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Freesat and PVR installing?
Not sure if this comes under DIY but hoping it does.
I have a Sky-plus satellite box and cable but recently stopped Sky. If I have all the required cables for Sky-plus can I just get a Humax Foxsat HD PVR recorder and plug it in or do I need to pay the extra to get someone to 'install' it? I tried looking it up on the tv/sat experts forums and got baffled by the science and vast lists of special leads/cables/connections. Maybe someone here can just let me know in easy DIY terms? Janet -- Janet Tweedy Dalmatian Telegraph http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk |
Freesat and PVR installing?
"Janet Tweedy" wrote in message
... Not sure if this comes under DIY but hoping it does. I have a Sky-plus satellite box and cable but recently stopped Sky. If I have all the required cables for Sky-plus can I just get a Humax Foxsat HD PVR recorder and plug it in or do I need to pay the extra to get someone to 'install' it? I tried looking it up on the tv/sat experts forums and got baffled by the science and vast lists of special leads/cables/connections. Maybe someone here can just let me know in easy DIY terms? Janet -- Janet Tweedy Dalmatian Telegraph http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk Yes, you just plug it in. I would point out that installing a satellite dish can be done as a DIY activity. A cheap meter helps, but is not essentail. It is not like plastering which requires skill, or mending your TV where you need both technical knowledge and test equipment. You can get many of your questions answered by reading the digittlspy forums. -- Michael Chare |
Freesat and PVR installing?
"Janet Tweedy" wrote in message ... Not sure if this comes under DIY but hoping it does. I have a Sky-plus satellite box and cable but recently stopped Sky. If I have all the required cables for Sky-plus can I just get a Humax Foxsat HD PVR recorder and plug it in or do I need to pay the extra to get someone to 'install' it? I tried looking it up on the tv/sat experts forums and got baffled by the science and vast lists of special leads/cables/connections. Maybe someone here can just let me know in easy DIY terms? Yes, your Sky digital dish is exactly right for Freesat because it uses exactly the same satellites and signals, only the Electronic Programme Guide is different. The official Freesat website should make this clear, but it doesn't quite do that because of its reluctance to utter the "S" word -- Graham. %Profound_observation% |
Freesat and PVR installing?
On Tue, 3 Mar 2009 01:15:05 +0000, Janet Tweedy wrote:
If I have all the required cables for Sky-plus can I just get a Humax Foxsat HD PVR recorder and plug it in or do I need to pay the extra to get someone to 'install' it? Only if you want to pay someone money to plug the cables from the dish into the Humax box... You do know that your Sky box will function as a "Freesat from Sky" box and get you all the "Freesat" channels. You are switching to the Humax to get free HD and PVR fuctionality I take it. Is Sky+ still £10/month extra? Five and it's offerings are not on "Freesat" and are FTV on "Freesat from Sky" and I don't think all of Channel 4's are FTA (yet). FTV - Free To View, free for anyone with a Sky box and card but you don't need a no subscription to Sky. FTA - Free To Air, free for anyone to view. No card required. -- Cheers Dave. |
Freesat and PVR installing?
"Janet Tweedy" wrote in message ... Not sure if this comes under DIY but hoping it does. I have a Sky-plus satellite box and cable but recently stopped Sky. If I have all the required cables for Sky-plus can I just get a Humax Foxsat HD PVR recorder and plug it in or do I need to pay the extra to get someone to 'install' it? I tried looking it up on the tv/sat experts forums and got baffled by the science and vast lists of special leads/cables/connections. Maybe someone here can just let me know in easy DIY terms? Janet -- Janet Tweedy Dalmatian Telegraph http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk FYI The best deal yet on the FOXSAT HDR is at www.play.com. £249.99 delivered. Came on stream in the last few days. |
Freesat and PVR installing?
