Hi All

I have an old skybox with freesat and its fine for the limited amount of TV i watch. Occasionally it would be nice to record stuff.

I would like a recorder that will do a series link kinda thing and be able to record one channel whilst watching another

Bear in mind I still have my VHS recorder so its been awhile since I upgraded! but my Tv is quite new

what the **** can i get without spending a huge stack?

Ta

Humax sometimes sell reconditioned freesat PVRs, I think that’s what they’re called.

not a cheap option though!

Was looking at this a while ago. Still haven’t done anything due to other priorities!

Around £250 from memory?

http://www.humaxdirect.co.uk/product.asp?ProdRef=10105

Cheers CG

This concerns me though

Requires a working dual LNB satellite dish (Not Aerial)

The dish is as installed by sky when freesat first came out no idea if its a dual one and its high up on the roof!

I guess the dual bit is important?

I’ve got a tesco own brand (Technika) and it’s ok but not great. It does do HD, dual tuner, series link, iPlayer, etc., but it does have a few issues. Cheap, though.

The LNB is the bit on the end of the pole that points back at the dish, can you get a look at it out of a window or something?

most modern dishes come with quad LNB’s like this available through Amazon for £8.50

I would expect it is aking for a dual LNB as you will be expected to run a pair of cables back from the dish to the box. If this is the case it may be cheaper to buy a kit with the correct cable like this one from ebay

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sky-Zone-2-Satellite-Dish-Quad-LNB-20-meters-Cable-Kit-/310290735240?pt=UK_ConEle_SatCableFreeview_RL&hash=item483ec4e088

Gawd
Am I actually going to have to visit one of them olde shoppe things

I have a phobia you know (really really hate shopping!)

Cheers Rusty
The dish must be 8 years old i reckon

Its pretty hard to get at as its on a chimney stack but i’ll get my binos out!

Look at the back of the Sky box – mine had two cables running into it, so I just plugged them into the Humax and bingo!

I got a reconditioned Humax 500Gb HD box – £180 down from £250 I think. Looks like new, has a year’s warranty. Certain Humax boxes will let you record one channel and watch one of a limited range of other channels simultaneously with only one feed (or record two channels and watch a third with a dual feed).

Requires a working dual LNB satellite dish (Not Aerial)

A single input and a short cable bridging to the second tuner will work fine. You won’t be able to record and watch all channel combinations, but other than that, there is no difference.

I’ve moved to a Samsung box, after my Humax OS fried itself and Humax didn’t want to know. Superior OS, and faster too. Also the remote controls my Samsung TV (if that’s important to you). £200. I still have a Humax non recording HD box, and the PVR remote is programmable for Amp, DVD, TV and satellite box.

DJ

A single input and a short cable bridging to the second tuner will work fine.

So you mean I buy a splitter adapter kind of thing, and just plug it into both scarts on the new box

I am sure my box only has one cable going to it

Told you I was a numpty at this!

Not scarts – it bridges the ‘LNB in’ sockets. Looks like a lower case ‘h’ where your cable from the dish plugs into the top of the ‘h’ and the two bottom bits of the ‘h’ plug into your LNB in sockets on the box.
This is where a picture would be more useful I imagine…

Rogg
ok cheers i’ll have a look tonight

bloody technology it does make me wonder if this is really a step forward!

If you buy the Humax box you get the cable with it – if you have a single line from the dish you use it, if you have dual line you don’t need it.

Ah that makes sense

Thanks Rogg