humax foxsat hd with hard drive questions

[smuggs]

1-for people who have got rid of sky+hd and are using one on these thoughts please plus and many minis's

2- do they have a powered rf out to a second room(not bothered about if the magic eye does not work)

3-how many hd channels are there (if possible can anyone list them)

4- i take it i will lose sky movies/sky sports/disney channel.What music/kids/sport channels are free

5-can you series link

6-is there box office

7- is there an optical (or does it pass DD 5.1) through the hdmi

 

[Dave_]

smuggs:1-for people who have got rid of sky+hd and are using one on these thoughts please plus and many minis's All IMHO,of course,but......

Pro's.

No subscription.

More reliable,better quality STB's than Sky's offerings.

Better quality SD pictures,due to the fact you can get an unmolested 576i signal out the Foxsat HDR (Sky boxes deinterlace SD, and badly at that)

Access to BBC iplayer(now) and ITV player later in the year and probably more to follow.

Can connect to external HDD to transfer recordings for archiving/free up space on internal drive

Cleverer/better EPG,for various reasons.

and lots more beside.

Con's

Lack of content,partly due to it being a non-subscription service, and partly because of a CURRENT lack of spot beam satellite capacity.

No RF outputs.

2- do they have a powered rf out to a second room(not bothered about if the magic eye does not work)No RF outputs powered or otherwise. You could add an external RF modulator Like This though, which connects via scart then outputs via RF so you can distribute RF to a second room/around the house.

3-how many hd channels are there (if possible can anyone list them) 2. BBC HD and ITV HD. Also Luxe HD is available in non-freesat mode.

4- i take it i will lose sky movies/sky sports/disney channel.Yes.What music/kids/sport channels are freeFreesat channel listing is Here.

5-can you series linkYes.

6-is there box officeNo.

 

[Gerrardasnails]

I'm thinking about getting one of these for my Dad to replace his standard Humax box and recordable dvd player. Is it as simple as getting a LNB(?) and connecting it to the dish and then running an additional aerial lead alongside the one already there to have two feeds going into the box?

 

[simonlewis]

Yes a LNB to your humax foxsat & then to your tv, no aerial required, you can run an aerial to your tv but thats optional, the humax foxsat has no aerial socket.

EDIT Just realized HDMI from humax foxsat to TV.

 

[Gerrardasnails]

slewis:Yes a LNB to your humax foxsat & then to your tv, no aerial required, you can run an aerial to your tv but thats optional, the humax foxsat has no aerial socket.

EDIT Just realized HDMI from humax foxsat to TV.

Aren't all tvs capable of accepting the Humax box? Anyway, he has a new Sony LCD.

So, I connect the LNB to the Sky Sat dish? Sorry for the extra questions. And then run a cable from it to the Humax box in the same way it is at the moment, so there are then two cables (that's what I meant when I said aerial cable!) from the LNB going into the Humax box?

 

[Dave_]

Gerrardasnails:I'm thinking about getting one of these for my Dad to replace his standard Humax box and recordable dvd player. Is it as simple as getting a LNB(?) and connecting it to the dishSure is.

I would recommend getting a quad LNB over a dual though, firstly as they're around the same price,it will give you more connectiond(obviously) and as your dad already has a Foxsat HD,it could be used/located in another room.More importantly,i've always found quad's to be more reliable than duals.

and then running an additional aerial lead alongside the one already there to have two feeds going into the box?Yep, though dont use 'aerial lead'. Use good quality 75ohm double screened coaxial cable meant for satellite installs.

Webro WF100 is regarded as the best, though other manufacturers make their own versions of it.

 

[Gerrardasnails]

daveh75:
Gerrardasnails:I'm thinking about getting one of these for my Dad to replace his standard Humax box and recordable dvd player. Is it as simple as getting a LNB(?) and connecting it to the dishSure is.

