Hi everyone.

Firstly can I say I'm asking about sticking Freesat in my house in France (my only house) and for that I'm sorry, I know it annoys people, I will birch myself, dance on the spot wearing stupid clothes and run naked down Bethnal Green Rd for penance.

So...I have an LG5020 37 inch TV, bought about 9 months ago. HD ready.

At my house I already have a 1m dish, servicing an old Grundig box which somehow never dies.

But I am going back to live there for a while (new baby) and I was thinking of buying a Freesat PVR through which I could watch a bit of HD stuff but mainly so we could record TV.

So, the Panasonic blu-ray thingy looks too pricey for what I need. Is the Humax fairly simple to use? Or are the cheaper Sagem and others boxes perfectly fine? I really want something reliable and simple.

Also do I need a double LNB to use Freesat? I just want to connect the one box, replacing the Grundig.

Cheers,
Adam

You can use a foxsat-hdr with only 1 cable with some restrictions on second channel recording and 3rd channel viewing.

http://www.avforums.com/forums/frees...oxsat-hdr.html

Another advantage of the Humax is has hidden talents in the form of Diseqc which will enable you to view from Astra 1 as well should you need more French content in the future. Bon chance!

Lady Dy,
If your house also has a terrestrial aerial, there is the French equivalent of freeview. Fair amount is in HD.
Even if you know little French it may be worth learning on which channels & when, weather forecasts are broadcast. (pictures are worth a thousand French words!)

David

The cheapest option is the Fortec Star Innovation available on ebay for around £120. Does everything you are likely to need except watch one channel and record another. One must use a Usb stick or an external usb connected hard disk (I myself tend to use a Bytestor16GB usb)
http://www.fortecstar.com/
I bought mine on ebay for £80

Thanks everyone!

Aha, so the Humax has Disecq...I have a motor (which has been outside in all weathers unused for three years) which could come in useful...that would be super cool...then we could get French TV as well...ace.

But just for clarity as I don't quite understand...to use the full range of services available:

1. do I need a double LNB?
2. Does that attach to a single cable (ie: the one already there) or would i need two cables (ie: to add a second one)?

Thanks again everybody

Ah ok I think i've got it!! I need a quad LNB and I can record some stuff with just one cable as per Graham's first post! D'oh!

You will need one cable for each LNB you use (four LNB's in a quad, of course).

So if you wanted to use your old box and also use the Humax to its full utility you would need two extra cables; three in total.

Although the hdr supports usals for a motor it's not ideal as it insists on going to single cable mode in freesat mode. Best plan is two feeds from 28.2E and a diseqc switch with a feed from either an offset lnb or monoblock aligned on the other satellite you want. To use the diseqc capability you have to change to non-freesat mode. You can't record from the freesat epg while in non-freesat mode

Just to clarify if you only want 28.2E you can use a single lnb and a single coax and make use of the tuner loop capability. This restricts your second channel recording somewhat. It's always best to use two feeds (usually from a quad lnb) if you can

I think i see...sorry for being a bit slow...

So could I have the same LNB and dish as I currently have, with the same cable? It would just mean I can't record and watch certain channels at the same time, right?

If I did that would you say I should not bother with the Humax and get a cheaper PVR box like Mr Bogstandard says?

Thanks again, i will get there in the end!

It's better than that. With a a foxsat-hdr with only one cable you can record up two channels at the same time and still be able to watch a few other channels at the same time. You can also watch anything already recorded whatever you are recording.

Here's an example

If you were to record BBC-HD on channel 108 and BBC1 Channel Islands on channel 951 at the same time you could still watch any of the following (plus any recording you already have) - note the ITV1 regions will depend on what postcode you use

