I understand that to be able to record one channel while watching another you need two cables from the dish, but if you have just the one cable (as with a standard Sky installation), can you record one channel while watching a previously-recorded programme, or do you *have* to have two cables connected before the box will allow you to record anything at all?

The reason I ask is that in-laws who were considering upgrading from Sky to Sky+ have realised that Freesat+ would give them everything they need with the extra benefit of free HD, but they'd really like to be able to buy and use the box immediately (doing a straight swap with their existing Sky box) and worry about changing the LNB and getting an extra cable run later.

They have a TiVo that's ready to be retired, so they're used to only being able to record one satellite channel at a time. If they can get the same functionality right now using Freesat+ and a single cable from the dish, they'll be quite happy until they can get round to arranging for a new LNB and cable run.

You can watch a recording while you record another, and also record two programmes at once - BUT - with some limitations.

Thanks I guess that if you want to record two channels at once with a single cable, those channels have to be the same polarisation and band?

And I'm correct in believing that a Freesat box will swap directly with a Sky Digital box with no need to adjust the dish or anything?

Yes they have to be the same polarisation and band, the freesat pvr has to be the Foxsat-hdr and it has to have a short loop cable fitted from tuner 1 out to tuner 2 in.

And yes same dish, same satellittes and same programmes. Freesat is just an epg with data for some free to air channels.

This is exactly what I did just before Christmas and am very pleased with the results. Not only is the Humax EPG much neater than the clunky-looking Sky EPG, setting up recordings is a breeze. Even with just one cable from the Sky dish (and a short link-through from LNB1 Out to LNB2 In) you can record two separate programmes (see Graham's nifty spreadsheets for details), but even without the link-through, the Humax is a great improvement on the Sky box...