Freesat TV

[cotswoldsman]

Just thought I would put up this post to inform those that don't know allready about the new service freesat ( www.freesat.co.uk ) this is the same as feeserve but works with a sat dish meaning that 98% of the country is covered and also means you can receive HD Picture. Like freeserve there is no subsciption just a one off payment for dish and box.

[Chris J W]

Think you meant FreeVIEW not FreeSERVE

 

For me, I'll still wait for the dual-tuner/LNB recorder from Humax. But, now that Channel Four has finally reached Freesat I can get one for my Dad (Whitby still doesn't get Freeview despite having a new transmitter recently installed! )

 

[edit to clarify which Free..... I was talking about - see NBDensie's following post)

Edited May 12, 2008 by Chris J W

[NBDensie]

Think you meant FreeVIEW

 

For me, I'll still wait for the dual-tuner/LNB recorder from Humax. But, now that Channel Four has finally reached Freesat I can get one for my Dad (Whitby still doesn't get Freeview despite having a new transmitter recently installed! )

 

No, the OP meant Freesat. Just to confuse things the same group who run Freeview have just started up an equivalent Sat service they call Freesat (www.freesat.co.uk), not to be confused with Freesat from sky (www.freesatfromsky.co.uk).

[gaggle]

is this a new sat thing by bbc and itv joining forces ?.

edit to add- was told they will not allow sky access to send out programmes on new service.

Edited May 12, 2008 by gaggle

[Chris J W]

No, the OP meant Freesat. Just to confuse things the same group who run Freeview have just started up an equivalent Sat service they call Freesat (www.freesat.co.uk), not to be confused with Freesat from sky (www.freesatfromsky.co.uk).

 

Ah! I was actually claifying FreeVIEW rather than FreeSERVE. I can see how that missread! (Will edit!)

[Geoff]

Can it be picked up on a standard satellite system (I've got the Maplins Camping suitcase one) or do you need to get the proper Freesat /Freeview receiver box ?

 

Cheers

Geoff

Edited May 12, 2008 by Geoff

[Chris J W]

is this a new sat thing by bbc and itv joining forces ?.

edit to add- was told they will not allow sky access to send out programmes on new service.

 

Freesat from Wiki

 

Be interesting to see if the current FreeToAir Sat sets that Maplin (etc) sell will pick-up the same range - think I'll dig my set out later and see.

[Scotty]

Can it be picked up on a standard satellite system (I've got the Maplins Camping suitcase one) or do you need to get the proper Freesat /Freeview receiver box ?

The channels can be picked up with the maplin type system and now that Ch4, more4 and E4 are no longer encripted those systems are even better than before.

An advantage of the new Freesat service is the EPG (electronic programme guide) which makes for a nice user friendly system.

 

 

Other selling points of the Freesat system are the HD channels, infact ITV HD will only be available via Freesat at launch.

As Chris mentioned, there's a dual tuner pvr box (sky plus) comming soon.

They can also have an internet connection, so you could potentialy watch tv on demand from bbc's iplayer.

 

A down side is the lack of subscription service, there seems no provision for adding other channels like Setanta Sports

[Geoff]

The channels can be picked up with the maplin type system and now that Ch4, more4 and E4 are no longer encripted those systems are even better than before.

An advantage of the new Freesat service is the EPG (electronic programme guide) which makes for a nice user friendly system.

 

 

Cheers Scotty

 

Geoff

[Chris J W]

The channels can be picked up with the maplin type system and now that Ch4, more4 and E4 are no longer encripted those systems are even better than before.

An advantage of the new Freesat service is the EPG (electronic programme guide) which makes for a nice user friendly system.

 

Have you actually tried and verified this? Be damn good to know that someone can definitely say "Yes, it does work 'cos I tried it."

 

I tried setting my Maplin lot up, but a severe case of "tree" is blocking the test (and I can't be arsed to move back a ring or two to be clear of the tree! ).

[tidal]

ANY DVB-S. receiver will pick up Freesat but will not pick up the HD stuff.

I have a Lidl version here in Spain (identical in spec to the Maplin one) and it picks it up clear as a bell. (Admittedly I have to use a 2m dish but that is simply down to footprint)

 

(edited for carp typing)

Edited May 12, 2008 by tidal

[bottle]

As an aside, it is not any good getting an HD signal if the TV is not HD ready.

 

There are also recommended minimum and maximum distances to view the screen, depending on size.

 

It varies from 3 to 8 feet minimum to 7 to 16 feet maximum.

 

Another variation is the DPI (dots per inch)

 

I can remember when TV was simple, black & white and five minutes to warm-up.

 

Tv's had lines not dots (great excitement when it went from 405 to 625 and BBC2 started)

[tidal]

I guess we are of a similar vintage then Bottle:

The HD business is much of a muchness to me as I view my tv though my computer monitor and probably wil for some time to come.

 

BTW weren't the lines themselves made up "dots in real terms?"

[Scotty]

Have you actually tried and verified this? Be damn good to know that someone can definitely say "Yes, it does work 'cos I tried it."

I don't actually have the Maplin kit, I use an old sky digibox without a viewing card.

Ch4, five, E4 and More4 used to be encripted so weren't viewable but they've lifted the encription on E4 and More4

There's now a 2nd transmision of Channel 4 at Freq 10729 V 22000 5/6 the Channel ID shows as 8350 on my skybox when stored as an additonal channel

[Keeping Up]

On black-and-white TVs the phosphor was continuous, so there were no dots and the 405 or 625 lines could be positioned anywhere. But then came colour TV, which introduced the dots - effectively pixels - that were illumintaed by shining the electron beams through a "Shadow mask" that was just a solid sheet with holes in it. I've often wondered how many holes and dots there actually were, and how that compares with todays pixel standards.

