Sat4Free/Freesat in Ireland

redout

How come there are certain companies selling freesat in Ireland. I thought that it is for the UK only. Is it legal to buy an installation from these companies. Does it really matter at the end of the day whether or not you do ?

Personally I think that it is a good thing, saves us the hassle of buying a box up the North or over in England. We get nearly all the channels in the first place except maybe five.

Opinions ....

Mossy Monk

redout wrote: »

Is it legal to buy an installation from these companies.

Don't see how it would be illegal.

Onikage

Are you sure they are selling Freesat equipment? Or just generic free-to-air satellite equipment.

redout

Thet are selling freesat boxes and installation.

http://www.freesat.ie/

Liam Byrne

Strange that the header of the site says "over 200 channels" while the text says "over 130 channels" ?

TheDriver

I think its a good idea overall and not illegal

patpark121

Yeah seen these in action. Few people i know cancelled their sky contracts & got this instead. Handy for your ITV's, BBC's & telly eire, but by jesus a lot of the channels are like the hallmark channel, true movies & the likes.. still for a once off €175 those folks weren't cribbing.

Fat_Fingers

Yes, for basic TV its perfect!

IrishHomer

Can anyone recommend a good Freesat PVR system as i am intending on ditching sky for this but i like to keep the recording features as the PVR has?

Mylow

IrishHomer wrote: »

Can anyone recommend a good Freesat PVR system as i am intending on ditching sky for this but i like to keep the recording features as the PVR has?

Not available 'yet'. Talks of PVR box by end of year.

muincav

redout wrote: »

Thet are selling freesat boxes and installation.

http://www.freesat.ie/

Dont know why anyone would want to fork out so much, when you can get the Freesat recievers so cheap in the North, including Bush HD for £99.99

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Browse/ID69/10199369/c_1/1|category_root|Home+entertainment+and+sat+nav|10199181/c_2/2|cat_10199181|Digital+boxes+and+services|10199362/c_3/3|cat_10199362|Freesat+digital+set+top+boxes|10199369.htm

Tony

Time and fuel I guess

muincav

Tony wrote: »

Time and fuel I guess

Yeah, I do agree, but 459euro is one hell of a mark up!
Think Im gonna have to fill the van up with the Freesat PVR when it arrives and sell the at a "non rip off" price....if the credit crunch dont get me first....:eek:

Tony

muincav wrote: »

Yeah, I do agree, but 459euro is one hell of a mark up!

Surely thats an installed price with dish etc?

redout

Time, transport costs and it is convenient. I was about to catch a train from connolly to Newry this week before I saw the Irish satellite stores advertising them. This will save me the hassle of wasting about 3hrs to get up up there buy it and return. Then you could add another hour onto that for time travelling to and from connolly to home.

I am just purchasing the box only not full installation.

muincav

Tony wrote: »

Surely thats an installed price with dish etc?

yep--but a big difference from £179 installed (£80 install+£99 reciever) for the Bush HD in North even with the fuel!
Goin to Armagh this week, will I get you a load Tony....lol
yes, I can see the $$$$$ signs now...lol

muincav

redout wrote: »

Time, transport costs and it is convenient. I was about to catch a train from connolly to Newry this week before I saw the Irish satellite stores advertising them. This will save me the hassle of wasting about 3hrs to get up up there buy it and return. Then you could add another hour onto that for time travelling to and from connolly to home.

There will be about half a million Dubs heading to Newry between now and Christmas, and I know you can convince one of them to bring you back a Freesat box...

redout

I could but I am rather impatient and want it now type. Anyway there is no need if they are selling them in Dublin. The thing which I do not get is that if they are not illegal to sell in Ireland then why is the likes of argos, currys and tesco's not selling them. Surely they would do good business.

Mac128

I found this on the detail page of freesat.ie.

* Please note that the above receiver is not the official freesat standard receiver but a free to air receiver pre-tuned with all the freesat channels in order.

