Freesat opinions

[Pavey]

Anyone here got it, what do you think of it? Any major downsides?

Fed up of paying ?600 a year for channels of ****e with Sky, just the basic ones will do.

Thinking Freesat HD and a Play TV will easily replace my Sky+ box.

[smouty]

When I upgraded the HDD in my Sky+ box I realised we mainly watch/record only the FTA stuff so I binned my Sky subscription and fitted a DVB-S card to my HTPC for recording, which is mainly the HD channels as most of the TV I watch is downloaded and the kids watch BBCi/C4OD/Youtube most of the time.

[plopboy]

Freesat has obviously less channels than Sky, but you can reuse the same satellite dish and it is only a one off payment. With freesat you get BBC HD which you don't with Play TV as it is terrestrial.

Also freesat will have iPlayer support sometime in the autumn.

If you are looking at getting a freesat box, I've heard that this one is probably the best one http://blog.wotsat.com/page/whatsat?...freesat_hd_box, apperently it has some nice media functions.

[chipsgravy]

I currently use a sky digibox to receive FTA channels. However I don't get Dave or Virgin. which often have shows of interest to me. If I swapped it out for a freesat box would those channels then be unencrypted? I can't get them on freeview due to my location.

[Pavey]

Don't think you get Dave or Virgin unfortunately mate -

http://www.freesat.co.uk/index.php?page=whatson.Main&PHPSESSID=t6nfugc92cvg87ob0gv38n04o7

My question, when i leave Sky, do they come and pick up the dish from the roof, or is that my property now?

[Soundwave]

Don't think you get Dave or Virgin unfortunately mate -

http://www.freesat.co.uk/index.php?page=whatson.Main&PHPSESSID=t6nfugc92cvg87ob0gv38n04o7

My question, when i leave Sky, do they come and pick up the dish from the roof, or is that my property now?

Pretty sure it's yours now.

When I moved into my flat the people before me left the dish there & if I hadnt reconnected to Sky it would have stayed there forever as well.

Neil

[plopboy]

I had sky for just over a year before quitting and I still have the dish and STB.

[smouty]

Don't think you get Dave or Virgin unfortunately mate -

http://www.freesat.co.uk/index.php?page=whatson.Main&PHPSESSID=t6nfugc92cvg87ob0gv38n04o7

My question, when i leave Sky, do they come and pick up the dish from the roof, or is that my property now?

The dish and the box are yours.
You can apply for a free FTA (Freesat from Sky) card to get additional channels such as channel4 which are encrypted but free.

[MarioMark]

This site is your friend http://www.joinfreesat.co.uk/ It's an unofficial freesat site that has most information you'll probably need.

Check out my write-up on the Freesat HD PVR Recorder. Pricey but a good bit of kit. http://ntsc-uk.domino.org/showthread.php?t=91405

My question, when i leave Sky, do they come and pick up the dish from the roof, or is that my property now?

They'll leave the dish there. Luckily Freesat also runs from the same satellite transmitter as Sky (called Astra 2) so you won't need to allign the dish again, just connect the satellite feed into the freesat box and you're away.

[Pavey]

Thanks for the help guys. We are actually moving house, so am i right in thinking i will need to get up on the roof, take my dish with me, re-fit and align it at the new place, but i can get a Freesat card from Sky and use my existing box, with no monthly charge?

[MarioMark]

Thanks for the help guys. We are actually moving house, so am i right in thinking i will need to get up on the roof, take my dish with me, re-fit and align it at the new place, but i can get a Freesat card from Sky and use my existing box, with no monthly charge?

Yeah you going with Sky freesat then? It's more or less the same as BBC/ITV Freesat. If you use your Sky box as a FTA Freesat box you won't be able to use any of the Sky + recording fetures though.

Aligning the sky dish can be a hard job if you don't have a satellite metre though. Even a CM out of range can throw it miles off.

If you cancel your sky sub it should effectively turn your box into a FTA box with your current sky card.

[Pavey]

So i don't need to order a new card? Do you know if you can hire the meter used?

[Holio]

I'm sure if you told Sky you are moving house they would move the dish etc for you, just get them to do that for you, then cancel the actual Sky Subs after that and bam, your FTA sat tv running through that without having to actually get it set up as Freesat.

[charlesr]

I think you need a freesatHD box. I have "freesat from sky" (SD) via my sky box (a £10 sky card and no Dave on that either), but this is all different from the new "freesatHD", which needs one of those humax boxes or similar.