Freesat - Anything Newer And Better On The Way In The Next Month?

[Alec]

Hi folks.

Newer and better than the Humax Foxsat-HDR I mean?

I've done the deed and given my notice to Sky.

 

[daveh75]

Nope, the Humax Foxsat HDR is still the best of the bunch...

The Grundig,Goodmans,Sagem PVRs are to be avoided. The Panasonics are ok, but still to expensive imo, so unless you specifically need DVD/Blu-ray player/recorder built in, would avoid them. The recently released Samsung SMT-S7800 has turned out to be a bug ridden dog of a STB, unfortunately. Strong will be releasing a Thomson branded Freesat PVR soon, but neither manufacturer has a great history when it comes to building STBs, so don't hold out much hope of this unit being any good either...

And lastly, the Humax HDRs replacement wont be available till next year at least now, due to YouView compatibly being added to the spec.

 

[Alec]

Thanks Dave!

Its academic to me but what exactly is youview?

 

[daveh75]

Thanks Dave!

Its academic to me but what exactly is youview?

The next generation of IPTV/Catch-up TV etc. http://www.youview.com/

 

[Alec]

Ta.

And oh dear oh dear. I'm now reading things like its only a twin tuner in SD not HD. There are a number of negatives in reviews on Amazon in fact.

I'm willing to take the view "what do you expect for no subscription", but there are limits.

 

[Clare Newsome]

Re YouView:. Much written about on this site, both before and since its name change (it was Project Canvas).

 

[daveh75]

Ta.

And oh dear oh dear. I'm now reading things like its only a twin tuner in SD not HD. There are a number of negatives in reviews on Amazon in fact.

I wouldn't pay much attention to Amazon reviews Al. Thats complete rubbish, You can record/view two HD channels simultaneously, it's actually possible to record two and watch a third if two of the channels occupy the same transponder...

 

[Alec]

Thanks Clare.

 

[Alec]

"if two of the channels occupy the same transponder..."

Not really sure what this means. Is that the same with Sky?

EDIT - Reviews differ as to weather you can save favourites...

EDIT - just downloaded the manual.

 

[daveh75]

"if two of the channels occupy the same transponder..."

Not really sure what this means. Is that the same with Sky?

Sorry, should of used multiplex(mux) instead of 'transponder'.

In very basic terms, unlike analogue TV where every channel has its own carrier/frequency, digital channels are multiplexed, so each carrier/frequency carries multiple channels (usually 5 if HD, considerably more if SD).

Some STBs are capable of demodulating 2, (or in some cases more) channels from a multiplex with a single tuner, leaving the second tuner free for you to watch any other channel. So with a little knowledge of which channels occupy the same mux's you can record 2/watch a 3rd. If you look HERE all the channels available on Freesat are listed in their multiplexes.

And no, Sky boxes aren't capable of this...

EDIT - Reviews differ as to weather you can save favourites...

It's not a feature i've ever used, but you can set-up favourites

 

[daveh75]

EDIT - just downloaded the manual.

Good luck with that. It's notoriously poor!

 

[Alec]

I didnt put it very well but was tring to imply ive never had a problem watching a recorded prog whilst recording 2 things with sky, so was tryign to ask "is sky better in taht regard"?

apologies for typos.

 

[daveh75]

I didnt put it very well but was tring to imply ive never had a problem watching a recorded prog whilst recording 2 things with sky, so was tryign to ask "is sky better in taht regard"?

apologies for typos.

Yes you can playback a recording, whilst recording 2 with a Sky box, as can the Humax, so Sky isn't any better in that respect.

But, you can't record 2 and watch a 3rd live broadcast with a Sky box - You can with the Humax (with the limitation i mentioned above)

 

[Alec]

Ahhh, thanks.

Someoen had a concern that you cant set "non freesat" chanels to record in advance. I'm confused now as to weather I'd even want to...

Assume no knowledge on my part on this one (tho, actually, as long as you can schedule recording of all the channels on teh freesat site...).

 

[daveh75]

Ahhh, thanks.

Someoen had a concern that you cant set "non freesat" chanels to record in advance. I'm confused now as to weather I'd even want to...

