Freesat, anyone any experience good/bad?

[Fab Foodie]

I can read all the words......

Not just me then!

 

[PaulSB]

Not just me then!

Nor me.......

 

[ColinJ]

No need to do that even. C4HD is still broadcast on 11126 vertical 22Msym/s but isn't on the Freesat EPG so you'd have to enter its settings as an additional channel.

I can read all the words......

Not just me then!

Nor me.......

The Freesat box normally operates in 'Freesat mode' which uses a standard EPG (electronic programme guide) to enable you to choose what channels to watch or record. Ch4 HD has been removed from that guide so you can no longer select it for live watching or recording. There is a 'non-Freesat mode' which you can switch the box to but you then do not have access to the EPG - you have to manually set up the channel that you want to watch. Doing it that way you can access Ch4 in HD again because it is still being broadcast by the satellite - it just isn't at all convenient to do it!

 

[Fab Foodie]

The Freesat box normally operates in 'Freesat mode' which uses a standard EPG (electronic programme guide) to enable you to choose what channels to watch or record. Ch4 HD has been removed from that guide so you can no longer select it for live watching or recording. There is a 'non-Freesat mode' which you can switch the box to but you then do not have access to the EPG - you have to manually set up the channel that you want to watch. Doing it that way you can access Ch4 in HD again because it is still being broadcast by the satellite - it just isn't at all convenient to do it!

Have you got that with pictures?

 

[ColinJ]

Have you got that with pictures?

Check THIS out! That isn't the way I did it last time I tried. It looks like you can at least save the settings so you don't have to enter them every time.

As for stuff appearing and disappearing from the Freesat box ... I have just noticed that a new app has appeared - UKTV player. I already had iPlayer, ITV Player, and Demand 5. This new player allows On Demand access to Dave, Really, Yesterday and several other channels.

 

[ColinJ]

I just followed those instructions and my setup wasn't quite the same but I eventually worked it out and can now find Ch4 HD on non-Freesat channel 5082. It is fiddly to switch to it [11 ( !) clicks on the remote], but quick to switch back to Freesat mode [2 clicks].

I have been flipping back and forth between the SD and HD versions of Ch4 - I'd forgotten how good it is in HD! I may sometimes be prepared to put up with the ads and watch Ch4 live in HD in future.

 

[PaulSB]

@ColinJ - thank you.

I ditched BT yesterday in favour of Sky broadband which leaves us without a recording box. As we have a smart TV the services which came via the BT box will now come from the TV.

While I've heard hearsay the BT box will still work I have my doubts. Consequently I may be in the market for a box in the future and might get Feesat then although I probably won't need to.

Just waiting to see what happens!! He said nervously. For £43/month saving I can take a few nerves

 

[Milkfloat]

@ColinJ - thank you.

I ditched BT yesterday in favour of Sky broadband which leaves us without a recording box. As we have a smart TV the services which came via the BT box will now come from the TV.

While I've heard hearsay the BT box will still work I have my doubts. Consequently I may be in the market for a box in the future and might get Feesat then although I probably won't need to.

Just waiting to see what happens!! He said nervously. For £43/month saving I can take a few nerves

Your BT box will work perfectly well for recording and catch up services (it is just a Humax box underneath the branding) , you just lose the BT features and channels. Trust me, you won't miss them.

 

[PaulSB]

@Milkfloat - thank you. This confirms again what others have told me and makes perfect sense. I'll report back.

I have been wedded to BT for far too long. Although only 5 miles from the nearest town until recently, perhaps 2-3 years, BT was the only option. We have been paying through the nose. The Sky deal at £25/month for line rental, unlimited broadband and keeping our phine number is going to reduce the bill by £43 from an average of £68/month. Now I'm retired saving nearly £500 pa is very important.

The only BT service we used was to watch tennis, hardly a "service," on Eurosport. My wife is a huge tennis fan and I've found we can have Eurosport for £40pa (women's tennis) and Amazon Prime for £80 (men's and grand slam). It appears the Amazon deal will give us included access to the Kindle service. We are heavy users of this so hopefully more savings. There will also be savings on the few occasions we watch an Amazon film.

 

[mjr]

Check THIS out!

TMN to me! I posted a link to that site on page 1

 

[mjr]

I just followed those instructions and my setup wasn't quite the same but I eventually worked it out and can now find Ch4 HD on non-Freesat channel 5082. It is fiddly to switch to it [11 ( !) clicks on the remote], but quick to switch back to Freesat mode [2 clicks].

Can't you just type in 5082 or are user-defined channels not accessible from "Freesat mode"?

 

[postman]

I am finding this post useful,we are also thinking of dumping Virgin tv and going 'FREE' ,at the moment we are busy tidying up,so in a few weeks we are going to phone Virgin and see what happens.

 

[DaveReading]

Can't you just type in 5082 or are user-defined channels not accessible from "Freesat mode"?

Not without a bit of jiggery-pokery:

How to add non Freesat Channels to the Humax Freesat+ Foxsat HDR Satellite Receiver

 

[ColinJ]

Not without a bit of jiggery-pokery:

How to add non Freesat Channels to the Humax Freesat+ Foxsat HDR Satellite Receiver

That's a very old Freesat box. Mine is newer than the one in the video below, but works the same way. The only way to access the non-Freesat channels is to switch into non-Freesat mode and then you can either scroll through the list of channels using the 'P' up and down buttons OR type in 5082 (Ch4 HD) etc.

It just dawned on me that the music channels that got taken off Freesat are still being broadcast by the satellite so I tuned a couple of them in in non-Freesat mode. It is a bit of a pain to get into non-Freesat mode but once there I can easily scroll to them and then just leave them on in the background the way I used to when they were still on the Freesat EPG.

 

[ColinJ]

I just found THIS LIST of all the free to air (non-subscription) channels on the satellite. Any of those that you fancy which cannot be accessed via the Freesat programme guide could still be watched in the somewhat clunky non-Freesat mode (though NOT recorded if you have a current Humax box).