After 22 years, I've cancelled Sky TV and I don't think I'm going to miss it.

[Spoked Wheels]

The Humax box seemed to be generally accepted as the best option, but they stopped making them a while ago now, something to maybe bear that in mind if buying one.

If you've got a terrestrial digital aerial, then you can use a Freeview/Freeplay box like THIS.

I've got the same 'dilemma' in so much as I want to cancel Virginmedia entirely, (TV, Phone & Broadband*), but we are also heavily reliant on the functionality of the Tivo box.
*still need broadband, mainly for TV streaming, but can't be tied into a contract as we want to move, so that's another problem! Might have to see if I can reduce the BB cost with VM without being shackled to them.

I don't have a terrestrial aerial, only an old Sky dish with 3 cables off it, (2 from when I used to have Sky and one for Freesat), and the Virgin cable.
I was going to get a Humax box and that's when I found out Humax had lost/stopped their contract with Freesat. Another company, COMMSCOPE, (formerly Arris), are/were apparently making a new Freesat recorder which was scheduled for launch in March IIRC. They appeared briefly on Amazon then disappeared as quickly as they arrived, so far never to be seen again AFAIK, so don't know what happened there?

Well then - Just looked at a LINK from the FREESAT website to Currys and they now have 3 recordable Freesat boxes available, 500GB, 1TB and 2TB, I've not looked for a few weeks so these must be brand new to the market.

I was resigned to getting an aerial fitted and getting a Freeview/Freeplay recordable box, but now I've seen these new ones I think that might be the way I'll go. From what I can gather Freesat offers more than Freeview, but there are pros and cons with both as well.

The Manhattan looks like an interesting proposition and it would solve the problem I think.

Talking to my wife about this she suggested I should find a way of replacing the other satellite receiver ( my wife watches Spanish channels and for that she has a satellite receiver that has worked faultlessly for many years)

It seems that Humax did one but it's quite old.... so I could connect an external roof aerial and a satellite cable. I'm wondering if anybody knows of other that would do this job.

 

[Mrs M]

Mr M cancelled Sky at the start of last year, had it since 1995.
Now have IPTV instead.
Find I hardly watch any TV now.
Mr M will put on a film, etc. but I don’t bother.

 

[Milzy]

It's rubbish. Well done.

 

[Mike_P]

The older Humax PVR box is the Foxsat, if you just want it to record and are not bothered about apps on a box it's fine. There are stacks on eBay including a manufacturer's refurb at £29.99.

 

[geocycle]

We cancelled sky 2 years ago and swapped to BT as we couldn’t have a dish in new house. Have to say Sky was better. we watch nothing live apart from sport which we use Now TV for, so content wise there is no real difference. I much preferred the sky recorder to the BT one. The BT is a bit cheaper per month.

 

[Noodle Legs]

I’ve sacked it all off- I don’t watch the news as it’s just sensationalist mind control (and genuine news you always get to hear about without a channel) sports are just reruns, never had movies and the entertainment channels are repetitive drivel and box sets I can get through Netflix, prime or iptv. If i want to watch a live sport event (not likely atm) I can go to the pub and/or watch through other means.....

 

[Spoked Wheels]

The Humax box seemed to be generally accepted as the best option, but they stopped making them a while ago now, something to maybe bear that in mind if buying one.

If you've got a terrestrial digital aerial, then you can use a Freeview/Freeplay box like THIS.

I've got the same 'dilemma' in so much as I want to cancel Virginmedia entirely, (TV, Phone & Broadband*), but we are also heavily reliant on the functionality of the Tivo box.
*still need broadband, mainly for TV streaming, but can't be tied into a contract as we want to move, so that's another problem! Might have to see if I can reduce the BB cost with VM without being shackled to them.

I don't have a terrestrial aerial, only an old Sky dish with 3 cables off it, (2 from when I used to have Sky and one for Freesat), and the Virgin cable.
I was going to get a Humax box and that's when I found out Humax had lost/stopped their contract with Freesat. Another company, COMMSCOPE, (formerly Arris), are/were apparently making a new Freesat recorder which was scheduled for launch in March IIRC. They appeared briefly on Amazon then disappeared as quickly as they arrived, so far never to be seen again AFAIK, so don't know what happened there?

Well then - Just looked at a LINK from the FREESAT website to Currys and they now have 3 recordable Freesat boxes available, 500GB, 1TB and 2TB, I've not looked for a few weeks so these must be brand new to the market.

I was resigned to getting an aerial fitted and getting a Freeview/Freeplay recordable box, but now I've seen these new ones I think that might be the way I'll go. From what I can gather Freesat offers more than Freeview, but there are pros and cons with both as well.

