These satelite dishes and boxes - what do you actually get?

Col200sx

I've seen loads of adds in papers recently with the usual lines:

"No bills, hundreds of free channels" etc written on them.

And only today in Dunnes Stores did I see a dish and box, claiming "hundreds of free channels", and of course no bills. And there was one for sale in Aldi recently too.

So what is the story with these? What channels do you actually get? Are they legit etc?

I'm in the process of ditching UPC (well the tv services anyway, keeping broadband as it's good), so my next move I want to get right.

Any help or information appreciated

Ranicand

Col200sx wrote: »

I've seen loads of adds in papers recently with the usual lines:

"No bills, hundreds of free channels" etc written on them.

And only today in Dunnes Stores did I see a dish and box, claiming "hundreds of free channels", and of course no bills. And there was one for sale in Aldi recently too.

So what is the story with these? What channels do you actually get? Are they legit etc?

I'm in the process of ditching UPC (well the tv services anyway, keeping broadband as it's good), so my next move I want to get right.

Any help or information appreciated

Many of the channels on Astra Sky uses are free to air and any free to air any sat box can pick them up.

This is 100% legal however RTE is not free on the dish.

Here are the channels you get with a free to air box or a Sky box with no sub.

http://www.sky.com/shop/tv/free-to-air-channels/

Minstrel27

Ranicand wrote: »

This is 100% legal however RTE is not free on the dish.

RTÉ is easily receivable for most though with an aerial. Saorview is just about to officially launch. RTÉ 1, RTÉ 2 HD, TV3, TG4, 3e and RTÉ News Now. It works very well when used with the FTA channels available on satellite.

Better list here for what's available free on satellite. The HD channels will require a HD receiver.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_free-to-air_channels_at_28%C2%B0E

liamtech

ENTERTAINMENT
BBC1
BBC2
BBC3
BBC4
BBC ALBA
BBC HD
BBC1 HD
BBC SPORTS (RED BUTTON VIA FREESAT & MANUAL TUNE VIA FTA BOX)
ITV1
ITV1+1
ITV2
ITV2+1
ITV3
ITV3+1
ITV4
ITV4+1
ITV1-HD
UTV
STV
STV-HD (Technically only testing but been FTA for ages!)
CHANNEL 4
CHANNEL 4 +1
CHANNEL 4 HD
FIVE
E4
E4+1
More4
More4+1
CBS Action
CBS Reality
CBS Reality+1
CBS Drama
Horror Channel
Horror Channel+1
True Entertainment
BET
BET+1
FOOD NETWORK
FOOD NETWORK +1
SHOWCASE

---

MOVIE CHANNELS
FILM4
FILM4+1
True Movies
True Movies2
Movies4Men
Movies4Men +1
Movies4Men2
Movies4Men2 +1
Men&Movies

---

NEWS STATIONS
BBC News 24
Sky News
EuroNews
CNBC
CNN
Bloomberg
France 24 (English)
Russia Today (English)
Al Jazeera (English)
NHK World (English)
Press TV
CCTV (English)
BBC Parliament

---

MUSIC STATIONS
BLISS
FLAVA
CHART SHOW TV
DANCE NATION
LAVA
WTF
NME TV
SCUZZ
STARZ TV
THE VAULT
NME TV
CHANNEL AKA
OMUSIC
VINTAGE TV

---

CHILDRENS TV
CBBC
CBEEBIES
CITV
POP
POP GIRL
TINY POP
KIX

---

COMING SOON (Or so we have been led to believe)
NHK WORLD HD
5* (AKA FIVER)
5USA (AKA FIVE USA)

Now i realize that a link would have been just as good in highlighting these FREE channels, but I wanted to condense the list somewhat to the channels most of us watch-

I have personally had Free TV for years and i find it perfect and "Great Value"!
I get RTE1, RTE2, TV3, TG4, 3e, & RTE NEWS NOW via the aerial and my Digital TV!

Personally i reckon my Channel line up is more than a match for any UPC package, especially with the loss of ITV2, ITV3, and ITV4: Ive already had friends asking me about FTA TV once they have seen i still have the ITV channels!

Minstrel27

liamtech wrote: »

COMING SOON (Or so we have been led to believe)
NHK WORLD HD

That's there now. Still testing but viewable.

Col200sx

Thanks all for the information - just what I was looking for.

So does it depend on the dish/box you get to receive all those channels above?

If you get all those above, I can't see why any home-owners would pay for a tv package

Are there no catches? As in once you have the dish and box, you're good to go for ever?

Minstrel27

Yes pretty much. To receive all of the channels you would need a HD receiver instead of the ones you will find in Dunnes/Aldi etc.

Cantona's Collars

Col200sx wrote: »

Thanks all for the information - just what I was looking for.

So does it depend on the dish/box you get to receive all those channels above?

If you get all those above, I can't see why any home-owners would pay for a tv package

Are there no catches? As in once you have the dish and box, you're good to go for ever?

