Freesat in France

[Will]

We have bought a Humax Foxsat HD Freesat box, for possible use in France. Having set it up in England, I was surprised to see that it is significantly more sensitive than both the elderly Panasonic and a Pace 2600 (which are apparently reckoned to be the best Sky digiboxes for France). The satellite TV web sites seem to agree.

So if anybody wants a new digibox for the free channels, with the possibility of HD TV programmes (at present only the BBC HD channel and certain ITV programmes are broadcast in HD) this one looks good.

And despite what the woman in Comet said, it works perfectly with a normal dish and LNB. It has a good selection of channels, though most of the shopping/religion/chat/dating dross that you get with Sky are absent, as are the adult programmes. The only important free channel that is missing at present is Five, but this, and many other channels, are supposed to be added soon. I thought the 7-day programme guide was very good - the cheaper Freesat boxes are not supposed to have such a good guide. It gets over the cardless Sky box ITV problem by asking for a British postcode, and then allocates the regional channels accordingly.

Of course, you can get the same programmes - and more - with a Sky or generic digital box for less money. But this one is remarkably sensitive, and much more user-friendly for us non-geeks.

[Tim]

Thanks for the info Will - I've got a very old Humax receiver, still working well, and I'm very pleased to hear that they still make decent boxes. I'm waiting (finances permitting) for the Humax PVR - hopefully available later this year.

Tim

[woolybanana]

No porn Will? Bit rough that. Thanks anyway. I was hoping to make a Freesat box my Xmas present.

[Judie]

[quote user="woolybanana"]No porn Will? Bit rough that. .[/quote]

Wooly,

The box is actually for my mother's HD television once she gets over here permanently, so probably a good thing - don't want to give her too much of a shock.

[Bigal]

I'm thinking of going over to Freesat following the distastrous change from TPS to Channel Satellite, which must have the most amateur presentation on world TV. What particularly niggled me (and my Eastender-loving (French!) spouse) is the loss of BBC Prime. I contacted BBC and they expect me to pay £158 per year for the privilege of receiving just on rather mediocre channel (excuse-moi, chérie). So, if I go over to Freesat what do I need ? I guess I need a 80 cm. dish at 28.2 East, but what about the box?  I have a smashing new full HD TV, so is it worth getting something like the Humax Foxsat HD Freesat box, or will I get get just as good a deal buying a tuner from my local Casto at about 34 €. Advice please but please don't make it too technical ! Also I live in Burgundy - any experiences of reception in ths part of the world ?

[Martin963]

You are on the right lines,  although I suspect that the €34 box is analogue only,   check that what you buy is a decodeur numerique.

80 cms dish is fine,  along with une tete universelle,  cable + 2x F connectors,  bracket for dish (nearly always sold separately).

This decodeur numerique is a good stop-gap if you can't get back to Britain to get an HD freesat box;   there are recurring problems with the Humax boxes and lip sync although it doesn't sound as though Will has got that particular bug.

If you don't keep Canalsat and if the dish is yours it might be fine for Astra 2 if re-orientated and provided it's at least 60 cms.  (There were some really small Canalsat dishes which would be border line for where you are).

Agreed about the TPS/Canalsat fiasco,  they have put a lot of French backs up too.

[Anton Redman]

Much to my amazement they are down to € 35

http://www.castorama.fr/store/recepteur-numerique-satellite-multimedia-PPRDm514307.htm

Downsides versus either a Sky digibox or a UK sourced 'freesat' reciever :

When channels move frequency or transponder you will have to rescan manually and the initial set up of the box may be harder. Judegiong by posting on here over the years a good half of people who have purchased with no previous experience of setting up satelites failed to succed

The Electronic Programme Guide will be worse than a Sky box or  freesat box. It will only show the current and next programme.

You will be unable to set programmes for auto view which will make it much harder to set up an evening of recording TV on various channels on those rare occasions when your social life clashes with something worth watching on UK TV.

   

[Will]

Thanks Martin. I would agree that a box that cheap is likely to be analogue. The French numerique decoders and kits are a good, and much cheaper, solution, though they lack the electronic programme guides for the British channels found in the Sky and Freesat boxes. The attraction of the HD Freesat box, for us, was that you could use it with a HD television, and get the familiar BBC and ITV regional programmes without complicated programming or use of the 'other channels' Sky box menu, which would not suit Mother-in-law at all. I read about the potential lip sync problem, people were saying that it would be dealt with in a software update. I guess that might have happened already, because I have seen no evidence of it, though I haven't actually used it on a HD TV. The latest discussion on one of the digital forums suggests that the box issue has been sorted, but there is a broadcast problem on certain HD channels giving poor lip sync.

The think I particularly liked about this particular box was that it seems exceptionally sensitive, which can be no bad thing for picking up British channels in France.

[Martin963]

.....  well I did say "stop-gap"!    But the points you make Anton are irrefutable.

But €35 is extremely cheap I must say.

I'm hoping to get a freesat box very soon (we're off back to Britain this week) and if the recession is really as bad as they say I might get an HD TV finally as well!

[Fridgeman]

Hey .........Big Spender....... how the hell are you?  [:D]

[Clarkkent]

I have recently bought a Humax HD Freesat receiver for use in England (it replaces my nine year old Pace Digibox which is doing sterling service near Agen, and my Freeview reception is very patchy.) I would only like to agree with Will's comments. It appears to be an excellent product.

I bought mine from Argos - no silly new dish installation sales patter (although it is not necessary to buy a HD lead - there is one in the box.)

A couple of other comments: 

- the set-up asks you for a UK postcode, this is to ensure that you get the appropriate BBC regional programmes

- (not too sure about this) I think that the box upscales non-HD transmissions to near HD quality in the same way that dvd upscalers do.