…. and needs replacing.

I have been happy with Freeview and my lovely Humax box works well (though a bit slow at times) but I'm wondering ….. rather than just replace the aerial for over £100 (needs two points at opposite ends of the house), why not go Freesat?

Has anyone made this change and how do you go about it? I'm presuming you have to buy a new Humax box – for the main TV – and another smaller box for the other room? Anyone experienced costs for having the Freesat signal delivered to two points withing the house?

TV is not HD but I don't want to wait until the TV packs up and then find I can't afford to do it all in one hit. The aerial is the current priority, so would upgarde to Freesat make sense now?

Cheers,

You just need a dish with [at least] dual outputs on the LNB & then run separate cables to each point
Then you'll need 2 Freesat boxes

Cheers uplink (how appropriate!)

Any idea on cost and any rogues out there to avoid? I don't do DIY – particularly where ladders are concerned! 😕

Ta.

Where do you live?

Ton would probably be the best source for the kit

Ah yes … location make a lot of difference. Tunbridge Wells ……

Is it something you can install yourself? I presume I will need to know where the satellite is and which wall would be the best to install the dish on. Do I need to be aware of planning regs? The house isn't listed or in any such area, so I'm assuming no?

Cheers again.

Can't help with any recommendations anywhere near Tunbridge Wells I'm afraid

DIY isn't too bad – the satellite is at 28.2°E of South so currently [from where you are] a bit higher than the sun at 10am [ish]
If you're not happy with ladders though ……..

satcure is a good resource for fitting connectors etc.

BTW – if you get Humax HDR boxes, you can get iPlayer – other boxes will follow quite soon though, just get something that's compatible

Planning shouldn't be an issue

I was going to get freesat before I realsied freeview HD was on the way.

freeview HD

I'd wait and see how good/bad freeview HD turns out, and maybe wait for 2nd Gen boxes……………..

Sorry to hijack, but I've got an aerial that gets fairly crappy reception. short of calling the local aerial bloke, any tips to get it working?

Most aerial problems are down to water ingress/poor connectors – check for this first

No worries on the hijack – more the merrier.

Agree that most problems are due to water ingress/poor connectors and I know this is my problem. The aerial has been on the roof for well over 30 years and was suggested for replacement when we went Freeview many years back. Now the cables have rotted, might as well replace the rusty iron while someone is up there.

Interesting point on the Freeview HD and this may be the solution. Anyone know if the current Humax Freeview boxes will cope with the Freeview HD data?

Thanks for all the replies – much appreciated.

Anyone know if the current Humax Freeview boxes will cope with the Freeview HD data?

no they won't

So a new Humax box is required, regardless of which option I take.

Good to know.

Ta.

You don't have to go with Humax – although I would 🙂

I'd go with Freesat over Freeview purely for the iPlayer content
I run both so it'll be good to see how the Freeview HD performs – I have my doubts that they'll have enough bandwidth for a decent level of error correction but we'll see.

a new UHF aerial is going to be ~£150 fitted so it's a good bit cheaper than going Freesat

purely for the iPlayer content

Eh? Have Freesat box and am now wondering about iPlayer content!

Which box have you got?
Has it got a RJ45 [network] connector?

I looked into this recently and found that Freeview had a better selection of channels than Freesat, not as many but better quality IMO.

I am also going to wait until Freeview HD becomes freely available before upgrading.

Which box have you got

Bush Freesat (not HD) and it would appear it has an ethernet connector.

Over Christmas finally 'upgraded' to a flat screen so there has been a lot of head scratching about connectors, freeview vs freesat etc etc! I am quite good at mechanical stuff like bikes, cars not so hot on the TV/PC side of things.

It's only available at the moment [still in beta] on the Humax – others will follow quite soon but will probably need an – over the air – software update from the manufacturer when it is out in the wild

Theres a good satellite place in southborough been there many years worth a try. Near Tesco's mini

Thanks Johnny – I know the place, as I bought my first (and it is still going) surround sound system from there. Had forgotten about until you mentioned it.

Cheers,

Thanks uplink.

uplink – Mine is in the loft and I recently recabled it so it SHOULD be okay.