On Tue, 03 Mar 2009 07:57:53 +0000 (GMT) someone who may be "Dave
Liquorice" wrote this:- Five and it's offerings are not on "Freesat" Oh yes they a-) Well, Channel 5 is certainly on Freesat now and I have a suspicion that the rest of its siblings are too (not bothered to check, that would involve walking upstairs and looking in the Radio Times). I don't think all of Channel 4's are FTA (yet). I think they are, but again confirming that would involve going upstairs. -- David Hansen, Edinburgh I will *always* explain revoked encryption keys, unless RIP prevents me http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2000/00023--e.htm#54 |
Freesat and PVR installing?
In article , Michael Chare
writes Yes, you just plug it in. I would point out that installing a satellite dish can be done as a DIY activity. A cheap meter helps, but is not essentail. It is not like plastering which requires skill, or mending your TV where you need both technical knowledge and test equipment. You can get many of your questions answered by reading the digittlspy forums. Got the satellite dish thanks and also a cable connection if i needed it. Digital spy forums brought up more questions than answers as the experts bless them, quoted technical terms and reference numbers for weird and wonderful leads and connections. I had absolutely no idea what they were on about:) -- Janet Tweedy Dalmatian Telegraph http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk |
Freesat and PVR installing?
In article , Graham.
writes Yes, your Sky digital dish is exactly right for Freesat because it uses exactly the same satellites and signals, only the Electronic Programme Guide is different. The official Freesat website should make this clear, but it doesn't quite do that because of its reluctance to utter the "S" word It was the insistence on other forums that you needed different leads than normal or at least you appeared to require more than one lead which didn't come with the actual machine did read the Freesat site and the Digitalspy sites and even Moneysavingexpert. Although we had Sky plus I don't appear to have two cables coming out of the wall and into the box. I just miss the ability to record and see stuff when I want to and to series link programs after having Sky plus for several years. Janet -- Janet Tweedy Dalmatian Telegraph http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk |
Freesat and PVR installing?
In article et, Dave
Liquorice writes You do know that your Sky box will function as a "Freesat from Sky" box and get you all the "Freesat" channels. You are switching to the Humax to get free HD and PVR fuctionality I take it. Is Sky+ still £10/month extra? Not HD but the PVR certainly and Series link. The recording facility now doesn't work on my Sky box though we do of course still get the free channels and the Guide. We gave away our video recorder when we got Sky plus. Five and it's offerings are not on "Freesat" and are FTV on "Freesat from Sky" and I don't think all of Channel 4's are FTA (yet). Well presumably if I ever really wanted to see Five I can watch it online or watch Channel four on the TV upstairs as we still have the old ordinary sky box linked up there and still also get the main channels via the satellite cable on it. I'll certainly print out the list of FTV and FTA channels and also the Freesat channels to compare now you've mentioned there might be a significant difference Dave. Thank you. Janet -- Janet Tweedy Dalmatian Telegraph http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk |
Freesat and PVR installing?
In article , David Hansen
writes On Tue, 03 Mar 2009 07:57:53 +0000 (GMT) someone who may be "Dave Liquorice" wrote this:- Five and it's offerings are not on "Freesat" Oh yes they a-) Well, Channel 5 is certainly on Freesat now and I have a suspicion that the rest of its siblings are too (not bothered to check, that would involve walking upstairs and looking in the Radio Times). I don't think all of Channel 4's are FTA (yet). I think they are, but again confirming that would involve going upstairs. Just checking on the Sky boxes and we seems to get both of those, plus the ITV series etc. Mostly we don't get stuff like Alibi or film channels which is fair enough. I do miss the Discovery and History channels sometimes, or whatever they have now been rebranded/retitled. Janet -- Janet Tweedy Dalmatian Telegraph http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk |
Freesat and PVR installing?
In article , Vortex2
writes FYI The best deal yet on the FOXSAT HDR is at www.play.com. £249.99 delivered. Came on stream in the last few days. Thanks that's a lot cheaper than John Lewis or some of the other sites. -- Janet Tweedy Dalmatian Telegraph http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk |
Freesat and PVR installing?
On Tue, 3 Mar 2009 10:27:34 +0000, Janet Tweedy
wrote: Although we had Sky plus I don't appear to have two cables coming out of the wall and into the box. You've either lost a cable (into the wall?) or you didn't have Sky Plus. -- |
Freesat and PVR installing?
