Humax Freesat HD
I love underdogs, I really do. BSB 5 Channel TV, Betamax, HD DVD, all technologies or services that history will mark as losers but ones I’ve always loved in a seemingly perverse way.
I can’t help thinking that the same will inevitably be said of Freesat at some point in the future. It’s a great idea that up to now has been executed with neolithic incompetence. Ropey dialogue lifted from Beverly Hills Cop 2 aside, Freesat hasn’t exactly had the most exciting of launches. I almost feel like I should be putting quotes around launches as well.
I think a poster on the AV Forums hit the nail on the head perfectly when he said on the day of the Freesat launch, if this had been a Sky product there would have been an enormous marketing campaign, extolling the virtues of the new system and why it was so great and revolutionary. There would have been an assault on the senses that you usually associate with blockbuster Hollywood movies beating you into submission until you bought that product. What we got with Freesat was a few Freeview looking boxes being nervously showed on BBC Breakfast News. For a one off payment you could have free to air HD programming and nobody really knew about it.
Marketing aside, I have been keeping a very interested eye on Freesat for quite some time. As I have stated elsewhere on the blog, I cancelled my Sky subscription a few years back as the pay channels never really warranted spending £18 a month on a basic package. Obviously things have changed since then, but even when Sky HD launched I wasn’t tempted. Then when Freesat came along and said “If you have an existing Sky dish that’s fine, you can just plug out box in and off you go and you can get BBC HD” I was hooked . So just what exactly do you get with Freesat?
Not as much as you get with current Freeview or Sky for that matter. Sky tend to keep things a little quiet but you can watch it without paying a subscription and get the Freeview content and more already. So Freesat is essentially a Sky box but minus some of the Sky channels but with the inclusion of a couple of freebie HD channels? Pretty much.
I have been holding on until Humax released their PVR version of the FOXSAT HD digibox, but word is coming from various corners of the net saying it could be the end of the year, if not sometime in 2009 before that eventually hits out shores and I’ve had the money for the box sat waiting since launch. So today whilst out snapping pictures for 12 of 12 I caved and bought the Humax HD box from Argos.
First up, the box is small. A lot smaller than I was expecting too, I was half expecting some kind of full sized DVD deck that would require me to re-jig the AV cabinet but it sits quite happily atop the Pioneer DVD player.
Bonus points go to Humax as well because they provide SCART, component and HDMI cables in the box which is a welcome bonus.
Setting the box up is incredibly simple, just connect the satellite feed, plug it in and off you go. The only thing I didn’t do was connect the box to the ethernet network as there really is no need right now. Anybody who has ever set up a Freeview box will get the general idea. I took a number of photos of the setup which are all on Flickr.
A quick scan of the Freesat channels found around 70 combined TV and radio stations. You also have the option to do a manual scan and find everything that is available on the Astra satellites. This came back with around 500 channels! Needless to say, I factory reset and rescanned for the Freesat channels.
There are a few quirks here too which caught me out, so hopefully this information will be of use to someone. After putting in my postcode prior to searching for the services it came back with BBC1 London, and ITV Central. I scanned again, same thing. It turns out that not all regional services from the BBC and ITV are available on Freesat yet. The official line from Freesat is:
Not all the regional variants of BBC and ITV services are currently available. This is due to technical constraints associated with co-existence on the satellite platform, so freesat has adopted a phased service launch.
Twenty BBC and ITV regional services were available at launch, and the remaining regional services have been priortised for launch by the end of July 2008.
If you are in an area with a regional service that is not available yet, your temporary default is BBC London and ITV Central West. When your region becomes available, it will automatically become your default.
Also, ITV HD isn’t actually a channel in its own right yet. Currently the way to view an ITV programme which is being shown in HD is to press the red button and select to watch it in HD. That caught me out as I was wondering why it wasn’t appearing in the EPG.
Anyone who has ever used Sky will be very familiar with the channel numbering system, starting at 101 for BBC One. Channel switching is nice and fast and while the Humax remote control feels decidedly cheap the interface is crisp and clean. Navigating the menus to configure the box itself is very responsive and the large, colourful icons make the whole process simplicity itself for all but the most ardent technophobe.
So to BBC HD, there may be limited programmes available at present but what is on there looks very nice indeed. The box itself can only output up to 1080i, but this is hardly an issue as all HD programmes are either shown in 720p or 1080i. We tested it this evening watching Coldplay at the BBC and will give the new show Bonekickers a try later on. There was no sign of the oft mentioned lip sync issue with the Humax box (apparently fixed completely in the latest firmware that I downloaded during setup). It’s all very simple and straightforward.
The cost? £150 for the box (the SD versions are much cheaper) and £80 for a dish and installation if required. Initial impressions from me are very good, it just works!
The channel line-up is a little lacklustre at present but we’re happy to have some extra music channels as the Freeview selection is extremely limited. With allegedally 200 channels by the end of the year the service is gradually picking up steam.
