Hi all,

I have a telly with Freeview built in. Unfortunately, the Freeview decoder has packed up, so I have no TV reception for now, though I can still use it for DVDs and the like.

I was going to get a Freeview box but then realised I may be able to get Freesat instead. I live in a flat with a communal satellite dish and have several sockets on the side of the wall. One is for radio, one is for the normal TV aerial, and there are two sticky out inputs, one called 'Sat' and one called 'return'.

Could I simply connect the Freesat box to one these plugs to receive Freesat services? If so, would it be a fairly simple operation or require some technical knowhow? It was just a spur of the moment thought, but if it's too complicated/not doable at all I'll go back to plan A.

Any help would be massively appreciated.

Many thanks.

You should be able to use the sat output for any digital satellite receiver including a freesat box. If you use a Humax Freesat pvr you can also use both tuners to record freesat with some restrictions.

i would imagine the 'SAT' will be for the likes sky etc, but freesat use the same cables/connectors/dish alignment etc, so there will b no problems connecting a freesat decoder to the Sat output from that box... unsure what the 'return' is for but some1 else with bit more knowledge should b able to help u wi that 1....

As long as there's definitely a satellite feed going into the 'Sat' socket then it should only be a case of connecting up a Freesat box and your good to go.

Thank you all, I'll give it a go.

I had heard the dish had to be pointed a certain way to get Freesat, but that could be nonsense.

Open to any other possible drawbacks or problems, but otherwise I'll probably get a cheap box and give it a go.

And er ... sorry for posting this in the wrong category. Just realised this is the Freesat recorders thread.

Might be worth checking with the management company as to whether it's already connected, or if you have to get them to do so - if it's not and there's a cost it'd be worth finding out what it is before you buy a Freesat box. (I'm just thinking it's possible all the cables/sockets are there, but maybe not connected at the distribution side of things, so worth a quick check.) Otherwise sounds like a good plan.

Same way as for Sky, so as long as it's aimed in the right direction for that Freesat should work too - they both use the same signals.

The return cable is for use with a sky box rf2 out to send the output to another room, most likely a bedroom. An old Sky box picked up for peanuts could be used as could any generic free to air sat box. You can get these for as little as £25.00.

Freesat is just an alternative electronic programme guide to the one Sky provides. The free channels are the same on any box be it Freesat, Sky or a generic fta box like the ones B&Q sell. An old Sky box should work fine.

Daft question coming up.

Would the cables I need to connect to the communal set-up be with the box when I bought it, or would I need to go out and buy separate ones? ie would it be a simple job of getting the cable out of the box and connecting them like an external aerial to a Freeview box, or would it be more complicated.

Thanks again for the answers, btw.

You just need a f to f coax patch lead. They aren't normally provided. They are very easy to make up yourself.

Google fitting a f connector.

Cables are available for a couple of quid on Amazon, eBay etc if you want a ready made one.