Wi-Fi Freesat receiver With BBC iPlayer integrated

iPlayer from the BBC is great. I don't think I've read a bad review yet. And having iPlayer built into your Freesat receiver or Freesat Box is even better, though I'm still waiting for the Bush BFSAT01SD to support BBC iPlayer, after all, it's sitting in my bedroom and it has an ethernet port on the back and everything. But anyway, I digress. Actually, I've recently read a report that says the SD boxes will never get iPlayer support, based on the recent Bush, Goodmans and Grundig support of iPlayer on their HD freesat receivers. This is a real shame, because it forces people into an upgrade path that they really shouldn't have to go down.

So, welcome to the Wi-Fi enabled Freesat digibox which will allow you to view iPlayer though it. Now that iPlayer is available on many HD freesat boxes, the next logical step is to have iPlayer and freesat over Wi-Fi. enter TechniSat HDFS which, unlike other freesat HD boxes such as the Goodmans GFSAT range or the Grundig GUFSAT, or even the much applauded Humax FOXSAT (which as we know was the first to include the iPlayer software), the TechniSat allows you to receive your iPlayer over Wi-Fi. Why is this a good thing? Well, for a lot of people, wiring up an ethernet connection to their freesat box is just not feasible. Maybe your wife doesn't want another bloody blue wire trailing around the living room, up through a shonky hole in the ceiling, around the loft and down into wherever your broadband router is. Maybe you don't want to go to PC world and fork over large amounts of money for another ethernet cable, or maybe you just plain hate wires and don't want to bother with them anymore. Wi-Fi is the obvious way to go - and all your other internet connected bits and bobs use it, so why not your freesat box as well?

At the end of the day, a freesat box is really just a little computer sitting there, decoding messages comming in, so adding in the Wi-Fi support is an obvious step. Connectivity on the TechniSat will be through USB antenna, and of course you will need to enter your wireless key to get online. Once that's done, you should be up and away. The other good thing about the TechniSat is that it allows you to add in an external hard drive via usb as well so you can use it to record to an external drive as well as watch movies and playback music and view photos from memory cards (it has built in support for compact flash and MS/SD/MMC memory cards) or just across your wireless network.

That kind of puts this box into more of a media centre realm than simply a freesat receiver, which means that we can get rid of one more box underneath our TVs - which is great for anyone who wants a minimal home entertainment setup like me.

Plus, given that this thing is going to work off Wi-Fi, it becomes ideal as a second box for bedrooms or kitchens.

How to Install a Freesat Satellite Dish and Freesat Receiver

For many people who are considering moving to freesat from their current television setup, one of the big put offs is the fact that you have to have a satellite dish installed and positioned so that you can start picking up freesat. The big problem with this is getting someone to come and install the dish for you can be rather expensive - especially when you see things like sky giving away free installation with their packages. What you have to keep in mind is that sky make their money from monthly subscription packages, so it behoves them well to give away the satellite dish installation and get you up and running so you can watch TV without any fuss or bother. But Freesat, as we know is free to air satellite television and being as it is a Channel 4 and ITV initiative and that they aren't making money out of you by charging you extra for fancy television packages like sky does, they can't afford to give away the installation of the dishes. But of course, you can hire a trusty freesat dish installer who will come around to your house and put up your satellite dish and wire it in for you, drill a hole through your wall and point the dish in the right direction so you can start watching all that great TV on a Friday night instead of going out ('cause you know, the economy and all that - we are all staying in all the time now - hopefully that means TV will get better because there will be more viewers, but I expect all it really means is that we will get more adverts because viewer numbers will be up).

Hang on, so what you're saying is all you need to do is put the dish up, drill a hole in the wall to pass the wire through and point the dish in the right direction? And they charge how much for it? Well, yes. I mean if you are reasonably handy with the tools and the DIY and you already have the equipment, it might make sense to do the install yourself. It isn't as hard as you think - really the most difficult thing about it is setting the dish in the correct position to point at the correct satellite.

