Cancelling Sky and using Freeview

SeduLOUs

I wouldn't go spending a lot of money on a freesat box just yet.

Sit it out a few weeks and I'll bet Sky get back to you offering you the same package you had with a 75% discount for the next year which may well be cheaper than buying the recorder box and you won't lose any channels or your Sky+.

teddysmum

SeduLOUs wrote: »

I wouldn't go spending a lot of money on a freesat box just yet.

Sit it out a few weeks and I'll bet Sky get back to you offering you the same package you had with a 75% discount for the next year which may well be cheaper than buying the recorder box and you won't lose any channels or your Sky+.

Very few appear to be offered more than 50%, at the moment.

[Deleted User]

almillar wrote: »

Agree. For proof - go and look at the signal info on your Sky box in the settings. If the bars for both inpots look good, and you don't get picture or sound break up except in the worst weather, you'll be absolutely grand.

Thanks. Done, and the strength and quality on both are very good.

Moneymaker

[Deleted User] wrote:

I understand from this thread that our Sky+ box and card can be used for Freeview

It can't but it can be used for "FreesatFromSky". Yes, leave the viewing card in it.

(Freeview requires an aerial and a Freeview receiver.)

macman

All you need is your existing dish and LNB. As long as you have a twin feed from the LNB (which you will have if you had full Sky+ functionality), then that's all you need to get the full PVR functions on Freesat.
The dish design has not changed in decades, so he's trying to con you.

Moneymaker

[Deleted User] wrote:

An aerial guy who did a quote told us that new dishes work best, as they are 'current technology'. My instincts were to raise my eyes to the ceiling.

The "new" MK4 dish was actually introduced more than two years ago. The main idea was to make it quicker to assemble but some reports indicate that it's slightly more efficient (it produces slightly more signal). Of course that's dependent on correct and accurate installation.

However, if your existing dish produces sufficient signal to avoid hours of "no signal" during bad weather, there's no point in changing it.

macman wrote: »

The dish design has not changed in decades

The design changes to the MK4 were quite significant but not enough to warrant changing a dish that's working fine.

macman

Amstrad supposedly had the original dishes manufactured by the same firm that made dustbin lids in large numbers, as they needed several million dishes in short order when Sky first took off.
So not exactly a high-tech product...

Moneymaker

The press tooling cost well over £100,000 at the time and had to be spark-eroded to an accurate contour. Every single hole in the dish face was punched by a hardened steel pin, so some poor sod had to fit all those pins to the tooling. You might think it wasn't high-tech but it was close to being state-of-the-art in those days.

macman

Still, based on 10 million dishes, it paid off eventually-that's 1p tooling cost per dish.
Though at the time it was probably hugely financially risky.

JohnDinton

[Deleted User] wrote:

We're quite interested in recording and rewind a la Sky+ but initial searching indicates a box costing £400+ is required.

If you look on Amazon you will see free to air satellite receivers which will record to a USB device start at £40. You have to pay a bit more if you want the Freesat interface, and for that price you won't be able to record more than one programme at a time.