I just hope it doesn’t run out of puff before getting to the station!
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Category: Freesat, HD, Reviews, Tech Stuff
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By day I work in IT as an infrastructure manager, specialising in Microsoft technologies, primarily Windows and Exchange Server. On here I write about my passions, movies, videogames, technology and particularly the world of high definition.Subscribe
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So is this a UK satellite service?
Yup.
Pete, Can you help? I’m new to all this.
I have standard freeview telly (not satellite) and can’t install a dish (I’m renting). I’m thinking of buying the new Humax PVR9300, but can also imagine wanting to move to Freesat HD when not renting next year.
So, question is whether the Humax PVR9300 will work with/record Freesat (it says clearly it’s not compatible with Sky or Cable), or whether moving to Freesat will make my Humax 9300 obsolete (for me at least).
Any useful comments links to useful sites would be appreciated!
Replied to Quentin via e-mail.
Hello Pete,
I would be interested to know your reply to Quentin’s question:
“So, question is whether the Humax PVR9300 will work with/record Freesat (it says clearly it’s not compatible with Sky or Cable), or whether moving to Freesat will make my Humax 9300 obsolete (for me at least).”
I am also interested in buying a Humax 9300.as I am interested in the recording facilities. What are the recording facilities like on your Freesat system?
Kind wishes,
Suzanne
Well the long and short of it is, there is no recording for Freesat right now. The Humax 9300 is a very capable Freeview PVR and is garnering some very good reviews. This is great if you want to record Freeview, but sadly us Freesat owners have to wait until later this year before the Humax PVR comes out. So right now we’re playing a waiting game.
How long will we have to wait for channel 5 to be added to freesat?
The official line is still “before the end of 2008″. There are some legal issues regarding rights to be resolved before FIVE can be added to the Freesat lineup.
I suggest keeping an eye on this web site http://www.joinfreesat.co.uk/index.php/freesat-channels
Totally agree with u ! Bought Humax HD box and am impressed so far !…worked great with old Skt satelite dish…easy to install etc…onlu downside is no Channel 5..but hopefully they will add that soon !
Hi,
Ok I may well be being an idiot here, but i have tried to connect up my Humax HD box tonight and no signal.
I’ve disconnected my Sky decoder and I’m using the freesat box through my Sky dish, I am still in a Sky contract(Though I can cancel this at any time)
My question is. Is the reason I can’t get Freesat is because i haven’t cancelled my Sky package?
I was not keen on cancelling Sky until I knew for sure that Freesat would work with my dish.
Kind regards
Warren
Hi Warren,
Provided you have Sky Digital and not ye olde analogue then there is no reason why you can’t just connect the cable and be off to the races. You should be able to perform a Freesat channel scan and pick everything up without any problems.
My satellite cables had been sat dormant for over a year before I reconnected them to the Humax box. So I can’t think of any reason why it’s not working.
Exactly the same problem as Warren. We’re living in Belgium. Any thoughts on why it isn’t picking up any channels, even though the previously borrowed Sky box was ? We’ve tried all cables provided. Also, I know it wants a postcode because of the need to assign regional channels, but it doesn’t like any of the postcodes we’ve given it so far!!!
Thanks.
Kim
Try doing a non-Freesat channel scan, I suspect that that a Freesat channel scan will only work in the UK.
Could be wrong though!
[...] Setting up the HDR is as mind numbingly simple as it’s little brother. In fact the only thing that differentiates the HDR is during the satellite signal detection. As it contains two Freesat HD tuners, it will happily detect two inputs from your satellite dish, thus enabling you to record two programmes at once, or watch one and record one. All pretty basic stuff. If you would like to see more of the setup screens, be sure to check out my impressions of the FOXSAT HD. [...]
Can the box be used with an ordinary ariel; I have no dish.
No. Freesat is a satellite service.
Hiya,
Im thinking of buying a Grundig GUFSAT HD freesat Receiver from the Uk. I reside in the Republic of ireland. Would this work, that is receive the free sat channels in teh republic of ireland with my dish installed?
Or if i decide to get a freeview box. would the picture quality be great for a hd tv?
for a freeview box, would there be any need for a sat dish?
thank
Freesat will give better picture quality than Freeview, without a doubt. I THINK they work in RoI, but best to check on http://www.freesat.co.uk on that one Jadie.
hi pete
can u help me please, ive recently upgraded my tv to a hdtv and got a humax foxsat-hd box to go with it after being told by the guy in currys that i could use an interior amplified TV antenna and pick up a signal, however i get no hd signal, if i need a dish can i just buy one and fit it myself and if so what kind do i need
i’d be gr8full 4 any help
regards james
James be sure to complain to the manager of the Curry’s where that idiot told you that. FreeSAT, the SAT being the important part. If you want to use an aerial then it’s Freeview.
You’ll need a proper satellite dish and you will need it to be professionally installed as well.
