Sat4Free/Freesat in Ireland

The_Conductor

TheDriver wrote: »

my neighbour got sky+ in converting from sky and they only put a dual lnb onto the bracket

You're future proofing by putting a quad LNB on it- plus with the price differential so low, it doesn't really make sense to cut corners......

lafors

smccarrick wrote: »

You're future proofing by putting a quad LNB on it- plus with the price differential so low, it doesn't really make sense to cut corners......

Would a quad/octo lnb reduce signal quality at all?

The_Conductor

lafors wrote: »

Would a quad/octo lnb reduce signal quality at all?

No. Its identical to a single or double LNB.

Tony

smccarrick wrote: »

No. Its identical to a single or double LNB.

I must disagree, by their very nature a quad or Octo cannot give the same signal and quality level as a single. Having said that if you use good quality cable and runs are not excessive it should be ok.

Puteq

Tony wrote: »

If you have sky + or HD then you should already have the quad lnb and you just need to run the cable. Save yourself some money and install it yourself

Hmm, I am moving into a new house (which currently has no dish or sky at all) so i will be getting sky+ anyway. i have no idea what 'quad lnb' is but from your comment above it seems i will have it anyway once sky+ is installed. i wouldnt have a clue how to run the cable myself tho but i'm sure i'd figure it out, so really if i have sky+ all i need is the box and some cable, i wouldnt even need a second dish?

thanks for the info :-)

Tony

My pleasure, for a fee you can probably get the sky installer to run another cable for you at the same time.

lafors

Tony wrote: »

I must disagree, by their very nature a quad or Octo cannot give the same signal and quality level as a single. Having said that if you use good quality cable and runs are not excessive it should be ok.

What would you consider as an excessive length/run of cable?
How much would good quality cable cost (sold per metre I presume)?

Tony

lafors wrote: »

What would you consider as an excessive length/run of cable?
How much would good quality cable cost (sold per metre I presume)?

No real hard and fast rules on this as factors such as dish size and to a lesser extent noise figure on lnb come into play. With cheap Rg6 cable for example I'd recommend no more than 20 metres whereas I have run up to 80m using Tx100. An octo lnb on a 60cm dish really needs short runs of tx100 anything more and a dish size increase is needed to give the needed "rain fade" margin. Good quality cable does not cost much more than inferior cable.

The Cush

From Broadband TV News website today

Irish freesat shuts website
By Julian Clover | November 7, 2008 | 11:42 UK

Sat4Free, the satellite marketing concept developed by Irish Power Products in association with British consumer electronics distributor Alba, has shut down its website just a week after its launch claiming “routine maintenance”.

Although it had no direct connection with any broadcaster, the Irish-based service was able to take advantage of the significant number of free-to-air channels available in the republic, basing itself on the UK’s Freesat. Rights restrictions mean that Irish broadcasters such as RTE and TV3 have to encrypt their satellite signals. Nevertheless Sat4Free was able to draw on channels including BBC One, ITV1, Channel 4 and Film 4.

The Grundig-badged receivers were available for €299 or €399 for an HD version capable of receiving BBC HD and ITV HD. Distribution had been secured through Tesco, Atlantic Homecare, Woodies DIY and Powercity.

A spokeswoman for Freesat said it was aware of Sat4Free, but did not want to make any comment.

The_Conductor

The Cush wrote: »

From Broadband TV News website today

I was talking to an engineer at Alba yesterday who has said the website will be up again "soon" but didn't want to say why it was down. I rang them originally regarding the malfunctioning LNB out socket on the decoder.....

666bxg

Tony wrote: »

They are talking nonsense, it can be used in a house that already has sky. If you have one standard sky box you need a quad lnb for sky minidish and you run a good quality cable from the dish to the sat box location. If you have sky + or HD then you should already have the quad lnb and you just need to run the cable. Save yourself some money and install it yourself

I have the above setup (Sky HD with qud LNB). I will be able to hook up the sat cable and run on the outside it to the other room for the Freesat.... BUT that is all that I'm confident of doing!!

Can anyone help me with the drilling through my kitchen wall? I only have a basic drill set, so would need the drill bits and probably a stronger drill too.... I've never seen this before and wouldn't be comfortable undertaking this job

By the way I'm in North Dublin

Thanks in advance

redout

Best bet is to either call a pro satellite installer or better if one of your friends is a tradesman ask them to do it.

leex

Saw Grundig boxes in DID Galway. IIRC it was 109 for SD and 219 for HD box.

Bansheewails

So after reading the many, many posts on here, about freesat, have i got the following right?

I have sky+, so i can run a second cable from there to another room, stick in a freesat box i can buy in Derry for £44.99, and receive all free to view sat channels, without having to pay those rip off artists from sky, €14.oo a month!!:D

I love living in donegal, a quick nip over the border and life is half price!

redout

If you have sky+ plus then you have a quad lnb with two cables running from it. That means you should have two free connections on the lnb so just run a cable from one of them to your freesat box and off you go.

Bansheewails

thanks fo your help. freesat here i come!

