Headlines - Freesat: BBC and ITV launch free HD service

[Bob Crabtree]

Ah something to hook up to my old Sky+ dish. excellent.

But is it?

There's nothing I can see on the freesat site or on Humax's site about what satellites are being used.

And a Google search doesn't come up with the answer, either.

[directhex]

But is it?

There's nothing I can see on the freesat site or on Humax's site about what satellites are being used.

And a Google search doesn't come up with the answer, either.

enormous hours-long research incoming. soonish.

[directhex]

I forget precisely which thread this is meant to be in, but for those currently using FTA, here's the list of CURRENT (May 7th) frequencies etc in use for Freesat. This assumes my data is accurate & up to date (no promises)

TV services (60 channels including regional variations):
Astra 2A (28.2°E) 11954 H tp 13:
BBC News 24
BBC Parliament

Astra 2A (28.2°E) 12168 V tp 24:
Channel 4

Astra 2A (28.2°E) 12422 H tp 37:
B4U
Bid TV
Price-Drop TV
QVC UK
S4C Digidol
S4C Dau Two
Teachers TV

Astra 2D (28.2°E) 10729 V tp 42:
E4
(E4 +1)
Film 4
(Film 4 +1)
More4
(More4 +1)

Astra 2D (28.2°E) 10758 V tp 44:
CITV
ITV1 Anglia
ITV1 Central
ITV1 Granada
(ITV1 London)
ITV2
ITV4
Men & Motors

Astra 2D (28.2°E) 10773 H tp 45:
BBC1 London
BBC1 Northern Ireland
BBC2
BBC3
BBC4
CBBC
CBeebies

Astra 2D (28.2°E) 10803 H tp 47:
BBC1 Scotland
BBC1 Wales
BBC2 Northern Ireland
BBC2 Scotland
BBC2 Wales

Astra 2D (28.2°E) 10832 H tp 49:
ITV1 Border
(ITV1 Central East)
(ITV1 Thames Valley)
ITV1 Wales
(ITV1 West)
(ITV1 Westcountry)

Astra 2D (28.2°E) 10847 H tp 50:
(BBC1 Cambridge)
BBC1 Channel Islands
BBC HD

Astra 2D (28.2°E) 10906 V tp 54:
Channel TV
ITV3
ITV3 +1
STV Grampian North
STV Scottish East
STV Scottish West
Ulster TV

Eurobird 1 (28.5°E) 11343 V tp C4:
(Babestation)
(Babeworld TV)
(Fizz)
(House of Fun TV)
(My Channel)
(NDTV Imagine)
(Performance Mainstreet)
(Psychic Interactive TV)
(Raj TV)
(Sex Station)
(Sumo TV)
(South Africa Direct)
(The Baby Channel)
(The Chat Lounge)
Zone Romantica UK

Eurobird 1 (28.5°E) 11344 H tp C3:
(Bangla TV)
(Blue Kiss)
(DM News Plus Global UK)
(Essex Babes)
(LivexxxBabes)
(Party People)
(Price Crash 2)
(Real Estate TV)
(Sumo TV +1)
Wedding TV UK

Eurobird 1 (28.5°E) 11642 V tp D10S:
(Anime Central)
(Bliss)
Chart Show TV
(Flaunt)
(Flaunt +1)
(Flava)
(NME TV)
Pop!
(Pop! +1)
PopGirl
Scuzz
Tiny Pop
(Tiny Pop +1)
True Movies
True Movies 2
The Vault

Eurobird 1 (28.5°E) 11681 V tp D12S:
Al Jazeera English
(Babecast)
(God TV Europe)
(God TV UK & Ireland)
(Information TV)
(Peace TV)
(TBN Europe)

Eurobird 1 (28.5°E) 12523 H tp F1L:
(AIT International)
(BEN)
(Daystar TV)
(EWTN UK)
(Information TV)
Movies4Men
(Movies4Men +1)

