Just Starting Out

[thermofish]

Hi All

I've been a Sky subscriber for a while now (the full package), but have decided to ditch the service and have acquired a Humax HDCI-2000 STB. The idea was to start off with Freesat/Free To Air stuff and see where to go from there. My dish is obviously a fixed Sky job trained on Astra 1 (as far as I can tell) and I've got the Humax set up and identifying all 1770 channels available from that satellite. The first thing I discover is that I can't get Ch4 & 5 free to air. Doh! I understand that I would have to get the £20 Freesat card from Sky and keep my Sky STB in order to get these channels. I don't want to do this, so will have to get them off my aerial.

I am writing requesting advice on where to go from here to access more channels/services. The Humax has a CI slot, so I assume I need a CAM of some sort to get more channels. Which one is recommended? How do I go about subscribing to other services off of Astra? I assume there are lots of subscription SmartCards available. Can I get Top Up TV for additional channels? Are there Pay Per View options available? My dish if fixed, so I suppose that I must use Astra 1 (?).

Sorry for all the questions. Any help/advice would be very welcome.

Thanks.

[Jimdefruit]

Hi thermofish, a big welcome to you.

Firstly you have your dish pointing at Astra 2 at 28.2 deg east.

If you are going to watch 4 and 5 via aerial, then there is nothing to stop you moving your dish to the sat at 19.2 east Astra 1 or 13 east Hotbird. You could then see which channels you can get in addition to the ones you are used to on Astra 2.

If you were subscribing to sky then you must have a digibox and subscriber card. Even though you have cancelled your subscription, the card will open the free to view channels 4 and 5 and others in addition to the free to air channels BBC and ITV.

The options are almost endless so let us know what you want and we will try to help you.

[BGonaSTICK]

Hi thermofish

As Jim has eluded too, where you go next rather depends on whether you've dumped your Sky sub yet. It's not clear from your post.

As Jim also said, your Sky subscription card will still open Ch4 and FIVE after it's cancelled, so hang onto it. It does still have its uses (and has an associated monetary value equivalent to a 'freesat' card) even outside of the digibox.

Once your Sky sub is gone, then a dish aligned on another satellite is your next logical step, I would say. That's after you've checked out the free BBC High Definition channel of course

You have done that, right?

Hotbird or Astra 1 are the obvious choices. Have a play and learn a lot there for no outlay.

Notice above I said 'a' dish and not 'your' dish

A larger dish is really required for some of the other satellites. A motorised dish is optimal, and will give you a mind-boggling number of choices, even if you just browse the FTA offerings.

You should not be put off by the 'motorised' bit. The motors are very small, very quiet and very cheap

As for subs, TUTV is only available on terrestrial, so no go there. There are many other foreign subs (blasted monopoly in this country >) but which one is suitable for you depends on what programming you'd like to see and how much money you want to throw at it. There are also a number of extra options available if you were comfortable stepping outside the boundaries of legality.

Hope this helps.

STICK

[thermofish]

Hi guys

Many thanks for the good advice. I haven't yet cancelled my Sky subs. We are going to see what we can get through the fixed dish and my Humax first - see if we can live with what's available free to air. Is it possible that I can get satellites other than Astra 2 without moving my dish? That would save me getting up on the roof.

Moving on, if I want to go further, then I assume I will need a CAM. Reading some of the posts on the forum, recommendations include a Dragon 4.1 CAM, with a Cerebro loader card and an Infinity programmer (excuse me if I have misunderstood any of this). How does this all work? Is this going over the top?

Many thanks for any further advice you can offer.

[BGonaSTICK]

Your existing minidish will not be able to receive any other satellites without being moved, and it's a bit small for those other satellites anyway. To get anything like full use out of your lovely new Humax, you're going to be dusting off the ladders or paying an installer.

Most people do this:

1) Leave the minidish up for the English FTA stuff. If you cancel your subscription, your card will still do Ch4 and FIVE. The Sky digibox needs to be left plugged into a dish pointing at Astra 2 to stay updated (via satellite). The card needs to stay in the receiver to be kept alive too. Stick it in a drawer, and eventually it'll be deactivated.

2) Add a second larger dish. Either add multiple LNBs or motorise it for multi-satellite use. You can see an example of both types of setup here. Also note the obligatory minidish too!

If you really don't want two STBs then that's fine, but it's the best way to get loads of free English channels in digital quality in my opinion.

Yes, to 'enable' your Humax further than the multi-satellite step, a CAM and/or card is required. Any suitable programmer will do. The Cerebro isn't a loader card, it's a programable card. A loader card is a mechanism to load a CAM by loading the card first (with a programmer).

Here's how it works:

Packages of channels get hacked, and the hack gets released either on a programable card, or via a programable CAM. You decide what you want to watch from what's currently hacked, and make a judgment call on what to buy. We can advise on what's 'open' at any given time, and what's coming into fashion or going out.

If you're happy with trying this approach, have another read up on K3 cards, Daytona cards and T-Rex CAMs (they were called Dragon cams.) The 4.1 version is the outgoing one, the 4.5 is brand new, but unproven yet. There are others like the Diablo CAM.

HTH

STICK