Antrim_Man

Newstalk on the Right Hook had someone on talking about Sat4Free, saying its in Woodies, Tesco etc for €399 for the HD box supplied and fitted. Anybody have this?

Bansheewails

Well I went to argos, in Derry, bought a freesat box for £44.95, the hubby wired in an extra line from the sky plus box and now the kids have freesat!!

Thanks for your help in here people, and GO NORTH, for your boxes!!!

p.s. used a post code from the DAILY MIRROR, worked just fine!

The_Conductor

Bansheewails wrote: »

Well I went to argos, in Derry, bought a freesat box for £44.95, the hubby wired in an extra line from the sky plus box and now the kids have freesat!!

Thanks for your help in here people, and GO NORTH, for your boxes!!!

p.s. used a post code from the DAILY MIRROR, worked just fine!

Did you get any hassle in Argos? Argos in Belfast insisted they were only able to sell a decoder on production of a current television license- when I pointed out that I didn't own a TV set in the UK- they put a default code for Swansea into their registration system for me....... Strange.......

Bansheewails

smccarrick wrote: »

Did you get any hassle in Argos? Argos in Belfast insisted they were only able to sell a decoder on production of a current television license- when I pointed out that I didn't own a TV set in the UK- they put a default code for Swansea into their registration system for me....... Strange.......

They only need the post code for tv license crowd, they took the post code no problems.

Kotek Besar

I bought a Freesat HD box in Argos in Belfast recently, cost £149.99. No need for post code if you tell them you live South of the border.

Goodmans Sat4Free HD boxes for sale in Tesco in Waterford for €399 inc voucher for install.

cgarvey

Antrim_Man wrote: »

Newstalk on the Right Hook had someone on talking about Sat4Free, saying its in Woodies, Tesco etc for €399 for the HD box supplied and fitted. Anybody have this?

Caught the tail end of that guy who went on to first say he wasn't away of any Lidl Sat system, and then he suddenly knew what was being talked about. The only difference he offered between Sat4Free and Lidl system was the "Electric (sic) Programme Guide"

Tony

Was it this guy by any chance?
From newstalk website
"Technology guru Joe Drumgoole joins George every Monday at 18.30 to road test all the latest products and look at the week's biggest tech stories."

cgarvey wrote: »

Caught the tail end of that guy who went on to first say he wasn't away of any Lidl Sat system, and then he suddenly knew what was being talked about. The only difference he offered between Sat4Free and Lidl system was the "Electric (sic) Programme Guide"

Tom

Just did a full scan on my Grundig sat4Free box and sure enough Channel 4 is now on 104 and Five on 105.

The Cush

Tom wrote: »

Just did a full scan on my Grundig sat4Free box and sure enough Channel 4 is now on 104 and Five on 105.

Channel 4 & +1 NI appeared on the freesat EPG 104 & 121 on the 13 Oct.

Trevord

smccarrick wrote: »

Did you get any hassle in Argos? Argos in Belfast insisted they were only able to sell a decoder on production of a current television license- when I pointed out that I didn't own a TV set in the UK- they put a default code for Swansea into their registration system for me....... Strange.......

I bought a Grundig box in Argos in London (Holborn) a couple of weeks ago. Told them I was from Ireland and after much discussion they told me to try to pay by credit card using this machine in the middle of the shop which people normally use to pay for things that they have reserved on line.

Fortunately I had reserved it on line and I entered the reservation number. When paying the machine asked me for the post code. I just put in REP IRL which it rejected. Did this a second time and it reported an error again but then defaulted to allow payment.

The ticket with the order number had a message which said "Notice to Staff: Fill in TV notification form" So I just gave them my Irish address on paper.

Probaly easier to have some random postcode in mind if doing this in future- unless they look for proof of address.

Zaphod

Has anyone seen the Sat4Free displays in Atlantic Homecare or Woodies? Are they just the empty boxes and leaflets like in Tesco, or do they have a working box with a TV on display like Powercity?

The_Conductor

Zaphod wrote: »

Has anyone seen the Sat4Free displays in Atlantic Homecare or Woodies? Are they just the empty boxes and leaflets like in Tesco, or do they have a working box with a TV on display like Powercity?

Full boxes in a display at the Customer Service desk- along with leaflets. No working box. Location: Woodies Lucan.

Tony

All just boxes as far as i have seen.

Zaphod wrote: »

Has anyone seen the Sat4Free displays in Atlantic Homecare or Woodies? Are they just the empty boxes and leaflets like in Tesco, or do they have a working box with a TV on display like Powercity?

666bxg

Just to share my experience getting the freesat box from Argos in Edgware Street, London yesterday:

As expected they asked for my name as postcode. I gave a friends address that HAS a current TV licence and everything went ok. At least my consience is clear that I'm not giving a false or random address....

Just my 2 cents

L1011

Trevord wrote: »

Probaly easier to have some random postcode in mind if doing this in future- unless they look for proof of address.

BT7 1EB - UTV HQ.