Eurobird 1 (28.5°E) 12560 V tp F2U:
(Best Direct)
(Best Direct+)
Bubble Hits
EuroNews
(Fame TV)
JML Lifestyle
Overseas Property TV
(Real Estate TV +1)
(Thomson TV)
(Travel Channel)
(Travel Channel 2)
(Wedding TV UK +1)
Zone Thriller

Services in (italics) are on the same transponder, but are NOT marked as Freesat services on the Freesat website (they may not be visible with a Freesat box, then again, they may, as may other FTA channels)

Interactive & Radio later tonight.

[Bob Crabtree]

directhex,

Another skimpy and quite useless reply!



But, being serious for a moment, does all the info you've provided actually answer my question about dangel's supposition?

Can one use an existing Sky dish to get the new non-Sky freesat service?

[directhex]

directhex,

Another skimpy and quite useless reply!



But, being serious for a moment, does all the info you've provided actually answer my question about dangel's supposition?

Can one use an existing Sky dish to get the new non-Sky freesat service?

definitely yes - but it may cause warranty issues of some kind (e.g. your dish warranty may not be valid with a non-sky box)

for what it's worth

oh, i found e4/more4. updating list.

[Bob Crabtree]

I thank you!

[baius]

Uh, wouldn't the Sky dish need to be "re-aligned" to another Satelite?? (I.e. I don't think it'll work "natively" with the BBC-HD service.)

Any idea whether/when I can get this hooked up to VMC?

[directhex]

Uh, wouldn't the Sky dish need to be "re-aligned" to another Satelite?? (I.e. I don't think it'll work "natively" with the BBC-HD service.)

Any idea whether/when I can get this hooked up to VMC?

no. freesat and sky both operate on the 28E cluster - Astra2A, Astra2B, Astra2C, Astra2D, and EuroBird 1

[Bob Crabtree]

This is GREAT info!

Now all we need is feedback from someone who's actually connected one of these new BBC/ITV freesat boxes to a Sky dish!

[mark22]

I would suggest looking here:

Wizard Satellite, Satellite receivers, dishes, lnbs and equipment

before buying a freesat box as these do the same and a lot more.

[Funkstar]

Although updated software on them, they won't be able to deal with ITV HD. They may also struggle with the 7 Day EPG, it depends on what format that is broadcast in. Oh, and same goes for the interactive stuff, do these boxes have MHEG 5?

[mark22]

Well I'm not really sure about it all, I've just recently canceled sky and a friend suggested this. You can get lots of foreign HD channels that broadcast in english as well as there own language and it's the same one off payment. The software internet updates also seem a great feature to me. I'm just suggesting it's worth looking into as an alternative, I got fed up paying for sky and never really watching much on it.

[mikerr]

I can confirm you can use all your existing sky disk & cabling if you like, just replace sky box with freesat box.

Why do this? Well its a way of getting HD without paying a sub (admittingly only really BBC HD for now).

Also if you have a sky+ box and have let the subscription lapse, your sky+ box is only using one tuner, so you can use the 2nd feed for a freesat box.

[directhex]

Although updated software on them, they won't be able to deal with ITV HD. They may also struggle with the 7 Day EPG, it depends on what format that is broadcast in. Oh, and same goes for the interactive stuff, do these boxes have MHEG 5?

indeed, linked are a number of FTA boxes (you can find a few in your local maplins), whereas Freesat boxes contain a full MHEG stack and can decode the compressed EIT streams with the 7-day EPG in them

[Funkstar]

FTA kits can also be had from B&Q for about £60.

[baius]

no. freesat and sky both operate on the 28E cluster - Astra2A, Astra2B, Astra2C, Astra2D, and EuroBird 1

I appreciate your clarification on that, directhex.

It sounds like a good option, then, to get one satelite, with a few feeds coming off it - a 'lil cheeky, perhaps, but who cares.