Satellite TV Update - Page 2

El Gordo · #16 26-03-2009, 01:19

I was under the impression that the viewing card had to be married to the box, needing a call to sky to send a signal to activate it.

whaleywanderer · #17 26-03-2009, 09:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hola its GL

I was under the impression that the viewing card had to be married to the box, needing a call to sky to send a signal to activate it.

Not in my experience, I think this may be only if you have a subscription, this would be needed to activate the extra channels. Take your card out at home and see what happens.

Sparky · #18 26-03-2009, 10:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hola its GL

I was under the impression that the viewing card had to be married to the box, needing a call to sky to send a signal to activate it.

I had a problem in the uk when our box blew up, we bought a new one but could not get a signal and it took quite a long phone call to Sky to get them to connect us.

alcanadakid · #19 28-03-2009, 19:14

Has anyone tried the new Freesat yet? We have been suffering poor reception recently, despite having a 1.4m dish and having it re-aligned. Freesat sounds the ideal answer. Not sure whether the dish will have to be adjusted to a different setting or is Freesat on the same satellite as Sky. Anyone have any ideas?

alcanadakid · #20 30-03-2009, 19:07

I have answered my own question - Freesat uses the same satellite as Sky so no adjustment should be needed

alcanadakid · #21 22-04-2009, 16:28

Fitted a Humax freesat box today. The sky box was showing a signal strength of 15% and a signal quality of 40%, The Humax box shows a signal strength of 75% and a signal quality of 66%. This comparison was 10 minutes apart. Needless to say the reception is good. The Humax box has over 140 channels. It was easy to install just removed the leads and fixed them into the appropriate sockets on the new box.No need to alter the dish.

ryansclan · #22 22-04-2009, 17:52

Hi Alcanadakid. What main UK channels can you pick up? We haven't got any dish or box yet but are hoping to get something sorted this summer. Can you get any BBC or ITV channels on your setup? What do we need to buy and where? UK or Spain.

whaleywanderer · #23 23-04-2009, 10:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by alcanadakid

Fitted a Humax freesat box today. The sky box was showing a signal strength of 15% and a signal quality of 40%, The Humax box shows a signal strength of 75% and a signal quality of 66%. This comparison was 10 minutes apart. Needless to say the reception is good. The Humax box has over 140 channels. It was easy to install just removed the leads and fixed them into the appropriate sockets on the new box.No need to alter the dish.

This sounds a very good alternative to Sky, did you bring it from the UK? I would like to have the facility to also record from TV (like Sky+) but only have one feed from the dish, I believe that Humax freesat are also doing a machine that is capable of recording would this also need the second feed? I suppose the cheapest option is to go back to VHS - Any other ideas?

sandy · #24 23-04-2009, 16:51

We've got a Humax HD box which also records, no problem at all, but if you want to record one channel while watching another, you need a second feed. You get the same channels as in the UK, ie all the BBC and ITV channels, 5, E4, More4, Film4 and BBC News 24, but not Five US or Fiver.

afternoon boy · #25 23-04-2009, 16:59

Sorry guys still all a bit technical for me!

We have an apartment in Bellesreguard that shares a community dish - we can get BBC 1 and 2 occasionally ITV depending on satellite strength and a few other non subscription channels including sky news.

We have a SKy box left by previous owner but cannot access any subscription channels without a card

Do we receive SKy news through the sky box or staright from the satellite ie does the sky box have any purpose without a sky card?

Is my best option to replace the sky box with a Humax freestat box?

ps where can I get one in PP and how much?

whaleywanderer · #26 24-04-2009, 09:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by sandy

We've got a Humax HD box which also records, no problem at all, but if you want to record one channel while watching another, you need a second feed. You get the same channels as in the UK, ie all the BBC and ITV channels, 5, E4, More4, Film4 and BBC News 24, but not Five US or Fiver.

Thanks Sandy, sounds good. Only want to record when I go out so would not need the second feed then. I'll look into the Humax products.

alcanadakid · #27 24-04-2009, 15:04

I think all the questions have been answered except where I bought it. We chose the Humax box that doesn't record and it cost 145 pounds from Comet. The only channel we miss is Sky news otherwise the free channels are virtually the same as the with a sky box without a subscription. This is certainly going to give Sky a run for their money.

whaleywanderer · #28 25-04-2009, 10:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by alcanadakid

This is certainly going to give Sky a run for their money.

It's about time somebody did they've had the monopoly for long enough and their subscription prices are unbelievable.

Thanks again for the info

Mark · #29 25-04-2009, 10:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by alcanadakid

The only channel we miss is Sky news

There is a thread on a forum that explains how to tune in sky news ( and many other channels) on the Humax FOXSAT HDR

HUMAX Foxsat HDR or SKY+ HD - Freesat+ - Digital Spy Forums

Hope that helps

Mark.

alcanadakid · #30 25-04-2009, 16:53

Thanks for the tip Mark. we now have Sky News plus a load of other channels. Today my signal strength was 86% compared to a measley 15% on the Sky box.