Does this clarify things.

redout

NO. Freesat.ie do sell the official freesat receivers. Go and look again.

http://www.freesat.ie/index.php?cat=Freesat__Free_to_air_

Tony

Thanks but cant claim the Northern VAT back and would have to charge ROI vat at 21% . Dont fancy having to drive north if a box goes faulty

muincav wrote: »

I get you a load Tony....lol
yes, I can see the $$$$$ signs now...lol

Tony

Michael sells both free to air boxes and official freesat boxes

Mac128 wrote: »

I found this on the detail page of freesat.ie.

* Please note that the above receiver is not the official freesat standard receiver but a free to air receiver pre-tuned with all the freesat channels in order.

Does this clarify things.

The Cush

IrishHomer wrote: »

Can anyone recommend a good Freesat PVR system as i am intending on ditching sky for this but i like to keep the recording features as the PVR has?

The first Freesat PVR will be available from Nov, price expected to be in the region of £300.
It is the Humax Foxsat-HDR HD-PVR and the spec. looks impressive.

redout wrote: »

The thing which I do not get is that if they are not illegal to sell in Ireland then why is the likes of argos, currys and tesco's not selling them. Surely they would do good business.

I believe there are agreements between Freesat and the approved manufacturers and the large chain retailers like Argos, Currys etc. that the receivers will only be distributed and sold within the UK.

Zeppi

Last week was over in the uk. I went in 3 different shops, they all asked me for proof of address in the uk. These boxes are meant only for the uk, infact during the installation it will ask you to input the post code, what ever post code you enter it will work. I have done some shopping around on the web and I found much far better deals for HD receviers and you still watch all BBC's & ITV's HD channells. I learnt one thing I will never buy any electronic goods from Ireland anymore because we are being ripped off by he second.
This what I bought for less than £240....
TM-6900 HD COMBO Super © High Definition Satellite & High-Definition Terrestrial Receiver


Specification

2 High Definition Tuners: DVB-S/DVB-S2 Satellite & DVB-T Terrestrial Compliant (MPEG-2 / MPEG-4 / H.264)
576i & 576p, 720p & 1080i supported
1 Smart Card Reader & 2 Common Interfaces (2CI)
HDMI & Component Output (YPbPr) with Hardware Upscaler to Improve Picture Quality
Very Fast & Detailed Hardware Blind Search (power scan)
Ethernet Communication Port
eSATA Port
2x USB Ports (Front + Rear Ports)
PLL type RF-Modulator (Ch. 21- 69) and UHF tuning function
10,000 TV & Radio Channels
USB 2.0 PVR Ready via USB External Device
USB PVR Features: Rewind/Forward, Slow Motion Rewind/Forward, Timeshift (Pause Live TV) & Record Scrambled/Free-To-Air (FTA) Channels & Record current channel and playback a recording at the same time
Music player & JPEG viewer via USB 2.0
Fast Software & Channel List download via USB 2.0
2 Scart Outputs with RGB Support
Fully Featured VFD text Front Panel Display
Super Sensitive tuner for very weak signals
Dolby Digital Optical S/PDIF
Dolby Digital by HDMI
S-Video Output
Less than 1 second channel change
DiSEqC 1.0, 1.1, 1.2 & 1.3 (USALS) compatible
Auto Navigation system – select as many satellites as you want to search
On-screen display with true full color resolution
Enhanced 16 Favorite channel groups
Channel control by: Favorites, Lock, Skip, Move & Delete
Channel sort by: All, Alphabet, Transponder & CAS
Parental, Installation & Receiver Lock
Multilingual OSD Menu: English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Dutch, German, Italian, Turkish, Arabic, Russian, Greek, Czech, Romanian, Persian
Fast & Easy-To-Use Menu System
Extended EPG and program reservation on EPG
Teletext & Subtitle by OSD and VBI
Last channel memory function
Factory default channel list
Various games
Software & channel list upgrade via RS-232C: PC to STB, STB to PC, STB-STB and USB
Zoom function on Pause & Live channel
Multi picture display
Support for multiple language broadcasts
SCPC & MCPC receivable from C/Ku band satellites LNBs supported: Universal, Single, Single S & C band wideband LNBs
Multi TV Standards supported: PAL G, I, K, M
4:3 & 16:9 Screen Formats
90-250V AC 50/60 Hz
LNB Short Circuit protection onboard
Software & channel list upgrade via RS-232C: PC to STB, STB to PC, STB-STB and USB
Dimension 390mm x 262mm x 67mm
Available in Silver or Glossy Black
Options

