humax foxsat

[gazlw]

Hi,
just purchased a humax foxsat box...so i can watch at least a couple of hd channels on my new hdtv. Had a old sky dish on the front of my house since i moved in 3 years ago, am i right in thinking if i plug the foxsat into this, provided its still pointing in the right direction il receive the freesat channels inc the hd ones?
Also been reading around the forum and discovered the foxsat has a non freesat mode... will this give me more channels using my existing dish..i think its a 60cm and would there be any benefits getting a bigger dish?
i dont really plan on going motorized or anything, just seeing what i can get out of the equipment ive got already
thanks in advance

[demotic]

You'll definately get the high def channels on the Humax when using the sky mini dish.You'll also get a lot more channels using the Humax in its other (non freesat) mode.

Not sure about the details if its the old sky dish, but im sure one of the experts will be about shortly.

[nvingo]

Sky Digital at 28E would normally use a Zone 1 (43cm) or Zone 2 (60cm) minidish, those are elliptical, wider than they are high. As with any dish, they could be aimed elsewhere for reception of any other satellite transmission, so don't assume it was left on 28E.

Also there are the larger dishes as previously used for Sky analogue, those are either round or elliptical, taller rather than wider, sized 60cm or 80cm. Those too can be aimed at other satellites, including Astra2 at 28E, although typically at Astra1, 19E.

In either event, the LNB will need to be a "universal", that is, with 22KHz tone-controlled band switching, to receive all the frequencies transmitted from Astra2 with the Freesat and Sky services.

[gazlw]

the old occupants have told me that its never been touched after cancellation of their sky service in 2004..so its probably pionting in the right direction...its definately a 60 cm dish, as for the lnb... whats the chance of it being the correct one..or is it best to go up and have a look before plugging anything in?? humax is due thursday
thanks

[nvingo]

Originally Posted by gazlw

the old occupants have told me that its never been touched after cancellation of their sky service in 2004...

That will be fine then, definitely for Sky digital which required a universal LNB (Sky digibox design being tightly specified), as Sky's analogue service at 19.2E ceased several years earlier.

[kerrywez]

HI and welcome to TW, I am sure you will find loads of help here and have a nice time.

Best thing to do mate would be to just try it when you get the receiver, not being funny, but that would be far better than climbing up to have a look, risking a fall.

I have the Humax Foxsat and am very pleased with it, despite what has been touted in other forums. When you get started and have been enjoying the nice new box for a while, you might want to motorise a dish and go for all the satellites that you can get. I would not have bought the box if did not have the capability to drive a dish.

I have to say that when I did set up the receiver at the start I used usals, but it was pure cr&p, you can only enter your lat and long to one decimal point, which is useless for any real use and I had to revert back to diseqe 1.2 and redo every satellite. I have only mentioned this because it might help others and save them some time, it was that bad that I could not pick up the Freesat channels in the freesat scan, I was, however, fortunate that I have the freesat on the loop through from my dreambox 500s, so finding the satellites was very easy for me, just drive the dish to a sat and then save it's position in the Humax.

You should also know that ITV HD is not receivable on the freesat box yet, but is on loads of non freesat boxes, we did get the Champions League final on ITV HD, but we needed to use the following key pushes to get it. Key sequence for receiving ITV HD on the Foxsat box RED, RED, GREEN, GREEN AND BLUE.

I am not sure if the same sequence will work for the Euro cup, or even if they will have it in HD, but the first game on the BBC is definitely in HD. Please note that unless your TV has a HDMI interface you will not be able to get HD TV on it. You can't use the composite or scart connections for HD any more, because of those DMR baskets, they have made freesat disable the non HDMI interfaces, to stop their films being copied and sold, but anyone with half a brain knows that the pirates will get round this very easy. Any other HD box dose not have the composite or scart connections disabled, as it was the last software update that did the damage. I am not in the band of people who have been affected, but may have been and there is a great uproar from those who have been and who can blame them, all they have is a very over priced SD box.

Hope this helps and I hve not rambled on too much. I am very suer that you will be delighted with your new receiver.

Very best regards Wez

[Analoguesat]

ITV HD launches properly on Saturday for the Euro2008 games, at that point it should be available via the red button when a "watch this in HD" prompt comes up on the SD screen

[kerrywez]

Thanks AS not been on DS today to have a look, but I am very glad that it will launch on Saturday. It will be great to be able to have both BBC HD and ITV HD for the games.

Very best regards Wez

[merlodlliw]

Originally Posted by kerrywez

Thanks AS not been on DS today to have a look, but I am very glad that it will launch on Saturday. It will be great to be able to have both BBC HD and ITV HD for the games.

Very best regards Wez

Ah the Dead Squirral site, I recall all those naughty little people falling out
and being rude Anyway for my little input, for what its worth,the dish may have moved with gales or the LNB may be dud, as Wes says try it first.

Bob

[gazlw]

welll...thanks for the info people im sure me and others will find it very useful. The reason i came here to ask in the first place is because when i went to local currys and comet to buy a foxsat, both stores said they would only sell me one with installation at £80 and i thought, theres no point paying someone £80 to install something thats already there. Anyway managed to get a box off fleabay and thought i would investiagte using wht i have already. Im sure lots of other people will be in the same situation, especially when freesat gets more channels and more people move over to it and want to utilise their existing sky dish ect.

Anyway been on the cable forums for a while now eurovox dbox ect and thought id give this satellite a go out of interest. Maybe one day il change dishes and maybe get more lnb's so i can recieve more satellites, but for now I'll just use foxsat and existing sky dish as a starting point.

My tv has got HDMI ports...3 of them infact. So there shouldn't be a problem there.

Also one more quick question. the satellite coaxial cable has been cut inside the house, would 2 rf plugs be ok to join it or do i have to use F connectors and an adapter. Or is there another way which would give better results.

Thanks for your input..much appreciated!