Reach for the Sky?

[admin_exported]

Hi there,

My problem is similar to some that have just been aired, (unknown to me at the time I was writing this)

My set-up only has Freeview and I wish to move to Freesat + eventually, but I am waiting for another Freeview + pvr (hopefully a Topfield) to come along so I can record programs including HD to the hard disk.

Like many others I resent paying an arm and a leg to watch Sky but Sky have a current offer (ends this Friday) on which if you pay £75 you get a mixture of programs for 4 months and you get a sky box and the dish fitted. My plan was to get the package then at the end of the 4 months replace their bog standard box with a Freeview + pvr. After reading the excellent forums it appears that if I do that then I would have to have another feed from the dish and possibly another valve?

If this is so does anyone think that I should go down this route or should I just wait a few months and see what other pvrs come along and then have a dish fitted?

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks, William.

 

[Alsone]

Not sure I understand the question here William. You do know there are 2 Freesats don't you? Skys and the BBC / ITV's, both with the same name.

Also, a Freeview PVR will not record Freesat as I understand it as they use different compression standards. So if you're buying a PVR to record Freesat it needs to be Freesat specific.

If you want Freesat with recording you could look at the Freesat+ HD Humax receiver which is a receiver and PVR all in one (bit like Sky+ box).

I think some clarification of exactly what you want is needed as there seems to be a little confusion in the post about Freeview, Freesat and Sky and its isn't 100% clear to me what you're looking for.

 

[Dave_]

right may just be me being a bit dim,but i'm confused can we clarify some points.

what is the sky offer you refer too... is it for a standard sky box or sky hd. if its the latter you wont simply be able to cancel after four months.

what is it that you want after/if you go down the sky route? you mentioned both "freeview" and "freesat" pvr's

right, on the asumption that its standard sky box your thinking of having installed, then yes it will have a single lnb with a single feed to the stb.

again on the asumption that its a "freesat" pvr you want to change too, then yes you would need to have the lnb changed to a dual/quad one and an extra feed run from it to the pvr as the pvr requires two feeds

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Alsone and daveH, first of all thank you both for the replies, sorry about the confusion! first of all alsone I was talking about the BBC/ITV Freesat

 

[Anonymous]

Sorry my post took off by itself! --to continue' I was talking about the BBC/ITV Freesat and I am aware of the Humax you mentioned but I was hoping that in a couple of months time there would be more brands available as I have heard great things about the Topfield, and that would be my choice of Freesat pvr recorder. That what I meant to say, Regarding Daveh, the Sky deal cost £75 and you get a selection of programmes of their choice nothing like movies or sport but probably a bit more variety thats available on Freeview. As stated earlier the package lasts four months but at the end of the third month you have to tell them if you want to carry on if you do it will cost you £19 to continue.after the forth month. The offer is availble till this Friday at Curries.

Sorry about the confusion, I will be online for a while in case anyone needs further clarification or information.

regards William

 

[Dave_]

right now i'm with you so its standard sd sky, so basically what i said still stands. you would get a standard dish with a single lnb so would need to upgrade the lnb and have an extra feed run when you changed to freesat pvr anyway.

so i guess it just comes down to whether your willing to wait. if it was me i'd wait for the freesat pvr's to come out, and i wouldn't discount the humax pvr, they have been making satellite equipment since the early days of analogue satellite and have/do produce some very good/ well regarded kit

 

[Dave_]

oh, and cost i guess, if you get the sky now then its gonna cost you £75 and get some channels for a few months. but then your gonna have to pay to have a dual/quad lnb and extra feed fitted at a later date.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks daveH75 and Alsone for your help

Best wishes William