Moving from UPC to Free to Air TV

Sully

Hi folks,
I am interested in moving to the Free to Air TV. A few questions if I may:-

- Am I right on saying Freesat doesn't offer and wont RTE/TG4/TV3? For these channels, you just need to switch back to Analogue to pick them up if using Freesat?

- The Irish version of Freesat, not yet launched, doesn't have TV3 yet and really only has a very basic list of channels to get people by until they get a proper system like the Freesat which offers a lot more channels? Will it ever grow to cover channels Freesat offers?

- I tend to watch Living on Sky a fair bit and its on UPC also. But I cant seem to find any info on it for Freesat. Is there anyway of getting it outside of UPC/Sky?

Thanks.

The Cush

Sully wrote: »

Hi folks,
I am interested in moving to the Free to Air TV. A few questions if I may:-

- Am I right on saying Freesat doesn't offer and wont RTE/TG4/TV3? For these channels, you just need to switch back to Analogue to pick them up if using Freesat?

- The Irish version of Freesat, not yet launched, doesn't have TV3 yet and really only has a very basic list of channels to get people by until they get a proper system like the Freesat which offers a lot more channels? Will it ever grow to cover channels Freesat offers?

- I tend to watch Living on Sky a fair bit and its on UPC also. But I cant seem to find any info on it for Freesat. Is there anyway of getting it outside of UPC/Sky?

Thanks.

- No Irish terrestrial channels on Freesat now or in the future, switch back to analogue or digital terrestrial.

- Very little official information regarding Saorsat (Irish freesat) yet, only speculation. We don't yet know if commercial channels TV3/3e will be carried. I wouldn't expect the freesat channels to be available on the service.

- Living is subscription channel and so not available free-to-air.

Sully

Do I need anything in particular to switch back to dtt? Will the free to air box cover it?

Premier

Your fta system will cover your free satellite channels look here www.freesat.co.uk

For the Irish stations you will need a Terrestrial receiver (similar to a satellite receiver) and a antenna either mounted in the attic or rooftop look here www.mpeg4ireland.com/saorview

Cantona's Collars

You can use a combi box that provides both satellite and terrestrial reception.There's a few recommended in the stickies here.
If you watch the likes of CSI etc. on Living,they can be found on FIVE which is FTA.

Sully

Thanks lads. I like to watch Criminal Minds on Living, plus some CSI and the Law and Order programs.

Cheers for the guide, its appreciated.

When analogue is switched off, those combi boxes are probably useless. Is there any box that would switch to the digital with RTE etc. on them?

holidaysong

A combi box will do satellite and digital terrestrial. It doesn't do analogue, it already does DTT.

Sully

My bad, I misread the original post.

Thanks!

Cantona's Collars

Criminal Minds on RTE.:)

Sully

zerks wrote: »

Criminal Minds on RTE.:)

Didn't know that - but probably I might be ahead as I follow it on Living

Cantona's Collars

Sully wrote: »

Didn't know that - but probably I might be ahead as I follow it on Living

I'm wayyy ahead-good old internet.;) RTE have a pitiful policy of putting the half decent U.S shows on at ridiculous hours.

RogerThis

Check out http://www.locatetv.com

It will tell you who is showing what you search for.

Law and Order is on Channel 5 USA.

Sully

zerks wrote: »

I'm wayyy ahead-good old internet.;) RTE have a pitiful policy of putting the half decent U.S shows on at ridiculous hours.

Indeed they sure do. But I tend to watch it late enough myself, the double on Living and if I am late the Living +1 is extra handy!!

Thanks for all the Feedback folks, appreciated

tmcw

RogerThis wrote: »

Check out http://www.locatetv.com

It will tell you who is showing what you search for.

Law and Order is on Channel 5 USA.

Very nice, very handy, thanks for posting that link, never knew about it.

HappyHarry

Sully,

Free To Air (FTA) is not the same as FreeSat.
Look into FreeSat too, it's a better option I think.

I would strongly recommend buying a HD receiver and you should consider one that can record and rewind live TV (similar to Sky+ system). BBC1, BBC HD, and ITV1 HD are available at the moment.

The Humax FoxSat-HDR is recommends by many on here. It's a bit expensive up front but compared to a year paying subs to Sky or NTL it's a no-brainier.

icdg

HappyHarry wrote: »

Sully,

Free To Air (FTA) is not the same as FreeSat.
Look into FreeSat too, it's a better option I think.

FTA = means any channel which is available free of charge and broadcast without any encryption (conditional access). All you need is a satellite dish pointed at the dish the channels you want to receive are on and a receiver. Most English speaking channels are on Astra.

Freesat - a particular specification for satellite recievers which is promoted by the BBC and ITV. Freesat recievers feature the same software and a common EPG line-up. Freesat's described by its promoters as a "platform", its not really, in the broadcasting sense, since the broadcasters deal direct with SES Astra usually. Rather, its a means to give the British public an easy-to-use satellite receiver and, from the broadcasters point of view, make sure the channels are on the same EPG number on all these receivers, including (for BBC and ITV), the "correct" BBC Nation/Region and ITV franchise for the area the viewer lives in.

There are advantages to Freesat, which are paradoxically also its disadvantages. These are that you don't need to manually tune the STB, you have an EPG with a familar line-up, and there will be software updates supplied. These are for some people its very disadvantages - you lose the ability to tune things to your own specification. The "average viewer" would probably be better off with a Freesat reciever though. They aren't officially available in Irish retail outlets (though you may find its briefly-promoted Irish offspring, Sat4free) but they can be imported from the UK and work fine.