Looking at getting this sorted for my folks. They already have a Sky dish and decoder, but no longer have a contract with Sky and just use it for free-to-air channels. So I was thinking they might as well get more from the dish, with a bit of HD content etc

So I thought about this from Humax:

Buy HUMAX FOXSAT-HDR | Freesat+ recorder - Digital Recorders | Comet - can also fling the VCR out then as well!

Question is - is there any other cost involved after the box purchase, seeing as they have a dish already? Can the Humax be plugged straight into the coax from the Sky dish, or is there more to it than that?

Cheers,

Steve

no extra costs if you have the right bits to start off with , it plugs straight into the Sky dish , to record 2 channels you will need at least a dual LNB, a quad one would be ok also , giving the option to run Sky+ or Sky+HD in the future

a good selection of the BBC programmes are in HD on a separate channel, ITV have some programmes accessed via the red button available, i generally only watch ITV HD when the footie is on

the Humax box is ok , but all the users have been waiting for a software update since day one, some people have had problems with their boxes, some haven't , mine has been ok

Digital Spy has a forum dedicated to it

oh , and the BBC HD content is encoded , so you can't download it off the HDD and burn it to disc

Cheers for the info Ric. I did think about the LNB issue, as they just have std Sky with a bog-standard box.

Interesting about the Humax box as well. There doesn't seem to be much else available, with a recorder built-in?

Steve

They are not bad Steve, but I have problems recording 2 progs at once

on the odd occasions for some reason.

Panasonic do a nice recorded, with a Blue ray burner too

Looking at getting one of those next

Hey Len - oky doke, will sort one of the Humax ones out then. Are they quiet? Noticeable fan noise?

Think I'll just do one step at a time; they've only just got used to DVD

Steve

Hey Len - oky doke, will sort one of the Humax ones out then. Are they quiet? Noticeable fan noise?

Think I'll just do one step at a time; they've only just got used to DVD

Steve

No nosie from mine Steve, and in many respects, faster than out old Sky HD box

Good to know

And do you think its worthwhile me changing the LNB for a quad version at the same time?

Something like this:

LATEST QUAD SKY DIGITAL LMB SAVE YOUR KIDS FOUR BOXES on eBay (end time 20-Oct-09 02:27:35 BST)

Looks fairly plug and play and if I'm careful with the swap it shouldn't need re-aligning or anything. I also presume that Freesat picks up from the same direction as Sky, or will the existing dish need to be re-positioned?

Cheers,

Steve

No need to re-position Steve

Yep, just swap the LNBs over. No need to align the dish, you will need to run a second cable from the dish.

My parents have the humax and have no issues with it all, it records just fine all the time. The humax PVR is the only freesat PVR currently available.

You could always buy a non recording freesat HD box and just plug that into the current single feed.

Steve, let us know how you get on as might need to do this for my parents as they will be getting an HD tv this Crimbo (I will be the only one in the family still using a CRT tv - booo!). Can't see me persuading them to get Sky even though I like it and my deal with BB, Phone + line rental, and TV is pretty good!

Must sort job then can go TV shopping!!

Will do mate - I'm off to John Lewis tomorrow night to pick up a Humax FreeSat recorder - seemed the best idea as they're the same price everywhere and you get another year's guarantee out of JL.

Steve

a good selection of the BBC programmes are in HD on a separate channel, ITV have some programmes accessed via the red button available, i generally only watch ITV HD when the footie is on

Freesat HD schedules can be viewed here: freesat - Channels - This week's HD listings

I agree with Len, deffo a very quiet unit in operation

i think the only slightly annoying for me , is that the clock isn't displayed when its on standby

The Humax PVR's are the best and quieter than all the others.

Unfortunately Freesat HD is a bit thin on the ground with only BBC (dedicated HD channel) and ITV1 through the red button giving HD programmes, don't expect chan 4 through Freesat. BBC HD channel have a full schedule after 6pm everyday but not the programmes you expect, some are old TV series. ITV1 advertised HD programmes sometimes don't appear at all.

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