Freesat: 80 channels, £150, or £200 with HD inc. installation

Tribulation

cbrown7 wrote: »

I have never paid to have a dish installed, it really is easy, the hardest part probably being fixing the dish vertically to whatever structure you select.

Alignment is a doddle, made much easier buy purchasing a cheap dish alignment meter. For basic alignment look at where your neighbour's dishes are pointing and line yours up roughly with theirs.

With a bit of care I have even obtained a watchable picture straight away by employing this method, however the meter allows to you 'peak' the dish for maximum picture quality and stability.

Don't be put-off / fooled into thinking you cannot do it.

Totally agree. I have 100% signal quality on both my Sky HD feeds. If you can work safely up a ladder and can change a plug, installation should be simple.

kmdelune

Just a month ago, I was thinking the same thing as many others - sky was getting too expensive! I had already completed the 12 months contract with them, so called to get a good deal or if they don't offer anything - cancel.

I was looking into keeping the box and dish to receive sky freesat with the existing viewing card (I think I found out that I don't need to buy that one off £20 card!?? not entirely sure..).

So I called Sky to negotiate and they didn't offer any discount on line rental, but offer me Sky+ box for just £49! A good deal I thought! I therefore did not cancel my sky subscription, but now I have a brand new Sky+ and can record

My questions are;
(1) Can I still cancel Sky and use my Sky+ box to receive freesat and also continue recording?
(2) Do I need to buy that £20 freesat viewing card from Sky to receive freesat channels?
(3) What channels do I get with that £20 card; and in comparison, with the existing viewing card?

I'm not sure if I'm signed up for another 12 months with Sky just because I have a new box with them..

Any help is much appreciated!
:j

Johny1fin

You can get a box and plug in yourself without paying for install if you have a sat dish already pointing to the sky satellite.
Do not listen to Comet/Curries when they say you must but installation if you comply with above. thats them just trying to get more money out of you.
I bought from Comet and just plugged in.

Channels will increase but no channel 5 at present. This is expected by july.
PVR for recording is also expeced by July.
ITV HD looks to be comming soon and is testing at the moment.

Johny1fin

kmdelune wrote: »

Just a month ago, I was thinking the same thing as many others - sky was getting too expensive! I had already completed the 12 months contract with them, so called to get a good deal or if they don't offer anything - cancel.

I was looking into keeping the box and dish to receive sky freesat with the existing viewing card (I think I found out that I don't need to buy that one off £20 card!?? not entirely sure..).

So I called Sky to negotiate and they didn't offer any discount on line rental, but offer me Sky+ box for just £49! Good deal I though! I therefore did not cancel my sky subscription, but now I have a brand new Sky+ and can record

My question is; can I still cancel Sky and use the Sky+ box to receive freesat and also continue recording?

I'm not sure if I'm signed up for another 12 months with Sky just because I have a new box with them..

Any help is much appreciated!
:j

You can get most channels on the new freesat by using a sky dish but you will not get the EPG as its different from sky's.
It is rumoured that freesat will also give you access to iplayer in a few months to access past BBC programs via broadband as it has an ethernet connection for this.

All in all if you want pay channels stick with sky. If all you want is free channles then check out freesat. The best advice at the moment is from John Lewis who can sell these. Comet and Curries are uselessand cluless and out to get more money out of you for installation(and even get you to buy a HDMI lead which is included in the Humax HD box.)

If you leave sky and want to use the sky+ box to record then you still have to pay them £10/month to record anything at all even free channels.

gloucesteroldspot

Does anybody know if the freesat boxes will work in France? I assume so if it is all being broadcast from the Same Sky satellite, as most people in France can receive Sky, but being highly un-technical (ie bored to tears by it!) would appreciate a definitive answer!

tc80tc80

Any problem with getting the Dixons offer mentioned earlier in the article....

---- SNIP ----

"Sky Forever Package. £75 inc. installation.

Sky's 'forever' package from Dixons also operates on a no subscription basis, making it Freesat's closest competitor. It's also cheaper, at £75 including both the box and installation, though it's only available to brand new Sky customers.

The package includes around 200 free-to-air channels, and 4 months worth of Sky's entertainment mixes, which you have to cancel afterwards or else start paying £19/month for, thus defeating the object of your purchase."

---- SNIP ----

.... dumping it four months later before the monthly 19pound charges begin and then hooking up a couple of freesat boxes? The reason I'm thinking to jump to the Sky Forever package now is to give me four months time until the Freesat PVRs show up.

Does anyone know if there is a 4 connection LNB that comes with this offer from Dixons? I can't call Sky 0870 number from here for some reason.

pjttlk

Useful troubleshooting guide for sky dishes

www.sam-radford.me.uk/nosignal.htm

MartinG_2

tc80tc80 wrote: »

Any problem with getting the Dixons offer mentioned earlier in the article....



Got the Dixons deal last summer when it was a 6 month offer. Phoned to cancel and they couldn't do it on the system (after 30 minutes on the phone). So cancelled in writing.
Lost count of the number of letters I got from them threatening/reminding me of my contract and that I owed them £19.99 per month. Phoned again (by the way don't forget Saynoto0870!) and again. Transpired that their system couldn't cope with 6 month contracts as everything was for 12 months. I will NEVER have anything to do with Sky ever again. Took about 8 weeks to sort out.

val_the_postie

According to the 'blurb', Freesat is available to 95% of households, even those who can't get Freeview. So who falls into the 5% who can't?

Perhaps I do because I live in high-rise accommodation and can't have a 'dish' receiver. Have emailed Freesat but there's been no reply. Our big roof aerials have been upgraded to make them digital friendly so, with luck, that will dispense with the dish and cut costs. I can't wait: squillions of channels, all showing repeats all day long.:rolleyes:

mike_paterson

Oliver27 wrote: »

Thats Not quite corecct you can watch BBC HD on a Sky HD
box without having to have a Sky viewing card

How can I do this Oliver - it does not work on my sky plus box - I pay £21 per month or sopmething ridiculous, but this does not give me the BBC HD channel.