Saorview set top box €49 at Tesco

mathepac wrote: »

I currently receive UK FTA on my old Sky box & Satellite set-up.

No change on that side.
This is bargain alerts - if you have tonnes of money get a subscription.

For now if you have a SKY box keep using it, if you don't have a subscription use the upside down card trick to the all the UK channels.

about 60 quid + a TV aerial will give you all the Irish channels

You will then have 7 day program guide on both boxes.

If you have run out of SCART sockets then plug your DVD or VCR into the SKY box. When DVD is turned on the SKY box will pass it through.

No Irish TV channels, but I do get radio. If I buy a combo-box will I also need an aerial? "... and lnb ..."?

Thanks.

Yes you will get RTE radio on SKY or Free To Air.


A satellite / terresterial box can use your existing SKY dish.
BUT it will cost twice the price of a basic saorview box, it will also need a TV aerial
and it will NOT have the 7 day Guide for the UK channels.

(If you get a FreeSat + Freeview HD box box then you will have the UK 7 day guide and a box that is NOT saorview approved and will not have the 7 day EPG and may have problems with Irish HD channels)



I'm looking into using a Ka LNB to get a simple one box solution. BUT it will NOT have any program guide. It will NOT have TV3 or 3E until they dip into their pockets to pay for the satellite costs.
And the costs of the Diseq switch and Ka LNB are more than the TV star box, so no real advantage except that you only have one remote control





As an aside
If your "digital TV" only gets radio then you have an MPEG2 TV - the old UK standard. If bought in the last year or two in the Republic as television then you can try going back to the supplier and point out calmly that it is not fit for it's intended purpose as a TV receiver.





Synopsis

If you get your Irish channels from SKY or UPC you need to do nothing.

If you get your Irish channels from an aerial then you should spend about sixty quid on a saorview box. You can spend more but be sure you need the features. The savings on getting a non saorview approved box aren't worth it.


If you want to switch from UPC or SKY it may be better to wait until the dust settles to see which options worked out best. If someone releases a Saroview + Freesat approved box at a decent price then happy days.

If you are getting only basic analog TV from UPC because you've only signed up for internet then you need to do nothing for now.

a

mathepac wrote: »

OK I figured it out - terrestrial channels need an indoor or outdoor aerial, blindingly obvious really. DOH.

Any recommendations for indoor aerial bargains. PowerCity €23.00 is the only price I have so far.

Powercity ? TBH if there is any at all of using it I'd probably try this one if you are in a good signal area
PHILEX DTT AERIAL FOR SAOR VIEW Model : 27880D €16.95
http://www.powercity.ie/?par=30-72-27880D&pages=&prod=27880D&brands=PHILEX&image=
if you need to save space try it without the reflector ( bits that go in at the back) - or try it with one of the reflector bars attached. Unless I'm missing something it's as good as the other un-amplified antennas which are twice the price.

it might not be good enough to use inside an attic though,
http://philex.com/catalogue/product/?id=664&cat=1058

[edit] - the antenna is in two sections so if the signal is strong enough you don't need the front half. [/edit]



TBH at this stage we should have narrow band colour coded antennas on sale for Saorview. :mad:

http://www.saorview.ie/make-the-switch/coverage-map/

Aerial Group	Channel Range	Colour Code
A 	21 - 37 	Red        THREE ROCK - Ch. 30 
B 	35 - 53 	Yellow
C/D 	48 - 68 	Green     KIPPURE - Ch. 54 
K 	21 - 48 	Grey
E 	35 - 68 	Brown
Wideband 	21 - 68 	Black - this is what is sold here

[edit]B&Q have overpriced antennas

also they have increased the price of the satellite box [/edit]



also check out the Terresterial TV forum
https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=56