Freesat Receivers & Freesat Channels

D

DJP

Regular Member
My Satellite Setup
Sharp Aquos
Panasonic HD DVD recorder
Sky+HD receiver
Humax Icord receiver FTA DigitalSD with hard drive
Topfield TF 4000 PVR
My Location
Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset
Hi Guys,

I'm thinking of dropping out from my present Sky subscription & going to Freesat.
I'm sure that amongst the multitude of threads that the answers to my questions will already be available but to save a massive search I'd like a simple answer to three questions please.

1. What is the best value buy for an HD Receiver with Hard Disk recording facility?
Make; Model; Cost
Preferably sourced from somewhere like Comet etc.

2. Is there a list of presently available Channels (Normal & HD)?

3. How comprehensive is the EPG , as good as the Sky + HD EPG?

Many thanks in advance for your help
Cheers
John
 
People will probably chip in later but possibly the most up to date site on freesat specifically is joinfreesat.co.uk
 
Generally accepted best buy is still the Humax Foxsat PVR.

Not cheap (best prices also shown on _http://www.joinfreesat.co.uk/ @ right hand column).

EPG is as good as BSkyB's, yes.

But can you not just keep and use your Sky+ HD box?

It's yours now, not Sky's.

Mind you, they will charge you £10 per month to keep the recording feature.
 
I would be inclined to keep the Sky HD box, drop to the minimum subscription without HD and you get the HD you'd get on Freesat, but with the addition of Channel 4 HD, plus of course the basic channel line up.
 
Hi All,

thanks for the help so far, yes I could keep the Sky + HD box but if I ceased subscribing I would lose the recording facility.
In fact I used the EPG on my previous normal Sky Box to find the timing of the Programs I would need to record on my on my free to Air Humax Icord HD Receiver.
The recording faclity is important to me as I am not always able to watch Programs when they are transmitted.
Unfortunately the Icord has only a useless EPG, or am I doing something wrong?
Thanks for the link to "joinfreesat" the listing of Freesat Channels was exactly what I was searching for.
I was surprised to read there that the most recommended FTA HD Receiver with Hard Disk is still the old Humax Foxsat-HDR which was first released in Nov. 2008; I expect these things to be replaced yearly or in any case just after I've made my long deliberated purchase.

I suppose I have almost the right piece of Kit in the Humax Icord HD if it weren't for the lack of a good EPG.

Cheers
John
 
You can, upon terminating your Subscription, elect to retain the existing Recording Facility for £10 per month ........... of course, after two years of paying that you could otherwise have saved up for a Foxsat!
 
Humax have a second generation Freesat PVR coming up soon.
 
Well there's the way ahead, DJP!

Pay £10 per month until the second generation Foxsat is available and proven, then burrow deeper into your pockets :D
 
Not being based in the UK is my main problem. The person who arranged & pays my Subscription is always moaning about the continual Hurdles that he has to overcome with Sky. They continually fail o understand that his 2 Subscriptions are for a Digibox at "Home" & another in a "Caravan".
He complains to me on a regular basis about the "hassle" that Sky puts him through & threatens to cancel my Subscription.
Although I enjoy the extra "Encrypted" Sky Channels the Channels I watch most are among the Unencrypted.
I think that 200+ Pounds for a Foxsat with good EPG is cheap for the peace of mind it would represent.
Alternatively can someone tell me if the Foxsat EPG is available for the Icord?

Cheers
John

PS Had to laugh; I guessed that a new version of the Foxsat must be lurking somewhere!
 
Sounds great, Iplayer as well, look forward to it going on sale!
Thanks
John

Anyone looking for a Humax Icord HD maybe???
 
Hi, I am new to this site so bear with me.
I live in Ireland , Bray Co Wicklow about 20km from Dublin.

I have purchased a Humax FOXSAT-HDR Freesat+ 320GB HD Digital TV Twin Tuner HD Recorder - and will have a local man install it for me.( Seperate aerial for Irish channels required)
Can anyone suggust which is the best UK post code to imput in order to get the best HD,I do not want to use the NI post code, no bad reason just that i think I would prefer A London region programes,
Brayman.
 
The separate aerial for terrestrial is irrelevant to the HDR as it doesn't contain an RF modulator and has no terrestrial aerial loop-through.

I've seen somewhere a post that if you type in FREESAT for your postcode that it gives you the London channels
 
Without the aerials no good recption of Irish tv which is important to us, cost us a bit more to install but that's the way it is over here.

My main concern is this Post Code and which one will effect the best recption on freesat with the Humex HD.
I have read that sone regions in the UK have better HD recption than others.
Has anyone any suggustions
 
I always use W1A 4WW, the BBC in Portland Street, London. :)
 
I'm pleased that I started this new thread, all of my questions have been answered & I thank all of you who have helped.
As I mentioned in my initial posting, most of the answers I was looking for were lurking in all of the earlier Threads but tracing them would have been, for me, quite a task.
The way this thread has suddenly changed subject is a fair example of how difficult it can be to trace information on a particular subject at a later date.
Please don't think that I'm pointing an accusing finger at anyone but merely indicating how quickly a subject can drift quite dramatically.
Once again many thanks for all of your help Guys.

Cheers
John
 
I was looking for this thread yestrday but couldn't find it http://www.satellites.co.uk/forums/freesat/127201-itvhd-scotland-ireland.html. This gives some alternative postcodes to try-

>snip<

Anglia NR1 3JG
Border CA1 3NT
Central B1 2JT
Channel JE1 3ZD
Granada M60 9EA
HTV Wales CF5 6XJ
London WC1X 8XZ
Meridian ME14 5NZ
HTV West BS4 3HG
Westcountry PL7 5BQ
Tyne Tees NE11 9SZ

>snip<
 
DJP said:
Not being based in the UK is my main problem. The person who arranged & pays my Subscription is always moaning about the continual Hurdles that he has to overcome with Sky. They continually fail o understand that his 2 Subscriptions are for a Digibox at "Home" & another in a "Caravan".
He complains to me on a regular basis about the "hassle" that Sky puts him through & threatens to cancel my Subscription.
Although I enjoy the extra "Encrypted" Sky Channels the Channels I watch most are among the Unencrypted.
I think that 200+ Pounds for a Foxsat with good EPG is cheap for the peace of mind it would represent.
Click to expand...

If you can live without the EPG given by the Freesat group (how often would you use it anyway?) then a European HD receiver with USB connector (or SATA if you prefer) plus an old hard drive , would give you the recording facility on a low budget
 
Well, I already have a Humax ICord HD with record facility; which was not cheap.
This has a very limited Program guide which shows just the following Program & no description.
Other than that the ICord is all singing & dancing with all the connectivity you can think of with the exception of not being to download onto an external hard drive in HD, I think.
However the EPG on the Sky HD+ Digibox is very user friendly.
That shows all of the coming Programs & all I have to do is click on the the Record Button & the required Program will be recorded.
I'm hoping that the new Freesat Humax will have similar facilities plus the I Player facility mentioned in the Pre-launch blurb.
I find the EPG absolutely essential for a quick check through to see what's on.
No TV Times or English Daily Papers here!
The only other alternative I have is to have the Laptop running to see the Program Guides (with Program description) that are on the Internet; now that's a bit messy.
Many thanks for giving my questions your attention.

Cheers
John
 
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