Freesat/Other Sats/Foxsat HDR questions.

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• grahamlthompson Posts: 18,486

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  20/03/09 - 12:30 #2

  bds1958 wrote: »

  Thanks to the recent advice I got here regarding Freesat I have done some more research and would value opinions/advice on the following.
  
  I want to try and get a set up that not only lets me see Freesat but other satellites as well.
  
  I am considering getting a dish with 4 LNBs.
  
  Here are the questions:-
  
  1. If I get the 4 LNB fixed dish what size would I need and what are the best sats to point at for content?
  
  2. If I get the Humax Foxsat HDR will I be able to view Freesat and the other 3 sats. Is it easy to use?
  
  3. Can someone point me in the direction of a reputable Sat Installer in the Birmingham area who would be able to install for me?
  
  
  Thanks.

  
  1 Recommend a 60cm dish as you want multisatellite. If you want to recieve more than 1 Satellitte you need either a motorised dish or it's possible to get 2 using a monoblock lnb provided they are not to far apart. As to content it depends on what you want to watch. All the channels used by Freesat/Sky come from a group of 5 satelittes at 28.2/28.5E. All the fta channels at this location are viewable on a foxsat-hdr by switching from freesat mode to non freesat mode. No dish movement is needed just 2 lnb's out of the 4 on a quad lnb.
  
  2 The answer is yes but it's not ideal. To use the foxsat-fdr with a motorised dish it becomes basically a 1 tuner freesat HD stb with the other tuner being used as the fta tuner capable of operating the dish motor.
  
  3 Fitted my own dish

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• [Deleted User] Posts: 4,131

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  20/03/09 - 12:45 #3

  1. Depends what your budget is... a purpose multi-lnb dish would be best (say the Toroidal dish)... or a normal 90cm dish! with a suitable LNB holding arm and compact LNBs (such as this one).
  
  28E, 19E, 13E and one other depending on the size of your dish and LNB arm...
  
  2. The HDR is geared towards Freesat (very easy to use with the EPG for Freesat channels).
  
  It is not geared towards other FTA or non-28E satellites but will work with DiSEqC & motorised dishes and non-freesat channels. Recording facilites is non-existent in non-freesat mode (except for the instant recording of two simultaneous channels). It does support N&N and EPG in non-freesat mode, if the channels carry this info. Operation of the freesat side (e.g. timers) breaks to a certain extent in non-freesat mode.
  
  You are better off buying a non-freesat FTA PVR if you want to use it more for other non-freesat channels.

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• [Deleted User] Posts: 2,741

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  20/03/09 - 15:10 #4

  bds1958 wrote: »

  1. If I get the 4 LNB fixed dish what size would I need and what are the best sats to point at for content?

  I've just had a Freesat HDR install with a 3 LNB dish. My dish is 70cm and I get 90%+ reception on all 3 LNBs. I have the usual 3 satellite positions - Astra 2 (28E), Astra 1 (19E) and Hotbrd (13E). The dish is focussed on 19 with the other two LNBs offset to either side.
  

  2. If I get the Humax Foxsat HDR will I be able to view Freesat and the other 3 sats. Is it easy to use?

  Yes, you will be able to get as a many satellites as you want easily with the Humax! As to whether it's easy to use - the problem is that it's designed as a Freesat machine first and foremost and multisat stuff is not as well developed as a generic non-Freesat machine would be. The main issues are:
  
  a. You have to select an option from the menu each time you want to switch from Freesat to multisat mode.
  
  b. You do not get an EPG in multisat mode, therefore only a list of channels, and no ability to schedule recordings from the EPG (you can only set a timer manually).
  
  c. There is no facility for creating favourites lists in multsat mode. So if you've got 1,500 free channels scanned in, the only way to categorise them is by the satellite they're on.

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