TopUp TV

JayToukon · 5 Aug 2010 at 13:40

Has anyone got/used this? We can't put a dish on our apartment so we can't get Sky, so i figured we could get TopUp TV for other movie channels and ESPN (UFC!) with a box that records, as it requires no dish. It is a little more expensive than Sky+ but there's no contract for the most part so it seems worthwhile. Just wondering of peoples experience with it.

Also, i bought a 5m aerial flylead and it picks up less stations that our ~2m flylead. The longer one silver ended and shorter one is gold. Is the channel loss due to the length or the material used on ends of the cable?

Cheers folks!

JayToukon · 5 Aug 2010 at 21:18

/bump

fozzybear · 5 Aug 2010 at 22:39

I've been looking at it. You can now get Sky Sports 1 and 2 through Freeview. A package with ESPN, SS1 and SS2 is just under £40 a month. It's a steep price but, as you say, there's no minimum contract and it's handy for those who don't want a satellite dish on their house.

More here.

Lanz · 5 Aug 2010 at 22:48

Have you looked into BT Vision? I think thats the cheapest way to get Sky Sports without having a dish.

JayToukon · 10 Aug 2010 at 12:39

Lanz said:
Have you looked into BT Vision? I think thats the cheapest way to get Sky Sports without having a dish.

I'm not too fussed about SS though, mainly just ESPN for UFC fights. Most big football games are on terrestrial anyway.

Phil99 · 10 Aug 2010 at 13:31

If you just want ESPN you can get a recording box with a decent size harddrive for about £60 then £9.99 a month for ESPN. Personally I wouldn't bother with any of the other TopUpTV stuff, but that's just because I'm not that fussed with the other programmes they show.

As for your signal issues, I've found that even a basic signal booster can work wonders for digital terrestrial signals, though I'd bet on the length & quality of the cable being the main factor in the loss of channels. A good quality co-ax cable shouldn't cause any issues over a distance as short as 5m though unless the signal was quite bad to start with.

Arcane · 10 Aug 2010 at 20:40

I've got ESPN through TopUpTV. I got a CAM Slot from Argos to use with the card and slotted it into the side of the TV. Works fine and only really watch it for UFC.

JayToukon · 14 Aug 2010 at 02:09

Well my TV has a PCMCIA slot where i could fit a CAM slot and TopUP TV card/subscription but i want to be able to record it as well, and i only want ESPN.

Phil99: There is a thing with TopUp TV to pay £9.99p/m just for ESPN - without all the other crappy channels that they offer.

So my best option is a recording digibox (£60-£150 depending on what size i want) then a TopUp TV for that for £9.99p/m, right?