I've been looking on ebay and Currys for a box that can accommodate the two Satellite dishes, one for Freesat and one for the Spanish channels on Hotbird.... and I'm confused.

I found this that I think would work.... https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ax-HD61-...-Drive-/293548923085?var=&hash=item4458e118cd

I wrote to the seller but it's a German seller and I wrote to him in English and he's not replying

Do you think this could handle the freesat and hotbird satellite?

 

[smokeysmoo]

I've been looking on ebay and Currys for a box that can accommodate the two Satellite dishes, one for Freesat and one for the Spanish channels on Hotbird.... and I'm confused.

I found this that I think would work.... https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ax-HD61-...-Drive-/293548923085?var=&hash=item4458e118cd

I wrote to the seller but it's a German seller and I wrote to him in English and he's not replying

Do you think this could handle the freesat and hotbird satellite?

I have to be honest, my earlier post may of suggested I'm more technically minded than I actually am

You've gone beyond my meagre comprehension now SW

Maybe try the German seller again but whirl your message through Google TRANSLATE first

I've still not made any decisions yet, mainly because of Broadband as I don't, or rather can't tie into a new contract as we want to move from here in the none too distant.

 

[ColinJ]

I've been looking on ebay and Currys for a box that can accommodate the two Satellite dishes, one for Freesat and one for the Spanish channels on Hotbird.... and I'm confused.

I imagine that all of the international broadcasters use the same standards for their signals ( ?) and if that is true then you need any satellite box with 2 inputs for the signals from the 2 dishes.

Most boxes will have 2 (or more) inputs so you can record 2 (or more) channels at once (from different 'muxes' - you can record 2 signals from the same mux using just one connection, as I discovered when one of my 2 cables pulled out of its plug) from the same dish. In your case you would just connect one dish to one input and the other to the second.

 

[ColinJ]

I think - ha ha!

 

[ColinJ]

Ah, I found THIS - it looks like it shouldn't be difficult!

 

[Kempstonian]

I've been looking on ebay and Currys for a box that can accommodate the two Satellite dishes, one for Freesat and one for the Spanish channels on Hotbird.... and I'm confused.

I found this that I think would work.... https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ax-HD61-...-Drive-/293548923085?var=&hash=item4458e118cd

I wrote to the seller but it's a German seller and I wrote to him in English and he's not replying

Do you think this could handle the freesat and hotbird satellite?

You could try running your letter through Google Translate and then sending it again by email maybe?

 

[Spoked Wheels]

Ah, I found THIS - it looks like it shouldn't be difficult!

Thank you for that

You could try running your letter through Google Translate and then sending it again by email maybe?

Yeah, I should have thought of that

Anyway, I contacted a seller here in the UK and they said yes, it would work fine.... on Satellite on each tuner.

Thank you guys..... your help is very much appreciated.... specifically when it comes to TVs, Receivers, etc. I can just about change a channel
..

 

[Spoked Wheels]

I have to be honest, my earlier post may of suggested I'm more technically minded than I actually am

You've gone beyond my meagre comprehension now SW

Maybe try the German seller again but whirl your message through Google TRANSLATE first

I've still not made any decisions yet, mainly because of Broadband as I don't, or rather can't tie into a new contract as we want to move from here in the none too distant.

After having an extensive look for information on this receiver I changed my mind and I'm going to get a Humax Freesat receiver. The Ax H61 seems very good but there's hardly any information on it, the YouTube videos I found are in Dutch.... a nightmare to sort out if something goes wrong... I can't afford to upset the wife while we are in lockdown... there's nowhere to run

It's the kind of receiver my son would be happy with.... one can install plug in like Kodi and others... really good.

Maybe 15 years ago or more, a friend introduced me to the world of FTV receivers and I bought one, set it up for my wife to watch Spanish channels and I got interested in the free football and films..... then the channels kept changing the goal post to prevent people from watching for free so I actually became really good at beating the barriers they put up... until it was everyday that a new code was needed and eventually they came up with a coding system that nobody could break.
While the fun lasted, I was flasing the system frequently...trying to stay with the changes.... most of the information was in Turkish which was a nightmare but I learned all the secrets of my little decoder....hidden menus, editing the firmware files to make it work for my receiver, etc. BUT now, besides forgetting most of the stuff I just can't be bother to learn the stuff again....it doesn't excite me anymore, must be my age lol.

So in view of all that I'm going for something that is simpler :-)

 

[Notafettler]

An odd time to be cancelling?
Do you like talking to the wife?!
I have Now tv, I should cancel as I rarely watch it or the terrestrial TV.
The now tv when I do watch it AND find something I like, I really enjoy the ability to binge on the series. Soooo I might keep it.