Sat4Free/Freesat in Ireland

by8auj6csd3ioq

I have read thru some of this and still do not understand if the sat4free is a good deal? I can get a hd one with free installation and dish for €379 in Tesco.I have just got a had ready 32 inch lcd tv

Bear in mind I cannot do diy installation. Thanks for any help

The_Conductor

Cristiano Gigantic Width wrote: »

I have read thru some of this and still do not understand if the sat4free is a good deal? I can get a hd one with free installation and dish for €379 in Tesco.I have just go a had ready 32 inch lcd tv

www.freesat.ie (http://www.freesat.ie) will not open for me

The Irish website is:
http://www.sat4free.ie/

If you have a pre-existing Sky dish- all you have to do is connect a box to it and it'll work.

S.

kuro_man

Cristiano Gigantic Width wrote: »

I have read thru some of this and still do not understand if the sat4free is a good deal? I can get a hd one with free installation and dish for €379 in Tesco.I have just got a had ready 32 inch lcd tv

Bear in mind I cannot do diy installation. Thanks for any help

Make sure you know what you are getting in the price. A single LNB is not much use if you later want a freesat+ recorder or watch satellite in another room. Quad (4 output) LNB's are relatively cheap and getting all the wiring done at the same time will work out cheaper.
I invested in a larger (60cm) solid dish, and I have never had any interference caused by rain.
Also, Humax foxsat HD (freesat) boxes are considered superior to the Alba ones that are used by sat4free.

If you care about these things, then buying the equipment on-line (ebay and satellitesuperstore.co.uk are good) and hiring someone to install it for you might be worth investigating. If not, go for sat4free.

by8auj6csd3ioq

smccarrick wrote: »

The Irish website is:
http://www.sat4free.ie/

If you have a pre-existing Sky dish- all you have to do is connect a box to it and it'll work.

S.

Thanks. I did get the site eventually and they told me their product is much the same as sat4free

Tony

Just bear in mimnd that sat4free is locked into the NI EPG unlike official freesat boxes which can be programmed for any uk region simply by entering a postcode. You might also double check that ITV HD is available on sat4free

Cristiano Gigantic Width wrote: »

Thanks. I did get the site eventually and they told me their product is much the same as sat4free

by8auj6csd3ioq

kuro_man wrote: »

Make sure you know what you are getting in the price. A single LNB is not much use if you later want a freesat+ recorder or watch satellite in another room. Quad (4 output) LNB's are relatively cheap and getting all the wiring done at the same time will work out cheaper.
I invested in a larger (60cm) solid dish, and I have never had any interference caused by rain.
Also, Humax foxsat HD (freesat) boxes are considered superior to the Alba ones that are used by sat4free.

If you care about these things, then buying the equipment on-line (ebay and satellitesuperstore.co.uk are good) and hiring someone to install it for you might be worth investigating. If not, go for sat4free.

I want to just have channells on nthe tv in the living room ,not a big tv person and don't want inother rooms. When you say freesat+ recorder you mean to record tv programs on to a hard drive? Could the TV be recorded on a video recorder, there is one on my dvd

by8auj6csd3ioq

Tony wrote: »

Just bear in mimnd that sat4free is locked into the NI EPG unlike official freesat boxes which can be programmed for any uk region simply by entering a postcode.

http://www.sat4free.ie/index.php?page=whatis says it is interactive. What exactly is NI EPG. Northern ireland electronic programme guide?Does that mean other uk regions would not be available?

You might also double check that ITV HD is available on sat4free

I will thanks. I did check, they said it is

Kotek Besar

Cristiano Gigantic Width wrote: »

Thanks. I did get the site eventually and they told me their product is much the same as sat4free

Except that Sat4Free boxes are hard-coded to NI postcodes, so no ITV HD.

by8auj6csd3ioq

benifa wrote: »

Except that Sat4Free boxes are hard-coded to NI postcodes, so no ITV HD.

They told me it is on the list of available channels

Kotek Besar

Cristiano Gigantic Width wrote: »

They told me it is on the list of available channels

I see that here, yes. Hmm.. wonder how they're doing that then! :eek:

by8auj6csd3ioq

benifa wrote: »

I see that here, yes. Hmm.. wonder how they're doing that then! :eek:

Don't know as I do not really understand these things much but you can phone them at 1850 650199. Is it a good deal then?

Kotek Besar

Cristiano Gigantic Width wrote: »

Is it a good deal then?

Personally I would prefer a UK Freesat HD box, given the choice of this or a Sat4Free HD box. This is because the former permits you to enter any post code you please.

Why not have a look in the Golden Pages for local satellite installers near to you. Give them a ring and ask them how much to install a dish suitable for Sky, plus cabling, but no box. Add the cost to the price of getting a UK Freesat HD box delivered to you, and work out for yourself which is the better deal, that or the Sat4Free HD box / installation package at €399.

frank2005

Hi Guys, sorry am coming to this a bit late...I've just bought a shiny new HD flat screen TV, which has built in Free Sat as I bought it in Tesco, so they obviously brought in from UK. Would this work here or is there any way of getting it to work? What would I need to do? UPC have announced a price increase from Jan so am now more keen than ever to get rid.

