (uk channels through the aerial) reception unless you live on the border.

FTA boxes will be a bit more work and there are always a few threads here about the best one.

christy11

athlone573 wrote: »

By far the easiest to use would be a Freesat box such as the Manhattan SX. They auto retune and have 7 day EPG.

You won't get Freeview (uk channels through the aerial) reception unless you live on the border.

FTA boxes will be a bit more work and there are always a few threads here about the best one.

Would the Manhattan SX box load the usual BBC, C4 etc. from the Astra28 satellite? I live in Meath so would it work through that?

Also how does it automatically update the channel list? Is it downloaded from online or is there a general scan option to scan through all frequencies?

athlone573

christy11 wrote: »

Would the Manhattan SX box load the usual BBC, C4 etc. from the Astra28 satellite? I live in Meath so would it work through that?

Also how does it automatically update the channel list? Is it downloaded from online or is there a general scan option to scan through all frequencies?

Yeah it would. It works magically. You tell it a UK postcode (I use Old Trafford) and it does all the rest.

christy11

athlone573 wrote: »

Yeah it would. It works magically. You tell it a UK postcode (I use Old Trafford) and it does all the rest.

Is there any other FTA boxes that can re-scan channels easily? Ideally I would like something simple for the parents that even they can do and not get confused after it!

dxhound2005

Is there a satellite tuner in their TV? Where you can plug in the cable from the dish and scan the channels directly on the TV?

JamBur

I use official humax freesat boxes. Fantastic for me after 2 years of use. I went through different combo boxes and android boxes. These just work, have full epg, recording........... and no need to retune.

Humax Hdr1100s is my main living room box with recording functionality, Humax 1100s without recording for other rooms. I bought 4 boxes for peanuts from eBay. Prices seem to have skyrocketed a bit now as they are no longer produced

dulpit

christy11 wrote: »

Is there any other FTA boxes that can re-scan channels easily? Ideally I would like something simple for the parents that even they can do and not get confused after it!

Official freesat is the way to go here. It's like sky tv in the sense that once it's plugged in and set with a postcode, it just works. Channels automatically update, the EPG is always populated. If you don't want recording, then the Manhattan freesat box already mentioned (https://manhattan-tv.com/freesat/manhattan-sx) is perfect. If you want recording, you'll pay a bit more.

If you were to go down the route of a more generic FTA box you'll either need to get one that you need to manually update yourself every few months, or you'll want an enigma box. Enigma boxes are more powerful, but require a little bit more work. If this is for your parents, I wouldn't bother.

Koloman

That link to the Manhattan seems to be broken.

refusetolose

Koloman wrote: »

That link to the Manhattan seems to be broken.

https://manhattan-tv.com/freesat/manhattan-sx

dermo2014

Power City have a few of these, a little more expensive though !

https://powercity.ie/product/340138

a clanger

Got a Humax Freesat (HB1000?) box back in 2013ish for my parents who also live in Meath. Absolutely bullet proof, plugged in, tuned and and hummed along since without a glitch totally maintenance free. Can't recommend highly enough

NewClareman

christy11 wrote: »

Is there any other FTA boxes that can re-scan channels easily? Ideally I would like something simple for the parents that even they can do and not get confused after it!

The Enigma2 boxes can be set to update automatically and are basically self maintaining once the initial configuration is complete. We move from Sky almost 3 years ago and would never go back. They allow you to have any mix of U.K./Irish channels you want, on a single list. This provides a streamlined solution, with full EPG and Series Link, for all the FTA channels.

I shared my setup for the Tiviar, which makes it child's play to set it up for general Use. Unfortunately that box is now hard to find. It would appear that the Zgemma H7s is the most cost effective replacement. You'll get lots of help here from people who use it, if you decide to go that way. If you ask nicely maybe someone would share an image with everything already set up.

christy11

I purchased the Manhattan SX and am setting it up now, however it wont detect any channels. The old satellite reciever we have is picking channels up but the new one wont, even when i manually tune it to a certain frequency. Is there anything else I need to change to get this setup? I havent changed the ends of the LNB as it screws into the new connection without an issue (as far as it can go). The old reciever is a Silvercrest SL65. Is there a different connection required to pick them up?

athlone573

It should work with the same cables

Possible reasons it doesn't Include
Faulty box (hopefully not)
Rain or snow
Bad connection on the box end (try refitting the F connectors to expose a few mm more of copper and be careful with the sheath wire).