I am facing a small dilemma - as the last tendrils of winter recede, we as a family move back out of the huddle around the open fire and start to use the 'garden room' again. For the last 2 years we've used a Philips video sender to stream the contents of the Sky+ box out to the TV there, but towards the end of last year a number of neighbours had upgraded to high-power wireless routers that render the picture unwatchable for large periods. I am not too keen on wired solutions (no cat5 cabling in the house and I've had previous problems the magic eye system - RF 2 is now inoperative on our Sky+ box).

The dilemma is which flavour of satellite receiver to install. Money wise, the numbers seem to stack up as follows:

Foxsat HDR
£293.59 + £107.96 installation (figures from Argos catalogue)
Total upfront cost: £401.55
Ongoing costs: £nil

Sky+ HD
£49.00 + free install
Upfront cost: £nil
Ongoing costs: £9.75 HD sub + £9.75 multiroom sub per month

My limited maths has worked out that the money equivalence point is around 18 months in. At that point, Sky+ HD becomes more expensive, however, given the lack of HD content we would probably drop the HD sub at the first opportunity, making the equivalence point around 2 years in.

So here are the questions that are the crux of the dilemma:

1. Does the Foxsat machine justify the outlay - we're used to the Sky+ system.

2. When the HD sub is dropped, would I keep the main ones - BBC HD, Ch4HD, ITVHD etc?

3. How picky are Sky about the phone line? There is no easy way to get a phone line from where the main socket is located to the where the box would go (diagonal opposite side of the house, minimum of 2 doorways then a tiled floor, total run approx 45m) - I can run an extension to it for the setup, but after the box is working it would never again be plugged in.

4. Do Sky still do a 'Freesat from Sky' card to convert a box into effectively a Freesat box?

5. Now for the futurologist question - will there be a better system out in 2 years time (I was one of the few who bought an OnDigital box) as our Sky+ box is a Pace PVR2 so doing well to be running now, let alone in 2 years time.

6. How to find a good satellite engineer (Shropshire area) who could charge less than £107 for what amounts to a simple cable run from an existing dish that already has a 4 output LNB.

I look forward to your replies.

I don't think you can go for an HD pack without at least one main pack, which costs £16.50 pm for one.

So I work it out as £364 for the first year (without multiroom, and with would be £481, so still more expensive than Freesat). Assuming the contract is a minimum of 1 year...

Is this right, everyone?

Plus if you cancel, isnt there still a £10 sub to use the PVR with Sky?

Freesat is miles better if you arent too fussed about whats on Sky.

You dont get ITV HD with Sky but you should keep C4 and BBC HD. Hopefully C4 HD will come to freesat this year and we will get all of them for free.

A few answers.

If you have Sky+ there is a good chance that you will already have a quad LNB (although it may only be a dual). If it's a quad, you have overestimated the HDR installation cost as you will only need to run the cables.

When you drop the Sky HD sub, you will retain BBC HD but lose Channel 4 HD unless it is available FTA in a years time (which is possible). You won't, however, have ITV HD at all unless it joins the Sky EPG. It is presently only available on freesat.

A permanently connected phone line is required for Sky multiroom. It is used to ensure that the multiroom subscription is not used to equip Sky in multiple premises.

A Sky card with an expired subscription is effectively a FSFS card, so you just continue to use your old card to get FSFS.

As to whether the HDR justifies its outlay, that's very much a matter of personal opinion. It does for me, easily.

As you say you have a quad LNB there is no reason that an 'install' should cost anywhere near £107. It's an easy job to do yourself.

As a slightly oblique solution to your original problem, why not just replace your Video Sender/Receiver with a 5.8GHz version, that are not affected by 2.4GHz wireless networks?

Like here http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=222672

They also have a "magic eye" type facility to control the box using the remote, as long as your box uses IR, not IRDA.

Of course, this doesn't give you HD, and if that is what you are really after, go down one of the other routes.

Just something else for you to consider.

Rgds.


Les.

She who must be obeyed likes the idea - do you use one of these? We've currently got a Philips 5400 system which was good until the wireless networks became prevalent. I'd love to hear from someone who actually uses a system to see if it lives up to the description in a real world setting.


Very true - except that we'll keep at least one Sky sub with the current Sky+ setup - this is an additional box not an alternate - I watch too much from the satellite only channels to drop Sky altogether.


I pulled the figure from the Argos catalogue - they don't seem to cater for a more simple install, just more complex ones. I'd give it a try but I don't have any more sophisticated a signal test than the actual box, so if I knocked the dish out of alignment I'd have to call an engineer as well as face the wrath of the rest of the family.

