Saorview & Freesat - Humax Fox T2

JHume

First time poster...

I'm looking to get a Digital TV recorder, and the Humax HDR Fox T2 seemed to fit the bill of what I want – recieves Freeview and Saorview, hard drive to record on, live pause and play, and maybe even get sneaky cross-border access to the BBC iPlayer etc.

I live in Inishowen and currently have a Triax 110 and dish to receive British Freeview channels (or should that be FreeSat?), while I receive Irish analogue channels through an aerial.

No local hardware shops are selling a digital TV recorder, but I enquired about the Humax HDR Fox T2 in a reputable local stores, and they were of the opinion it wouldn't work.

Said it needed to have DVT minus T, which it apparently doesn't have.

I have no idea what DVT minus T means (I'm not very technical).

All this brings me, in a long-winded way, to my question.

Will this Humax yoke work for me? Will it recieve Saorview, FreeView (or FreeSat) and allow me to record channels while watching another one etc?

And if this Humax yoke doesn't work, has anyone a suggestion of an alternative?

excollier

This box (Fox T2) will receive Freeview and Freeview HD (from Limavady if you can receive that transmitter) and Saorview from Moville or Holywell Hill, via your aerials, not your satellite dish. It will also record them.
Freesat is via your dish, and the box you need for that is a Foxsat HDR. It won't receive Saorview at all, as it's satellite only.
Main clue is if a box has ****view in it's name, it's terrestrial, aerial, if it has ****sat, it's satellite, via a dish.
DVB-T2 will receive all digital terrestrial broadcasts in Ireland.
DVB-S2 will receive all digital satellite broadcasts available at your location.
Hope this helps.
Where abouts in Inishowen do you live?

JHume

Thanks for the response, excollier.

I live in Buncrana, but based on what you're saying I don't think this box is the one for me.

Our British terrestrial channels went on the blink two years ago, and I got the FreeSat installed because, if I remember correctly, the installation guy reckoned I wouldn't be able to receive FreeView through my aerial. Is there something about deflectors on Fahan mountain providing coverage in the Buncrana area?

Not sure where I'm picking up the Irish channels from (it was all set up when I bought the house some years ago), although it might be Fanad.

You wouldn't happen to know of a receiver that can accept Irish Saorview, British FreeSat and allows me to record?

zg3409

JHume wrote: »

You wouldn't happen to know of a receiver that can accept Irish Saorview, British FreeSat and allows me to record?

There are no proper recording Saorview boxes available yet. It may be more than a year before they come on the market. Most boxes sold have the ability to record what you are watching, but not watch one channel and record another. For all the boxes you need to buy an external hard drive seperately and connect it, to allow the recordings to be stored somewhere. Off the shelf the boxes have no where to store recordings. No current boxes have series link meaning you need to manually set up timers etc.

You could wait until October in case a proper recorder is launched, but it might be best to just buy a Saorview box for now, and buy another box in a year or so.

Regarding FreeSat there are a limited number of boxes

http://www.freesat.co.uk lists them all. For recording you need a Freesat+HD box. This gives series link, dual record etc for all UK stations. The humax is considered the best.

For the humax to work it needs two leads between the dish and the box. You may have one or two leads at the moment. If you only have one lead from the dish, then you need to check the dish. The dish has a unit called an LNB. The LNB may have one, four or 8 connections. If it only has one connection then you need to change the LNB for one with 4 connections. A photo of the end of the dish where the lead connects would help.

You would then also need to run a second cable down to the sitting room.

excollier

Living in Buncrana, you are probably getting Saorview from the Fanad transmitter, channel 55, and most unlikely to be able to receive Freeview, which is from Limavady (at the moment)and blocked by the hills around the town. But as usual with terrestrial in Donegal it is very much dependent on location, I would always tend towards satellite for British channels here, unless you live with an unobstructed view into Northern Ireland. This will improve at switchover with the likes of Sheriff's Mountain and Strabane.switching on and increasing coverage greatly.
Having said that they will only give a limited Freeview "Lite" service, making Freesat a much better option in terms of choice of channels.

so169

First time poster...

JHume

The Humax HDR Fox T2 box is excellent I'v just bought two...
I'm living in Muff I receive all british freeview and irish saorview channels and yes you can record two programs at a time whilst watching a third.

excollier

You live in sight of the Limavady transmitter, so the Fox T2 is a great solution for you. The OP, at Buncrana, probably can't receive Freeview from Limavady

so169

True..

I have two aerials one pointing towards limavady the other towards Holywell.

Great box though....

JHume

Thanks for the info folks.

A Saorview box with external hard drive is my only option. Pity there's no integrated system, as I suspect recording to an external hard drive might be a bit of a hanlin.

Is there anything I need to look out for with the Saorview box? Do they have Firewire or Thunderbolt connections? Is a USB connection adequate for recording to the external hard drive in high def?

Excollier, you're right, where I'm at in Buncrana doesn't get transmissions from Limavady. Hence the Freesat, although I'll probably pick up one of those Foxsat HDR boxes to replace my wee Triax.

thanks for the heads up on the LNB zg. I'll have to check it, but I think my dish only has a port for one lead. Is it a big job to replace? I'm not very handy at electrical things like that.

zg3409

JHume wrote: »

thanks for the heads up on the LNB zg. I'll have to check it, but I think my dish only has a port for one lead. Is it a big job to replace? I'm not very handy at electrical things like that.

It's easy once you know how. It depends on how hard it is to access the dish. It's just a matter of removing one an connecting another. Once you can get at the dish it's easy. Unscrew the cable from the house, remove the old LNB, fit the new one, reconnect the cable. There is also a thing called Skew. The new LNB needs to be rotated to the same angle as the old LNB rather than being totally vertical.

You would need to order a QUAD 40mm universal LNB NOT a Sky LNB for your dish. Putting in more cables could be a problem if you need to drill holes etc.

zg3409

JHume wrote: »

TDo they have Firewire or Thunderbolt connections?

No

Is a USB connection adequate for recording to the external hard drive in high def?

Yes. Get an externally powered hard drive with lots of capacity. However make sure to get one recommended by the supplier of the receiver and known to work 100%. Some work fine, some don't. It can be hard to tell in advance.

JHume

Thanks zg. I have a little 500gb flash hard drive at work that's about the size of a smartphone. Something along those lines, if the retailer recommends it, would do the job.

zg3409

JHume wrote: »

Thanks zg. I have a little 500gb flash hard drive at work that's about the size of a smartphone. Something along those lines, if the retailer recommends it, would do the job.

As I said it would need to come with a seperate power supply. Also some of the cheap ones are too slow to record at HD rate. If you already own one you could try it and see.

Generally with the boxes you will need to delete everything off the drive and format it using the menu on the box. Then try recording a HD channels for an hour or two and watching it back. This is the only true way to know for sure.