Assume no knowledge on my part on this one (tho, actually, as long as you can schedule recording of all the channels on teh freesat site...).

In 'non-Freesat mode' you can't schedule recordings but tbh, the extra channels it gets you aren't worth having anyway, IMO! Best to leave/use it in Freesat mode.

If you were interested in some of the channels you get in non-Freesat, there is a custom firmware/hack available for the HDR that includes a channel editor, (so you can move non-Freesat channels into the Freesat planner, which allows you to record them) as well as Telnet, and FTP functionality, and media streaming etc.

 

[daveloc]

+1 to every piece of advice/opinion Daveh75 has given you, except I wouldn't say the manual is "notoriously poor". It's a bit like Eric Morecambe's piano playing — all the right notes but not necessarily in the right order. It got me there anyway, and I use pretty much the full set of box features.

However, I note you have a Freesat capable TV, so if you have three feeds from the dish, two to the Hummy and one to the Panny, you can record two channels on the STB and watch a third on the TV (and even record that to an external USB HDD, while watching BluRay via HDMI...) without having to care what's on which mux.

Also, your TV, being a couple of years newer electronically, will tune and switch to "non Freeview" ("other sat Astra/Eurobird" in the manual) *without* any of the rebooting and other malarky with the Foxsat, but IMHO it's not worth it; anything worth watching is on Freesat, with a much better EPG, already

 

[Alec]

Thanks very much gents.

 

[Alec]

Hum. I could get the 500gig version for less than my local store are offering the 320 version, if I install it myself. I have a Sky dish of course, and the stuff in my sig. Is installation pretty easy?

 

[daveh75]

It's a piece of cake Al.

Just a case of disconnecting LNB feeds/HDMI cables from the Sky box and connecting them to the Humax (there are 3 LNB connections on the Humax, marked LNB1 In, LNB1 Out and LNB2 In - Just make sure you connect your feeds to LNB1 IN and LNB2 In, sounds obvious but it's common mistake to connect one of the feeds to LNB1 out) theres also an optical out if you want run the Humax through your ADMs and an ethernet port if you want to use iPlayer/ITV player via Freesat.

 

[Alec]

Thanks Dave.

Currently, I've got the Yamaha system connected to the Sky box with a coax lead also, so as to be able to get Sky's multi channel sound. However, the Humax can do multi channel sound via HDMI, and in any case I'm not sure I'm bothered about multi channel sound with movies through the box.

 

[daveloc]

Again, to add the alternative to daveh75's excellent advice, the Humax has both front and rear USB ports, which can be used to archive to, and play back from, a powered extHDD, or keyring drive, although the interface is slower than nominal USB speeds.

The initial recording can only be made to the internal HDD.

The external drive can be FAT32, in which case it's limited to 4GB files, long enough for SD recordings a little over 2hrs, or HD maybe 45mins. If you want more than that you have to format the drive ext3, which usually requires Linux. NTFS isn't supported.

Encrypted recordings (usually HD) can be played back from an external drive, but only on the Foxsat they were recorded on, as the encryption uses the motherboard ID.

FWIW, although I experimented with an external when I bought the Humax, in well over two years of use I've never filled the 320GB more than half full, it's usually much less after a clearout, and I always record HD if it's an option.

 

[Alec]

Wow, thanks for that. Might need to read it again

I've never filled my HD box's HDD which I believe is comfortably smaller than the Humax's, so it may not be an issue. Most of what I record I watch the same day, I'm just "time shifting" things that are on often. Films and one off documantaries I keep for longer, but by and large they get deleted too when I've seen them. Its a quirk of mine. A certain amount of things to watch on the box feels like a chore.

 

[Alec]

It has arrived.

They took me box away the blighters. I'm sure I've paid a quid or two for it.

That is all for now.

 

[daveh75]

They took me box away the blighters. I'm sure I've paid a quid or two for it.

Who's 'they'? I assume you mean your old Sky+HD box?

 

[EMcG]

If you fulfilled your contract then that box belongs to you and you should get it back.

I am cancelling SKY for FreeSat in a month or so. SKY called me to ask if I was happy with their service. When I said I'd soon be leaving they asked what I was going to do with my SKY + HD box. I said that I'd probably sell it as it belonged to me. No argument from them.