macplaxton

Zeppi wrote: »

Last week was over in the uk. I went in 3 different shops, they all asked me for proof of address in the uk.

Shouldn't need proof of a UK address, just an address. They only ask for addresses for TV reception equipment so they can grass you up to TV Licencing.

fbradyirl

Sorry for the probably stupid question but Im a newbee when it comes to FreeSat!

I am moving into a house in Athlone this weekend and there is already a Sky satellite dish on the back wall. If I go up north and buy one of these FreeSat boxes like this one, will I be able to get those Freesat channels like BBC, UTV etc??

Is there anything else I need to check before buying?
Thank you.

redout

No that is it. Make sure that you have the lnb and the cable.

TheDriver

the lnb is the yoke on arm of the dish by the way! Head up and get yourself a box and all will be fine, providing the dish hasn't gotten hit out of alignment. You might want to borrow someones box to try on it first just to make sure its all working ok, skybox/fta box will all work

fbradyirl

TheDriver wrote: »

the lnb is the yoke on arm of the dish by the way! Head up and get yourself a box and all will be fine, providing the dish hasn't gotten hit out of alignment. You might want to borrow someones box to try on it first just to make sure its all working ok, skybox/fta box will all work

Not sure about the lnb, I'll have to double check that! I might get the box and give it a shot. Thanks a lot !

fbradyirl

fbradyirl wrote: »

Not sure about the lnb, I'll have to double check that! I might get the box and give it a shot. Thanks a lot !

Wait a minute! Just remembered that I have an old Sky Digibox I havent used in over a year I might plug that in and see if I get any free channels. Would save me buying a FreeSat box maybe? ::)

stevethesatguy

The Technomate 5200D PVR receiver comes preprogrammed for the UK freesat service, all the istings are grouped, only shortfall is no 7 day epg but you do get a PVR receiver that can do lots more beside

byte

fbradyirl wrote: »

Wait a minute! Just remembered that I have an old Sky Digibox I havent used in over a year I might plug that in and see if I get any free channels. Would save me buying a FreeSat box maybe? ::)

Yeah, assuming everything is OK, it'll work too.

IrishHomer

I just noticed Powercity are now selling a HD freesat receiver at a very good price too!

http://www.powercity.ie/?par=10-23-989289

redout

IrishHomer wrote: »

I just noticed Powercity are now selling a HD freesat receiver at a very good price too!

http://www.powercity.ie/?par=10-23-989289

That SD Freesat box at €90 is much cheaper than the satellite stores in Dublin that are knocking them out for €130. Fairplay to Powercity, competition is what we need.

Tony

These are not official Freesat boxes

TheDriver

Some of those shops are taking the p**s indeed and fair play to powercity, hope more follow here.

IrishHomer

Tony wrote: »

These are not official Freesat boxes

On th ead it states www.freesat.co.uk:

GRUNDIG
HD SAT4FREE RECEIVER

Model: GUSAT02HDEX

PRICE:
€ 229.95

GRUNDIG HIGH DEFINITION(HD)BOX.
LOOK AT HD BBC AND HD ITV.
NEW SIMPLE TO USE PROGRAMME GUIDE.
LOTS OF TV AND RADIO CHANNELS .
HIGH DEFINITION SATELLITE TV.
NO MONTHLY BILLS.
FOR MORE INFORMATION LOOK UP.
WWW.FREESAT.CO.UK.
INSTALLATION SERVICE AVAILABLE .
FOR EXTRA €170 (INCLUDING DISH & LNB).

