Is it worth getting a Freesat box and dumping Sky ?

Jim

the_constructor wrote:
Is it worth getting a Freesat box and dumping Sky ?

Jim


Look to see if what channels freesat offers matches your viewing habits.

To my mind it is nearly all crap however you receive it.

Free crap has to be better than paid for crap I suppose.

Bob

the_constructor wrote:
Is it worth getting a Freesat box and dumping Sky ?


For the country, yes.

--
Adrian C

On Thu, 24 Dec 2009 11:16:26 -0000, "the_constructor"
wrote:

Is it worth getting a Freesat box and dumping Sky ?

Jim


I left Sky for Freeview .. got sick of both.

Got rid of TV lecence and now watch what I want, when I want, online.
Maybe a day later to catch up .. but does it matter ?
If you have a family, this probably wont work.

Mike P

the_constructor wrote on 24/12/2009 :
Is it worth getting a Freesat box and dumping Sky ?

That depends what you MUST watch or what you might miss from SKY.

We dumped it several years ago. About 3 or 4 years ago we decided sat
was the way to go for the caravan and got a basic sat receiver for that
and found it was a good decision, we got reception and lots of choice
no matter where we were, rather than the often no reception via
analogue or the Freeview.

Last year I looked at sat again for home, so we would have at least as
much choice at home as when away. Rather than a pukka Freesat system I
bought a Passion+ system which does what we need as in gets all the
free channels and can record them and pause live programs, saving to an
external HDD. It also supports multi-satellite reception via fixed
dishes or motorised ones, which have not yet made any use of.

There are many more free to view channels available on Astra, which we
have access to via the Passion, than (I think) are listed in the
Freeview systems.

The only down side is that the Passion only has one tuner, so you can
only tune one channel at one time - you cannot watch one/record
another, which I believe a pukka Freeview can do(?).

--
Regards,
Harry (M1BYT) (L)
http://www.ukradioamateur.co.uk

On Dec 24, 11:16*am, "the_constructor"
wrote:
Is it worth getting a Freesat box and dumping Sky ?

Jim

I bought and self installed a fit from screwfix , only £40.00 for
everything and it works perfectly . How can they sell a dish , all
brackets and cables and decoder for £40 ?? It gets all the usual
itv and bbc signals ,channels four and five etc as well as about 200
more. Had it six months now and no problems

about 2 years ago or whenever it was that Virgin had a fight with Sky and
stopped Sky 1 I was devasted as I could no longer watch the Simpsons. So I
dumped Virgin and got Sky, it took about 2 months before I got Sky 1 back.

Remember I did this because I could no longer watch the Simpsons?

I have never watched an episode since I last saw it on Virgin just before
they dumped Sky 1.

If I could get away with it (family would moan) I would do as Mike has done
and get rid of my TV and only watch online. That is what I do now anyway, me
upstairs watching what I want online when I watch and the family watching
what Sky pumps out.

Get rid of it.

Dave


"Harry Bloomfield" wrote in message
. uk...
the_constructor wrote on 24/12/2009 :
Is it worth getting a Freesat box and dumping Sky ?

That depends what you MUST watch or what you might miss from SKY.

We dumped it several years ago. About 3 or 4 years ago we decided sat was
the way to go for the caravan and got a basic sat receiver for that and
found it was a good decision, we got reception and lots of choice no
matter where we were, rather than the often no reception via analogue or
the Freeview.

Last year I looked at sat again for home, so we would have at least as
much choice at home as when away. Rather than a pukka Freesat system I
bought a Passion+ system which does what we need as in gets all the free
channels and can record them and pause live programs, saving to an
external HDD. It also supports multi-satellite reception via fixed dishes
or motorised ones, which have not yet made any use of.

There are many more free to view channels available on Astra, which we
have access to via the Passion, than (I think) are listed in the Freeview
systems.

The only down side is that the Passion only has one tuner, so you can only
tune one channel at one time - you cannot watch one/record another, which
I believe a pukka Freeview can do(?).

