Free Sat Not working as intended

Distracted said:
The 4k Freesat boxes being sold right now use the same wideband LNB as Sky Q.

Samsung TVs and older Freesat boxes use the non wideband LNB. This was also used by sky prior to sky Q.
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that is a real shame!

is that the fault of samsung or sky? my TV is fairly new too!

is it easy to change the LNB?
 
edit there are cheaper ones on amazon just need to be 100% sure before I order

outta interest is free sat better than freeview? what u all think
 
psd99 said:
that is a real shame!

is that the fault of samsung or sky? my TV is fairly new too!

is it easy to change the LNB?
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It appears to be a necessary change, allowing the viewing of and recording of more channels at once than the standard LNB provided. Technology marches on and all that.

I swapped my own Sky installed LNB for a six way. It has two of the wideband and four of the universal. So far it has been fine with our set top box and Samsung TV.

As long as you can safely reach the dish it is very easy to swap the LNB. Make sure you don't move the dish unless you are prepared to align it once you are done.
You unscrew the cables, remove the LNB (held in place with one plastic screw/pin iirc), pop the new one on and screw in the cables you need.
I put it off for a long time, but once I was up there is was very simple.

psd99 said:
outta interest is free sat better than freeview? what u all think
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We use it out of necessity, but I think there are more channels.
As a con, there seem to be fewer new set top boxes available for Freesat than there are for Freeview, but that doesn't matter if it's already built in to your TV.
 
Distracted said:
We use it out of necessity, but I think there are more channels.
As a con, there seem to be fewer new set top boxes available for Freesat than there are for Freeview, but that doesn't matter if it's already built in to your TV.
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I believe there are more HD versions of channels too, but my knowledge may be out of date.

I believe there's also a new Freesat compatible box coming later this year :)
 
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Distracted said:
As a con, there seem to be fewer new set top boxes available for Freesat than there are for Freeview, but that doesn't matter if it's already built in to your TV.
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You're looking at the wrong shops, places like World Of Satellite have loads.

Digital Receivers

Digital Receivers
www.world-of-satellite.co.uk www.world-of-satellite.co.uk
 
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update - with the weather being nice on the weekend i finally managed to change the LNB

I took a few pics of the existing one to see where it is pointing, changed over to the new one.

the good news is that the free sat channels are now working on my TV however, the signal is only between 58% to 62% - I think this might be due to the positioning of the LNB

I don't have a tester anymore for signal but at which degrees roughly do I need to adjust the lnb to? (it actually has degree markings on there and IIRC I currently have this set at between -15 and -20 ) i remember reading the document the lnb came with and i just wondered if i got the angle wrong or what steps can i take to get the signal a bit better?
 
Setting the lnb is like adjusting a gnats ****, the slightest of movement can get it in.
In the old days i used to connect to a small TV that i could get outside, nowadays i have an app that connects to my receiver and i can watch it aligning on my phone.
If you have a picture you are so close.
Use another person if you can't see the TV, knock slightly and get them to shout worse or better.
 
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psd99 said:
ok so very small adjustment on the lnb, and get someone to watch the signal meter on the tv sounds like the best way then

yep signal is okay but im v sure it was much better before i took the old lnb out
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Expected. A mm or two can make all the difference. I’d not attempt it without a meter.
 
VincentHanna said:
Any further information on this? Was considering getting a freesat 1TB recordable box soon, but will hold off if newer tech is coming.
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Why not just get a VU+ UNO 4K like mine and have the best?
Even a 66 year old woman can use it :)
I could even give you my image so you would have zero setting up.
 
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VincentHanna said:
Any further information on this? Was considering getting a freesat 1TB recordable box soon, but will hold off if newer tech is coming.
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I can't say much really, hopefully it's far along enough to be out this year but seems early days in terms of concrete product info. I haven't heard whether it's planned for a recordable version.

SexyGreyFox's suggestion looks quite well featured at a glance. Not looked at the UI yet.
 
LuckyBenski said:
I can't say much really, hopefully it's far along enough to be out this year but seems early days in terms of concrete product info. I haven't heard whether it's planned for a recordable version.

SexyGreyFox's suggestion looks quite well featured at a glance. Not looked at the UI yet.
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You make your own UI
 
Maybe I have missed something by why didnt you just buy a Sky Q box off the bay. They will still work with all the free channels just fine, you just loose the ability to pause, rewind and record.

When I ditched Sky I tried playing with the Freesat thing built my old TV (LG Oled) and it didn't work for the reasons listed here. I looked at getting a Freesat box but they all looked naff, I liked the SKY Q ui so gave up messing around and just bought a second hand Sky Q box (cost me £30).

I got a new TV recently (Sony Bravia 9) and tried seeing it Freesat would work on that with the Sky Q LNB and it does. It found so many dupes of channels though and the UI was horrible. I was hoping to ditch a box and a remote but nope, back to using the Sky Q box.
 
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kidloco said:
Maybe I have missed something by why didnt you just buy a Sky Q box off the bay. They will still work with all the free channels just fine, you just loose the ability to pause, rewind and record.

When I ditched Sky I tried playing with the Freesat thing built my old TV (LG Oled) and it didn't work for the reasons listed here. I looked at getting a Freesat box but they all looked naff, I liked the SKY Q ui so gave up messing around and just bought a second hand Sky Q box (cost me £30).

I got a new TV recently (Sony Bravia 9) and tried seeing it Freesat would work on that with the Sky Q LNB and it does. It found so many dupes of channels though and the UI was horrible. I was hoping to ditch a box and a remote but nope, back to using the Sky Q box.
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Yes that was a good suggestion but none on here told me that before
So i ended up on a top of a ladder in pain but it works now

The only thing I can think of is that now I have changed the LNB i will be able to use any freesat box right?
 
SexyGreyFox said:
Why not just get a VU+ UNO 4K like mine and have the best?
Even a 66 year old woman can use it :)
I could even give you my image so you would have zero setting up.
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That is pricey but now i have the new lnb
Can i pickup 4k or generally speaking what is the advantage of me getting this box vs standard inbuilt free sat?
 
psd99 said:
That is pricey but now i have the new lnb
Can i pickup 4k or generally speaking what is the advantage of me getting this box vs standard inbuilt free sat?
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You can record 8 channels at once if needed.
Using a Firestick with KODI and an Enigma2 plugin you can access the box from any room in the house.
My wife regularly uses 4 rooms in the house so has a Firestick setup in each of them.
You can add IPTV to it.
it can also access my NAS where I have loads of stuff on it.
It's just a superior product which we can't do without now.
 
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