 

At the time I worked in a small & struggling TV shop that repaired TV tubes by fitting replacement electron guns in them. Recognising that colour TV tubes couldn't be repaired in the same way, the shop owner thought laterally: he had a machine which heated things up and then pumped the air out, so instead of using it on TV tubes he used it to vacuum-form plastic armchairs with small coin-in-the-slot meters and a TV. He sold them to places where people needed to sit and kill time (like airports), made his fortune with 2 yers and retired happily.

[bottle]

Confusion rained,

 

A Sky box will not pick up the new 'Freesat' (BBC/ITV co-owned) but it will receive the 'Sky Freesat'. (Card required for encrypted channels).

 

The new 'Freesat' (BBC/ITV co-owned) will not receive any Sky signals, free or otherwise.

 

To receive any HD signals a dedicated HD box is required, for either.

 

The signals Freesat (BBC/ITV) and Sky both come from the same satellite.

 

The same dish will work with both systems, Think you need a 'twin LNB' to receive both at the same time. (Not delved that far)

 

Panasonic already have Plasma TV's (new models) with built in Freesat (BBC/ITV co-owned) tuners fitted.

 

http://www.freesat.co.uk/

 

http://www.panasonic.co.uk/html/en_GB/7117...ml#anker_711712

 

Sorry do not know about the Maplins/Lidl clones, the dish will be OK but do not know about the tuner.

[Chris J W]

Confusion rained,

 

Yes, somehow you would think they'd come to an agreement (or have one forced upon them by, say, the ASA or OF-who-ever-deals-with-it) to think of differing names! I always wondered why Sky went with "FreeSat From Sky" rather than a simplier "FreeSky" moniker.

 

<snip>

 

Sorry do not know about the Maplins/Lidl clones, the dish will be OK but do not know about the tuner.

 

Next time I've not got a tree in the way I'll try my Maplin box and see what happens. I get the gut feeling that it SHOULD be OK.

 

Edit To Add ... Just been looking at the Maplin Satellite Recievers page, and they've already got several single- and dual-tuner FreeSat(NotSky) PVRs.

 

Nothing that explicitily says "Yes, these are recievers that can recieve all the New FreeSat (Yes, we know there's confusion over all the names) services just released", though.

Edited May 12, 2008 by Chris J W

[saltysplash]

We've had our maplin Kit for a month or so now and so far its been excellent. Its connected to the tv in the bedroom and meant i could enjoy the snooker last week and not distrupt Swmbo's American Trash viewing on the sky set up in the saloon.

 

It does mean we now have 2 sat dish's on the old girl (boat not swmbo) however i connected the sky box upto the Maplin dish today and found it worked perfectly so i now need to find a double connector so that we can dump the proper sky dish in the shed.

 

The freesat stuff is more than ample ive found, with a couple of movie channels thrown in. Not tried to lock onto the european Sats yet.

[Chris J W]

We've had our maplin Kit for a month or so now and so far its been excellent. Its connected to the tv in the bedroom and meant i could enjoy the snooker last week and not distrupt Swmbo's American Trash viewing on the sky set up in the saloon.

 

Have you tried re-scanning the channels on the Maplin kit to see if it now gets Ch4, E4, and More4 unencrypted?

 

I've been wondering if the boxes advertised on the FreeSat site are somehow limited via the Firmware to ONLY show those channels listed and not the rest of the Free-To-Air services? I'd be surprised, too, if they could access other satellites than just the Astra one.

 

In someways that's a good thing as it does clear a lot of the "clutter" you get otherwise.

[saltysplash]

Have you tried re-scanning the channels on the Maplin kit to see if it now gets Ch4, E4, and More4 unencrypted?

 

I've been wondering if the boxes advertised on the FreeSat site are somehow limited via the Firmware to ONLY show those channels listed and not the rest of the Free-To-Air services? I'd be surprised, too, if they could access other satellites than just the Astra one.

 

In someways that's a good thing as it does clear a lot of the "clutter" you get otherwise.

 

 

When I arrived home this morning from work i laid in bed and flicked through the 1999 channels, Yep E4 E4+1 and More4 are there. Not managed to ID Ch4 yet. I do need to re scan the box as most of those 1999 channels are encrypted

[Chris J W]

When I arrived home this morning from work i laid in bed and flicked through the 1999 channels, Yep E4 E4+1 and More4 are there. Not managed to ID Ch4 yet. I do need to re scan the box as most of those 1999 channels are encrypted

 

I shall be jigging around in eager antcipation of the results!

 

(Actually, that's a fib. I'm going to post a topic about mega-wasps, wait a bit, and then go to the pub. But you get the idea!)

[saltysplash]

I shall be jigging around in eager antcipation of the results!

 

(Actually, that's a fib. I'm going to post a topic about mega-wasps, wait a bit, and then go to the pub. But you get the idea!)

 

 

Ah yes, Wasps are getting bigger....must be global warming. Swmbo found one with the sole of her foot the other morning as we were gatting ready for work. Never seen such a fuss over a little sting on the foot....now when I had Emblem I sat on one of the buggers.......now that does hurt and not very accessable.

 

I declined her request to suck out the poison from her trotter as she declined my request to attend to my left cheek.

 

 

Both wasps by the way didnt look too good following their crompessions

[denboy]

just done a channel search on my maplins sat system yes channel 4 is now on it ,,aswell as a few other new channels

[saltysplash]

just done a channel search on my maplins sat system yes channel 4 is now on it ,,aswell as a few other new channels

 

 

Can you remember what channel number its showing?

 

Going for a fiddle shortly

[denboy]

not at the min swmbo watching program and i would sureley die if i turn it over