On Tue, 3 Mar 2009 01:15:05 +0000, Janet Tweedy wrote:
Not sure if this comes under DIY but hoping it does. I have a Sky-plus satellite box and cable but recently stopped Sky. If I have all the required cables for Sky-plus can I just get a Humax Foxsat HD PVR recorder and plug it in or do I need to pay the extra to get someone to 'install' it? I tried looking it up on the tv/sat experts forums and got baffled by the science and vast lists of special leads/cables/connections. Maybe someone here can just let me know in easy DIY terms? Janet When I installed mine I decided that a meter was too expensive. When I got some sort of signal I realised that there were Strength and Quality bars on the screen, so I used a long mirror leaning against a chair and could see that from outside so could adjust the set-up. -- Peter. You don't understand Newton's Third Law of Motion? It's not rocket science, you know. |
Freesat and PVR installing?
"Janet Tweedy" wrote in message ... In article , Vortex2 writes FYI The best deal yet on the FOXSAT HDR is at www.play.com. £249.99 delivered. Came on stream in the last few days. Thanks that's a lot cheaper than John Lewis or some of the other sites. -- Janet Tweedy Dalmatian Telegraph http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk Worth checking to see if JL will do a "price match" and add their Warranty as well. |
Freesat and PVR installing?
Mike wrote:
On Tue, 3 Mar 2009 10:27:34 +0000, Janet Tweedy wrote: Although we had Sky plus I don't appear to have two cables coming out of the wall and into the box. You've either lost a cable (into the wall?) or you didn't have Sky Plus. Or it was installed with the so called "shotgun" co-ax cable that is actually two co-ax cables joined side by side in a figure of 8 style pattern. Often used by sky installers. -- Cheers, John. /================================================== ===============\ | Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk | |-----------------------------------------------------------------| | John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk | \================================================= ================/ |
Freesat and PVR installing?
In article , Mike
writes On Tue, 3 Mar 2009 10:27:34 +0000, Janet Tweedy wrote: Although we had Sky plus I don't appear to have two cables coming out of the wall and into the box. You've either lost a cable (into the wall?) or you didn't have Sky Plus. Definitely had Sky plus but of the two cables coming through the wall one seems to be a cable that they insisted we plug into the Telephone socket. Have only two leads into television one thick one with aerial type connection and one very thick blue one with scart lead connection. Janet -- Janet Tweedy Dalmatian Telegraph http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk |
Freesat and PVR installing?
In article , John Rumm
writes Or it was installed with the so called "shotgun" co-ax cable that is actually two co-ax cables joined side by side in a figure of 8 style pattern. Often used by sky installers. Will that make a difference? -- Janet Tweedy Dalmatian Telegraph http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk |
Freesat and PVR installing?
"Janet Tweedy" wrote in message ... In article , Mike writes On Tue, 3 Mar 2009 10:27:34 +0000, Janet Tweedy wrote: Although we had Sky plus I don't appear to have two cables coming out of the wall and into the box. You've either lost a cable (into the wall?) or you didn't have Sky Plus. Definitely had Sky plus but of the two cables coming through the wall one seems to be a cable that they insisted we plug into the Telephone socket. Does the satellite cable have two plugs on the end of it? If not, I don't see how you could have used the Sky+ box properly. If it does then you have a double cored lead. AIUI, unlike terrestial TV, you have to have a separate aerial lead for each tuner. If you really only have the one single cored lead then you won't have been able to watch one program whilst recording another. The Humax box has two inputs for the two sattelite feeds and I dare say that the Sky+ box is the same. Have only two leads into television one thick one with aerial type connection and one very thick blue one with scart lead connection. It's not what's going into the TV that's important at this stage, it's what's going into the back of your Sky+ box. Have a look at the back of it. Does it have two satellite input connections? Do they have plugs connected to both of them? Tim |
Freesat and PVR installing?
