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Can the Satelitte dish used for Sky work for Freesat?


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Old 10-01-2009, 10:14
hopeandfaith06
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We are considering changing from Sky + to Freesat + and just wondering if the current satellite dish can be used?

If so, will it need adjusting at all?

Thanks
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Old 10-01-2009, 10:17
wastedyuthe
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I have done just that. Bought the Humax HDR, cancelled Sky+. It uses the dish just fine with no adjustments needed. The Humax even uses the same cable connections for your two feeds from the dish.
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Old 10-01-2009, 10:37
hopeandfaith06
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I have done just that. Bought the Humax HDR, cancelled Sky+. It uses the dish just fine with no adjustments needed. The Humax even uses the same cable connections for your two feeds from the dish.
ah thats brilliant news. We're going to go to one of our local shops to ask about freesat as Sky is really messing us around and is costing us silly money at the minute.

Oh just a quick question, when you cancelled sky, did you have to send the box back or did they not ask for anything?
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Old 10-01-2009, 10:54
technologist
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if you own the box why should Sky want it ??
It just becimes your own FreesatfromSky box.
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Old 10-01-2009, 11:58
grahamlthompson
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ah thats brilliant news. We're going to go to one of our local shops to ask about freesat as Sky is really messing us around and is costing us silly money at the minute.

Oh just a quick question, when you cancelled sky, did you have to send the box back or did they not ask for anything?
Just checking. You do know that when you cancell Sky, your STB will receive all the same channels as a freesat box plus a few others without costing you a penny. About the only reason you might want a freesat box is for HD or to record (foxsat-hdr)
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Old 10-01-2009, 12:33
hopeandfaith06
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Just checking. You do know that when you cancell Sky, your STB will receive all the same channels as a freesat box plus a few others without costing you a penny. About the only reason you might want a freesat box is for HD or to record (foxsat-hdr)
Oh? Sorry i didn't know that. Well i have a Sky HD box so that should be fine then will it?

So how do i go about getting freesat with it then?
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Old 10-01-2009, 13:01
Nigel Goodwin
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Oh? Sorry i didn't know that. Well i have a Sky HD box so that should be fine then will it?

So how do i go about getting freesat with it then?
You just ring Sky and cancel, the box continues to work on the FTA and FTV channels, but you won't be able to use the PVR functions.

You will lose the FTV channels when Sky change the cards later this year, but in the meantime you've got considerably more free channels then a Freesat box, and will still have a fair few more even after the cards change.
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Old 10-01-2009, 13:25
hopeandfaith06
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You just ring Sky and cancel, the box continues to work on the FTA and FTV channels, but you won't be able to use the PVR functions.

You will lose the FTV channels when Sky change the cards later this year, but in the meantime you've got considerably more free channels then a Freesat box, and will still have a fair few more even after the cards change.
Oh well i wanted the PVR function though. Thanks for the advice though, i'll have a think and look into it.
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Old 10-01-2009, 13:26
grahamlthompson
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Oh? Sorry i didn't know that. Well i have a Sky HD box so that should be fine then will it?

So how do i go about getting freesat with it then?
You don't need to do anything Freesat does not have any channels.

To explain a group of Satellites called Eurobird 1, Astra2A, Astra2B, Astra 2C and Astra 2D. broadcast TV in one of two ways.

1 Without encryption known as Free To Air,(FTA) anyone with a satellite reciever can view FTA channels for free

2 Encrypted (scrambled) to watch these channels you need a viewing card and normally have to pay a subscription (but not always). Some channels are encrypted but are still free to watch. These are known as Free To View (FTV). You need a card in a sky box to watch these but you don't have to pay a subscription. In your case the main FTV channels are Fiver Five US and Channel 4 HD. (channel 5 has two broadcasts one fta and one ftv sky boxes get the ftv one and freesat the fta)

3 There are hundreds of FTA channels on Astra/Eurobird and a number of these pay Freesat to have their programme information included in a 7 day electronic prograame guide (epg) that Freesat broadcast. Just as sky broadcasts it own epg with other channels on it. So Freesat is literally just a epg

If you remove the viewing card from your Sky box it will still work with all the fta channels (try it to see what's fta).

