Tv switchover, please can someone advise me re sky etc

Blackpool_Saver

Hi, thanks for reading, this is the current set up in my house:

Sky plus box downstairs and one bounce via an 'eye' to my sons room, so obviously we share sky. Currently when he wants it I watch terrestrial tv, obviously when they switch it off I wont be able to.:rolleyes: I can't decide what is best (most economic/practical) to do, ideally I would like to move on to full HD but I can see I need a new tv, sky HD box and extra subscription for multi room and HD, so really that's out, or is it, does someone know a way around this please?

Or, just generally what should I do, I prefer to stay with sky.

Thanks

Phantom_Flan_Flinger

The first thing to do is to try and find out if your terrestrial aerial is capable of receiving digital. Could you borrow a Freeview box from friends/neighbours/family? If this worked you could get yourself a cheap Freeview box and carry on as you are.

If you want to watch different subscription channels at the same time as your son, multiroom is the only route.
For HD, you're right in what you're saying; HD box, HD subscription and an HD ready TV.

If subscription channels aren't an issue, you have the Freeview route, or you could have extra feeds from the satellite dish feeding a Freesat box or a non subscription Sky box to give you the FreesatFromSky channels.
This is a bit like multiroom without the pay channels.
The Freesat route does give you the option of the current HD channels for BBC and ITV for free. Obviously you'd need a Freesat HD box.

almillar

What could be quite easy and cheap would be to buy your son a Sky box. They go for <£10 on eBay, or gumtree or a car boot sale would save postage. This will get him a load of channels, but not all the extra ones that you pay for. You could swap the cards between the 2 boxes so that, for example, he can watch Sky 1 and you can watch BBC1. Anybody know if this wouldn't work?

Browntoa

cannot swap cards between boxes as they twin with the sky box , you need to ring customer services each time

Blackpool_Saver

Thanks Dave, Allmillar and browntoa, ok so after reading your response am I right in thinking it is possible to have both sky and freeview at the same time through one aerial ? and am i right in thinking my aerial is ok after switch over because it gets sky now?

Blackpool_Saver

Son:16 (knows everything) but not about this !!!!!!

Pokerlad

It would help to know what your son watches upstairs. I presume its Sky Sports but if its just the free to air channels it will make a difference to what solution is best.

Phantom_Flan_Flinger

Blackpool_Saver wrote: »

so after reading your response am I right in thinking it is possible to have both sky and freeview at the same time through one aerial ? and am i right in thinking my aerial is ok after switch over because it gets sky now?

You're only getting terrestrial through your aerial. You're getting SKY through a dish. 2 different feeds.

The only way of knowing if your aerial will be OK is to borrow a Freeview box.

Blackpool_Saver

Pokerlad wrote: »

It would help to know what your son watches upstairs. I presume its Sky Sports but if its just the free to air channels it will make a difference to what solution is best.

We both have one sky input we share and it's just the absolute basic stuff. I had to cancel all that extra cos I couldn't afford it.

Blackpool_Saver

Phantom_Flan_Flinger wrote: »

You're only getting terrestrial through your aerial. You're getting SKY through a dish. 2 different feeds.

The only way of knowing if your aerial will be OK is to borrow a Freeview box.

Doh, sorry for being so gormless, yes of course I am, I tend to forget about the dish.
Ok, so free view etc come through the aerial, hence need to know if aerial is ok for switch over, ahh I get it now, sorry. So it will be ok to have sky through its dish and free view through aerial (subject to it being ok for it)mmmmm

Blackpool_Saver

Just had another thought, do tv's have 2 holes for input one for sky and one for freeview box?