Sky Set Top Box

Have a look at Freesat:

In message snipped-for-privacy@news.individual.net>, Jeff Gaines snipped-for-privacy@outlook.com writes

That looks tempting, thank you. We don't watch much TV - last viewing was the FA Cup a few weeks ago, and before that, HM's funeral. We don't need anything sophisticated, just turn on and watch. Haven't recorded anything since VHS went out of fashion.

If you buy a Freesat box, you may need to change your LNB too. We had the same problem last year, some of the old Sky LNBs are not suitable for the Freesat transmissions, you need a universal LNB, around £15 from Screwfix.

Just buy a 2nd hand Freesat HD settop box. I would suggest getting a SKY HD box for free off a reuse/recycle site BUT ISTR that HD channels required a subscription. Someone else may know if this is still the case. SKY cards are no longer needed pm old boxes.

In message <v3ve97$25550$ snipped-for-privacy@dont-email.me, Alan Lee snipped-for-privacy@darkroom.plus.com> writes

Oh bugger. That means paying a bod large sums of money to change it, because no way am I venturing up to the dish.

Would I need a new LNB if I just bought a cheap Sky box?

I know there were mechanical differences with some sky LNBs mounting to standard dishes, but if the dish+LNB+cabling already exist, I wouldn't expect problems

How far back are you talking that sky used something other than a universal LNB?

Shouldn’t do.

We have a Freesat and I’m sure the LNB / dish was sold as being one for Sky, albeit with 4 outputs as we have several sat boxes.

Also, when I replaced the LNB on the portable dish we use for the Motorhome, the I just retuned the sat box and all was well.

No idea, it was on the house when we moved in last year, the house is around 10 years old, so not that old. I plugged in the box, the only channels I could pick up were a lot of religious channels and a few of the smaller channels (no's 50 up). None of the main 5 channels could be seen. Advice in the link below said change the LNB, I did that, and it worked immediately when tuned in. <

I would say if the O/P has a "freesatfromsky" viewing card, find a cheap skyHD box (not skyQ) on ebay/cashconverters/etc, or as suggested buy a freesatHD box instead.

Many of the cheap boxes on amazon may only give you the Now and next programs in the EPG.

Buy one of the cheaper Enigma 2 HD boxes from World of Satellite, and install OpenVix (free but WOS they will charge £1 to install it for you). OpenVix has full support for UK satellite and terrestrial including Freeview, Freesat and Sky Free to Air without needing any cards. Sky free to air just gives you a few more channels that may be of interest. With Openvix you will get a 7 day EPG either over the air or via the internet.

If you add a hard disk, either an external USB hard drive or an internal drive on some of the more expensive models you have a PVR - the Openvix software fully supports PVR functionality. I'd recommend boxes with more than 1 satellite input for a PVR.

There is a learning curve associated with setting up some of the options in Openvix but help can be sought from a active user forum. Openvix is mature, open source and written by hobbyist where many of the software writers and beta testers reply to questions in the Openvix forum.

World of Satellite

The OPs LNB is around 19 years old and probably will be a Universal.

My 15 year old Universal LNB failed a year or two back. The plastic cover at the front of the horn had become brittle and had started to crumble away, letting in water when it rained. When I went up the ladder to replace it the plastic LNB mounting bracket was also so brittle that with minimal leverage with a screwdriver it snapped. This made the new LNB and bracket easy to replace :) I had greased the inner of the F connectors and boots and they were in perfect condition after 15 years with no sign of corrosion. The replacement LNB and bracket cost around £15 from Ebay incl postage.

I think non-sky LNBs use a 38mm mounting ring, can't remember whether sky LNBs are larger or smaller, if the LNB and arm are buggered, probably the dish is half rusted anyway ,,,

The LNB mounting bracket and the design of arm on the sky type oval dish has also changed over the years so when looking for a replacement the brackets for the current variant of the dish may not fit.

The collars on non-sky LNBs is 40mm but you can get adapters to fit a LNB with a 40mm collar to the arm of a sky dish although finding one to fit anything below a MK4 dish may be difficult these days.

After approx 18 years my dish has rust over around a third of the front surface so when I replace my LNB the dish was approaching the end of its life cycle.

In message snipped-for-privacy@mid.individual.net>, alan_m snipped-for-privacy@admac.myzen.co.uk> writes

Thanks for that, and the links. Something like :

OCTAGON SFX6018 S2+IP WL HD H.265 HEVC 1xDVB-S2 Linux Enigma 2 TV Sat Receiver - BUILT IN WiFi

Graeme snipped-for-privacy@nospam.demon.co.uk> wrote in news:0Gsrh6AM9 $ snipped-for-privacy@binnsroad.myzen.co.uk:

Before deciding on your next set top box I'd suggest trying to get some images and opinions of the programme guide view of each provider. I find the freesat EPG counter intuative and unusable as presented on Humax freesat boxes when compared with the Freeview version on my old school Humax HDR-2000T. You may find the EPG view on a second sourced Sky box more acceptable than that on freesat.

In message <VfU8O.1927$ snipped-for-privacy@fx01.ams, fred snipped-for-privacy@for.mail writes

Thank you. Truth is, I doubt I will ever use all the gizmos. We seriously only watch a few hours a year, and on the rare occasions we need a programme guide, I look at Radio Times online. We never record anything. We have a smart TV, but it has only been used in smart mode once, and that was my son using it, while he was here.

All I really want to do is turn on the TV, select 1, 2, 3 or 4 and watch. Nothing more.

With Openvix you have many user options to display the EPG.

some screenshots

Unlike some boxes/software you are able to rearrange the order of the channels in the EPG so that your favourite channels appear at the top of the list. You can delete the channels that you don't watch etc. You can create multiple favourite channel lists (perhaps a different list for different members of the family) Some of the terminology may take a tiny bit of getting used to - a channel list is called a Bouquet in OpenVix and the Bouquet is then populated with the Electronic Programme Guide (EPG)

• You don't see spam in the forums (or perhaps a couple per year but quickly removed along with the poster)

You don't see the abuse and name calling that you see in the group. Where this starts happening the thread will be frozen.

Posts with any "illegal" (pirating) means of TV viewing are banned. Anyone asking how to do it will be pointed to the forum T&C and the thread frozen.

Just look for an HD Freesat box, that will just plug directly into your dish.

I should have said that the box needs internet access for the first setup so it needs to be connected to your home network via ethernet cable or wi-fi.

There is some learning curve with setting the box up You first need to set the tuner to point to Astra 28.2E - it's included in the list from the menu. From the menu select autobouquetmaker and providers where you will find the Freesat UK option and where you will select your TV region. Then select scan in autobouquetmaker.

There are inbuilt "wizards" to walk you through setting some of the main functions such as connecting to your network and setting up scanning for channels.

There may be some other menu options to get the over the air 7 day EPG and to setup the look and feel of the EPG pages but I think these days most of the options you need are defaulted to those required for UK reception.

Once you have set up the box you probably will not touch 99% of the menu options again.

I would recommend installing a USB stick in one of the USB sockets. There are menu options to backup your user settings and software (image) to this usb stick. If installing a updated image the settings backup will restore your initial (or current) user configurations.

Connected to your home network you can stream the video to your phone or computer and Openvix has an inbuilt web interface - you can configure/control your box via the web browser on your computer. There are also 3rd party smart phone apps that allow you to control the box, view video and/or the box's setup screens. I found the latter useful when aligning my replacement LNB. I tuned the box into a TV channel and then on the box selected the page that showed the signal SNR/AGC/BER. I could see the same information on my phone when I was up the ladder.