Free to Air vs Freesat

[GeoffS]

Are there subtle differences between these 2 terms/services or are they just used interchangeably?

[RichW]

Freesat is a company that markets a group of channels to the UK and provides the EPG (electronic programme guide), teletext etc for them. You need a Freesat decoder in your receiver to get the services they offer especially the HD channels.

However most the channels are available free to air, plus a load of ones you probably would not want watch, and all you need to receive them is a satelite receiver without the decoder.

[GeoffS]

Freesat is a company that markets a group of channels to the UK and provides the EPG (electronic programme guide), teletext etc for them. You need a Freesat decoder in your receiver to get the services they offer especially the HD channels.

However most the channels are available free to air, plus a load of ones you probably would not want watch, and all you need to receive them is a satelite receiver without the decoder.

 

OK thank you.

 

So basically its that the 'box' for freesat will be a bit more expensive due to a decoder for the EPG and that you get n EPG of course.

 

What I have also noticed during research is that Freesat do not list Sky News as a channel (but provide a method to add it manually) where as a FTA receiver shows it.

 

Also I have just looked at 'Freesat from Sky' where you buy a card but that also doesnt have Sky News.

[Offcumden]

I'm by no means an expert, but for what its worth, we had a free to air satellite box which was able to receive Sky news.

When it gave up the ghost a couple of months ago we purchased a freestat box which also enables us to receive all the channels we were able to receive with the previous box including Sky News however Sky Sports News is no longer free.

John

[twbm]

Free to Air comes from terrestrial sites. Free Sat comes from a satellite. Different kit, different aerials, different coverage.

[Offcumden]

Free to Air comes from terrestrial sites. Free Sat comes from a satellite. Different kit, different aerials, different coverage.

I beg to differ

John

[GeoffS]

As I started this I have tried to look into it a bit more!

 

Free to Air seems to be a general term for any free broadcasts be they Terrestrial or Satellite.

 

Freeview is an organisation that supplies FTA Digital Terrestrial programmes

 

Freesat is an organisation owned jointly by BBC and ITV to supply FTA Satellite programmes (hence they don't as standard list Sky News although it is available). As said above they provide an advanced EPG.

 

'Freesat from Sky' is a service to supply free channels via an existing Sky box for a one off payment of £25.

 

Then there are pure Satellite receivers that will pick up any free channels, eg that come with a Maplins 'suitcase set' and have a basic EPG.

 

Why I was looking was to help a friend to replace a Sky subscription with a basic service in the cheapest possible way.

[twocvbloke]

I beg to differ

John

 

Same here...

 

Free To Air = Channels available without the need for a subscription or any form of decryption, on all platforms

Free To View = Channels available for free but require authorisation via a card (such as FreesatFromsky)

Freesat = a Public Access service provided via satellite with a selection of channels arranged into a user-friendly channel guide

Freeview = as above, but via terrestrial

FreesatFromSky = allows access to a few FTV channels (reginalised broadcasts from BBC, ITV & C4, access to channel 5, sky three, and some other sky channels), requires a sky box and a sky card, channels are not arranged in a user friendly manner and are full of crap TV (shopping, dating, religion, adult, etc.).

 

Sorry to repeat that info, but satellite TV is a hobby (well, a hobby on hold) for me, and people getting the info wrong gets annoying at times...

 

A Freesat-like setup can be achieved using a cheap FTA box, but you have to have a bit of knowledge about frequencies and channel names to get the "hidden" transmissions (e.g. Channel 5 is both encrypted and FTA, the latter is "hidden" from sky boxes and accessed by Freesat boxes), aswell as know how to operate your box properly and arrange the channels in the way you want them...

 

Speaking of satellite stuff, I should sort out that sky+ box of mine and refit it's 40GB HDD (nabbed it to go in my PC, now have a bigger one to replace it), aswell as dig out my 60CM "old sky" dish, that they used before switching to digital and the minidish, and test the lot ('cept the sky+ recording functions, cos sky sucks in that regard)...

