How to get freeview to work ok

[Merlin4458]

Ok, i got a new 37| panasonic but have just moved into a shared house with others. My room doesnt have an arial port in the wall. My TV has built in freeview but the only way ive know of getting it is plugging it in to the roof arial.

So far at this new place, i know we have cable for ptoential sky or whatever, and theres a sky dish outside my window. The Roof arial doesnt have any wires coming down yet, so guessing thats not been connected.

Any ideas of the best route to go down? Maybe something to do with the sky dish or cable?

Thanks all

[burtie]

You could buy a cheap satellite box and hook it up the the dish to get freeview channels.

[Merlin4458]

Originally Posted by burtie

You could buy a cheap satellite box and hook it up the the dish to get freeview channels.

how does it work? Do i not need a card for the dish to work? or would it simple act a TV arial receiver. How much are the boxes?

cheers

[burtie]

Originally Posted by Merlin4458

how does it work? Do i not need a card for the dish to work? or would it simple act a TV arial receiver. How much are the boxes?

cheers

Well when i take my card out i get just the freeview channels so you don't need a card. You should be able to pick a box up for £20 maybe less on ebay.

[Merlin4458]

Originally Posted by burtie

Well when i take my card out i get just the freeview channels so you don't need a card. You should be able to pick a box up for £20 maybe less on ebay.

so i just need to pick up a sky box? does it come with seperate cables or do i need to buy those? I have an arial lead..

[burtie]

The cable coming from the dish connects into the back of the box. The box should come with everything you need.

[Merlin4458]

ok thanks burtie. Anywhere other than ebay u can suggest buying one from?

[JimmyBoy]

if you've got access to the sat dish why not buy a freesat box.

buying a skybox on ebay afaik would be illegal as the seller would not be authorised to sell it as you dont own the boxes, only lease them from sky.

you could get some nice hd channels for that new 37" panasonic of yours with freesat aswell

[Merlin4458]

how would i set this freesat up? Does the dish need to be connected or soemthing with sky? Cause as far as im aware its jsut the dish. Looks like a few more cables than just s standard arial...

[finlay666]

basically it goes

Satellite dish > sat cable > freesat box > HDMI/scart (depending if you get a HD box) > tv

If the dish is already in place it's pretty easy to do, infact it's pretty easy even if it isn't lol

If you go down the sky route you should get a dummy card too, although you may also get setanta etc on a normal box (note on some of the setanta cards now if you stop paying they dont cut you off it seems)

Actually....which panasonic did you get? some of the new ones have freeSAT (aswell as freeview) built in

[Merlin4458]

Originally Posted by finlay666

basically it goes

Satellite dish > sat cable > freesat box > HDMI/scart (depending if you get a HD box) > tv

If the dish is already in place it's pretty easy to do, infact it's pretty easy even if it isn't lol

If you go down the sky route you should get a dummy card too, although you may also get setanta etc on a normal box (note on some of the setanta cards now if you stop paying they dont cut you off it seems)

Actually....which panasonic did you get? some of the new ones have freeSAT (aswell as freeview) built in

It hasnt got freesat , its the 37PX80B Im not overly fussed about HD channels so i could jsut buy the standard freesat box? Or should i buy a sat box? Any idea where i can get one from? bar ebay?

cheers

[Blackmage]

Originally Posted by Merlin4458

It hasnt got freesat , its the 37PX80B Im not overly fussed about HD channels so i could jsut buy the standard freesat box? Or should i buy a sat box? Any idea where i can get one from? bar ebay?

cheers

For freesat boxes check argos, currys they have plenty.

[directhex]

most freesat boxes are identical and just have different cases though

generally, as people have said, an existing sky dish will JustWork(tm) with a freesat box. plug it in & use it.

[Merlin4458]

but a cheaper alternative would be to get a skybox? Someone mentioned that my dvb on my tv is + and skybox/freesat dvb-? And that it wouldnt work.

Can anyone clear that up?

[directhex]

Originally Posted by Merlin4458

but a cheaper alternative would be to get a skybox?

you won't get any HD if you go this route, FYI. HD via Sky is £10 a month on top of a full-on sky subscription. and you're not meant to resell sky boxes.

Someone mentioned that my dvb on my tv is + and skybox/freesat dvb-? And that it wouldnt work.

Can anyone clear that up?

dvb-t is for aerial-based stuff. in the uk, the only dvb-t service is freeview, which requires a freeview tv or any freeview box.

dvb-c is for cable-based stuff. in the uk, the only dvb-c service is virgin, which is encrypted & requires a virgin contract and virgin set-top box

dvb-s is for satellite-based stuff. in the uk, the main dvb-s service is sky, which is encrypted & requires a sky contract and sky set-top box. a subset of channels is unencrypted, and available via freesat which requires a freesat TV or any non-sky set-top satellite box (preferably a freesat-branded one)

your TV has built-in dvb-t. only a tiny number of models on the market do unencrypted dvb-s (freesat) as well as dvb-t

[shaithis]

Originally Posted by JimmyBoy

if you've got access to the sat dish why not buy a freesat box.

buying a skybox on ebay afaik would be illegal as the seller would not be authorised to sell it as you dont own the boxes, only lease them from sky.

you could get some nice hd channels for that new 37" panasonic of yours with freesat aswell

If only that were true!!

Unfortunately, YOU own the box, not sky. Hence, why after a year it is the customer who needs to pay for repairs to the equipment and not sky.

You can do what ever you want with your Sky box after the first year.