Take the box back to Curry’s, get your money back and then go somewhere decent like John Lewis and buy one with dish installation.
hi pete
willdo, i new it was to good to be true, thanks for your help
regards james
Pete,
My existing installation uses an elderly Skybox to receive free-to-view channels. Connection to the main TV is by Scart, and I have a co-ax output from the box to a second TV in our kitchen. I wish to upgrade to the Humax Foxsat HD and a suitable HD TV, but to retain a link to the kitchen TV. Problem is I cannot change the cable from co-ax to anything else (it is buried under a tiled floor). Is there an adapter that would convert one of the outputs from the Humax to suit a co-ax cable?
Mike I would suggest going somewhere like Maplin and see if they have anything. A brief google search turns up devices that will convert other connectors like component into RF but they aren’t cheap!
Just had a thought. Can I put the scart connection from the Humax into my vcr, and take the RF output from that vcr to our kitchen tv? I suppose I should just try and see if it works, but do not know if the vcr allows scart-in to rf-out.
Mike
I’d say that a very, very large THEORETICALLY could be thrown in there. You would be looking at having the VCR set to the AV channel, drop in signal quality too but it’s *possible*.
Be a good idea to drop an e-mail to Humax support, they are very helpful and should be able to give a definitive answer.
Hi Pete
I want to ditch Sky and go either Freeview or Freesat. My main query is that I have a TiVo – I know that Freeview is compatible with this but is Freesat? I also have an analogue DVD recorder, so my preference would be to have Freesat recording on the TiVo and Freeview recording on the DVD.
Thanks for any advice
Keith
You didn’t buy my TiVo did you Keith? I’m sure I sold it to someone called Keith.
Anyway, yes Freesat does work with TiVo, check out this web site.
http://www.tivocentral.co.uk/freesat/
Hi Pete,
This may have already been covered but I’ll ask anyway.
I currently run Sky+ and intend to keep doing so but I don’t want to fork out for multi-room in order to get satelite viewing into my son’s playroom. My current dish has 4 coax connections (pressumably a quad LNB) with 2 currently being used by the Sky+ receiver, so my questions is if I am able to purchase a Freesat box (Humax HD freesat Receiver for example) and make use of the reamining 2 coax connections to run Freesat?
Your wisdom would be appreciated.
Regards,
Wayne
Short answer: Yes you can! You just need two new cables run from the remaining LNBs direct into the back of a Freesat box in the other room.
Nice and simple.
I’ve done exactly as Wayne has done and it works a treat. Although I didn’t wire it myself – the only thing I have read if doing it yourself is to be careful when when wiring in the LNB end, you dont want to knock the dish out of alignment!
Thanks Joey, best wishes to Ernie.
Thanks all, I’ll get to it!
I was hoping to be able to connect to either of the harddrives in my HUmax HD with a network cable through the ethernet socket so I can find the MPeg4 files which I have recorded. I would like to move them to my Mac so I can burn the programmes to watch on DVD when I want, but not keep them on the hard-drives.
Do I need to work out what the device’s IP address is first, or do I need to assign it an IP address ?
Or am I just wishful thinking and the market is gonna force me to buy an HD DVD recorder ?
You can only get content off the PVR by connecting a USB drive and copying it over. LAN connection doesn’t work.
Just moved house and there is a sky dish already installed and there is 2 wires coming into the house – excuse my ignorance by the way !
My question is will Freesat + HD work in full HD using the existing Sky dish ?
I’ve got a 2 year old Thomson sky box which I am currently using (it’s the standard sky, nothing fancy) and it works so how can I tell if I have the correct sort of dish for HD if I need to know that sort of info ?
Sorry, slight error – there are 2 wires coming into one room and another wire or 2 going into a further room (sky dish wires).
I already have a HD ready TV and would like to view available HD channels and just need to know if I need to alter my dish or whatever the LNB is to get HD in addition to buying Freesat + HD.
Is Freesat + HD all I need to buy ?
Sorry but I’m not technical at all but any plain and simple help would be much appreciated.
No Signal.
I bought a Humax FOXSAT-HDR Freesat+, its one of the Twin Tuner boxes. I did not have Sky so I also bought a Satellite dish installation pack – Satgear SK35 Sky/Freesat Complete Self-Install Kit – New Mk4 Sky Satellite Mini Dish kit with Quad LNB, fixings and 20m twin cable. On advice I also bought a Satellite Finder.
Have fixed to wall, connected two of the cables as per instructions. Tried satellite finder and it makes lots of promising noises but ultimately I get no reception (i.e. 0%). We have tried changing direction lots of times and I could understand if I was getting 1% or something but we just keep getting 0%.
Tried swapping the cables around in the LNB. Tried the same in the Freesat box. I note however that the box is automatically showing that I have a single connection rather than a dual. Therefore, tried the single connection rather than the Dual and still nothing.
How can I confirm where satellite is? If problem is with cabling, the box, etc etc. Any ideas?