Thanks in advance.

Tony

Are you sure its Freesat and not Freeviw?

frank2005 wrote: »

Hi Guys, sorry am coming to this a bit late...I've just bought a shiny new HD flat screen TV, which has built in Free Sat as I bought it in Tesco, so they obviously brought in from UK. Would this work here or is there any way of getting it to work? What would I need to do? UPC have announced a price increase from Jan so am now more keen than ever to get rid.

Thanks in advance.

deffin

Tony wrote: »

Are you sure its Freesat and not Freeviw?

Sounds like Freeview - aren't panasonic the only TV manufacturer with Freesat built in....don't think Tesco's sell Panasonics.!

by8auj6csd3ioq

frank2005 wrote: »

Hi Guys, sorry am coming to this a bit late...I've just bought a shiny new HD flat screen TV, which has built in Free Sat as I bought it in Tesco, so they obviously brought in from UK. Would this work here or is there any way of getting it to work? What would I need to do? UPC have announced a price increase from Jan so am now more keen than ever to get rid.

Thanks in advance.

is it the 32 inch philips 5403/d? I have that i am not sure if it has freeview must check

The_Conductor

Cristiano Gigantic Width wrote: »

is it the 32 inch philips 5403/d? I have that i am not sure if it has freeview must check

Its a 720p HD "Ready" model with Freeview.

If you get a Freesat or a Sat4Free box and a Sky Dish- goodbye NTL/UPC........

by8auj6csd3ioq

smccarrick wrote: »

Its a 720p HD "Ready" model with Freeview.

If you get a Freesat or a Sat4Free box and a Sky Dish- goodbye NTL/UPC........

Hi saw your earlier post where you though they might be in trouble for false advertising. Can you tell where /why you think this as i will be getting a sat4free box. Thanks

frank2005

Sorry for confusion...it is Freeview it has built in. Was getting mixed up, reading about free sat!! Is it any use to me or just a bit of a dead duck to have in ireland?

fat-tony

frank2005 wrote: »

Sorry for confusion...it is Freeview it has built in. Was getting mixed up, reading about free sat!! Is it any use to me or just a bit of a dead duck to have in ireland?

It's likely to be a lame duck anyway. Freeview is MPEG2 standard, the Irish DTT service will be MPEG4. You might pick up the radio channels on the DTT service if you have one local to you.

Tony

frank2005 wrote: »

Sorry for confusion...it is Freeview it has built in. Was getting mixed up, reading about free sat!! Is it any use to me or just a bit of a dead duck to have in ireland?

Unless you have an aerial that can receive Ni signals its useless i'm afraid

frank2005

Nope, don't have aerial...ah well sure no harm in asking I guess! Thanks

Tony

No problem

bubblesb

I receive Sky at the moment and was contemplating paying for their multiroom service so that my wife could watch her soaps upstairs with a proper reception as opposed to the poor one she receives from the indoor arial.
.
That was until I heard about this Sat4free being advertised on the radio.Making a once off payment instead of uping the cost of my current subscription sounds attractive.

I am not sure exactly how I would go about setting this up as I have a dish but the signal from that goes into the sky box.

Could I split that signal into two seperate boxes?
How can I then get that Sat4free signal upstairs without running lots of cable around the house?

Any advice would be gratefully received as I would like to have it all set up for christmas.Thanks

Tony

You need a quad lnb for the sky dish and run a separate good quality cable to the Freesat box

bubblesb wrote: »

Could I split that signal into two seperate boxes?
How can I then get that Sat4free signal upstairs without running lots of cable around the house?

Any advice would be gratefully received as I would like to have it all set up for christmas.Thanks

kuro_man

bubblesb wrote: »

I receive Sky at the moment and was contemplating paying for their multiroom service so that my wife could watch her soaps upstairs with a proper reception as opposed to the poor one she receives from the indoor arial.
.
That was until I heard about this Sat4free being advertised on the radio.Making a once off payment instead of uping the cost of my current subscription sounds attractive.

I am not sure exactly how I would go about setting this up as I have a dish but the signal from that goes into the sky box.

Could I split that signal into two seperate boxes?
How can I then get that Sat4free signal upstairs without running lots of cable around the house?

Any advice would be gratefully received as I would like to have it all set up for christmas.Thanks

Sat cable shouldn't be split - you need a multiple-output (dual, quad, octo) LNB. this can be bought cheaply on e-bay and are easy to swap out. You can use any FTA/Freesat receiver to pick up uk channels, no irish channels though. Given exchange rate, I would buy a freesat receiver on ebay instead of sat4free.

bubblesb

Thanks for the advice fellas.
Another question.

The cable from the dish comes directly into the living room and into the sky box.If I got an LNB and a Sat4Free type receiver and conneceted them up at the back of the downstairs tv,how do I get it upstairs to the wifes telly without running cable everywhere?

Thanks in advance.

The_Conductor

Borrow a masonry drill?

Tony

You cannot directly as the freesat has no RF output, why would you want to do this since you have a sky box already? How would your wife change channels?

bubblesb wrote: »

Thanks for the advice fellas.
Another question.

