The situation that I am in is that Freeview is iffy in my area at the best of times. An new Freeview aerial install will cost me around 140 pounds, but it still might not do the job because of the dip the house is in, plus the tree line. Some of the neighbouring houses have a worse aspect and there aerials are mounted on 3 or 4 meter poles!!!

I don't have a HD set at the moment, although I plan on getting one in the future. I also have the dish currently pointed at a German sat for my wife’s viewing pleasure.

So, what are my options?

Should I take that 140 pounds and buy a Freesat+ box and get another LNB put on the sat dish arm (I assume that's not going to be a problem). If I do get a freesat+ box, should I go for the HD version (even though a HD TV is a few months away) and if I do, are there any other options other than the Foxsat box?

Your help would be much appreciated.

you won't get a 'freesat+' box at that price, you're looking at £250 roughly best deal.. If you mean a 'freesat' box then yes the box plus lnb and additional arm, should your dish allow, would be my choice. Should the original dish not cater for additonal lnb's a separate dish could be purchased from www.satcure.co.uk

just for clarity 'freesat+' box is the recording stb and available with HD only, 'freesat' box is non-recording with HD or SD format

If you can already get 28.2E (ie regular Sky) on a sat dish from your location then Freesat is guaranteed. (I'm presuming you probably started off at 28.2E before moving it for your wife's pleasure).

With Freeview, you're taking a gamble. You could spend £140 and still have poor or no reception. Then again it could work fine, but you're not going to know until you've done it.

Personally for that reason I'd take Freesat over Freeview unless the missing channels are important to you.

Failing that in a weak area if going down the Freeview route (provided you're not subject to large amounts of outdoor wind () ie in an exposed position, which is doesn't sound like you are, then I'd be putting up a Televes DAT 75 with MRD as its about the most powerful aerial wideband combination you can get and is one of only 2 or 3 CAI Cat 3 approved aerials).

Its actually the aerial Australian Scientists used in an experiment to bounce tv signals off the moon and back to earth!!!!!

However it does have a very large surface area hence the wind warning:

This is one I pulled off Google:

http://www.henrikolinda.se/dagbok/071018.jpg

The MRD is a separate addition that integrates with the aerial but is effectively a mast head amplifier.

That said, even with that, there are no guarantees with Freeview. Freesat is guaranteed if you can get Sky now on 28.2E.

Also. the freeview box would be obsolete in a few months time when freeview HD comes out.

Get the freesat+ and you are future proof when you get the HD set, youll also have the PVR as well.

Wind actually is a problem where my house sits. It's at then end of a funnel of other houses and even on mild days it really does whip through here at a rate of knots.

I have to admit that I never saw sky working on this dish. It was on the house when I moved in and I was using freeview, so I never connected it and simply had the dish realigned to pick up German TV for my wife (who is German).

I "assume" that it picked up sky okay. There are no buildings inbetween me and that part of the sky and although there is a tree line in that direction, it doesn't seem to ever effect the German reception.

Freeview worked for ages here with few problems, but recently it just went bad, so I am assuming the aerial has weathered.

What would be the cheapest SD freesat box I could buy with recording capability?

See the right column here http://www.joinfreesat.co.uk/

Right now it's the Humax but Sagem and Goodmans have just produced comparable models if you're prepared to wait a while. (Scroll down the page to see the blog posts.)

Also be aware that right now there are some channels on Freeview that are not available on Freesat. Though a few of those may eventually join.

Do you have a list of missing channels?

I'll take a lok at that link now.

I think the only HD boxes record, you might as well get that and future proof it because the next TV you buy will be HD and then you will have to buy a £250 to get HD.

Might as just pay the difference now.

So what would be the cheapest HD box, or is there something on the way, HD wise, that I should hang on for?

You've already been given the link in post #6 to current Freesat+ (HD) boxes, including "Best Prices", plus the Goodmans & Sagem boxes in the middle pane, on the way.

Rgds.

Les.
Last edited by savvy : 31-07-2009 at 15:34

Got it. Appologies for having a Friday Moment!

NP, I have those every day of the week

Rgds.

Les.

Off the top of my head the main ones are:

Fiver
Five US
Virgin 1
Sky 3
Dave
Yesterday
Sky News (but you can manually tune to this if you're desperate, however you can't record it)

Of that list it's possible that the top two may appear on Freesat but I wouldn't bet on it. At one time there was a rumour that Sky News might appear in the Freesat programme guide. But that has gone quiet. However, there's a reasonable selection of 24/7 news channels on Freesat.

Anyway, it's really just a question of whether the channels Freesat has now cater to your tastes better than Freeview. I could have gone for either (was on analogue cable before) but prefer the Freesat lineup.

Oh really? I actually watch programes from this list...

Fiver
Five US
Virgin 1
Sky 3
Dave
Yesterday

Having said that, Virgin 1 is iffy most of the time as are both Five channels. Dave is usually solid on Freeview and I do watch some stuff on there. Sky 3 does also show stuff I am interested in.

Looks as though I might have to think again....

They don't look quite that big up in the air.

Here's mine

http://www.4shared.com/file/92695071/dfb5f78/dat75.html

No innuendo please

That's a helluva long thin pole supporting it, Graham. Don't you get movement in windy conditions?

Rgds.


Les.

Oh yes it moves a lot but it does not appear to affect the picture. You can't see them in the photo but there is woodland directly behind the house and the long mast just about clears the trees. It was fun putting it up, had to mount the mast with a ladder in the neigbours garden and mount the aerial sitting on the roof apex.

Scarry stuff!

As ever with these things there's always a trade-off. However, a cursory scan of Sky 3 suggests that much of its content is similar to that shown on Zone Reality. I've not yet gotten round to watching any Zone Reality, which doesn't mean I won't. It just takes time to check out everything that might be of interest to me. Don't be misled by its title though. Initially, I thought this meant Big Brother style reality TV! In fact it just means real-life documentaries - animal rescues, cop patrols, etc. So it might be at least a partial substitute for the loss of Sky 3.

Apart from that, the only missing channel that interests me is Five US and possibly Virgin 1. The others I can live without.

Just a passing thought on here, but if I were to reinstall a new cable for my Freeview Aerial, could I use White Sat Cable? It's just that I have 50 meters of it sitting unused in my shed. Brand new and never been used.

Any technical reasons why coax cable that I bought for a sat project in Germany can't be used on a normal digital Aerial?


Sorry for the left field question, just trying to weigh up my options.

Not at all, and it's the cable you should be using - no point using lower spec old TV cable.

We haven't stocked anything but 'satellite' cable for a number of years now, it's superior, and pretty well required for Freeview anyway.

Okay, thanks for that, I will have to review all my options, but at the moment it looks as though freesat is outside my budjet, I don't want sky, and I am not sure I will be able to afford to get a Pro to re-do my aerial, so it's up a long ladder for me!!!

This is all now back up in the air. My Digibox has died and I must now decide if I should buy another DTB box or go for a Sat version.

Has anything changed price wise or information wise since you all helped me last?