Hi I'm new here

DJP · 17-07-2008

Hi there,
this is my first post so here's little bit about me for a start.
I'm no "Sparks" just a mechanical engineer ,so please treat me gently.
I'm English but have been working & living in Munich, Germany for yonks!
For the last 15 or so years I've been using Sky together with all of the ever increasing restrictions that have occurred over the years.
Now of course; like I expect many others are doing, I'm thinking "Freesat".
I bought a Sharp HD Aqous 42" & a Panasonic DVD recorder in December, so my stuff is pretty well up to date.
I also have a Topfield FTA Digital SD Receiver with hard drive.
Last weekend I fitted a quad LNB to my 80cm dish that I use for Sky & wired everything up.
The "Topfield" picked up over 1000 channels (most of them encrypted)including what must be all of the ITV Regions, BBC News etc. but no sign of the main BBC channels.
I must give it another looking at this weekend

Anyway more to the point; here there are already several FTA Digital HD receivers with hard drives on the market.
I'm thinking of buying one of these.
What sort of EPG should I expect compared to the Humax, Bush etc. receivers that are now readily available in GB.
I don't want to have to spend ages fiddling with the remote to see what's on etc. (I like the ease & comfort of the Sky program guide etc.)
Would it be better to wait until "Freesat" receivers with hard drive become available?
Thanks in advance for any advice that you can offer.

Cheers

John

**Topper** · 17-07-2008

Welcome to the forum DJP

Originally Posted by DJP

Would it be better to wait until "Freesat" receivers with hard drive become available?

Well I would for sure however, until somebody has one has used one it is not possible to say even how they will perform. To be honest though, there is nothing unique about the freesat units, there are no extra channels nothing

Freesat-Box · 18-07-2008

Buying a freesat box will mean that it will be a standard tested box, approved by freesat(ITV and BBC). The boxes are currently made by Alba(Bush/Goodmans/Grundig) and Humax. The boxes also have Ethernet ports so it looks as if they are going to be activated shortly, probably for supplying video on demand or further interactive content.

The PVR(Personal Video Recorder) boxes are predicted to come out later this year(people are saying Autumn).

DJP · 18-07-2008

Thanks for the welcome Topper.

Yes I've read somewhere that the "Freesat" boxes are limited in what they can do.
It's not just because of that, that I'm looking at the HUMAX ICORD SAT-RECEIVER 160GB.
This box is readily available here for 382,- €
It's HD has HDMI and has 2 card slots so that other encrypted channels could be seen.
Does anyone have experience of using one of these?
What I also don't understand is if the comfortable "Freesat" EPG is part of the receiver software or is it part of the satellite signal that would work with this box.
Thanks for any help & have a good weekend.
John

**Topper** · 18-07-2008

Welcome to the forum Freesat-Box

I assume you have a vested interest in Freesat then from your reply which by BTW tells us nothing that is not already on the forum.

Originally Posted by Freesat-Box

Buying a freesat box will mean that it will be a standard tested box, approved by freesat(ITV and BBC).

Yes well one would assume that they are properly tested however based upon all the posts on the forum about the 1st release of freesat boxes and HD boxes, the QC inspectors were on holiday.

Originally Posted by Freesat-Box

The boxes are currently made by Alba(Bush/Goodmans/Grundig) and Humax.

Originally Posted by Freesat-Box

The boxes also have Ethernet ports so it looks as if they are going to be activated shortly, probably for supplying video on demand or further interactive content.

Believe it when I see it

The PVR(Personal Video Recorder) boxes are predicted to come out later this year(people are saying Autumn).

People being..............

Exactly, October November just in time for Christmas who knows

DJP · 4 Weeks Ago

Well I'm back again & still struggling.
I did the channel search a couple of times again this weekend, all to no avail.
The Topfield lists all ITV 1, 2, 3, +1 etc. & regionals (and they also all work) all of the Sky encrypted channels, BBC news, BBC Parliament & Sky news. The last 3 also work as is to be expected. Channel 4 is listed but does not work.
All of the BBC FTA channels except the above mentioned do not even get onto the list, the receiver is simply not findiing them.
There must be a setting for the receiver that I don't know about, frequency or whatever that is causing it to miss BBC.

I've given the receiver a fresh download & that did not change anything.
Any clues as to what might help?
Thanks
John

**rolfw** · 4 Weeks Ago

Here's a list of the frequencies _http://www.lyngsat.com/28east.html, check them against the ones pon your receiver, it may be that your dish is too small.

timhan · 4 Weeks Ago

Hi John and welcome!

I live in Munich too, and sadly the 80cm dish is too small here. I started with that. I moved up to the Gibertini 100cm and I now get 75 to 80% on the main BBC channels. I've been thinking of getting the 125cm, but after changing things a bit, the 100 seems to be fine.

I followed the tuning guides here (finding the strong signal, then switching to the weaker one to fine tune) and with the great help in my post:

Can't find 28.2 from Munich

Nice part of this dish is that it picks up great signals on the other main sats too.

If you want any ideas/help on reception from Munich, or a very helpful local source, feel free to ask!

DJP · 4 Weeks Ago

Hi there Timham,
I think the angels must have sent you.
Can we speak together rather than hacking messages into PC's
I am at home on Holiday all of next month (home is in Dachau)
I will no longer have access to the e-mail address that I'm presently using but will soon have a new private e-mail address.
My home phone number is <removed by admin>
Try next week.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Cheers
John

**mhku** · 4 Weeks Ago

Please do not post personal details on the forum. Fill in the vcard section of your profile if you wish members to be able to email you.

DJP · 1 Week Ago

First of all to the Admin', sorry for breaking the rules.

I have only just managed to log on again, my account was blocked but is now free.
I am not sure what I must do in order to be able to contact other members such as Timhan.
It seems that I must enter some of the following:-
ICQ number
AIM screen name
MSN
etc.,etc.
Can someone please let me know where to access these or at least what I must do please.

Timhan,

We are not too far away from one another. It appears that you have already sorted the problems that I am encountering.
Written explanations are of some help but sometimes difficult for a raw beginer like myself to understand
How can we get together. Meet up at "Conrad" maybe?
I would be more than happy to cover your expenses.

Cheers
John

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