Steve W-O Posted March 19, 2012 Author Share Posted March 19, 2012 Posted by John Cole on 19/03/2012 10:33:02: Steve and Wingman: Do you need a new box to watch it: maybe, maybe not. I no longer have a Sky box (I use FreeSat now) but my Pace Sky box let me tune to signals NOT on the Sky menu. I used that to watch Meridian. You just key in the stream details (27500 H etc) and it finds it. You then just choose the channel you want. You mention HD: the RTL HD signal is encrypted. A $ky box may well work on manual setup, but you would have to point the dish at Astra 1 Some dedicated freeview boxes will work, some won't, one indication is if they support desq or usals, they probably will. They are fairly cheap, you can get a freeview setup, box dish and cable for £40. You can get a complete HD setup with motorized dish for what most people seem to spend on $ky in two months. It is quite hard to find what you want, I spend weeks looking at all the similar things before buying. Like most, it is very time consuming to sift the info on forums. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete B Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 My current setup is a 70cm dish aligned to Astra 2 with a multifeed-LNB, connected to a Sky Digibox and a Humax HD receiver. I use the Sky box most of the time as the EPG is much more user-friendly than Freesat but watch selected programmes on the HD box. The performance on the Sky box (an old Panasonic Digibox) is quite adequate for most purposes but is left way behind by the bright and vivid picture quality of the Humax receiver. I have a spare mini-dish which I shall align to Astra 1 (19.2E) and connect the LNB cable to the Humax feed using a Diseqc switch, which will allow automatic switching between Freesat and non-Freesat broadcasts on the Humax. Like others, I can then listen to commentary via R5L from the Sky box (using the audio-out) to put it through my audio system, whilst watching the broadcast from the Humax Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Harris - Moderator Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 Posted by FunnyFlyer on 19/03/2012 10:59:56: Er guys - why don't you spend a few quid a month on getting Sky Sports? Looks like its something in the region of £500 per year (a very nice engine!) to get F1 live for around half the season's races...no thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FunnyFlyer Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 Assuming you have a Sky entertainment package - adding Sky Sports costs an extra £20 per month. You make your own choices I guess. I initially got Sky Sports for the cricket. Then my wife said if I had sports - she and daughter wanted movies - so it kind of snowballed. Then we had multi-room, then HD and Sky+. Damn - I must be a sucker! Seriously though, a recent trip to Cineworld to see "The Artist" cost £16 for the tickets and £13 for drinks and snacks. That's just to see one movie. All up my Sky TV costs £2.60 per day. Less than a pint of beer, or a newspaper and coffee on my commute to London each day. That seems far more attractive than faffing around with motorised dishes on tripods and tuning in to dodgy channels. Plus the neighbours are bound to think you are trying to get porn! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Harris - Moderator Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 Why assume everyone has Sky? I find Freeview and Freesat give me more than enough distractions from getting on with my life! I've learnt to live without cricket, MoTD still shows highlights of the footy on a Saturday (and now Sunday) night like it always did and I'll get by with some of the GPs live and watch the highlights of the others if I manage to retain enough interest. Just because cinemas are charging ridiculous prices for a handful of heated sweetcorn and a small bucketful of carbonated water doesn't justify pay TV to me - and even when you pay Sky's prices they still run adverts and charge "Pay per View" for various "special" events. Still, I'm sure Sky don't care that I'm not interested in becoming a customer - they've obviously found enough willing victims to keep them in the lavish lifestyle that they now enjoy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trevor Crook Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 Funnyflyer You don't need Sky sports and all that football rubbish to watch F1 - the basic Sky HD gets you the F1 channel. Like the others, though, I refuse to line their pockets, and I watch the BBC package, which I was very impressed with yesterday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FunnyFlyer Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 Posted by Trevor Crook on 19/03/2012 13:15:28: Funnyflyer You don't need Sky sports and all that football rubbish to watch F1 - the basic Sky HD gets you the F1 channel. Like the others, though, I refuse to line their pockets, and I watch the BBC package, which I was very impressed with yesterday. Even better! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve W-O Posted March 19, 2012 Author Share Posted March 19, 2012 FunnyFlyer........ That makes your $ky bill a few pence under £840 a year. That's half the annual wage of a fairly well paid worker in the Philippines, and still more than the monthly take home pay of many workers in the UK (notice I said worker, not benefit claimant ) It would more than pay for a motorised HD sat setup, and an HD projector for the living room, which would last for many years, instead of needing to pay ANOTHER £840 for the next and the next year. For every 1190 people with a similar $ky package, that is £1 million income for $ky. If 2% of the UK population had a similar package, that is £1 billion for $ky. Imagine how the economy could be boosted if all the $ky subscribers spent their subs in local shops, even better on local products and produce. Or just have the £840 available for flying Of course, we all have our own tastes etc, and are free to spend the fruits of our hard work as we please, but as you see, $ky is lower than shark poo's shadow on my list of worthwhile expenditure. It is not a hassle to set up the sat system, and what the neighbours think I am trying to receive is on the same level as $ky in the things in life that worry me Of cou Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FunnyFlyer Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 @Steve Yup - you're about right with your annual estimate - like I said - less than a newspaper and a cup of coffee each morning. As a result I've been able to share in England's Ashes win last winter, seen some great documentaries and had first peep at things like The Wire, Mad Men seen lots of great movies. Are you also the kind of guy who hates Microsoft? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Grigg Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 I am an avid F1 fan and have to watch it live irrespective 0f time and enjoy the reuns also.Coulnt go to a GP ,to expensive and cant walk far.Im on Virgin and when I threatened to go to Sky they did the Sky Sport package to me for £11 a month,just have to eat less now.The Sky F1 programme is intersting and they have gone into it very well,with programmes on Nigel Mansell ,Jackie Stewart,Emerson Fittipaldi,etc and on the teams also.There are some annoying commentators,but with Martin Brundle,Ted Kravitz,Anthony Davidson,Damon Hill and others its well put together.So far I admit IM impressed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seamus O'Leprosy Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 Anyone know how to get Eurosport for free? BSB WSB and Moto GP beat F1 any day and their showing the World Curling Championship c'mon Sweden! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve W-O Posted March 19, 2012 Author Share Posted March 19, 2012 Posted by FunnyFlyer on 19/03/2012 15:34:24: @Steve Yup - you're about right with your annual estimate - like I said - less than a newspaper and a cup of coffee each morning. As a result I've been able to share in England's Ashes win last winter, seen some great documentaries and had first peep at things like The Wire, Mad Men seen lots of great movies. Are you also the kind of guy who hates Microsoft? How did you guess ?? I miss the cricket, mainly when SA play England, but now many of the English team are SAs, so it could get a bit confusing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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