In article , Tim Downie
writes AIUI, unlike terrestial TV, you have to have a separate aerial lead for each tuner. If you really only have the one single cored lead then you won't have been able to watch one program whilst recording another. We could definitely record two programmes at the same time . Necessary of course due to the timetables set up by the TV companies! Cough splutter, having delved under the assortment of cables, leads and aerial connections i indeed have surfaced with TWO leads to the Sky box from the wall, one lead from Sky to DVD recorder/player and one lead from Sky to TV, one lead from roof aerial to TV (in case we lost the satellite reception) and one lead with no end on it. Oh, and 2 dog biscuits, three Christmas cards, a pound coin and two wrappers from a box of quality street. So I seem to have the requisite number of leads ................... Have a look at the back of it. Does it have two satellite input connections? Do they have plugs connected to both of them? It's not what's going into the TV that's important at this stage, it's what's going into the back of your Sky+ box. Oh well that's okay then. Thanks a lot, I feel more confident that i don't need to pay an engineer to bring out the special cables always assuming that the ones that go into the Sky box will also fit the Humax? Now all I have to do is to check whether Dave was correct in thinking that Freesat will exclude some channels. And I've got a lovely clean carpet under the TV now ............ Janet -- Janet Tweedy Dalmatian Telegraph http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk |
Freesat and PVR installing?
Janet Tweedy wrote:
Oh well that's okay then. Thanks a lot, I feel more confident that i don't need to pay an engineer to bring out the special cables always assuming that the ones that go into the Sky box will also fit the Humax? They're standard connections (well at least the Sky box ones and the Humax are the same). A friend of mine did this swap (or rather, I did it for him) just two weeks ago. Now all I have to do is to check whether Dave was correct in thinking that Freesat will exclude some channels. I'm sure the full line-up is on the net somewhere. Compared to Terrestial Freeview, you'll be missing UKHistory & Dave (the channel). You will though get the free HD channels and probably a few others. Tim |
Freesat and PVR installing?
Oh well that's okay then. Thanks a lot, I feel more confident that i don't need to pay an engineer to bring out the special cables always assuming that the ones that go into the Sky box will also fit the Humax? Now all I have to do is to check whether Dave was correct in thinking that Freesat will exclude some channels. And I've got a lovely clean carpet under the TV now ............ Janet -- Janet Tweedy Dalmatian Telegraph http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk The channels you can get are listed he http://www.joinfreesat.co.uk/index.php/freesat-channels More will come in due course. I was a sky digital (then HD) customer from the beginning and purchased a Humax HDR in December. After 3 months I can now say that the Humax HDR has some deficiencies but in many other ways is superior to the Sky offering. I have no regrets about the purchase.....except that you can now get them for 50 quid less! |
Freesat and PVR installing?
Janet Tweedy wrote:
In article , John Rumm writes Or it was installed with the so called "shotgun" co-ax cable that is actually two co-ax cables joined side by side in a figure of 8 style pattern. Often used by sky installers. Will that make a difference? Only in the sense that it might look like you have one cable from the dish, when in fact it is actually two... Sky plus is a sky box with two tuners in it. That means you can record one thing and watch another etc. However to work properly it means you also need two connections from the dish, and hence two runs of coax from the dish to the sky box. In addition to those there would also be a power lead, a connection to your phone, and a connection to the TV via a scart. You may also have a conventional TV aerial "looped through" the sky box. -- Cheers, John. /================================================== ===============\ | Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk | |-----------------------------------------------------------------| | John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk | \================================================= ================/ |
Freesat and PVR installing?
