Freesat Dish Install

kev2009

Hi,

I have a TV aerial installed but unfortunately due to a house next door blocking the signal to the aerial, a-lot of channels i'm unable to watch. They show up but when you try and watch, they are just black. So a friend of mine has said he had the same issue and chose to have Freesat and has had no issues since so i'm thinking of doing the same in the new year, getting free sat dish installed and cables run.

Would anyone have a rough idea on pricing for these? I tried looking online but couldn't get a rough idea on pricing. I'm hoping £200 would cover it? I definitely need the dish & cable run to main TV, depending on cost, i'm also considering running it to 2 bedrooms.

Property is a Bungalow if makes any difference.

Thanks

Kev

Neil_Jones

Things to consider here:

1) Do you have a wall facing south or east that you can stick a dish to? South ideally but east or maybe west would work too.

2) Do you have any (tall) trees in the garden again in an south east ish direction or any trees that may cause issues in the future? Satellite dishes don't work behind trees and trees don't stop growing just because you've stuck a dish somewhere.

If you bash your postcode into here:
https://www.dishpointer.com/

and select "28.2 Degrees E Astra 2E / Astra 2F / Astra 2g" option, it'll show you where the satellite is in the sky compared to your property.

Failing that consider whether it may be cheaper to relocate the aerial if Freeview channels will do what you want channel wise.

Owain_Moneysaver

Bear in mind you'll also need a Freesat box for each TV, as most TVs don't have built-in Freesat decoders.

[Deleted User]

Neil_Jones wrote: »

Failing that consider whether it may be cheaper to relocate the aerial if Freeview channels will do what you want channel wise.

Yes, I expect a well installed Freeview aerial (perhaps on a pole to achieve height) will be a far more acceptable solution given that the OP has no existing satellite installation (ie Sky) to take advantage of.

Neil_Jones

Owain_Moneysaver wrote: »

Bear in mind you'll also need a Freesat box for each TV, as most TVs don't have built-in Freesat decoders.

A lot of Smart TVs have a satellite LNB connector on them, but as is usual in these circumstances we don't get any details about the OP's hardware so all we know they could still have a black and white TV with a Freeview box running through RF out

[Deleted User]

Hi,

kev2009 wrote: »

I'm hoping £200 would cover it?

for £200 you could maybe get a new customer deal from Sky, dish fitted, box etc, then cancel after a year.

[Deleted User]

[Deleted User] wrote:

for £200 you could maybe get a new customer deal from Sky, dish fitted, box etc, then cancel after a year.

Unfortunately, Sky Q would now be provided as standard which is only rented. Sky would therefore want the decoder back after cancellation.

After a year, the OP would therefore be almost back to square one. Although there would be a satellite dish fitted, it would have a Sky Q LNB which would involve still further cost to exchange.

So ultimately not a very money-saving option..

Neil_Jones

If you ask the Sky installer very nicely and ply them with enough tea and biscuits to sink a battleship, they may install the other type of LNB that also works with Sky Q, the universal/hybrid LNB - by default they'll probably install the wideband one which only works with Sky Q, but that being said they're probably not supposed to install anything other than the wideband anyway, but then I suppose what they're supposed to do and what they do are two different things...

Nebulous2

How good are you at DIY?

I've installed two dishes myself, relatively straightforwardly. My own one didn't have as good a bracket as I needed and it occasionally dropped in high winds, needing pushed up again. My mother-in-law's one was probably better quality and despite being in a windier location it didn't have any problems.

Both times I chickened out making a hole through the wall and put the feed through the window frame, using something like this.

Certainly less than £200.

[Deleted User]

Nebulous2 wrote: »

Certainly less than £200.

It's not just the dish installation and wiring though. The OP would also need a Freesat decoder unless his existing TV already has one...

Nebulous2

Moneyineptitude wrote: »

It's not just the dish installation and wiring though. The OP would also need a Freesat decoder unless his existing TV already has one...

Could still do the lot for under £200, with a cheap decoder. It would be more expensive to record.