--
Regards,
Harry (M1BYT) (L)
http://www.ukradioamateur.co.uk

In message ,
the_constructor wrote
Is it worth getting a Freesat box and dumping Sky ?


Don't you just stop paying for Sky and then use your existing box to
receive the free to air services which have the same channels as
Freesat?

--
Alan
news2009 {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

On Thu, 24 Dec 2009 11:16:26 -0000, the_constructor wrote:

Is it worth getting a Freesat box and dumping Sky ?

Depends on your viewing habits, a Skybox without a card will still
show you all BBC and ITV offerings, most (if not all) channel 4
stuff. five is still Free To View however things change all the time
just recently so I might be out of date with what is Free To Air (no
card or sub) or FTV (card, no sub).

A sky box without being shown a card is a bit of PITA though, as it
will default to London channels on BBC1/ITV1 and might not allocate
anything for channel 4 in 104. As I said things change so might not
be 100% on the details.

If you have a Sky box and sub just let the sub lapse and the card
will work in "Freesat from Sky" mode and give you the right
regionalisation and allow five to work.

--
Cheers
Dave.

Is it worth getting a Freesat box and dumping Sky ?

Jim

I bought and self installed a fit from screwfix , only #40.00 for
everything and it works perfectly . How can they sell a dish , all
brackets and cables and decoder for #40 ?? It gets all the usual
itv and bbc signals ,channels four and five etc as well as about 200
more. Had it six months now and no problems


You can use you existing Sky dish for Freesat.

Be aware / beware that as well as Freesat (BBC HD etc, entirely free) there
is something quite different called 'Freesat from Sky' that costs around 140
pounds.

Roger R

about 2 years ago or whenever it was that Virgin had a fight with Sky and
stopped Sky 1 I was devasted as I could no longer watch the Simpsons. So I
dumped Virgin and got Sky, it took about 2 months before I got Sky 1 back.

Remember I did this because I could no longer watch the Simpsons?

I have never watched an episode since I last saw it on Virgin just before
they dumped Sky 1.

Ok, we remembered, so why didn't you then watch Simpsons on Sky ?

Roger R

Alan explained on 24/12/2009 :
Don't you just stop paying for Sky and then use your existing box to receive
the free to air services which have the same channels as Freesat?

I don't know the answer to that one for sure, but I suspect you can get
some of the free ones but not all.

For those thinking of HD, you would need a sat receiver capable of
receiving it as well as a TV able to display it (HDMI). There are
presently only two free HD channels (BBC HD and ITV HD). BBC transmits
most of the time, ITV rarely and usually only sporting events it seems.



--
Regards,
Harry (M1BYT) (L)
http://www.ukradioamateur.co.uk

"the_constructor" wrote in message
o.uk...
Is it worth getting a Freesat box and dumping Sky ?

Jim


Yes,

Was a sky subscriber since Sky Digital started and purchased a Humax Foxsat
HDR 1 year ago.

The machine has it's idiosynchracies but the bottom line is there is no
monthly sub. and it has paid for itself in 10 months as a result of
subscription savings.

If you have no special sports or movies addiction then it's a "no brainer".
the new iPlayer functionality seems to work OK as well.

New Astra satellites http://tinyurl.com/yjnl27p due in a couple of years
should significantly enhance the channel offering which is currently limited
for a variety of reasons.

D

On Thu, 24 Dec 2009 13:57:28 -0000, Roger R wrote:

Be aware / beware that as well as Freesat (BBC HD etc, entirely free)
there is something quite different called 'Freesat from Sky' that costs
around 140 pounds.

If you get them to install it. If you have a sub already then it's
free just let the sub lapse. If you buy a Sky box 2nd user and dish
etc installing yourself it costs you either £20 for a Freesat from
Sky card or, if you can put up with the box without a card, zero.

--
Cheers
Dave.

