SKY Freesat compatible with Humax 9200?

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  [Deleted User] Posts: 348

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  13/08/06 - 11:47 #2

  To the first question, the answer is no. Humax and all Freeview PVRs can record only from transmissions received in the UHF TV band.
  
  To the second, you can record to a recorder with a hard disk and a SCART input socket to take the signal from the Sky digibox. A Pioneer 440HX is a DVD/HDD recorder, with EPG and a G-link cable to change satellite channels. Not the cheapest alternative though, no doubt.

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  Max Demian Posts: 1,642

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  13/08/06 - 11:58 #3

  roycymru wrote:

  Hi
  
  My Mum lives in an area where Freeview is not available and not predicted to be. She subscribes to SKY but for the amount she uses it, it is a waste of money for her. Therefore I have been looking at alternatives and from I can gather she can subscribe to SKY FREESTAT and if I have interpreted things correctly this is only going to cost her £20 for a freestat viewing card, as she has already has the SKY dish and equipment.

  My understanding is that the £20 charge is only for people starting from scratch and Sky customers can just cancel their subscription and use their existing card to get the FTV (free-to-view) channels.
  

  roycymru wrote:

  Does anyone know if the HUmax 9200T is compatible with Freestat i.e. would she able to record programs or are they totally incompatible? If so, is there a PVR box out there (other than a SKY+ box) which for a one off purchase she could record FREESTAT programs? Or are there any other options?

  The 9200T would be no use as it only has a DTT (digital terrestrial television) tuner (hence the T in its name) and can't record from an external source.
  
  I'm not sure about the availablity of PVRs for satelite other than Sky+, but as I understand it you would be unable to set another PVR via the EPG without a Sky subscription and this is one of the main advantages of a PVR.
  
  I understand that the BBC is going to come up with its own "Freesat" thing in a while and that would undoubtedly come with some sort of useable EPG.

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  nwhitfield Posts: 4,556

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  13/08/06 - 12:56 #4

  In theory, you could use a Topfield satellite PVR, with a Dragon CAM, but for the EPG, you'd need to hook up to a PC and use some of the various scripts to grab data from, eg Radio Times.com. You'd also still need to keep a sky box handy for any card updates - though I don't know how much of an issue that is with FTV cards.
  
  Nigel.

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  [Deleted User] Posts: 4,545

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  14/08/06 - 14:30 #5

  Last I heard Humax were making a Freesat PVR, hi def twin tuners but it wasnt going to be out until they get the go ahead from the BBC - I might have got this mixed up with a nother product but I think its something to do with their EPG system

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  nwhitfield Posts: 4,556

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  14/08/06 - 14:40 #6

  Yep; I think quite a few of the satellite PVR people are waiting on that one; it's a combination of EPG and interactive faciliites.
  
  People complain enough, for example, about the lack of news multiscreens on Freeview, compared to Sky. Doubtless the usual suspects would moan even louder if they promoted a Freesat service as an alternative that didn't have any interactivity at all.
  
  I suppose the question is whether to go for the same sort of stuff as Sky, or adopt MHEG on satellite too. And for the EPG, whether each channel should transmit its own SI-based EPG, which is the norm in the satellite world, or if they should do something similar to Freeview, and have a data stream on the BBC channels carrying all the Freesat EPG info, which might appeal to some of the smaller broadcasters, but would again require changes to the satellite boxes.
  
  I suspect we won't hear much about the BBC-backed Freesat for a while - especially not with ITV in its present turmoil.
  
  Nigel.

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