When you stop your subscription you will lose access to the subscription services but will still be able to view the ftv channels. This means that you can watch BBC HD (fta) and Channel 4 HD (ftv) and LuxeHD if you add it using add channels.

If you replace your Sky HD box with a Freesat HD box you will lose CH4 HD (freesat can only use fta channels) but will gain ITV HD (There's not much on ITV HD at the moment).

Your Sky epg will still have all the encrypted channels you can't watch but you can create a favourites epg list that has the channels that you can actually watch.

Your choice but a change to a freesat box does not make economic sense when you already have a perfectly good HD box unless you want to record and then the Foxsat-HDR pvr might be an option as Sky charge £10.00 a month to allow you to record free channels on your own Sky+ box (Outrageous)
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Old 10-01-2009, 13:47
hopeandfaith06
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You don't need to do anything Freesat does not have any channels.

To explain a group of Satellites called Eurobird 1, Astra2A, Astra2B, Astra 2C and Astra 2D. broadcast TV in one of two ways.

1 Without encryption known as Free To Air,(FTA) anyone with a satellite reciever can view FTA channels for free

2 Encrypted (scrambled) to watch these channels you need a viewing card and normally have to pay a subscription (but not always). Some channels are encrypted but are still free to watch. These are known as Free To View (FTV). You need a card in a sky box to watch these but you don't have to pay a subscription. In your case the main FTV channels are Fiver Five US and Channel 4 HD. (channel 5 has two broadcasts one fta and one ftv sky boxes get the ftv one and freesat the fta)

3 There are hundreds of FTA channels on Astra/Eurobird and a number of these pay Freesat to have their programme information included in a 7 day electronic prograame guide (epg) that Freesat broadcast. Just as sky broadcasts it own epg with other channels on it. So Freesat is literally just a epg

If you remove the viewing card from your Sky box it will still work with all the fta channels (try it to see what's fta).

When you stop your subscription you will lose access to the subscription services but will still be able to view the ftv channels. This means that you can watch BBC HD (fta) and Channel 4 HD (ftv) and LuxeHD if you add it using add channels.

If you replace your Sky HD box with a Freesat HD box you will lose CH4 HD (freesat can only use fta channels) but will gain ITV HD (There's not much on ITV HD at the moment).

Your Sky epg will still have all the encrypted channels you can't watch but you can create a favourites epg list that has the channels that you can actually watch.

Your choice but a change to a freesat box does not make economic sense when you already have a perfectly good HD box unless you want to record and then the Foxsat-HDR pvr might be an option as Sky charge £10.00 a month to allow you to record free channels on your own Sky+ box (Outrageous)
Thank you for the great post. You do have a good point about buying another box when we already have one.

What we might consider doing is just reducing our current sky packages and get rid of sports and movies which we hardly watch, get rid of music (i know thats only an extra £1 or something but you still get quite a few music channels free) and just have the entertainment mix or possibly the kids mix.
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Old 10-01-2009, 14:33
PaulB67b
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Thank you for the great post. You do have a good point about buying another box when we already have one.

What we might consider doing is just reducing our current sky packages and get rid of sports and movies which we hardly watch, get rid of music (i know thats only an extra £1 or something but you still get quite a few music channels free) and just have the entertainment mix or possibly the kids mix.
Oh dear, graham appears to have talked you into keeping $ky and paying a monthly fee for what amounts to mostly rubbish.

Do yourself a favour, ditch sky, buy a freesat+ box (which has more features than the sky box), then you will be able to record and it will cost you exactly £0 a month.
Yes its £290 but it pays for itself in a few months with the money you save on subscriptions.

And apart from paying zero a month I cannot stress enough the satisfaction that is gained from telling sky where to stick their box !!!!

Just do it !!
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Old 10-01-2009, 14:39
grahamlthompson
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Oh dear, graham appears to have talked you into keeping $ky and paying a monthly fee for what amounts to mostly rubbish.

Do yourself a favour, ditch sky, buy a freesat+ box (which has more features than the sky box), then you will be able to record and it will cost you exactly £0 a month.

And apart from paying zero a month I cannot stress enough the satisfaction that is gained from telling sky where to stick their box !!!!

