In October a good deal I have with Sky ends so will more than likely cancel my subscription. Also with a baby on the way I am needing to reduce costs where I can.

I am thinking of getting a freesat box- would like to know if any of the models available have the RF out like you find on a Sky box. The reason is because my house has 3 TV's, 2 run off a signal from the RF out and the other via a HDMI lead. Channels are changed by the magic eye gadget.
I guess I could keep the sky box and pay £10 per month for the recording facility but would like to have a choice.

Thanks.

Not AFAIK. But you can get a UHF modulator to convert the SCART signal to RF to feed your distribution set up. Or you can use any old VCR (or possible an old DVD recorder) you may have laying around as a UHF modulator. But the Sky magic eye will not work with those to change channel etc but you can get a wireless remote control extender to do that job.

Thanks for the info, I had a quick browse round and it may just be easier to pay Sky for the recording facility. Maybe in the future as Freesat maybe gains in popularity, units with RF out pay become the norm.

I doubt it. The trend has been the other way.

It seems strange people buying HD kit and wanting SD out.

I guess we are all still waiting for affordable HD distribution systems to come to market?

Hopefully MoCA will enable this - it's is said to be part of Freesat G2 - but to what extent is the question.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multime..._Coax_Alliance

If you have a normal SD Sky box then there are offers that you can take up for your package price to stay the same

Sky are currently offering Sky TV Packages for Half Price including the HD Pack, so you can get Sky Sports F1 and Sky Sports F1 HD for Free
along with Sky Atlantic HD and ITV's 1-4 in HD as well, all for £17 a month one Poster mentioned on another Thread for SIX MONTHS,
so you may even reduce your bill if you take up one of these offers up

Plus you will get a Shiny new box and Installation for Free

See Here http://www.sky.com/shop/customer-shop/hd-upgrades/

And Here for details http://www.sky.com/shop/terms-conditions/new/

My main tv (where the box is) makes the most of HD but the RF feed goes to bedrooms and the dining room. I am not fussed about HD on these, as long as the Mrs can watch the One Show over dinner she is happy.

I have a HD box already. I managed to get Movies and Sport (not HD) for around £33 per month up to October.
The movies are pretty rubbish (only my opinion of course) and now the Premiership has finished I don't use the Sports channels. I really only watch BBC and other FTA channels so am throwing away good money for something I dont need.

If you keep your current Sky box and Card then you can get the following channels without any Subscription to Sky whatsoever - ALL TOTALLY FREE

Sony TV set of channels - FTV (Free-To-View) not available via Freesat boxes
New Challenge TV
New Pick TV
Channel 4 and 5 in HD
BBC1 HD, BBC HD soon to be BBC2 HD
ITV HD
CBS set of channels
And many others

The website has been taken down now

Not sure what website you mean has been taken down.
Not fussed about most of those channels, I will miss the recording of Sky+, thats the only thing tempting me to pay a nominal fee to Sky every month, just to keep that facility.

The website that has been taken down is the new Freesat from Sky one that Sky had put up a while ago
www.freesatfromsky.co.uk

EDIT: It is now working again
Here is the List of channels on it http://www.sky.com/shop/freesat/home/what-can-i-watch/

Luxury Life HD has now closed, so you only get the Main Networks in HD - BBC1 HD, BBC HD, ITV HD, Channel 4 HD and Channel 5 HD

If you want to Record using a Sky+ box, you can ask Sky for the Sky+ subscription for £10 a month

But not cheaper.

In the long term, to reduce costs, buy a Freesat receiver and an RF modulator. If you really need to change channel remotely, you'll need additional equipment. Either wireless or like this:
http://www.satcure.co.uk/accs/page14.htm#modkit

Or a videosender that includes remote control.

But you need to buy or already have a spare Scart Lead to connect the Freesat(+) box and the RF Modulator box together
Unless one comes with the RF Modulator box

Or buy a Humax HDR Freesat recorder and put the unoffical firmware on it that lets you stream standard def recordings to other rooms over your network.

I've got a network media player in the bedroom (AC Ryan Playon mini) and it plays beautifully from the Freesat+ box over the network, you can play while the recording is happening too.

I used to use the RF modulator method but even on a small LCD the quality was v.poor, the network method gives 100% perfect standard def, HD doesn't work with this method as the box encrypts HD recordings, boooo!

I believe the new G2 spec freesat receivers that will be released later this year will have RF out like your old Sky box.

By the time your contract runs out in October there should hopefully be some on the market.

If you do get a new Sky box from Sky do these still have the legacy RF modulator outputs and support for the Sky Eye gadget?

I notice some products now don't even have legacy Scart sockets.

Automan.

You might doubt it, but the second generation Freesat specification adds just such a facility - not that any second generation boxes have ever appeared yet

Indeed but from what I have read it is not RF out.

What you need (& what I use) is a Triax Tri-Link kit.
This is a separate unit that connects to a scart socket on the Freesat box (it has an additional scart on it so you don't lose anything) and has aerial in and RF1 and RF 2, with fully selectable UHF output channel, out as per the Sky box.
It carries the normal 9V on RF2 in the Sky way and will power any remote eyes and amplifiers you may already have.
The only down side is it comes with a little infra red emitter unit that plugs in and has to be positioned over the IR receiver window on the Freesat unit which, unless you can get it behind the front flap, doesn't look all that elegant. It doesn't affect normal operation though and allows full control from your remote TV.