Downgrade from sky to freest or freeview

[yottie]

This is so topical for me, I was about to post re using Freeview or Freesat.
We are about to go digital and I've been offered the option of a Freesat box and dish for £60 (under the Help Scheme) At the moment I have an old aeriel
which picks up some Freeview chans, this will most likely need renewing but, as we are in a bad signal area I was waiting to see what we'd get after switch-over. I have the freebie sky dish with a recorder also a Humax recorder (I can record both Sky and Freeview) The £60 package seems to me to be the best option (with either the present dish or a new dish free)
The trouble is I'm giving up the recording facility and my beloved Quest and Yesterday. If I use the sky dish for freesat can I still use it for sky (free).
Grateful for any advice.

 

[Sam Gangee]

If I use the sky dish for freesat can I still use it for sky (free).

Yes but you haven't stated how many outputs your LNB has. You'll need enough to feed all your satellite tuner inputs. If your LNB has only a single output, you'll have to change it for a quad-output type.

If you already Have a Sky+ Digibox then you probably already have a quad-output LNB with two cables to the Sky+ Digibox. You'll have to add another cable (or two for a PVR) to your Freesat box.

 

[frankman]

My vote is for a Humax Freesat HDR using your existing Sky cables. It's a great product. Sure it's like £200.. But you pay it once...

I'd second this, or the Samsung Freesat box. The Humax has both BBC and ITV iPlayer while Samsung only has BBC iPlayer at the moment.

I don't have a Sky box but am told that they list all the channels in their guide even if you're just using it for the free channels, and you're unable to hide the unused ones. Maybe someone else can confirm.

 

[Sam Gangee]

I don't have a Sky box but am told that they list all the channels in their guide even if you're just using it for the free channels, and you're unable to hide the unused ones. Maybe someone else can confirm.

That's correct, although it has a limited "Favourite Channels" function that can be used to alleviate this situation.

 

[yottie]

Thanks to all posters. I still have a Sky (free) box and recorder in the main room, along with a Freeview input and Humax recorder, both will remain as before.
The existing other free sky dish I was referring to is in a bedroom, this was the one I was thinking of using for Freesat, to make life simple I was thinking of dispensing with sky in the bedroom and trying out Freesat there instead, I didn't realise I could use the sky dish for this. Do I just need a new LNB and no extra box for Freesat ?
Sorry if this is a little garbled.

 

[Sam Gangee]

The existing other free sky dish I was referring to is in a bedroom

This dish won't receive a signal at all unless it's pointing directly at the satellite through thin glass.

 

[yottie]

Sorry I didn't mean the actual dish was in a bedroom, just the sky box .
Have discovered all I need to do was substitute the sky box for a Freesat box, this I've done (Argos £29.99)...works well.

 

[Alarm]

Freesat and Freeview here.
Generally on Sat all the time.
Sod paying sky, and a good game is always better down the pub anyway

 

[yottie]

So I left the Bush BFSAT02SD on for about 4 hours unattended to "burn in" and it seemed to have gone into stand-by when I looked after this time (box on, TV blue screen, no pic or sound) is this normal please ?

 

[Sam Gangee]

Yes, that's normal if that's the way you've set it.
Menu. 2 Settings. Auto Standby. Enabled/Disabled.

It will even put a message on screen to warn you that it will go to standby unless you press a button. Energy-saving trick.

 

[yottie]

Thank Sam, have just managed to navigate to that part of the menu. The factory setting is for enable standby, I've sorted it now. The Sky box is the same but I couldn't find the menu bit that governed it on this box !

I'm pleased with the box, if not the Instruction Manual, although it's all pretty straight-forward I suppose once you've got used to it. Thought I might scour the web for interesting FTA chans.

 

[Sam Gangee]

I'm glad you got it sorted. If you'd care to post a more exact description of how to reach the menu option, it would help others. (I simply copied it from another forum - I'm not really that clever but I know how to search!)

 

[yottie]

OK, The factory default settings include Auto Standby...enabled, and the colour needs amending to match TV (RGB ?), MENU SETTINGS AUTO STANDBY.....disabled
Colour setting in same way, to match TV...... ps which "other forum" Sam ?

 

[Sam Gangee]

I don't recall. I simply searched for the make and model number plus "standby" I think.

This discussion appeared but so did another forum with the answer.

(By "a more exact description" I really meant the sequence of button presses to get to the Auto Standby selection.)

 

[SimonH2]

At the moment I have an old aeriel which picks up some Freeview chans, this will most likely need renewing but, as we are in a bad signal area I was waiting to see what we'd get after switch-over.

Try Wolfbane's predictor :
http://www.wolfbane.com/cgi-bin/tvd.exe

It should give you a good idea of what sort of signal you can get - though obviously if you are one of those not yet switched it will be subject to change. If in doubt, getting a decent aerial can work wonders - we get a weak signal but a good aerial has meant I needed to use an attenuator on one digibox ! Within reason it's easier to throw signal away than it is to try and deal with too little.

If getting a "pro" installer in, don't let them fob you off with a cheap crappy wideband "contract" aerial. Also, a new cable may well be in order - they do degrade (especially if badly installed so they chafe away) and a poor cable will cause all sorts of grief.