Doesn't matter what satellite receiver you get,it picks up all those channels and a couple of hundred more along with radio channels,the ones in the list are the most watched.
Have a look through the satellite thread for more info.Once you go sat,you'll never go back.:)

B+Q have a HD box and dish for €79, the dish isn't the best but you can't argue with the price.Worth that for the box alone.

liamtech

Col200sx wrote: »

Thanks all for the information - just what I was looking for.

So does it depend on the dish/box you get to receive all those channels above?

If you get all those above, I can't see why any home-owners would pay for a tv package

Are there no catches? As in once you have the dish and box, you're good to go for ever?

I agree - i find it crazy that more people and moving over to free TV:

To answer your questions:

-Any satellite dish will do fine - a sky dish is the choice for most users - an existing sky dish is a real bonus, so if you ever had Sky and the dish is still there then hey presto your sorted!

-The channels listed above are 100% free and available fully legit no catches, no strings! Like UPC & Sky, more channels may be added at a later date and occasionally some fringe channels vanish - but the bulk of the British channel line-up is free to air and will remain so for the foreseeable future - more channels are definitely on the cards (I had FTA satellite when it was in its infancy and all you got was BBC1,2,3 &4 - the channel line-up grew from there when FREESAT Launched http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freesat)

-As to the set top box - they range in price from 40 odd euro up to 400 odd euro - Which box is for you depends on what features you want - available features include Recording, Pause LIVE TV, watch one/record another, full 7 day guide, and Combination boxes that also receive RTE Digital via the aerial - IT really depends on your budget - a basic non HD Box for 40odd euro will give you all the channels (no HD channels though) - 120 odd will get you a decent Freesat box with full 7 day guide and digital teletext etc:

My advice would be this - if your used to having a package like UPC then you probably like being able to record and pause and plan and schedule movies - so a decent Freesat+HD will be the one for you - a real contender to this is the currently low priced http://www.amazon.co.uk/Technisat-HDFS-Freesat-HD-Receiver/dp/B002DPVMXO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1302442427&sr=8-1

This little beauty will give you full freesat 7 day guide, and if you hook up a Hard drive it will give you recording and pausing! But you can only watch what your recording!

A full SKY+ Style record one watch another box will cost a bit more but can be worth it if you like the features :
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Humax-FOXSAT-HDR-Freesat-Digital-Recorder/dp/B001L5YU36/ref=sr_1_4?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1302442517&sr=1-4

But if your just after basic no bells and whistles TV then i cant see any issue with the following modestly priced offering!

http://www.powercity.ie/?par=10-23-TV7118

If your an ebayer your sure to get cheaper Free to air satellite boxes on ebay so obviously shop around!

cool99

Hey Col200sx, thanks for posting this question, I was just looking for info on this exact topic. Two things to add:

First beware that if you plan to take only broadband from UPC with no TV or Phone service they will charge you an additional E7.50!!!!! isn't that nice of them.

And second, does anyone know if you take a sky+ box and use it as a FTA box will the pause, rewind and record functions still work for the channels listed within the main guide??

Thanks

Minstrel27

cool99 wrote: »

nd second, does anyone know if you take a sky+ box and use it as a FTA box will the pause, rewind and record functions still work for the channels listed within the main guide??

Pause, rewind, record only work if you have an active Sky subscription.

cool99

Thanks Minstrel27, I take it you speak from experience? If you're a convert to FTA viewing would you mind telling me your setup? and any potholes or rookie mistakes to avoid along the way from moving away from over priced UPCland....

Minstrel27

Ex Sky subscriber who bought a Technomate receiver for Polish subscription tv and Al Jazeera. Sky was too expensive. Have one 90cm dish for Astra 1/Hotbird and another dish for Astra 2 and Eurobird (this is where the channels listed on this thread are)

Technomate receiver also does DTT for RTE, TV3 and TG4

Col200sx

Great information there Liamtech, great help, thanks for that

Going to get a HD box with record facility for the main HD tv, and possibly a basic box for the other tv in the house.

Can you get more than 1 box per house for multi room viewing?

Cantona's Collars

Col200sx wrote: »

Great information there Liamtech, great help, thanks for that

Going to get a HD box with record facility for the main HD tv, and possibly a basic box for the other tv in the house.

Can you get more than 1 box per house for multi room viewing?

In theory you can add as many boxes as you want,the recording box will use two cables from the dish.If you get a quad lnb it has 4 connections on it.Depends really on how many boxes you want to use.





Check out what you need here,Tony will advise you on your needs http://www.satellite.ie/index.html

Dodge

Col200sx wrote: »

If you get all those above, I can't see why any home-owners would pay for a tv package

I'd imagine Sport is the big one. Movies less so, but probably still some factor

Minstrel27

Sport is the big driver for pay tv. But that is cheaper too when you look beyond UPC and Sky.

icdg

Moved to Satellite.

Dodge wrote: »

I'd imagine Sport is the big one. Movies less so, but probably still some factor

The availablity of the UK terrestrials was the big driver of take up of pay-TV in Ireland. Remember that before 1998, Channel 5 was the only UK terrestrial available on satellite, and before 2003, you needed a Sky subscription to recieve the BBC and ITV on satellite. You needed needed a Sky subscription to view Channel 4 on digital satellite as recently as 2006.