On Thu, 24 Dec 2009 14:04:25 -0000, Roger R wrote:

Ok, we remembered, so why didn't you then watch Simpsons on Sky ?

'cause he foud he canm watch for free on channel 4? OK not the latest
series but who cares...

--
Cheers
Dave.

In article ,
Harry Bloomfield wrote:
For those thinking of HD, you would need a sat receiver capable of
receiving it as well as a TV able to display it (HDMI).

Or components.

There are presently only two free HD channels (BBC HD and ITV HD). BBC
transmits most of the time, ITV rarely and usually only sporting events
it seems.

Lux HD as well. Other non UK stations too.

--
*7up is good for you, signed snow white*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

"Harry Bloomfield" wrote in message
. uk...
Alan explained on 24/12/2009 :
Don't you just stop paying for Sky and then use your existing box to
receive the free to air services which have the same channels as Freesat?

I don't know the answer to that one for sure, but I suspect you can get
some of the free ones but not all.

For those thinking of HD, you would need a sat receiver capable of
receiving it as well as a TV able to display it (HDMI). There are
presently only two free HD channels (BBC HD and ITV HD). BBC transmits
most of the time, ITV rarely and usually only sporting events it seems.


I believe the HD channels are being added to Freeview next year. The
reshuffle last month was supposed to be in readiness for it.
--
Tinkerer

After serious thinking Dave Plowman (News) wrote :
In article ,
Harry Bloomfield wrote:
For those thinking of HD, you would need a sat receiver capable of
receiving it as well as a TV able to display it (HDMI).

Or components.

There are presently only two free HD channels (BBC HD and ITV HD). BBC
transmits most of the time, ITV rarely and usually only sporting events
it seems.

Lux HD as well. Other non UK stations too.

'Luxe HD'
^

I didn't even know it was there, but it was already tuned in on my
system. It seems to be nothing but demo/ads, impressive demo of HD
though.

--
Regards,
Harry (M1BYT) (L)
http://www.ukradioamateur.co.uk

On 24/12/09 20:56, John Rumm wrote:

I have a feeling they have rebranded the freesat from sky bit now.

Very heavily de-emphasised on their main site, you have to search for
it, I couldn't see any links promoting it

http://www.sky.com/portal/site/skyco...m+Sky&nodeId=0

or you can go direct to

http://www.freesatfromsky.co.uk/

On Thu, 24 Dec 2009 20:56:44 +0000, John Rumm wrote:

I have a feeling they have rebranded the freesat from sky bit now.

Don't remeber the purple colour on previous visits to their web site

http://www.freesatfromsky.co.uk/free...hoice-all.aspx

Gives all the channels that Freesat from Sky provides, that will be
FTA and FTV.

Not sure there is much advantage in having it any more either - there
used to be a few free to view but encrypted channels that the card would
decode, but most (if not all) of those have gone unencrypted now.

Agreed all of channel 4 stuff is now FTA but five and it's offspring
is still FTV on a Sky box. Only five is avaliable on Freesat.

Freesat channels:

http://freesat.co.uk/index.php?page=whatson.Main

--
Cheers
Dave.

On Thu, 24 Dec 2009 21:12:47 +0000, Andy Burns wrote:

Very heavily de-emphasised on their main site, you have to search for
it, I couldn't see any links promoting it

It's always been like that, are you surprised? Why would a commercial
company push an option that costs them money in lost subscriptions. I
wouldn't be surprised to find that the only reason they have it is to
meet licensing conditions. Must provided free access to the BBC
etc...

--
Cheers
Dave.

On 24/12/09 21:22, Dave Liquorice wrote:

On Thu, 24 Dec 2009 21:12:47 +0000, Andy Burns wrote:

Very heavily de-emphasised on their main site

It's always been like that, are you surprised? Why would a commercial
company push an option that costs them money in lost subscriptions.

The only reason is that if people buy a freesatfromsky box they might be
persuaded to subscribe later, however if they buy a slot-less freesat
box, they're less likely to subscribe as they'd need a new box.