Ka Ora!

More of an informative thread than anything. But we got the newish Humax HDR Satellite box today it's a PVR Personal Video Recorder, High Definition and uses the new Freeview System. You enter your UK post code and it sets the regions to your area (In The UK) You need a Dual LNB so it can record and you can watch another channel.

It works a treat set up was simple, dish I already had in place just change the LNB to a Quad so I could have two of them plugged in. High Def BBC and ITV for free. And the other Freeview channels carried on Astra

We got ours from John Lewis then the FIL forwarded it to us Data Post. I had hoped to have it before the weekend so I could watch the Australian GP (F1) in HD crapped out by a Day. I still got up an 2 Hours early to watch it live as the OH had forgotten about the Hours difference. And an Hours worth of tittle tattle before the Race.

Anyroad Picture Quality is really good even on Standard Definition Programs far better than the Sky box it replaced and when ever we have a program clash with the kids their crap gets recorded.

G-J-B

Well I know where I should have gone to watch the F1. I only get to read about it on the websites now.

Ka Ora!

Waiting for the European races so I can drink at the same time

Novocastrian

You have limited drinking hours? Why live in France at all in that case?

Ka Ora!

I just cant get up at 5 in the morning and drink

orange blossom

Ok Ka Ora,

I need your advice. I have no TV no satellite dish no anything and I haven’t owned a TV for about 10 years. So starting from fresh what would you buy. I would like to watch French TV to improve my French, my hubby would definitely like to be able to watch the F1 Grand Prix, probably his favourite sport. I also have quite a few DVD films I have been buying waiting for the time when I was retired and could watch them which is now.
Also please explain what is changing from LNB to Quad?

Many thanks for any advice

Ka Ora!

Ok basics first, Get yourself a new TV, If your budget allows I would recomend one of the New Samsung LCD Tv's I got a new 52" LE52A656 But I understand everyone has space and cost issues. But make sure it's Full HD not HD Ready that TV has a Built in TNT tuner which is for Digital Terrestrial Broadcasts But you need to check if you have these in your area and have a TNT suitable Antenna (It's not an Ariel that goes in washing machines)HERE Be-aware that all French broadcasting is going to TNT as the Secam broadcasting standard is now obsolete and will be dropped very soon ie standard terrestrial broadcasts are getting switched off. Satellite Box I covered earlier on in the thread but it's HERE that covers the English side of things.

If your just having one Satellite Receiver plugged in then all you need is a Dual LNB and dish Image of LNB here:


It basically allows two cables to be run from the Dish to the Receiver allowing in to use Vertical and Horizontal Polarization at the same time (Little Bar in side that rotates 90 degrees on certain channel changes. In my case as I wanted two of these boxes plugged into the house One is in the Bedroom I needed to run Four cables from the Dish to allow this that is what a Quad Lnb does same gadget with four outlets. Then we get to the dish it's self Outside of the UK the bigger the dish you have the less drop outs will occur in heavy rain etc small dish's will loose the signal Im not far from Toulouse I opted for a One Meter dish to be on the safe side, I have come across an installer in this region that tells everyone they can use a standard Sky dish but I really would not recommend it as it will drop out a lot especially at night. So I would say where you are a 80 or 90 Cm will be adequate for you, Which you can get from most Brico stores.

SOrry I started rambling.

Herman

Ka Ora

We brought our old Sky Box from the UK and Sky viewing card, which before we left the UK reverted back to just the free channels available on Sky as we had cancelled our subscription. We then paid a company to fit a satellite dish to the house in Paris and do the necessary adjustments to point it at the satellites. So that's all good and we can happily watch all the main UK channels and whatever crap Sky allows you for free. The picture quality is actually good (better than we had in the UK with a similar set up but using a dish supplied by Sky, so the separate dish we bought here is maybe better).

If I was to buy one of these new receivers could I just connect it to the existing cable/dish and off we go with access to all of these Freeview channels, including the free HD channels? Or would I need an engineer to point my satellite dish in another direction?

Thanks

Herman

Ah, I just read the FAQs in one of your links and it seems the answer is yes I can simply plug and play the freesat box. That's it, I'm buying one (if the wife will allow it, I suspect she will challenge me on this one as she hates TV and will no doubt accuse me of wasting money. But formula 1 in HD, how can you put a price on that!!!).

Ka Ora!

You have answered the question, Yes you can benefits are HD channels and PVR functionality. Another benefit that you won't be aware of is all the Current Sky Cards are going to become inactive as Sky are introducing a new version which means yours will be Fooocked. The only down side is no Fiver Fiver US and Sly/sky 3.

Herman

I didn't know that about the Sky cards. Thanks for that, gives me more ammo, any idea when this will happen? By the way, my wife's response was "if this is a new service then if we wait a while surely the price of the Freesat boxes will drop. Lets wait until after the summer and then look again". Is this correct or are these receivers fairly static in price?

Ka Ora!

Very static, and demand is high. Although if you look on ebay there are lots for sale, as an lorry load of them got stolen which affected availability in the shops for some time. You can save a few quid but lose the manufactures warranty. Dont forget they do a receiver that does not have the PVR function which is a lot cheaper I personally find the PVR one of the best bits

Herman

We only have one cable from our dish so I don't think we can use the PVR anyway, unless we get another installed (and its not our house, we rent, so could be an issue). I'm not about to try it myself as a) I do not have a ladder and I would need a biggun and b) I am totally cack handed at that sort of thing and without question would break it, or my neck. Anyway, over the years of owning a video player neither my wife nor I ever recorded a single thing so I strongly suspect PVR would something we wouldn't use. So as you can tell, I'm thinking of a non-PVR version and you are right, less than half the price. Just need to sell the idea to the missus now.

Le Chant

Just replace the existing LNB with a dual LNB Herman, then all's well. Keep the old one to put back on when you move?

Herman

Sounds easy in theory but we live in a large L shaped 150 year old house and the dish is about as far is it could possibly be from the TV. Reckon the cable is 50m+. Walls also 2 foot thick. Not sure how I would tackle this job with no ladder and no drill to my name. Also as a tenant I'm forbidden from drilling holes anyway, so would need owners permission he is, well, a total git so would inevitably say no. Unless there is a cunning way of doing this without ladders, drills and cables? Some kind of cable splitting thingy? As you can tell, I'm an accountant, good with spreadsheets and numbers, bad with screwdrivers and cables.