That left pay-TV with a huge installed base in Ireland given the popularity of the UK terrestrials. Cablelink at one stage had take-up in 90% of homes passed in parts of Dublin during the 1990s.

Sports only became a big driver after the Premier League went on Sky in 1992. Even then Sky Sports was broadcasting a lot less football then (it was basically only Super Sunday and Monday Night Football for a long time) than it, ESPN, and Setanta do between them now. Rugby wasn't a driver for Sky until comparatively recently and cricket didn't have a great deal of popularity over here.

Movies wasn't a huge driver in the Irish market. Irish people had a huge love-affair with Xtra-vision during the 1990s that's only fallen off comparatively recently. Witness NTL having killed off its Front Row service relatively early on.

Martin_F

zerks wrote: »

B+Q have a HD box and dish for €79, the dish isn't the best but you can't argue with the price.Worth that for the box alone.

I think that is half price now (flyer in post this week) - €41 only a single lnb - but still practically a give away for dish + box.

Cantona's Collars

Martin_F wrote: »

I think that is half price now (flyer in post this week) - €41 only a single lnb - but still practically a give away for dish + box.

Use the money saved on getting a decent dish.:)

12 element

Them dishes are awful, and the sky ones aren't great either a solid dish is much better if you want a dish that will last.

Macy0161

Col200sx wrote: »

Going to get a HD box with record facility for the main HD tv, and possibly a basic box for the other tv in the house.

Can you get more than 1 box per house for multi room viewing?

You can get quad or octo lnb's for more feeds, or a quad/ quattro lnb with a multiswitch that'll give you loads of outputs.

Just on the basic box for other TV's, if you were going Standard Definition rather than High Definition, in the North/ UK you can get Freesat SD receivers for as little as stg£30.

I'm not sure I'd go with a straight FTA receiver unless I was going for other satellite's for other channels. Having said that, we've adjusted alright back to a now and next epg on our combo, and use an online TV guide.

I also go back to when it was only BBC (of the main UK channels) FTA. Seems a bit mad now given the line up, and that I find myself giving out about Five USA still not being FTA

Martin_F

Martin_F wrote: »

I think that is half price now (flyer in post this week) - €41 only a single lnb - but still practically a give away for dish + box.

Sorry - my mistake - according to the flyer it is an SD kit that is half price @ 41 euro.

Col200sx

Ranicand wrote: »

Many of the channels on Astra Sky uses are free to air and any free to air any sat box can pick them up.

This is 100% legal however RTE is not free on the dish.

Here are the channels you get with a free to air box or a Sky box with no sub.

http://www.sky.com/shop/tv/free-to-air-channels/

Bumping my old thread here, but i signed up to a sky package, and found this: http://www.sky.com/ireland/tv/non-subscription-channels/

What's the difference to the link above?

Which channels do I actually get non-subscription?

As I notice there's no UTV2/3/4 on the link I posted, and there is above.

Cantona's Collars

Col200sx wrote: »

Bumping my old thread here, but i signed up to a sky package, and found this: http://www.sky.com/ireland/tv/non-subscription-channels/

What's the difference to the link above?

Which channels do I actually get non-subscription?

As I notice there's no UTV2/3/4 on the link I posted, and there is above.

Sky only list the fta channels on the epg. ITV etc. can be tuned into the box as 'other channels', there's a sticky about how to do it,Channel 5,BBC3+4 can also be tuned in.
NOTE: tune in BBC1 HD as it's different to the BBC HD channel that's on the epg.Plus don't bother with UTV and tune in ITV HD instead.
Remember that you can't record the 'other channels'.

Col200sx

@ Zerks, thanks, I get it now.

At least you can still get the channels anyway.

Just seems I'll have to sit in ever other Sunday for 7 hours at a time for the British Touring cars

Can you still pause/rewind on the "other channels", you just can't record/get an epg on them right?

Cantona's Collars

Col200sx wrote: »

@ Zerks, thanks, I get it now.

At least you can still get the channels anyway.

Just seems I'll have to sit in ever other Sunday for 7 hours at a time for the British Touring cars

Can you still pause/rewind on the "other channels", you just can't record/get an epg on them right?

You can't pause or rewind the other channels either-only what's on the epg.If you're into cars check out motors tv,it should be right up your street,Eurosport sometimes shows motorsport-they do show a lot of bike racing,not sure about car racing though.The F1 is in HD on BBC1 HD-tune it into 'other channels'

Col200sx

zerks wrote: »

You can't pause or rewind the other channels either-only what's on the epg.

Ah I see. EPG only so. Thanks again for all the info

zerks wrote: »

If you're into cars check out motors tv,it should be right up your street,Eurosport sometimes shows motorsport-they do show a lot of bike racing,not sure about car racing though.The F1 is in HD on BBC1 HD-tune it into 'other channels'

Happy days, a summer long indoors watching HD motorsport