Freesat pvr question

[bay24]

If I get a twin tuner freesat pvr will I need to have two aerials put in? I have just realised I can get freesat via a aerial socket in my new build flat that says "sat" on it. If I was to hook a pvr up to that would it just connect to one tuner? How expensive/difficult is it to get another one put in (bearing in mind I live in a block of flats). Any help would be great, I am trying to work out if this or a freeview hd pvr would be my best bet.

 

[daveh75]

bay24:If I get a twin tuner freesat pvr will I need to have two aerials put in? I have just realised I can get freesat via a aerial socket in my new build flat that says "sat" on it. If I was to hook a pvr up to that would it just connect to one tuner?Ae you sure there is only 1 sat feed?

Because TBH, if the property is new build then i'm surprised they've only made provision for one sat feed, that's really poor planning/cost cutting on the part of the developer - Most decent developers make the provision of two sat feeds in the main/living area at least nowadays.

Ideally you need a second feed for full PVR funtionality ie recording/watching of 2 channels simultaneously etc. Though a PVR will work on a single feed with limited functionality...

However if you do go this route i'd highly recommend going for the Humax Foxsat HDR as it's unique (for a Freesat recorder at least) in that it has 'LNB loop-through' facility, where you can feed the second tuner from the LNB1/tuner 1, meaning its PVR functionality isn't anywhere near as limited as the other Freesat PVRs.

For example on a single feed using the 'lnb loop through' will allow you to watch 1 channel whilst recording another, so long as the 2nd channel your recording is on the same polarity/band as the channel you're watching (which means about 50% of the channels are available to record on the second tuner).

It will even allow for recording two channels while watching a third in some instances.

If you wan't more detail on this, let me know, and i'll explain further.

How expensive/difficult is it to get another one put in (bearing in mind I live in a block of flats). Any help would be great, I am trying to work out if this or a freeview hd pvr would be my best bet.That's a how long is a piece of string question!

Really depends on the type of communal system and whether they made provision for expansion etc, etc. It's something you would need to discuss with the developer/property management/freeholder as the communal system is thier responsibility...Could prove quite costly though

So you may be better going for a Freeview HD PVR (assuming reliable Freeview reception), though if you do i'd suggest looking at the Digital Stream DHR8205 or Humax HDR-Fox T2 as these still seem to be the only ones without major s/w flaws/bugs.

 

[bay24]

Thanks very much for the detailed response. I am pretty sure there is only one feed. I may give the building facilities manager a call and see just in case.
I think perhaps the freeview route may be the best option. The reason I am hesitant as I got a sagem freeview hd pvr which was realy bad, very slow and kept crashing so I sent it back. I did find out that it seems I can get the hd channels though. I may try the digital stream next pay day.