Janet Tweedy wrote:
Cough splutter, having delved under the assortment of cables, leads and aerial connections i indeed have surfaced with TWO leads to the Sky box from the wall, one lead from Sky to DVD recorder/player and one lead from Sky to TV, one lead from roof aerial to TV (in case we lost the satellite reception) and one lead with no end on it. Oh, and 2 dog biscuits, three Christmas cards, a pound coin and two wrappers from a box of quality street. Oh well money *and* food, what more could you want as reward for your efforts! ;-) So I seem to have the requisite number of leads ................... Jolly good. It's not what's going into the TV that's important at this stage, it's what's going into the back of your Sky+ box. Oh well that's okay then. Thanks a lot, I feel more confident that i don't need to pay an engineer to bring out the special cables always assuming that the ones that go into the Sky box will also fit the Humax? Almost certainly - the leads probably have "F connectors" on them. These are small silver plugs - usually with a section at the end that screws onto the socket. It normally has a hex nut profile on it to make getting a grip on the rotating bit easier. Moving them to the new box is simply a case of unscrewing from and inserting and tightening gently on the new one. When removed from the socket you will see a short length of the centre core of the cable poking out then end of the connector. Now all I have to do is to check whether Dave was correct in thinking that Freesat will exclude some channels. Well here is the list of channels: http://www.freesat.co.uk/index.php?page=whatson.Main -- Cheers, John. /================================================== ===============\ | Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk | |-----------------------------------------------------------------| | John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk | \================================================= ================/ |
Freesat and PVR installing?
"John Rumm" wrote in message et... Janet Tweedy wrote: Cough splutter, having delved under the assortment of cables, leads and aerial connections i indeed have surfaced with TWO leads to the Sky box from the wall, one lead from Sky to DVD recorder/player and one lead from Sky to TV, one lead from roof aerial to TV (in case we lost the satellite reception) and one lead with no end on it. Oh, and 2 dog biscuits, three Christmas cards, a pound coin and two wrappers from a box of quality street. Oh well money *and* food, what more could you want as reward for your efforts! ;-) So I seem to have the requisite number of leads ................... Jolly good. It's not what's going into the TV that's important at this stage, it's what's going into the back of your Sky+ box. Oh well that's okay then. Thanks a lot, I feel more confident that i don't need to pay an engineer to bring out the special cables always assuming that the ones that go into the Sky box will also fit the Humax? Almost certainly - the leads probably have "F connectors" on them. These are small silver plugs - usually with a section at the end that screws onto the socket. It normally has a hex nut profile on it to make getting a grip on the rotating bit easier. Moving them to the new box is simply a case of unscrewing from and inserting and tightening gently on the new one. When removed from the socket you will see a short length of the centre core of the cable poking out then end of the connector. Now all I have to do is to check whether Dave was correct in thinking that Freesat will exclude some channels. Well here is the list of channels: http://www.freesat.co.uk/index.php?page=whatson.Main It says "ITV HD is not currently available to STV and UTV viewers" Are the Scots and Irish so honest that they won't even tell lies to their domestic appliances? -- Graham. %Profound_observation% |
Freesat and PVR installing?
Graham. wrote:
"John Rumm" wrote in message et... Janet Tweedy wrote: Cough splutter, having delved under the assortment of cables, leads and aerial connections i indeed have surfaced with TWO leads to the Sky box from the wall, one lead from Sky to DVD recorder/player and one lead from Sky to TV, one lead from roof aerial to TV (in case we lost the satellite reception) and one lead with no end on it. Oh, and 2 dog biscuits, three Christmas cards, a pound coin and two wrappers from a box of quality street. Oh well money *and* food, what more could you want as reward for your efforts! ;-) So I seem to have the requisite number of leads ................... Jolly good. It's not what's going into the TV that's important at this stage, it's what's going into the back of your Sky+ box. Oh well that's okay then. Thanks a lot, I feel more confident that i don't need to pay an engineer to bring out the special cables always assuming that the ones that go into the Sky box will also fit the Humax? Almost certainly - the leads probably have "F connectors" on them. These are small silver plugs - usually with a section at the end that screws onto the socket. It normally has a hex nut profile on it to make getting a grip on the rotating bit easier. Moving them to the new box is simply a case of unscrewing from and inserting and tightening gently on the new one. When removed from the socket you will see a short length of the centre core of the cable poking out then end of the connector. Now all I have to do is to check whether Dave was correct in thinking that Freesat will exclude some channels. Well here is the list of channels: http://www.freesat.co.uk/index.php?page=whatson.Main It says "ITV HD is not currently available to STV and UTV viewers" Are the Scots and Irish so honest that they won't even tell lies to their domestic appliances? Perhaps the HD content in on a transponder that does not illuminate the outer edges of the country? -- Cheers, John. /================================================== ===============\ | Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk | |-----------------------------------------------------------------| | John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk | \================================================= ================/ |
Freesat and PVR installing?