Tony

So what? Its a link to the website. I repeat these are not official freesat boxes they are a free to air box which can receive Free to air channels including freesat channels.

IrishHomer wrote: »

On th ead it states www.freesat.co.uk:

[

TheDriver

Thought it was the proper freesat box? Must have read it wrong, sorry Tony.

Fat_Fingers

Tony is right, they are not official freesat boxes so therefore no 7 day EPG and no auto update when channels move frequencies.. If you go to freesat web page then click on products and you will see what the official boxes are.

Tony

TheDriver wrote: »

Thought it was the proper freesat box? Must have read it wrong, sorry Tony.

No problem, in fairness its a littlle misleading of them to put the link in there without saying what its for IE channel listings. Looks like these units are made by grundig who have a freesat production licience so theres a possibility that it has the seven day epg and this is a "back door" method to sell boxes outside the UK. Not sure channel update will also work. Has anyone bought one that can check this?

Zonda999

Very interested in this since i've seen you can free HD content..The official freesat HD boxes are here , on the official freesat uk website.They really are'nt that dear either, for the actual official ones, that is.Have a look on ebay here.It says here, as well that that particular humax box has an mpeg4 tuner built in so it'll work when rte launch their own digital service.

BeerNut

Zonda999 wrote: »

It says here, as well that that particular humax box has an mpeg4 tuner built in so it'll work when rte launch their own digital service.

It would need a DVB-T tuner for that.

carbsy

What's all the fuss about? Can't any old disconnected Sky receiver get most of these channels FTA anyhow? Complete with EPG. Am I missing something?

freesat

Yes tony is correct, these are not the offical freesat receivers, hence the name 'sat4free' and not 'freesat'.

yes a sky receiver has the 7 day EPG but they are not very practical as a freesat or free to air receiver as their channel list mostly have pay-per-view channels which is annoying to the user.

redout

Another advantage is that freesat also will give you Channel Five very shortly and RTE International before Paddys day. So thats two channels that you will not get on Sky in Ireland.

carbsy

Ah thanks for the response.Nothing for me here then.

mumhaabu

A friend of mine got a FTA system in recently after asking my advice, he got:

The LIDL kit which is a good Comag/Silvercrest receiver €79.99
Raven 60cms Sky dish €38 from eBay
Installation €120 to align the dish and run the cable and hook everything up

Total: €237.99 for the FTA System, I didn't like the Lidl dish as it seems flimsy and not up to the job as the Sky dish are ubiquitous and standard plus if he decides to go for Sky down the road he need only swap out the FTA box for a Sky receiver.

Was what I advised my mate to do a good or a bad idea? be honest! He is happy with it all the same.

Kensington

Tony wrote: »

so theres a possibility that it has the seven day epg and this is a "back door" method to sell boxes outside the UK. Not sure channel update will also work. Has anyone bought one that can check this?

Will have a fiddle around with them in work tomorrow and let you know if it's a 7 day EPG and if it auto updates

Tony

Thanks but you will not be able to check the auto update unless a channel changes transmission parameters like freq etc. The 7 day will be a start though

Kensington wrote: »

Will have a fiddle around with them in work tomorrow and let you know if it's a 7 day EPG and if it auto updates

byte

The box on Powercity site looks near identical to their Freesat variant, though model number is wrong with GUSAT02HD, versus GUFSAT01HD for Freesat (the extra F presumably to indicate Freesat). Seems to be lacking Freesat logo on the Powercity image (seems to say Digital HD as opposed to Freesat HD)

Kensington, I'd be curious to know if Freesat llogo is anywhere on the STB, or on the menu. Pics an added bonus