A sky box is more than adequate to line up a dish. The cheap meters will only give a rough lock on to the signal.

I'm afraid not, I'm fortunate enough that my wireless LAN is well away from my STB's, so no interference; hence I've still got the 2.4GHz versions.

Maybe someone will pop up who does use them.

Rgds.


Les.

Thought it was worth asking. I've had a look at the specs of the sender and it will not transmit the remote signal back to the box (from the Maplin FAQ section). Seeing as we use the 'garden room' (sounds so much better than the lean-to near the shed) as a lounge during the summer a working remote is highly desirable. Only anecdotal evidence, but it seems that the newer BT Homehub is the source of all the angst - only when the near neighbours got these did the interference go up markedly.


Hadn't thought of that angle to the phone-line. Its been a while since we were in that section of the contract.

Thank you all for the replies - no one has come back with any 'Humax ruined my life, I wish I had Sky' stories, so it looks like Humax it will be. JL deal looks good with the extra warranty - I'll see what my local retailer can do.

I would be wary about HD content on Freesat though. We just have BBC HD (approx 7 hours) and approaching 4/5 hours a week with ITV HD. This is no way going to match Sky HD's offering with the £10 sub...

But if you currently mainly watch the FTA SD channels on Sky, then Freesat is perfect for you...

C4HD is available FTA with a sky HD box. Unless I'm much mistaken

It's FTV, so you don't need a subscription, just a FSFS or expired subscription card.

You also get Luxe HD on a Sky box, but not on Freesat.

Luxe HD is available on the humax freesat box.

But NOT on Freesat - which is what I said.

But it did sound misleading, as if you could not receive Luxe HD with a freesat box, which you can.

Not that Luxe TV is worth watching though. Its only marginally better than Sky 1 from what i remember !!

Yes that is correct. I have a $ky HD + box in my system simply for CH4 HD, which is a pain.

I wonder how many $ky subscribers have a box in their system just for ITV HD.

They are not missing much - apart from some of the FA Cup matches...

Whereas Freesat viewers are missing upscaled Hollyoaks totties in their full glory

And tonights champions league game + the other champions league games that are being shown.

Thank you for all the ideas and advice. In the end I ordered a Foxsat HDR from John Lewis - liked the extended warranty and I don't use t'internet enough for purchases to want a Quidco or similar account (did use a cash back credit card though ) Ordered after 6pm Tuesday, was told could only have std delivery (wanted it Thurs as was in anyway for an alarm upgrade) and they delivered it on Thursday as part of the standard package. They missed a trick there as I tried to pay for that to happen.

Installed yesterday - I love the HD picture and the record option that highlights if a programme is available in HD as well, even if it is on in a different time slot.

The main choice for me came down to subscription and the phoneline requirement. There is no phone point anywhere near the TV location and having gone to great pains to disguise and hide all the other leads, having a cheap phone extension bolted onto the skirting board for over half the length of the house - not good with the two little ones in the 'I'm curious to see where this cable goes to' phase. Subscription wise, just couldn't justify the cost over more than 2 years, and that if I turned it into a FSFS box I'd still have to pay to keep the record feature working. I've read elsewhere on the forum people likening the Sky model, where you keep paying, to a car; once you've bought it you still have to put petrol in - fine, but the 'petrol' for any satellite box is called electricity and we all get that from another source. I think the car analogy works best if you imagine the Sky model as charging you rent for the immobiliser key - stop paying the rent and you lose the immobiliser leaving you still with a car, just one that doesn't do what it was bought for.

I know a lot of people argue that Freesat is not in competition with Sky, and to an extent I agree as they provide different services. However, as ever with the universal law of unintended consequences, I am not a Sky HD customer because Freesat exists, thus that is competition. Sky have had a monopoly for too long and as such their pricing structure was only just on the wrong side of my decision line - no HD sub or no multiroom sub and I would have gone with Sky HD instead.

I'm off to watch some more HD (if the little ones allow)
Last edited by Harassed Dad : 28-02-2009 at 10:48

Thanks for letting us know what you decided. I'm glad you like the box and I hope you are pleased with your decision. It couldn't have been easy for you but, from what you've said, I think you will be. What did you do for the install?

Used a local supplier, less than half the price of the Argos route. He also re-aligned the dish as it has been up to 2 years and came up with a better routing for the cables than I had thought of.

Only had the Foxsat for a weekend but does everything I hoped and more.