The_Conductor

MYOB wrote: »

BT7 1EB - UTV HQ.

Put in a London code rather than a NI code- and get ITV HD without having to add it as an extra channel......?

redout

But sometimes itv 1 and UTV differ as regards what is on. Same happens with different BBC regions also.

Kotek Besar

smccarrick wrote: »

Put in a London code rather than a NI code- and get ITV HD without having to add it as an extra channel......?

Ah definitely. But I think MYOB was meaning give that post code to the Argos lads.

On that, I just told them in Argos that I lived in Ireland, simple as.

lafors

Was just up in the new Tesco in Maynooth.
They had the Goodmans Sat4Free there (SD & HD versions), in its box, no display version. Also there was no pricing on the shelves.
There is a 25% off all AV goods this Thurs-Sun in Tesco, I presume this will be included as its AV equipment.

Might be worth picking one up, I am still waiting for the Humax-HD PVR, which I'll hopefully get my hands on after Chrimbo.

Zaphod

cgarvey wrote: »

Caught the tail end of that guy who went on to first say he wasn't away of any Lidl Sat system, and then he suddenly knew what was being talked about. The only difference he offered between Sat4Free and Lidl system was the "Electric (sic) Programme Guide"

Podcast:
http://83.138.170.50/podcasts/audio/1711tech.mp3

Kotek Besar

Zaphod wrote: »

Podcast:
http://83.138.170.50/podcasts/audio/1711tech.mp3

Funny how the English guy was giving out about Vodafone charging more for some mobile in Ireland than they do in the UK, while raving how good the Sat4free box is, at €299!

The_Conductor

benifa wrote: »

Funny how the English guy was giving out about Vodafone charging more for some mobile in Ireland than they do in the UK, while raving how good the Sat4free box is, at €299!

That is including the install remember- you can always pop into Powercity and buy the box without an install if you so choose- its EUR79.99 for the SD box, or 189.99 for the HD box.......

This compares with £49.99 for the same SD box in Argos Belfast, or £129.99 for the HD box......

?

Kotek Besar

That's true, but that's a bloody expensive install, don't you think?

Also, with the pound the way is, £49.99 is less than €60! For a non-NI hard coded box as well..

I know which I'd prefer.

The_Conductor

benifa wrote: »

That's true, but that's a bloody expensive install, don't you think?

Also, with the pound the way is, £49.99 is less than €60! For a non-NI hard coded box as well..

I know which I'd prefer.

In all fairness- you have to factor the cost of getting to Belfast into the equation (but then again- you can buy loads of other stuff up there at ridiculously cheap prices to offset travel/transport costs.......)

corazon

Don't forget Argos give you a £5 gift card when you spend £50 and a £10 card when you spend over a hundred.

snaps

smccarrick wrote: »

That is including the install remember- you can always pop into Powercity and buy the box without an install if you so choose- its EUR79.99 for the SD box, or 189.99 for the HD box.......

This compares with £49.99 for the same SD box in Argos Belfast, or £129.99 for the HD box......

?

Are they proper freesat boxes or just FTA boxes?

The_Conductor

snaps wrote: »

Are they proper freesat boxes or just FTA boxes?

Sat4Free boxes (aka ROI branded Freesat boxes)- not FTA boxes.
Powercity is the only retailer who sell them *without* the installation voucher- but its perfect if you have a pre-existing Sky dish (as does about 30% of all houses in the country.......)

leex

smccarrick wrote: »

Sat4Free boxes (aka ROI branded Freesat boxes)- not FTA boxes.
Powercity is the only retailer who sell them *without* the installation voucher- but its perfect if you have a pre-existing Sky dish (as does about 30% of all houses in the country.......)

DID have them also.

dlambirl

Whats the difference between freesat and FTA??

The_Conductor

dlambirl wrote: »

Whats the difference between freesat and FTA??

Freesat is a specific platform, with compliant certified receivers, run by the BBC and ITV- whereas FTA simply means the particular chanel(s) are not encrypted.

dlambirl

smccarrick wrote: »

Freesat is a specific platform, with compliant certified receivers, run by the BBC and ITV- whereas FTA simply means the particular chanel(s) are not encrypted.

Oh right, so would i be right in saying that Freesat would be better than FTA? More channels?

Tony

dlambirl wrote: »

Oh right, so would i be right in saying that Freesat would be better than FTA? More channels?

Actually slightly fewer channels but Freesat does have the 7 day epg, however I think the guys on here mentioned some FTA receivers that also have the 7 day epg.

dlambirl

Tony wrote: »

Actually slightly fewer channels but Freesat does have the 7 day epg, however I think the guys on here mentioned some FTA receivers that also have the 7 day epg.

Does anyone have any idea which of the FTA recivers have 7 day epg??

slicedpanman

dlambirl wrote: »

Does anyone have any idea which of the FTA recivers have 7 day epg??

some of the Fortec range (Passion HD and Innovation HD) have added a firware upgrade recently (beta) that adds a 7 day EPG for Astra2

Check out this digitalspy thread