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Dday is 29th Nov. Sky will shut down in the wrighty house. We don't have a TV Ariel. Does apple TV stream domestic channels? Can I use my sky dish for a free sat box, can I use my sky box for a freesat service?
Yes. Some TVs have freesat decoders built in tooCan I use my sky dish for a free sat box,
Chapeau for managing to cancel your Sky!
Buy the Humax Freesat box of your choosing, plug cables in, watch.
I am pretty sure you can use your dish with a freesat box... and well done for leaving the grip of the most dangerous threat to western democracy.
Dish you can use, sky box I'm not sure what you'll get. I know that sky+ boxes stop functioning once you cancel but a free-sat box / freesat recorder connected to the existing dish will work fine. You'll need two cables running from the dish for a recorder though.
Alternatively you can peak through your neighbours curtains.
You can get Freesat channels using your existing sky box. Just need to get a freesat decoder card from Sky.
That's what I use in my caravan.
Can't you just move to the free Sky option ?
http://www.sky.com/shop/freesat/home/
(assuming you have the required Sky box and they don't want it back), £25 on-off payment required.
It's in Sky's interests to keep you as a peripheral "customer".
Edit: As above.
peak through your neighbours curtains.
I [i]really[/i] wouldn't recommend that.
I'm still using the same dish, box, and Sky card.
I just have restricted channels, and obviously can't use the recording or pause features.
I'm using the Humax freesat box on my Sky dish etc.
You can continue to use your sky box but only get basic services.
As above FreeSat box (if not in your tv) - we bought a cheap one £60 odd but frankly it was rubbish. The more expensive ones have recording built in. Not sure about the "two cables" in @macc's post as we just had one normal satellite cable
Streaming. Apple TV does not have the uk channels "built in" but you can stream via your iphone/iPad or your computer to Apple TV. The Free Sat will give you many more channels as only a few channels have apps / web streaming. Apple TV and an iPhone does cool things like give you full BBC iPlayer catchup access, RedBull TV and other movie/tv streaming services but IMO it's not a solution for watching free uk tv
I recently moved into a house with an old weathered looking sky dish outside, connected my old Sky+ box (I haven't been a sky customer for over 3 years) and voila, free to air satellite channels.
Not sure about the "two cables" in @macc's post as we just had one normal satellite cable
You need two cables to record one thing and watch something else at the same time. Single cable is fine if you just want to record stuff when you're out (unless you have a weird DVR that demands two feeds at all times or something, I dunno, anything's possible).
tsk.
Ariel:
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Arial:
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[i]Aerial[/i]:
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Thanks Mogrim
Can you stream UK terrrestrial channels through the likes of a Now TV or Amazon fire TV box?
Thinking about putting a telly in the spare room that would be a ball-ache to wire up an [img] 
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I got a Hummax freest box
very good it is too.
Hmmm no Eurosport on Freesat. therefore no cycling.
That's on ITV4 innit?
Congratulations! Murdock is plenty rich enough without your money.
I have Humax freesat. It is fine.
Hmmm no Eurosport on Freesat. therefore no cycling
Red Bull TV? (not on free sat either but on t'internet) That's where I get my fix.
I meant pro road riding eg TdF etc. It is on itv but the coverage is poo.
Eurosport player for £4.99 a month.
I'm thinking of dropping our (£90 a month) Sky which hardly seems to get used for their basic package, however from the above I reckon the following may be a better option:
Sky freesat (one-off £25)
Netflix £7.49 a month (the girls seem to prefer this anyway for the american shows)
Eurosport player £4.99 a month
That saves £77.50 a month. Thats a lot of gear cables and chain lube!
Question - with the Sky freesat, as I already have a HD Sky box, will I have the recording function enabled?
Question - with the Sky freesat, as I already have a HD Sky box, will I have the recording function enabled?
Pretty sure you need a Sky+ enabled package/contract with Sky to record with your Sky box. I certainly can't use any of those features (record, pause etc.) having connected a Sky+ box to the cable from the dish.
Cancelled my sky a couple of months ago. Watch everything on XBMC and iplayer now. Have far more choice now than I ever had with sky too.
XBMC
I just find Kodi/XBMC a bit of a faff navigating wise but its good, more so for naughty football steams *cough*
Dday is 29th Nov. Sky will shut down in the wrighty house. We don't have a TV Ariel. Does apple TV stream domestic channels? Can I use my sky dish for a free sat box, can I use my sky box for a freesat service?
Wrightyson - I was using the Skybox just with the freestuff at first on it and then when I got a new TV I just used the built in Freeview connected to the dish sky put in. I now use the built in Freeview for live TV using the Sky dish or Nowtv/Netflix via broadband for catchup. Sky box was sold as spares on ebay!
I'm using a Roku box for streaming https://www.roku.com/en-gb/
Roku is like Apple TV can't stream domestic TV but can get apps like BBC iplayer and stream live channels that way.
