Hi can you sugest any ideas to display freeview and freesat in one box and maybe even sky ftv channels is threre any solutions from this apart from media center

Many thanks

How do you guys watch ftv freesat and freeview in one solution

You cannot display a Freeview channel and a Freesat channel let alone record them both using one device, unless it is on a new IDTV, some Panasonic
ones have both tuners inside them and a few other makes like Samsung for example but these are very rare, there are no recorders currently that do both,
so you would need both types a Freeview SD/HD Recorder and a Freesat PVR underneath the TV, you can use the Freesat box for the Sky FTA channels,
like Sky News but that is about it unless you want to swap the Freesat PVR for a new Sky+/Sky HD+ box that is, you maybe able to record the Free To Air channels
just using the box and the Viewing Card, but this is not guaranteed

Unless someone makes such model of STB then we are stuck to having two devices instead of one, which means money to the STB Makers

It's not that - there are plenty of hybrid terrestrial/cable and terrestrial/satellite STBs available around the world.

The problem in the UK is that Sky, Freesat, and to a lesser extent Freeview put strict controls on their EPGs. You can do an entirely separate solution (like on some IDTVs) where it's as if you're switching between two separate devices within a single box (similar to the Freesat/non-Freesat mode on some Freesat STBs) - but you can't do what most people would want, which is to make channels from two or three different services appear in the same EPG.

The reason is obvious - Sky and Freesat charge to be in their channels lists and EPGs - giving people the power to build their own channel list, while using Sky's or Freesat's or standard DVB 7-day EPG data, dramatically reduces the value of what they provide.

Cheers,
David.

thankyou very much guys

i was looking at the Sony RDR-DC205 250GB HDD DVD Freeview Sky, Sky+,

is this any good and does it display the channel in there own epg guide the sky ftv and freesat and freeviews?

At the risk of being flamed, this is a totally legitimate use for something like a Dreambox 8000. One of mine has two satellite tuners and two terrestrial ones. There are several plug-ins which will give you the full EPG for both.

Don't know why you'd get flamed billnot - building your own solutions, getting a media centre PC, a Dreambox or a Reelbox are the only ways I know of getting all this in one box.

The problems are the hassle, the reliability of some solutions, the lack of accurate record on most - and most importantly, the fact that two separate STBs (or a couple of year's Sky subscription!) would be cheaper.

At least the expensive solutions let you timer record HD without encryption - but the extra cost would buy you a lot of BluRays!


I often post this, but some people are looking for a PVR, not a new hobby. Some of these solutions are definitely in the "time consuming hobby" category - especially when first setting them up.

Cheers,
David.

You could also check the latest Sunray 4 dm800se boxes as they also do cable as well and are much cheaper than the dm8000. Better check the terrestrial frequencies are uk ones as earlier ones may not have been.
number7

That's a fair point, but Mrs. Billnot isn't a "techie" and loves the DM8000; she finds it easy to use.

there are many technomate boxes out there with twin/triple tuners that allow you to record and download epg data off the net. You can often pick and choose if you want terrestrial or satellite tuners.

That's a Freeview+ & DVD recorder, no mention of any satellite receiver:
http://www.sony.co.uk/product/dvd-recorder/rdr-dc205

It's was also discontinued a year or more ago - Sony no longer sell any DVD recorders (the DC205 was manufactured for them by Samsung).

Thank Guys i have stuck with media center for now as the other are too costly at the moment but i will keep all the suggestions in mind for later when im ready to upgrade my pvr

Many thanks all