On Tue, 3 Mar 2009, Vortex2 wrote:
Humax HDR in December. After 3 months I can now say that the Humax HDR has some deficiencies but in many other ways is superior to the Sky offering. I have no regrets about the purchase.....except that you can now get them for 50 quid less! Wow, 50 quid! Is that more than 7 minutes worth of Sky+ HD? ;-) Kostas |
Freesat and PVR installing?
On Tue, 3 Mar 2009 10:48:15 +0000, Janet Tweedy wrote:
Oh yes they a-) Well, Channel 5 is certainly on Freesat now and I have a suspicion that the rest of its siblings are too Looking at the channel listing Five does appear to be there now but I didn't spot fiveUS fiver etc (unless they have renamed em and I'm looking for something that doesn't exist any more...) I don't think all of Channel 4's are FTA (yet). I think they are, They appear in the Freesat list so they must have changed in the last few months as well. B-) Just checking on the Sky boxes and we seems to get both of those, With the card pulled out? With the card in you will still get the FTV channels (Sky 3?) on a Sky box but you won't get FTV channels ona Freesat box only the FTA ones. -- Cheers Dave. |
Freesat and PVR installing?
On Tue, 03 Mar 2009 20:09:37 +0000 someone who may be John Rumm
wrote this:- It says "ITV HD is not currently available to STV and UTV viewers" Are the Scots and Irish so honest that they won't even tell lies to their domestic appliances? Perhaps the HD content in on a transponder that does not illuminate the outer edges of the country? It comes through to this part of this country. As I understand it a Freesat box does not display the red button thingy to change to ITV HD if it is told that it is in those areas. As well as telling a Freesat box that it is in England or Wales ITV HD can be viewed with a box that does not have the Freesat logo, provided it is suitable and set up properly. A number of the latter are available. -- David Hansen, Edinburgh I will *always* explain revoked encryption keys, unless RIP prevents me http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2000/00023--e.htm#54 |
Freesat and PVR installing?
On Tue, 03 Mar 2009 22:36:58 +0000 (GMT) someone who may be "Dave
Liquorice" wrote this:- Oh yes they a-) Well, Channel 5 is certainly on Freesat now and I have a suspicion that the rest of its siblings are too Looking at the channel listing Five does appear to be there now but I didn't spot fiveUS fiver etc (unless they have renamed em and I'm looking for something that doesn't exist any more...) While I was looking through the Radio Times last night I checked and my suspicion was wrong. The siblings are not on Freesat at the moment, though I assume they will be when the $ky handcuffs are released. -- David Hansen, Edinburgh I will *always* explain revoked encryption keys, unless RIP prevents me http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2000/00023--e.htm#54 |
Freesat and PVR installing?
"Vortex2" wrote in message ... "Janet Tweedy" wrote in message ... Not sure if this comes under DIY but hoping it does. I have a Sky-plus satellite box and cable but recently stopped Sky. If I have all the required cables for Sky-plus can I just get a Humax Foxsat HD PVR recorder and plug it in or do I need to pay the extra to get someone to 'install' it? I tried looking it up on the tv/sat experts forums and got baffled by the science and vast lists of special leads/cables/connections. Maybe someone here can just let me know in easy DIY terms? Janet -- Janet Tweedy Dalmatian Telegraph http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk FYI The best deal yet on the FOXSAT HDR is at www.play.com. £249.99 delivered. Came on stream in the last few days. £289.99 now. Someone in Play must have realised that was too cheap. |
Freesat and PVR installing?
We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember David Hansen saying something like: As well as telling a Freesat box that it is in England or Wales ITV HD can be viewed with a box that does not have the Freesat logo, provided it is suitable and set up properly. A number of the latter are available. Freesat HD is also available to anyone with a suitable sat card in their PC, regardless of region. |
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