AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

Hi all

Right now I have just a conventional analogue TV aerial, and I'm thinking about making the switch to digital. I'm only really interested in the free-to-air channels, as all the pay-TV packages I've seen are silly money IMHO.

We live in an area with supposedly poor Freeview coverage, but given that the boxes are cheap at around £40, it might be worth getting one to see if it works anyway. I guess I could always sell it on Ebay if it doesn't work.

We also have an NTL cable coming into the house and a Sky dish. There are sockets for both at the back of the TV already, so I guess I just need a set-top box. Sky have just launched Freesat - box, dish and viewing card for a one-off £150. Some suppliers are selling this for a bit less without the dish too. Dig deep enough on the Freesat web site and you discover that they'll actually sell just the viewing card alone for £20.

I've no idea whether NTL do a free service - any ideas? Can I just buy a box off Ebay and expect it to do something useful?

I also have a Tivo and whichever box I end up with absolutely must work well with it. I have TVs in several rooms, so it would be nice (but not essential at this stage) if my chosen solution would work with at least two of them.

So, options are:

- Buy a Freeview box and hope for the best (£40)
- Get a new Sky box and card from a Freesat distributor (£130 ish)
- Get a Freesat card from Sky (£20) plus a box from Ebay (£30-40?)
- Get an NTL box from somewhere (£??)

Any advice welcome - I struggle to cut through all the hype, marketing and other crap to find out what's actually available

Thanks in advance
Andy

paulr

1.there is no ntl one-off box option.
2.if you live in an area of poor freeview coverage you'll need to spned an additional 90 to get an outside wideband aerial and fitted
3.never had sky so dont know about the card thing.

depends if you want sky in the future.the 150 one off option allows you to upgrade.
also you could get a new tv with freeview built in.

djuk

To be honest if you live in a poor freeview area theres no point in even trying to go down that road, I know people who live in "good" freeview areas who suffer from poor signal, digital break-up etc.

As far as I am aware NTL don't offer a free to air service but Im prepared to be corrected on that one

So really it leaves the FTA sky package looking your better option given the circumstances.

Hope this helps

David

Shark Man

Here's a clever tip: Check your TV spec.

I happen to have a TV with a built in analogue cable tuner (a Thomson 28WH403S to be exact). We have a Telewest cable outlet in my room, but no set top box.

Thought out of curiosity I'd go to mapin and buy some coax cable, a coax TV socket and a F-type connector to fit into the wall box.

Whacked the Tv onto auto-tune with the input source set as cable (instead of antenna). And Bingo!!

Lets just say I get quite a few freeview channels plus the normal terrestrial channels

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

Hm... nice try

My TV does indeed list its available input as 'Antenna/Cable' and, when told to scan for new channels, starts at about 50MHz and scans all the way up to 800 or so - so it's definitely looking outside the UHF broadcast range.

Unfortunately, with the plug removed and the wire stuffed up the F socket, it finds nothing Maybe I'll get a plug from the Maplin shop and give it a go anyway, it may just have been a duff connection.

Thanks to all for the tips though, looks like a 2nd hand Sky box could be the way forward.

Cheers
Andy

apples24

iTrader: (1)

or just use a chipped cable box

every channel inc live boxing etc


mines been fine for the last 5 yrs

Shark Man

Perhaps it's just a Telewest thing, although I would have thought NTL would have been the same, could be wrong though

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

Maybe they cut off the signal if you're not subscribing to any of the other services? The previous owners of the house had NTL phones too, which we immediately discontinued in favour of BT - so maybe they disconnected everything?