Might be worth thinking about January sales as you're saving £80 a month worth investing in something like a new smart TV that does it all? 🙂
Also don't signup for longer than 3/4 months if buying the NowTV movie package just cancel it after whatever deal you buy into expires and say its too expensive as a reason for leaving; it will offer you it again for three months half price. 🙂
Read? Converse convivially with your family? Or if either of those don't appeal, how about the radio? 😉
Well done for leaving the clutches of the media mogul though 😀
Got our unused sky dish plugged into the back of our Sony TV and it works fine. Aerial is plugged into the BT Youview box. We get ropey reception so can use the sat feed when the aerial drops out.
Only gripe is no built in freesat so we have to use an online EPG from Gracenote on the TV which is a bit sluggish. If you get a TV with freesat built in then you get the nice EPG like you get with Freeview built in for DVB.
The humax fressat box is the obvious choice though as it will record too.
We have full sky package on 25 a month friends and family but won't be paying full whack for a whole load of tosh, we have rubbish signal without a dish. Plan was to just use it for freesat after the year.
We bought a Freesat box that records and sold the skybox on Gumtree.
Then we added Chromecast which gives access to loads of stuff like NowTV, iPlayer, 4OD, RedBull etc. A lot of those are also on our model of Freesat box mind.
If you want to use a tele in another room without a feed, the Chromecast is well worth thinking about too - the TV just needs an HDMI socket and you're away.
Kodi on the Tablet /Laptop and a Chromecast for the tv.
All for the monthly price of sweet F all.
Sorry for the slight hijack but does anyone know what channels you get on Sky Freesat? I can't seem to find a listing.
Re Skyfreesat, I know it was kind of asked above, do you keep the sky interface and recording facility, which lets face it is still the best interface out there
I ditched the full Monty multiroom, all the channels, HD etc with Sky rcently and it came to an end a month ago. An easier decision after working out I'd paid enought to Murdoch over the years to pay for a new car and it didn't seem worth it for the amount of use. It was an interesting experience. After phoning the cancel line, I was immediately offered a third off, without any haggle at all. With a little bit of haggling (it was a slow day..,) I was offered a new high capacity box. I made sure that I requested no comms or marketing on leaving (and they've been true to their word). The result? Well, I did so with trepidation at first, but a month in, I wish I'd done it years ago. We've lost recording, pause and playback of prevously recorded stuff. We can still see all of the traditional terrestrial channel stuff, but strangely not the HD versions of ITV 2, 3, 4. A nice consequence of this is that we now all sit in same room to watch programmes "live" and it's more of an event sitting down for a weekend prog, including kids helping clear dishes etc after tea so that we can all sit down! We have several Apple TVs and that's great for airplaying stuff (iPlayer etc) and Netflix. I thought I'd be rushing out to get a new recorder box thingy, but really don't feel the need. If you've got Sky and paying through the nose for it as I was and thinking of ditching it, do it. Do it now and start saving. Best thing I've ever done, but appreciate that some people watch more TV and might not suit everyone. PS the remotes and Sky+ boxes in other rooms (I know, I know) and magic eyes all still work too, by the way.
PS My son tells me that you can save the free channels in your favourites to make it easier scrolling through them quickly using the blue button. @Mickey74 I won't be on STW for much longer this evening but if you want me to check if a specific channel is still available, post it up and I'll check to let you know. I haven't looked at all channels but can quickly check specific ones if it's helpful to you
When it's cancelled check your account I had a come back with 60% off any sub plus £100 credit I got a new sky has box as well
Also, to state the obvious, if you're staying with Sky, be sure to phone them annually to "cancel" and get the discounts. Even if they call your bluff, you have 28 days to change your mind. I think they thrive on the fact that people still run the same package for years, paying the same inflated figure, without ever questioning it.
Thanks for the offer Tinners, but I wouldn't put you through that. There must be somewhere that gives the available channels.
www.tpb.wherevertheyarehidingatthemoment
And go to the pub/stadium/track to watch football/rugby/racing
edit: stw thinks it's a real webaddress - it's not, it was supposed to be humourous.
NowTV?
Internet options
Virgin Cable
Talk Talk when not hacked
FreeSat via Sky
Ride more?
i don't have a TV.
Best thing i ever did.
I watch the odd tv show when i have time and the odd sport on the lap top via some very good sites.
I did the same thing a few years ago:
Buy a Humax Freesat box - just plug it into the old satellite cables.
Takes minutes and gives you the non-Sky channels, many in HD (which Sky make you pay for), and you can also record programmes.
Buy a Chromecast - this lets you watch iplayer / itvplayer/ Netflix etc from your phone or tablet. We now watch most of our TV this way now.
So does any one have any experience of "Open Box" receivers or sites where i might learn more?
I bought an old sky dish for a fiver off Ebay about 10 years ago and run it with a cheap satellite receiver from Maplins together with one of their motorised turners. I get all the free to air UK channels and all the free to air German channels too (wife is German). Does mean I get Eurosport and all the F1 races live for free 🙂
Recently the motor stuck on the German satellite so I have been watching anything interesting on the UK channels via the computer and casting to the TV if I feel the urge to watch big screen. Works fine.