The cable from the dish comes directly into the living room and into the sky box.If I got an LNB and a Sat4Free type receiver and conneceted them up at the back of the downstairs tv,how do I get it upstairs to the wifes telly without running cable everywhere?

Thanks in advance.

BeerNut

bubblesb wrote: »

If I got an LNB and a Sat4Free type receiver and conneceted them up at the back of the downstairs tv

You don't. The LNB goes on the dish, at the end of the arm, replacing the LNB that's already there. Out of this you will have your existing cable to downstairs plus a new cable running from the dish to the upstairs room where your new receiver is.

Antrim_Man

Has any of these freesat boxes got built in hard disks?

Kotek Besar

Antrim_Man wrote: »

Has any of these freesat boxes got built in hard disks?

The Humax Foxsat HD Freesat Digital TV Recorder has a 320gb disk.

ei0675

I can buy a technomate freeview sat reciever for 90 euro, or reciever, dish,lnb and bracket for 145 euro... good price? i have acess to a sat finder for setting up so no installation charge.

chelseaaremagic

beware....do you mean a technomate fta [free to air]........ 'freeview' needs an ariel and you need to be within 20 miles of the border. ftv, fta, and freesat are via satellite which are receiveable all over the island of ireland

ei0675

chelseaaremagic wrote: »

beware....do you mean a technomate fta [free to air]........ 'freeview' needs an ariel and you need to be within 20 miles of the border. ftv, fta, and freesat are via satellite which are receiveable all over the island of ireland

Sorry let me clearify, i mean FTA basicly all the english stations (itv,2,3,4, bbc,2,3,4, ch4 etc.) and free sat stations.

Apogee

Callaghan's TV on Plunkett St in Cork have the SD receivers along with LNB, dish and fittings for €150 - installation is extra. The are selling the HD equivalent for €299.

AFAIK this is the first time an independent retailer outside of Tesco, Powercity etc. has had the Sat4Free systems for sale.

byte

An indepedant in Donegal is advertising Sat4Free boxes and installations also.

Tony

SAT4Free has been available to retailers via electroplus since the start but I guess many chose not to stock until now.

Apogee wrote: »

Callaghan's TV on Plunkett St in Cork have the SD receivers along with LNB, dish and fittings for €150 - installation is extra. The are selling the HD equivalent for €299.

AFAIK this is the first time an independent retailer outside of Tesco, Powercity etc. has had the Sat4Free systems for sale.

Apogee

Callaghans didn't make much of an effort from what I saw. Just the bare receiver sitting besides a Philips TV, not even connected.

td1

contemplating getting freesat - anyone have any experience of good installers (in drogheda area) and how it works after setup?

geordief

can I get a tv that will allow me to do without the set top box? (I have an old cardless digibox for now)
If it has a satellite tuner inbuilt will that get me the free channels I get at the moment?
I don't care about recording or a state of the art epg as long as I can tune into a dozen or so presets and if there is no set up fee or subscription.
HD would be nice though.

snaps

Yes Panasonic make a range of tvs with built in freesat. Not sure where and how much they would be in the south, but ive noticed Argos in the north are selling them now and i would also recommend richer sounds in Belfast as they stock them and if you quote boards.ie they'll ship it down for 20 quid. (www.richersounds.ie or the .co.uk site has better range)

I personally think having a set top box is more versatile than having it in built, but everyone to their own!

jArgHA

Thinking of going for a freesat HD receiver but have two questions -

Is it possible to view the Irish terrestrial channels through a freesat receiver (I know RTE is not available on freesat, but was wondering whether the receivers have some kind of analog tuner built in which you can switch over to, and still get the video output by the receiver) ? I dont have a TV as such but a projector, this is why I can't simply tune analog channels into projector.

Is there a plan for RTE / other Irish terrestrial channels to become available on freesat, if so have any dates been mooted?

Tony

Freesat has no analog tuner or loopthrough and there are no plans by RTE as far as I'm aware.

Martin_F

There were plans to launch RTE International on Freesat (meant to be a combination of RTE 1 & 2 homegrown content) - it was due for Paddy's day 2009. However latest rumors suggest that is very unlikely - since RTE are trying to avoid the costs involved.

You basically have a choice of terrestrial analogue or Digital (DTT) - and if you go the digital route you can get combo boxes that do both (non Freesat/Sat4Free). Currently I'm Freesat / analogue.

There are stickies on the Terrestrial boards about combo boxes.

TheDriver

Freesat is a class way to go but unless your projector can handle HD signals, you may as well just get a sd box. I never watch RTE anymore to be honest

emaherx

Just use a Video player for Analouge tv reception

Kotek Besar

Tesco have discontinued the Sat4Free boxes, according to the shelf label in the Waterford Ardkeen store.

kbell

The new Tesco 24hr up on Mathews lane here in Drogheda still had them at the weekend.

byte

kbell wrote: »

The new Tesco 24hr up on Mathews lane here in Drogheda still had them at the weekend.

Yeah, but did the shelf label have a red "Discontinued" tag?