Just do it !!
Did not mean to talk him into anything honest . Just tried to explain his options, personally I would not give sky a penny. In any case even if he ditches sky and buys the excellent Foxsat-hdr there's no point in chucking away a perfectly good HD box with a quad lnb he can use both and get Channel 4 HD as a free bonus
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Old 10-01-2009, 14:54
PaulB67b
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Did not mean to talk him into anything honest . Just tried to explain his options, personally I would not give sky a penny. In any case even if he ditches sky and buys the excellent Foxsat-hdr there's no point in chucking away a perfectly good HD box with a quad lnb he can use both and get Channel 4 HD as a free bonus
Yep, i agree that would make the most sense.
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Old 10-01-2009, 15:51
hopeandfaith06
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Oh dear, graham appears to have talked you into keeping $ky and paying a monthly fee for what amounts to mostly rubbish.

Do yourself a favour, ditch sky, buy a freesat+ box (which has more features than the sky box), then you will be able to record and it will cost you exactly £0 a month.
Yes its £290 but it pays for itself in a few months with the money you save on subscriptions.

And apart from paying zero a month I cannot stress enough the satisfaction that is gained from telling sky where to stick their box !!!!

Just do it !!
N don't worry he hasn't talked me into anything

I went down to our local tv shop today and they explained it to me well. They told me the new Freesat + box comes out at the end of this month costs just under £300 and showed us the full range of channels we would get. So i think we will go ahead with that, it does sound quite good, and i do want the record side of it.

About the Sky box, does anyone know, can these be sold at all? I think my version is a Thomson or something (sorry i don't know much about them) as it would be nice to get a little money back from that as we had to pay quite a bit for that in the first place (bloody sky )
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Old 10-01-2009, 15:54
hopeandfaith06
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Did not mean to talk him into anything honest . Just tried to explain his options, personally I would not give sky a penny. In any case even if he ditches sky and buys the excellent Foxsat-hdr there's no point in chucking away a perfectly good HD box with a quad lnb he can use both and get Channel 4 HD as a free bonus
Actually i never thought of that, but that would mean having to have the extra box there and we already have that, and a dvd player, a PS3 and a Wii. There would be room mind its a big cabinet, but it may look crowded. But now you have said that i may actually consider doing that.

Thank you everyone for the help and ideas
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Old 10-01-2009, 16:54
grahamlthompson
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N don't worry he hasn't talked me into anything

I went down to our local tv shop today and they explained it to me well. They told me the new Freesat + box comes out at the end of this month costs just under £300 and showed us the full range of channels we would get. So i think we will go ahead with that, it does sound quite good, and i do want the record side of it.

About the Sky box, does anyone know, can these be sold at all? I think my version is a Thomson or something (sorry i don't know much about them) as it would be nice to get a little money back from that as we had to pay quite a bit for that in the first place (bloody sky )
The freesat+ box (Humax foxsat-hdr) was released November 20th last year (I got mine beginning January).


It's in short supply though, some report currys may have some but not on display so you have to go in and ask. If they have not got one ask them to check stock at other local branches. You should be able to sell your Sky HD box on fleabay if you wish as they are quite sort after as a cheap way to get into HD.

details here

http://www.humaxdigital.com/uk/produ..._foxsathdr.asp
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Old 10-01-2009, 16:58
hopeandfaith06
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The freesat+ box (Humax foxsat-hdr) was released November 20th last year (I got mine beginning January).


It's in short supply though, some report currys may have some but not on display so you have to go in and ask. If they have not got one ask them to check stock at other local branches. You should be able to sell your Sky HD box on fleabay if you wish as they are quite sort after as a cheap way to get into HD.

details here

http://www.humaxdigital.com/uk/produ..._foxsathdr.asp
Oh right thanks. Its just the guy in the shop told me they came out late january (unless he just meant that shop got them then of course) but then i looked in a magazine, and at the back was an advert for it and it said released 22nd January? So either i got mixed up, or its a new version, or the magazine is wrong
I might have got mixed up though, i didn't look long.
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Old 10-01-2009, 19:08
chris20
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i would go for freesat you will get all the channels that are free on sky on freesat between freesat and non freesat mode the pvr is way better then the sky+ and you can record radio i would leave sky.
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Old 10-01-2009, 19:17
hopeandfaith06
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I think the only channel i will sometimes really miss is Sky1, but i'm sure many of the programs will be on Sky3 in a year or two
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Old 10-01-2009, 19:25
ProDave
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I think the only channel i will sometimes really miss is Sky1, but i'm sure many of the programs will be on Sky3 in a year or two
So wanting Sky 3 swings it in favour of keeping your sky HD box then doesn't it, as sky 3 is FTV, so only available on a sky box with a freesat or subscription (or expired subscription) card.