I would recommend getting a quad LNB over a dual though, firstly as they're around the same price,it will give you more connectiond(obviously) and as your dad already has a Foxsat HD,it could be used/located in another room.More importantly,i've always found quad's to be more reliable than duals.

and then running an additional aerial lead alongside the one already there to have two feeds going into the box?Yep, though dont use 'aerial lead'. Use good quality 75ohm double screened coaxial cable meant for satellite installs.

Webro WF100 is regarded as the best, though other manufacturers make their own versions of it.

Cheers Dave.

I'm a novice(!), how is the quad LNB connected to the dish - is it obvious? I'm sure there will be instructions - I will grab one off ebay.

 

[Dave_]

Gerrardasnails:daveh75:
Gerrardasnails:I'm thinking about getting one of these for my Dad to replace his standard Humax box and recordable dvd player. Is it as simple as getting a LNB(?) and connecting it to the dishSure is.

I would recommend getting a quad LNB over a dual though, firstly as they're around the same price,it will give you more connectiond(obviously) and as your dad already has a Foxsat HD,it could be used/located in another room.More importantly,i've always found quad's to be more reliable than duals.

and then running an additional aerial lead alongside the one already there to have two feeds going into the box?Yep, though dont use 'aerial lead'. Use good quality 75ohm double screened coaxial cable meant for satellite installs.

Webro WF100 is regarded as the best, though other manufacturers make their own versions of it.

Cheers Dave.

I'm a novice(!), how is the quad LNB connected to the dish - is it obvious? I'm sure there will be instructions - I will grab one off ebay.If it's an elliptical mini-dish as used by Sky/Freesat, then the LNB slides into the end of the feed arm and is kept in place by a locating pin that pushes through a hole in the feed arm/LNB.

So to remove the old LNB it's just a case of prising out the locating pin(with a flat blade screwdriver) then sliding out the LNB from the arm.

The LNB can sometimes be quite a tight fit in the arm though, and you may have to apply a fair bit of force to remove it.So bare this in mind if your going to be up ladders/at height.

EDIT- Almost forgot, because the design has changed over the years/varies from one manufacturer to another for elliptical mini-dishes,the result is that the feed arm's vary in size, so the LNB will come with 'Legacy adaptors' so that all mini-dish LNB's will fit all mini-dishes.

These adaptors just slide into the end of the feed arm before you fit the LNB,though there may already be one fitted on your dads dish so you may not need the ones supplied.

All should become clear though once you remove the old LNB.

 

[smuggs]

thanks dave good stuff im trying to save £60 a month in 4 months the box has payed for it self and if i save the sky money for a further 8 months this time next year i have a good deposit for a new 3D tv all for swapping boxes and losing a few nice touches of sky. The main thinbg is sky sports(football) like now im watching chelsea v man city.

I take it you come out of the scart to that box and then use the origanal cable to connect the new magic eye. has does it rate is it a solid picture and does the remote respond well.

Is £240 about the right price for one

 

[Dave_]

smuggs:
thanks dave good stuff im trying to save £60 a month in 4 months the box has payed for it self and if i save the sky money for a further 8 months this time next year i have a good deposit for a new 3D tv all for swapping boxes and losing a few nice touches of sky. The main thinbg is sky sports(football) like now im watching chelsea v man city. There's always the pub

. Though admittedly that would probably be your deposit for a 3D TV out the window.

I take it you come out of the scart to that box and then use the origanal cable to connect the new magic eye. has does it rate is it a solid picture and does the remote respond well.Yep, the modulator connects to the Humax via scart, then you connect to your original cable via the modulators RF out.

The PQ will be equally as good as it is from the Sky's RF out,and the remote response should be about the same.Is £240 about the right price for one Yes, you wont find them much cheaper,that's for sure!

 

[smuggs]

thanks for all your time everyone. i think i might go for it when the footie season finishes, or try and find someone to have a borrow one weekend.

 

[Dave_]

smuggs:thanks for all your time everyone. i think i might go for it when the footie season finishes, or try and find someone to have a borrow one weekend.
If you can't borrow one, then Richer sounds sell them and are usually pretty good about returning items.I'm pretty sure if you ask they'll let you buy one on a trial/return basis.