121 Channel 4 + 1
122 E4
123 E4 +1
124 More4
975 Channel 4 + 1
103 ITV 1 London
103 ITV 1 Granada
103 ITV 1 Anglia North
103 ITV 1 Central West
113 ITV2
117 ITV4
602 CITV
977 ITV 1 London (audio described)
101 BBC One
952 BBC 1 E Mids
953 BBC 1 East (E)
955 BBC 1 N West
963 BBC 1 W Mids
966 BBC 1 Yorks
967 BBC 1 Eyrks*L
101 BBC One
956 BBC 1 NE & C
958 BBC 1 Oxford
959 BBC 1 S East
961 BBC 1 South
962 BBC 1 S West
965 BBC 1 West
108 BBC HD
951 BBC 1 CI
954 BBC 1 East (W)
103 STV
103 UTV
115 ITV3
116 ITV3 +1
731 Talk Sport Radio
304 Movies4Men
306 Movies4Men2
724 Absolute Radio
725 Absolute Classic Rock
726 Absolute 80's
727 NME Radio
728 WRN
729 JazzFM
777 Insight Radio
790 TWR Radio
403 Rural TV
692 Revelation
815 Jewelry Ch
135 CBS Drama
870 Babestation
208 Bloomberg TV
801 price-drop tv
814 Speed Auction TV
693 Islam Channel
302 True Movies
303 True Movies 2
500 Chart Show TV
501 The Vault
502 Flava
603 POP
604 POPGirl
605 Tiny POP
606 Kix!
203 Al Jazeera English
209 NHK WORLD TV

Any other box with a single cable will only let you watch the channel you are recording or an existing recording

Oh wow, ace. And is a London postcode a good one to stick in?

Thanks again again!

Because everyone get's London ITV at 977 and all english postcodes also get London ITV in HD on 119 it's a good idea to choose a postcode that gives you a horizontally polarised itv region at 103. (London is vertical) This means you if you wan't to record ITV 1 in SD and another channel you can choose the version with the same polarisation as the other channel. A West Country postcode for example will do this.

If you choose a London postcode you get the same channel at 103 and 119 but do get Radio London on the epg.

Whatever postcode you use the BBC regional variations at 101 and 102 can be customised to whichever region you want

A word of warning on French satellite TV, the 'terrestrial' channels via satellite are encrypted and you won't be able to view them via a Freesat box. I have a dish (in the UK) with offset LNBs to receive 28 and 19 degrees.
I have a separate receiver for the French services (TNTSat).

I don't know which part of France you are in, but digital switchover is well under way, and when your region switches terrrestrial digital TV will be much easier to receive than at present. Take a look at http://www.tousaunumerique.fr/region...ubj=calendrier for details of the switchover.

Not quite true. French channels 2, 3 Arte and TMC are free to air and can be received on a Humax Foxsat if set up in the non Freesat mode. I have mine set this way using input 2 for a dish set to AB3 at 5°W.

Thanks everyone, very helpful. I think I'm going to go for the full reinstall, double cables and all...

Hi again everyone.

Right, I've bought a Foxsat 320gb...arrived today.

So I wondered if I could trouble you to check through the kit I'm buying:

I was thinking of an Inverto Premium 0.2db LNB £18.50 here:
http://www.sateuropa.co.uk/product_o...id=1&subcat=50

Do I need double cable? Or is two single cables just as good? I have quite a lot of unused cable over there...

Then apart from F-connectors, which I also have, that's it right?

Single and double cable is the same, shotgun is two glued together though the thinner WF65 shotgun is inferior to WF100.

Self amalgamating tape to waterproof the outdoor f connectors and I like to use silicone grease as well

http://www.satcure.co.uk/tech/fconn.htm

Oh do I need different clips for attaching the LNB to the arm?

Depends on the dish. If it's not a Sky minidish it will likely have a standard 40mm collar. If it's a sky dish with a rectangular push in adaptor in the end of the lnb arm you will need an adaptor

I can tell where you get all the news you need.... same place as Paul Simon. You must be the only living boy in Cambridgeshire.

You are right about the value of French movies: There are a thousand words of discussions before and after each picture shown on French TV.

HI Everyone...

I bought 50m of cable from Satcure, silicon grease, special F connectors for the WF100 cable...drilled four holes in my house and dragged the cable through the holes...quite a neat job even though i say so myself...massive sunburn from working outside all day...heheh.

Am about to switch on my box for the first time...guy with a proper meter/analyser is turning up at 3-4pm to align the 1m dish properly, i hope...

Fingers crossed it all works ok...

Think I will just use a London postcode as I like radio London now and then...I can always change it after right?

Enfin j'arrive init.

Cheers all,
Adam

yep change it whenever you fancy!

Whatever postcode you use you can add Radio London using non-freesat mode

We've done it! Way, and also, hey! Woo, and also, hoo!

Thanks for all the advice, I can't believe it worked first time!

(I think i might be back for more advice on the box an how to use it )