Basic question about Freeview / Freesat

Chris Wilson

Chris Wilson

Chris Wilson

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Bit low end for in here, but unsure where else to ask, so please excuse the Plebeian questions :)

Since the channel changes of about 8 months ago we can no longer get some of the Freeview channels that come via a normal TV aerial. I am told that when our transmitter goes digital they should come back as the signal strength will be wound up. However, I have just had a look and it won't be until late next year. I am fed up with waiting and think a satellite set up will be better than messing with higher gain aerials. Currently the aerial is in the loft, and works fine for normal analogue TV.

Now, I won't currently pay for a Sky subscription, but `er indoors wants it. If I put up a dish can I buy a satellite receiver that will pick up both the Freesat channels and, if she badgers me to the point where I have to subscribe to the dreaded Sky TV for the sake of my sanity, I can just put the Sky card in and get the Sky channels? At the old house I had a 1.8 meter motorised dish on the flat roof, which I still have, but it's a monster and needs a serious ground mount which I can't be bothered digging, nor laying the cables from it back to the house. So a small dish it will have to be, wall or pole mounted, but is a 1 meter dish a better buy than a 65 or 80 cm dish? Any links to a decent kit that has a well made wall or pole mount that won't corrode away in 3 years? Do I need a dual or more band LNB to do the above future proofing? Thanks.
 
I'm not aware of any Freesat boxes which can take Sky cards, there probably aren't any, so no if you want to watch Sky from a none Sky box. Freesat is the same satellite as sky iirc but you need a sky box to view the sky channels which you pay for.
 
Yep works quite well, but there are some channels it won't give you!.. Dave and VirginONE for starters!!.. :(
 
Thanks for the replies, the lack of Dave, which seems to have quite a bit of motorsport on it, which is just about the only sport I watch, will swing it, a dedicated Freesat box sans Sky it will have to be, cheers :)
 
Oh, I assumed Freesat and Freeview (through an aerial) would be the same programmes, transmitted by different means, and it was just Sky that missed Dave out, possibly for some sort of contractural reasons. PITA, now I am wondering how much better an aerial on the chimney would be than the one inside the loft, which now won't pick up the weaker signals since the last frequency changes...? Thanks for pointing that out Syph!
 
cyclops12 said:
Sky does do freesat, £25 one off fee for the card.

http://www.sky.com/shop/freesat/home/faq/
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Not exactly. That's "Freesat from Sky" which is basically just a free version of the Sky platform and is not the same as the Freesat service.

A Sky box does not do Freesat and a Freesat box does not do Sky. You can, however, manually tune most of them to the channels that are available on one and not the other, though some are encrypted.
 
gwtting a new aerial will make a big differnce .. i opted for it a year last july as we were behind a big him and the freeview was unavailble .. sky was installed but had long expired and was just tranmitting freto air stuff ( note not freeview or freesat ) .

we needed 2 arials in the house as i had a dvd/hdd recorder so plumpled to get a better aerial , with a booster .. got 10 signal after that no problems .. aerial was £150 but well worth it .... and if you go that route , id also get a humax freeview hd box
 
easyrider said:
Can you still record?
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you can only record with a sky+ box ( all sky+ dont exist anymore , but sky are still advertisign a basic sky+ service .... but you will actually be issued with a hd+ box incase you want to upgarde in teh future ) . ..

now as far as i'm aware you have to subscribe to sky to record 9 after your 12 months and you want to not use sky channels ) ... which is total bs if you ask me :(
 
Get a wide band high gain aerial and all your problems will more than likely go away and as an added bonus you won't have to attach a hideous satelite dish to your house.
 
TALON1973 said:
you can only record with a sky+ box ( all sky+ dont exist anymore , but sky are still advertisign a basic sky+ service .... but you will actually be issued with a hd+ box incase you want to upgarde in teh future ) . ..

now as far as i'm aware you have to subscribe to sky to record 9 after your 12 months and you want to not use sky channels ) ... which is total bs if you ask me :(
Click to expand...

I have sky HD and if I cancel I can get a £25 freeview card but cannot record?
 
dbmzk1 said:
Not exactly. That's "Freesat from Sky" which is basically just a free version of the Sky platform and is not the same as the Freesat service.

A Sky box does not do Freesat and a Freesat box does not do Sky. You can, however, manually tune most of them to the channels that are available on one and not the other, though some are encrypted.
Click to expand...

That's correct but most of the channels are the same, didn't realize there was no dave on it though :(

Freesat is also cheaper than sky freesat if you don't already have a box and dish :)
 
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