[twbm]

Fair cop - mixed up Free to Air with Free View.

[hilaryb]

Best system p,ease for my boat.. Have a freesat TV with a satellite dish but ancient dish not always picking up,when out on the cut.

[Keeping Up]

I've got an old Sky box but no card and it won't receive ITV any more. I've been told it is now encrypted but I could get it with a "Freesat from Sky" card. Can anyone confirm this? I used to have one but it self-destructed when I tried it in a different box (I have one on the boat and one in the house)

[Dave Payne]

I've got an old Sky box but no card and it won't receive ITV any more. I've been told it is now encrypted but I could get it with a "Freesat from Sky" card. Can anyone confirm this? I used to have one but it self-destructed when I tried it in a different box (I have one on the boat and one in the house)

http://www.sky.com/shop/freesat/home/

 

£25

[OldGoat]

Keeping Up, on 19 Apr 2016 - 9:59 PM, said:

I've got an old Sky box but no card and it won't receive ITV any more. I've been told it is now encrypted but I could get it with a "Freesat from Sky" card. Can anyone confirm this? I used to have one but it self-destructed when I tried it in a different box (I have one on the boat and one in the house)

That's strange, I always thought the 'major' channels were all Free To Air - and that includes ITV.

Looky here for a list (though being Wikipedia may not be accurate....):-

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_free-to-air_channels_at_28%C2%B0E

This one confirms the above:-

http://www.ftasat.co.uk/

There are some channels which are Free To View which used to include C5 - so you needed a Sky card.

 

We moved over to Freesat boxes (Humax) a while ago as you can watch anything you've recorded without "being connected to Sky" - we take our dish down while cruising.

 

Summat wrong somewhere!!

[Dave Payne]

Thats sky for you!

 

I think you can watch the freesat channels, but not the freeview channels, but it does mean a one off cost for a card.

[b0atman]

I have a Snipe auto dish twin LNB the dish aligns with GPS. I have a recording receiver which enables viewing and recording any channel at same time .when out I do not always need dish as lots of recorded programmes on the hard drive.

[OldGoat]

b0atman, on 22 Apr 2016 - 4:06 PM, said:

I have a Snipe auto dish twin LNB the dish aligns with GPS. I have a recording receiver which enables viewing and recording any channel at same time .when out I do not always need dish as lots of recorded programmes on the hard drive.

My bad explanation - If you have Sky (and either a full subscription or a modified box) you can't watch a recorded program if your dish is not lined up.

If you have a freesat box you can watch any recorded programme that's on it's hard disk. Quire useful if you happen to moor where there's no signal.

[The Lockie]

Thats sky for you!

 

I think you can watch the freesat channels, but not the freeview channels, but it does mean a one off cost for a card.

 

One off cost?? Have read on some satellite tv forums that you jeed ;o occasionaly buy a new card when they update stuff... We ended up going the free sat route with hd and ability to pause rewind and record its pretty much like Sky...I got so pixxed off with sky that i would never again give them any of my hard earned cash!!

[Keeping Up]

That's the point, I don't want to give any of my cash to Sky for a card, if that's not the problem.

[OldGoat]

The Lockie, on 22 Apr 2016 - 10:00 PM, said:

One off cost?? Have read on some satellite tv forums that you jeed ;o occasionaly buy a new card when they update stuff... We ended up going the free sat route with hd and ability to pause rewind and record its pretty much like Sky...I got so pixxed off with sky that i would never again give them any of my hard earned cash!!

 

In theory - no - Sky reserve the right to change the cards - but IMHO they've not done so. I've a stack of hacked Pace boxes and both the old blue and later white cards still work on FTA channels. Sky has the nicer EPG than Freesat but not much else.

 

Humax Freesat boxes are available cheaply on eBay and they're pretty solid