Recordable freeview/saorview

Hi

Currently a Sky customer. Not under contract so investigating alternatives. Obviously Virgin/UPC is an option, as is staying with Sky.

Wondering if we need to bother with monthly payments for TV though. Most of the channels we watch are available on saorview or freeview. So the simple question, can you get a set-top box that will record 2 channels and allow you watch a third, similar to what Sky/Virgin provide?

Or has freeview/saorview evolved to that yet?

It seems like it should be possible - surely the technology should work regardless of the signal source?
But maybe the fact that saorview and freeview are two different sources might make things complicated?

Any advice or recommendations appreciated

Thanks
Bill

how old are you?? Yes you can get boxes that can record 8 channels or more and watch another BUT its the learning curve. I have a vu+ uno with a sony play tv usb tuner for saorview and a 500gb hdd. The play tv has a dual tuner so it covers both muxes.

Cost is another consideration, ie how much do you want to spend and how much time can you allocate to learning the basics. And it might be an idea to wait until new year as saorview are expected to do a deal with freesat, what this means there will be a new box that will have saorview and freesat plus internet, ie rte player combined. If it happens it could be a deal breaker.

Hello,

I believe the Technomate TM Nano 3T Combo will do everything you require - record, while watching a second channel, Saorview and Freeview in one machine etc. Cost €299 from an established online Irish retailer (without dish, lnb or installation but that shouldn't be a problem if you already have Sky, just swap the boxes and perhaps get a Saorview ariel installed with seperate cable).

NOAH said:

.... it might be an idea to wait until new year as saorview are expected to do a deal with freesat, what this means there will be a new box that will have saorview and freesat plus internet, ie rte player combined. ...

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Do you have any links to that?

bq67ie said:

....It seems like it should be possible - surely the technology should work regardless of the signal source? But maybe the fact that saorview and freeview are two different sources might make things complicated?..

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First off you have to know how they are different.

1. Analogue to Digital Changeover (DSO, ASO)
2. Saorview: The new Irish Free Digital Terrestrial TV service replacing existing four Analogue channels. TV via an Aerial
3. Saorsat: The Free copy of Saorview via Satellite dish for people that can't get Aerial Signal
4. Digital Dividend
5. Freeview: The UK / N.I. Free Digital Terrestrial TV service replacing existing five Analogue channels
6. Freesat: The Free UK service similar to Freeview, but received via a Dish.

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[broken link removed]

Which illustrates why you need a combi box. Recording two Freesat channels isn't the same technically as Saorview. But its all possible. The main issue in my opinion is getting a combined EPG (programme guide) as they are different, week view, before next, on the different services.

here is the link

hxxp://xxx[broken link removed]

but may all be empty speculation, the more I think about it the more I realise it would be too good to be true.

Fingers crossed.

I can not understand why Sky dropped the ITV channels to give us Irish channel on the same numbers when we can already get them on Saorview. we can set them up manually but they do not work as normal channels is timer, search etc

roker said:

I can not understand why Sky dropped the ITV channels to give us Irish channel on the same numbers when we can already get them on Saorview. we can set them up manually but they do not work as normal channels is timer, search etc

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Sky had the Irish channels listed long before SaorView came along. There's still a very significant portion of the population who don't have facilities required to receive SaorView. Sky include what the broadcasters pay them to include in the EPG, ITV & TV3 worked the market/ content share deal out themselves.

The word from my RTE contact is that the launch date for the Saorview / Freesat combi-box is later in 2016.

To answer a previous query - the technology exists but combi boxes are more complicated and expensive to design and manufacture.
Someone has to pay for the design and manufacture of a specific box for this market and must be able to sell enough to cover the costs. The reason it hasn't been done up to now, I would imagine, is that the potential sales figures are not high.
Most STB manufacturers are only interested in sales in the 100,000s or a contract with a big market player like Sky.

Hello huskerdu,

Out of interest, what sort of price range are you expecting these boxes to be available at ?

Also, what would be different / better than the box I have suggested above (which I purchased a while back and am very happy with) ?

Sorry if I am missing the obvious here by the way.

MrEarl said:

Sorry if I am missing the obvious here by the way.

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You're not, there's nothing unique about the technology being used here, it's all industry standard. Combi boxes like the one you linked will be what they use here, they may re-badge one specifically for the Irish market, and you can be sure they'll charge more for that.

Most consumers don't really know what a combi box is, let alone have the knowledge and confidence to choose one and then figure out the EPG, etc.. There are a lot of cheap combi boxes coming out of China, the quality of those don't help consumer confidence. So there's a good market here for a box with a simple to use EPG where the likes of SaorView and FreeSat reassure the public it will do what they want.

Hi MrEarl,
Youre right. I missed your earlier post that a box with that spec already is available. I'm a few years out of that market.

Leos right, if the box exists, the development costs will be low, but they will have to make sure its simple to set up and use for the target market.

Interesting to see if they merge the EPGs. That will cost a bit. I know in theory it shouldnt but that is the sort of SW project that can spiral in costs if you are not careful.

I wonder how many people will be willing to pay 300 plus the installation costs

huskerdu said:

....I wonder how many people will be willing to pay 300 plus the installation costs

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Hello,

Thank you for the response above.

In answer to the point you raise, I would think quite a few people would be willing, however many will have already made a purchase, before the "official" box is launched next year or whenever it appears on the market.

I spent €299 on my box, then paid a further fee to have some extra cables and a Saorview ariel installed.. total spend was probably €425 or thereabouts, in return for completely free TV* Compare this with a basic package from the likes of Sky €29.50pm (Sky "Original Bundle") or Virgin €35pm (Horizon) and it looks like you could break even in less than 18 months. Granted, it's not a perfect comparison but gives some indication.

Movies and Sports are obviously excluded from the "free tv" as are specialist channels from Sky etc. However, with various options such as Netflix available, I still think the installation of your own set up is the way to go.

Finally, with reference to EPGs, thers are EPGs on the existing boxes available in the market place. Sure, I have yet to see one that tops Sky's EPG, but that said they work fine for what they are supposed to do.

Leo said:

Sky had the Irish channels listed long before SaorView came along. There's still a very significant portion of the population who don't have facilities required to receive SaorView. Sky include what the broadcasters pay them to include in the EPG, ITV & TV3 worked the market/ content share deal out themselves.

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I have 2 Sky boxes,the old one without a card can get all of the UTV channels as normal, the new box with the card cannot receive any UTV channel only Irish channels in their place

roker said:

I have 2 Sky boxes,the old one without a card can get all of the UTV channels as normal, the new box with the card cannot receive any UTV channel only Irish channels in their place

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The box is still capable of receiving them, what gets listed in the EPG is down to the broadcasters paying Sky for those listings. A box without a valid card reverts to UK freeview.

My setup is like MrEarls above, except my TV (Sony) can receive Saorview from my Ariel. So I have a freeview box for all the UK channels, and the TV for all the Irish channels.

And to record..........I use an old VHS. It is fine once I have the correct channel on the freeview box. I program it to record from the box when I'm out. OK, you can't tape one show on the box and watch another on the box (but you can watch Saorview and tape freeview). And I can't tape from the TV (saorview), but all the channels are available from players anyway.

My friend was amazed when he saw the VHS (I'm in IT, and have a full 7.1 amp/surround sound/streaming/ setup). Very old school, he thought. But hey, it's free and it works.