I have seen that more and more material seems to be available in HD now, so

am going to get set up for free-sat in new year, but a couple of questions -

The bungalow we live in gets battered by very strong winds, except for the

far end where there is a sheltered corner, this is where the previous owner had

a Sky sattelite dish fitted, would a free-sat dish face pretty much same way as

a sky dish? This sheltered area, approximately, faces north-east.

The other question, how much more awkward/expensive is it to run two seperate

free-sat boxes off one sattelite to two seperate rooms in the house, an added

complication being an approximate 60 foot run from one to the other.

I'm pretty good with most aspects of AV stuff but have never had any sattelite

tv service before, Cheers:)

Should be easy enough, but you will need the correct LNB with 4 outputs for HD (2 per box)

If the sky dish worked there then so will the freesat one.

Don't forget - you don't get owt for nowt - two output

from one box (unless it has two individual amplified outputs ) means half power to each - so before the spliter you may need a (at least 3.5 dB Amplifier : power ratios are measured in dB = 10 LOG (base10)power out/power in : andlog (base10) 2 =3.5 )

Something the elderly might remember -logs I mean .

You might be better thinking of getting the signal from the aerial to an amplifier (as close as possible to the dish) then thinking of a splitter amp ,or an amp with twin /or more outputs (and possibly a high gain to compensate for cable losses to the furtherest run --signal too high - it's easier to put in an attenuator than amplify a weak signal .But if signal is modestly high -set will compensate via AGC

bUT DON'T /DON'T try to compensatefor a weak signal with amplification - that way all you do is amplify signal and noise :digitally - below a threshold all you do is create noise (the regen looks for spikes above the threshold to regen as signal ,amplify and al you get is extra noise)

Edited 31 December, 200817 yr by VWD

dual or quad LNB from the same Sky satellite dish position would be ideal , and easy to do with the right equipment

Freesat is beamed from the same satellite as Sky so no need to worry about re positioning the dish!

I've got a telly with built in freesat and a Sky + box. 3 Co-ax feeds from the dish (via quad LNB) to the back of the TV stand - job done.

If possible always run a dedicated co ax from the dish to each receiver. Never try and double up or split cables.

Also - if you buy a quad LNB for an existing Sky mini dish make sure its designed specifically for it. If you buy any old LNB for a larger round dish you will pick up noise from the wall around the edges of the smaller mini dish and you could lose the signal during heavy rain.

Cheers all.

Went and bought a couple of the Humax HD Freesat receivers this morning,

going to ring number provided by Comet for dish installation apparently it's about

£70 + extra £10 or so for second connection, I'm guessing they use a local

contractor?

Yeah they used approved contractors according the bumpf on thier site: Freesat Digital Satellite TV Service | Comet advice

I have the Humax freesat box coupled to the origional sky dish and the reception is pretty good. The only downside is that when using HD, i cant really notice any difference between the normal tv and hd. I have a hdmi tv and have used the supplied hd cable, but it still isnt as impressive as i thought it would be:(.I sympathise with you Leeland about the wind , as im pretty high up and we take quite a battering when its blowing a hoolie:thumbup:

Provided everything is set up correctly you should see a big difference between BBC HD and the SD channlels straight away.

I already have a sky dish with 2 cables from it??? on our house. Can we use that for freesat or do we need a new dish?? thanks

Any standard sky dish will work provided the LNB on the end of the dish is ok and the dish itself is pointing where it should be and in good condition. I just attached an extra cable to my Sky dish and it works a treat. I replaced the quad LNB last year so its perfect for the job.

You will obviously require one LNB output per freesat box in addition to any existing outputs in use.

I have the Humax freesat box coupled to the origional sky dish and the reception is pretty good. The only downside is that when using HD, i cant really notice any difference between the normal tv and hd. I have a hdmi tv and have used the supplied hd cable, but it still isnt as impressive as i thought it would be:(.I sympathise with you Leeland about the wind , as im pretty high up and we take quite a battering when its blowing a hoolie:thumbup:

Provided everything is set up correctly you should see a big difference between BBC HD and the SD channlels straight away.

:iagree:

I can definitely tell the difference between an SD and HD broadcasts.

I have the Humax freesat box coupled to the origional sky dish and the reception is pretty good. The only downside is that when using HD, i cant really notice any difference between the normal tv and hd. I have a hdmi tv and have used the supplied hd cable, but it still isnt as impressive as i thought it would be.

If you have a small screen TV then the difference is less apparent. BBC HD on my full HD 42" plasma TV looks stunning compared to normal BBC, however on the 32" LCD downstairs the difference is less apparent because smaller screens dont really show a big difference. There is a difference, and if you have a full HD TV it should be obvious, although you will need to be very close to the small TV to see it.

I have the Humax freesat box coupled to the origional sky dish and the reception is pretty good. The only downside is that when using HD, i cant really notice any difference between the normal tv and hd. I have a hdmi tv and have used the supplied hd cable, but it still isnt as impressive as i thought it would be:(.I sympathise with you Leeland about the wind , as im pretty high up and we take quite a battering when its blowing a hoolie:thumbup:

There is quite a big difference between HD and SD, as others have said, but the biggest problem is a lack of broadcast HD programmes.

BBC HD is ok, but the choice is limited and ITV HD is sporadic to say the least. Hopefully this will change in 2009 with talk of Channel 4HD being broadcast on free-sat and C5 also.

HD schedules on free-sat can be found here: freesat - What's On

.

HD schedules on free-sat can be found here: freesat - What's On

What a crock of ****e

Tbh I'd rather give Sky a tenner a month and be able too watch something,

ITV looks good

BBC looks as though they are having go mind you

What a crock of ****e

Tbh I'd rather give Sky a tenner a month and be able too watch something,

ITV looks good

BBC looks as though they are having go mind you

Trouble is, if you haven't already got Sky, the minimum it's going to cost you is £26.25 a month plus a one off cost of £129 and that means no movie channels or sports channels (:eek:). So Free-sat is a lot cheaper.

But if you already have Sky then you can upgrade to Sky HD for £159 + £9.75 a month - not cheap but there are many more HD channels to watch.

But if you already have Sky then you can upgrade to Sky HD for £159 + £9.75 a month - not cheap but there are many more HD channels to watch.

But whats on them - Simpsons in HD who cares

The only channels worth watching in HD IMO would be Discovery HD and Nat Geo HD but i;m buggered if i'm going to upgrade to SkyHD just for that. There needs to be tons more content before it really takes off.

But it will be naturally limited due to the small amount of shows recorded in HD.

Cheapest sky is £17/month, and if you have Sky, HD upgrade is £100 with the £10/month fee being ended fairly soon

just watched the Preston v Liverpool game on ITV HD ,on the Freesat box, it looked very good

just watched the Preston v Liverpool game on ITV HD ,on the Freesat box, it looked very good

Agreed. Switching between SD and HD really emphasised the difference.

Talking about the types of programmes that work best in HD, generally anything outside seems to benefit. The Oceans series looked wonderful as does (**whispering quietly in case anyone hears**) Gardeners World

(**whispering quietly in case anyone hears**) Gardeners World

i did have a bit of a crush on that Rachel de Thame