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Author Topic: Free Sat  (Read 4868 times)

chrissie

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Free Sat
« on: January 27, 2009, 11:27:35 AM »

I know very little about Free Sat but was wondering because one can get HD progs on it, is it compatible with having SKY which I've got installed already?  The new TV is a Panasonic Viera HD ready set about 5 months old now and it has integrated freeview.  So I was wondering if it's advantageous to buy a free sat box (IF I could work out how to connect it...  :o) and use it alongside Sky and freeview, would any of those interfere with each other?

Would be interested to know more and wondered what other Kitizens thought of it?

Chrissie

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UncleUB

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Re: Free Sat
« Reply #1 on: January 27, 2009, 12:45:46 PM »

Have a look here Chrissie.


http://www.freesat.co.uk/
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roseway

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Re: Free Sat
« Reply #2 on: January 27, 2009, 12:51:15 PM »

If you've already got a working Sky system then you've already got all the Freesat channels, but you very probably need a different box to get them in HD.
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UncleUB

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Re: Free Sat
« Reply #3 on: January 27, 2009, 12:55:14 PM »

If I'm correct you need the Sky HD box for HD channels,but then you have to pay a monthly subscription to receive them.
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chrissie

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Re: Free Sat
« Reply #4 on: January 27, 2009, 05:17:22 PM »

Hi all,

Thanks for your replies.  The only reason I was thinking of getting the free sat is because it's a one off payment for the HD channels even tho there aren't many on at the moment.  With SKY you have to have as you say, a special HD box, we already have sky plus and want to stay with that, plus of course there's more to pay out each month if you have their HD box.  Was wondering if the free sat box would mess with sky et al as I'm a dimbo when it comes to techno stuff.  :-[
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sevenlayermuddle

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Re: Free Sat
« Reply #5 on: January 27, 2009, 05:44:50 PM »

Chrissie,

As you probably know, the Sky and Freesat satellites are rumoured to be close enough to one another that you can use the same dish without any reallignment.

A colleague of mine claims to have achieved seamless co-existence of Sky and Freesat simply by virtue of the fact that he had a spare downlead cable from an existing Sky dish which he was able to connect to a Freesat decoder.  He tells me that some Sky installations will have spare leads and some won't, it all depends on how it was installed.  As far as I know, he just had to buy the Freesat box and plug it in.   Unfortunately I don't have either Sky or Freesat hence I can't put any of it to the test for you, and I'll deny all responsibility if my colleague turns out to be misleading me, though he's normally trustworthy  :)

If you want HD, you'll need to connect the Freesat to your TV using an HDMI cable, so you'd need to make sure your TV has an unused HDMI connector to plug it into.    I'd be surprised if that was a problem with a newish Panasonic, but you'd want to check.  You can spend a lot of money on HDMI cables, though I've always bought the cheapest ones I could find and had no regrets. 

Also, I assume you've noticed that some support HD and some don't.  Obviously you pay more for the HD boxes.

- SLM
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chrissie

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Re: Free Sat
« Reply #6 on: January 28, 2009, 08:29:14 AM »

Hi SLM

Thanks for your help there.  I think some of the free sat boxes come with an HDMI cable from what I've seen.  I guess if I want to get one of the boxes I'd have to have advice from the sellers as to how to connect etc etc....it might just be too much trouble especially as I already have SKY plus and freeview.   I thought it might be a simple thing by just adding a new box (like you would with a vcr or dvd player).... guess I'm being greedy wanting HD as well as everything else... AND without paying a monthly or payg fee for it lol.

Chrissie
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robinsteele

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Re: Free Sat
« Reply #7 on: January 28, 2009, 12:52:36 PM »

Freesat broadcasts from same satellite as sky.All you need is a freesat box and a quad LNB and cable and a couple of connectors.Your sky plus will have 2 feeds,so you need either 1 or 2 more feeds for freesat(dependant if your freesat box is a pvr).So basically,you remove the LNB off the dish,replace with a quad LNB(which gives 4 outputs)2 are for sky and 2 are for freesat.
This guy sells the LNB c/w f connectors for £12  http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190268270368&cguid=1562b69c11f0a0e203e4f664ff46b466

The only problems i foresee is if you live in a tower block,but if you dont and the dish is like 10 ft off the ground you could easy do it.Or if someome is supplying the lnb and cable and labour for say £50,get them to do it
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