SKY Freesat vs Satellite Dish

macman

That box is an HD satellite receiver, but it's not a Freesat box-you won't get the Freesat EPG etc.
If you want Freesat from Sky then you need to use a Sky digibox, if you want Freesat then you need to use a Freesat digibox.

Kurtis_Blue

You dont need a solid ugly 65cm dish for freesat/astra 2, just a small 45cm mesh sky dish, so the dish should go in the bin really, that just leaves you with the stb, which isn't freesat just a generic sat box, so wont have the easier to use freesat epg.

I would pay the extra £20 for a humax HD http://www.humaxdirect.co.uk/product.asp?ProdRef=10070&cat=Factory.

bluedove

Sorry guys if im being thick here but i need a bit more clarification, i understood that recording on sky freesat is disabled.
I really want to get for sky freesat as it offers more channel compared to BBC freesat, Liverpool TV is on sky freesat and i'm a fan.

Can sky freesat card work on Humax PVR, as i need to be able to record programs

macman

If you want to record on Freesat from Sky then you need to pay £10 a month to unlock the PVR functions.
Freesat PVR's don't have a card slot; recording and all PVR functions are free on Freesat (the clue is in the name).
Liverpool TV is available on !!!!!! or VM cable only.
Freesat is not BBC, it is a consortium of ITV and BBC.

davemurgatroyd

There are 3 seperate requirements here and there at present is no one receiver on the market which will satisfy all 3 off the shelf without downloading software to it requiring a reasonable amount of computer expertise and a few weeks to get working fully.

1 Subscription free recording - only available on freesat or generic FTA receivers although only freesat boxes have a full 7 day EPG on the channels on its EPG (less than half the free channels)
2 Viewing encrypted Free To View (FTV) channels using a Sky card - only Sky boxes and one generic receiver (the Openbox S9 HD) will do this off the shelf.
3 A full 7 day EPG - only available on Sky or freesat boxes.

You have to decide what is the most important to you.
A Sky box will allow viewing of all the free and FTV SD channels (but change of box for required for HD channels) but no subscription free recording - cost £99 for the latest DRX595 (which would also give you channel 5HD and the other 9 FTV channels not available on freesat)
A freesat box will allow subscription free recording but not viewing or recording of the FTV channels - cost £200+
An Openbox S9 will allow subscription free recording and viewing/recording of all the free and FTV channels (SD and HD) with Sky card (including channel 5HD) but has no 7 day EPG (merely now and next on ther UK channels) and only has one tuner so no ability to watch one and record another channel - cost £80 to 90 plus external Hard disk Drive to record to at £40 upwards.

As you already have a Sky box my recommendation would be an Openbox S9 used together with your present Sky box and would need your lnb changing for a quad lnb this would allow recording of one channel and viewing another and would mean swapping the Sky card between the two boxes depending on which channels are recorded/viewed or obtaing a second FreesatFromSky card). If a two box solution is not to your liking then the only other alternative would be a freesat PVR which would NOT allow viewing of LFC TV and would also need the quad lnb for full functionality.

bluedove

Thanks for your concise explanation the most important services I need are 7day EPG, HD channels and LFC TV.
a) If i change the LNB to quad, i assume i will need to run a second cable from the dish to the TV point?
b) I have a sky Thompson box “DS14214C” as the openbox S9 has a single turner how can I get the correct setup on both sky box and openbox to record one channel and watch another.
c) Is it possible to buy two viewing cards from sky?

ElkyElky

bluedove wrote: »

Thanks for your concise explanation the most important services I need are 7day EPG, HD channels and LFC TV.
a) If i change the LNB to quad, i assume i will need to run a second cable from the dish to the TV point?
b) I have a sky Thompson box “DS14214C” as the openbox S9 has a single turner how can I get the correct setup on both sky box and openbox to record one channel and watch another.
c) Is it possible to buy two viewing cards from sky?

A) Yes

That Thomson box isn't capable of recording as far as I'm aware, you'll need to get yourself a Sky+ box and you'll also have to pay Sky £10 a month for the privledge of using the recording features on a Sky+ box.

C) Yes, you can buy as many as you want, obviously they'll want a fee each time (£20).

davemurgatroyd

bluedove wrote: »

Thanks for your concise explanation the most important services I need are 7day EPG, HD channels and LFC TV.
a) If i change the LNB to quad, i assume i will need to run a second cable from the dish to the TV point?

Yes

b) I have a sky Thompson box “DS14214C” as the openbox S9 has a single turner how can I get the correct setup on both sky box and openbox to record one channel and watch another.

Use Sky box for viewing and Openbox to record

c) Is it possible to buy two viewing cards from sky?

You should only need to purchase one FreesatFromSky card as your present subscription card when you cancel will act as one.

davemurgatroyd

ElkyElky wrote: »

That Thomson box isn't capable of recording as far as I'm aware, you'll need to get yourself a Sky+ box and you'll also have to pay Sky £10 a month for the privledge of using the recording features on a Sky+ box

Which is the whole point of the Openbox - it allows subscription free recording of all the free channels (both FTA and FTV with the Sky card)

bluedove

Thanks guys for all your help, i have decided to put my sky box on ebay, buy a sky HD box and use my DVD recorder to record programs.
Totally forgot i have a Samsung HD DVD player/recorder with 250gb capacity.
I hope sky freesat will work without an active telephone line? as i use VOIP on my cable BB.