Of course if you do just cancel, then come the middle of this year, you will probably have to stump up £20 for a new "freesat from sky" card, as all sky cards are likely to be replaced, but an expired subscription card won't be replaced for free.
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Old 10-01-2009, 19:37
hopeandfaith06
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So wanting Sky 3 swings it in favour of keeping your sky HD box then doesn't it, as sky 3 is FTV, so only available on a sky box with a freesat or subscription (or expired subscription) card.

Of course if you do just cancel, then come the middle of this year, you will probably have to stump up £20 for a new "freesat from sky" card, as all sky cards are likely to be replaced, but an expired subscription card won't be replaced for free.
Yes but Sky3 is on freeview which we have built into the tv, as well as on other tvs (unless its been removed )
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Old 10-01-2009, 20:10
grahamlthompson
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So wanting Sky 3 swings it in favour of keeping your sky HD box then doesn't it, as sky 3 is FTV, so only available on a sky box with a freesat or subscription (or expired subscription) card.

Of course if you do just cancel, then come the middle of this year, you will probably have to stump up £20 for a new "freesat from sky" card, as all sky cards are likely to be replaced, but an expired subscription card won't be replaced for free.
Doubt that Sky will get away with this they can't stop legitimate watching fta TV for free. The £20.00 is just to cover their costs in providing the card (they are not allowed to profit on the transaction). If they change the card and thousands lose channels they are entitled to watch then they will be in deep deep trouble with OFCOM.
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Old 10-01-2009, 21:36
ProDave
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Doubt that Sky will get away with this they can't stop legitimate watching fta TV for free. The £20.00 is just to cover their costs in providing the card (they are not allowed to profit on the transaction). If they change the card and thousands lose channels they are entitled to watch then they will be in deep deep trouble with OFCOM.
It will indeed be very very interesting indeed to see what happens.

It seems almost certain all sky cards will be updated this year, some say it will start in April. Obviously all subscribers cards will be replaced free of charge. Anyone who bought a "freesat from sky" package (including the digibox and installation) within 5 years will have their card replaced for free, and anyone who bought a stand alone freesat from sky card only within 3 years will have their card replaced free of charge.

Anyone outside that will not get a free replacement card.

It's only the FTV channels they will lose (sky three, setanta sports news, fiver and five US) the rest are FTA and will still be receivable.

Let's not forget a history lesson. About 6 years ago the BBC stopped issuing "free to view" cards, which by chance coincided with the last change of sky cards, and it was about 2 years before "freesat from sky" started. For those 2 years you simply could not get a card for just the free channels and when your old one stopped, you were stuffed. Then, channel 4 and five were still FTV so there was no way to get a card to watch those without a subscription.

At least this time round, if you really must have one of those FTV channels, you can buy a new freesat from sky card.
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Old 10-01-2009, 21:49
ProDave
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Yes but Sky3 is on freeview which we have built into the tv, as well as on other tvs (unless its been removed )
Of course no one knows what is going to happen to the sky channels on freeview.

There was initial talk a couple of years ago, when sky launched their plans for "picnic", their pay TV service on freeview, that if they were allowed, then there would be no free sky channels on freeview any more. thankfully that proposal has been at best scrapped, or at worst postponed pending the outcome of Ofcom's present pay tv review.

There's always the possibility that sky will have a hissy fit and pull them anyway if picnic if finally killed once and for all, and there's often speculation that Sky news will become a pay channel on satellite.
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Old 11-01-2009, 10:50
grahamlthompson
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It will indeed be very very interesting indeed to see what happens.


It's only the FTV channels they will lose (sky three, setanta sports news, fiver and five US) the rest are FTA and will still be receivable.


At least this time round, if you really must have one of those FTV channels, you can buy a new freesat from sky card.
And Ch4 HD for HD Sky box owners
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