Before you rush off to buy a brand new satellite dish to install your Freesat with though, you might want to check if you already have a satellite dish installed. Maybe from a previous tenant or if you previously had Sky and then cancelled it? Anyway if you have a dish sitting around not being used it is worth hooking it up to your Freesat or Freesat HD digibox to see if you can get a signal out of it. See, many consumer satellite dish installations use the same satellite to get their feed from so Sky and Freesat need to be pointed towards the same satellite, even though they receive different channels. That's a good thing for us.

If you don't already have a dish installed and you want to give it a go yourself, then here are a few tips and hints to help you on your way.

You will need a few things to install your satellite dish properly:
A ladder - handy for getting up a little bit so you can install your satellite dish out of the way.
A drill - to drill holes in the wall to install your satellite dish and possibly to drill a hole through your wall to pass the wire through.
A satellite dish (44cm is big enough to receive Freesat)
High quality coaxial cable
Compass
Satellite finder meter (you don't need this, but if you have it it makes things easier)
F connectors to connect your cable to your dish. You might also need some crimping tools.

Do buy yourself good coaxial cable. It is the life line between your satellite dish and your freesat receiver, and really, you want to minimise any interference from other electronic devices so that you get the best signal. There really is little point in installing a HD freesat box and a good satellite dish and having youself state of the art television if your cable is a let down. Get double shielded cable at the very least.

Your connectors should also be high quality - a good snap and seal connector will be a little more expensive, but it will also protect your cable against moisture and are relatively easy to install.

Ok, the actual steps to set up your satellite connection to receive freesat on are as follows:

Find a good satellite mounting point. You will need a clear view south east to mount your dish, so find a suitable wall on your house to put the dish on. Look around, it is likely that at least one of your neighbours has a satellite dish already installed, and that can give you a good clue as to which side of your property is the best to install your dish.You might have to mount the dish high up to get a good clear view of the horizon. Ideally you want nothing between your dish and the horizon because any obstacle be it a tree or a building or anything else will cause interference. Also, do double check if you are installing in winter because trees will be bare of leaves. In summer they will fill out and you might find your satellite dish becomes obstructed suddenly, so take that into account when you choose a good spot.

You satellite dish will probably have a built in wall mount which you can use to bolt the dish to the wall. Some dishes need a wall mounted pole to allow them to correctly swivel, but if your dish is new, it probably doesn't (especially if it is a 44cm dish). Fix your dish to the wall. Make sure it is secure, and then connect up your coaxial cable to the dish and run it into the house. You might have to drill a hole through your wall to get the wire in, or if your dish is mounted high enough, take it through the eaves into the loft and then wire it up to your living room or television viewing room.

Connect your cable to your freesat receiver, but do not yet turn on the receiver.

We are now ready to find our satellite. We are interested in the Astra 2D satellite as this is the one that broadcasts the freesat signal.

You want to make sure that your cable is properly connected to your satellite dish and through to your Freesat recevier. Don't turn the freesat box on though, until you are sure everything is properly connected. Once it is, turn on the freesat box and press the Menu buttton on your remote and select the option that says Information. Basically you want the option on your menu that will allow you to see the signal strength and quality. At this point, it is usually handy to have a friend or relative around so that one of you can watch the screen while the other moves the dish into the correct place. Use a compass and get your dish pointing directly south and then slowly move the dish east until you get a strong network strength signal and the Network ID is 003b. The Trasport Stream on your TV should be 090b. Now you have your dish locked onto the Astra 2d satellite, you can do a little fine tuning of the satellite dish so you get the best freesat signal possible. To do this, you will want to maneuver the dish in very small steps left and right and up and down until you get the strongest signal strength reading on your TV.

Work slowly since if you swing your dish around too fast, it won't get a chance to lock on to the signal properly.

Well that's about enough, I hope you all enjoy your freesat viewing and installation.

Oldest television in Britain set for Freesat!

This is pretty cool; the oldest television in Britain has been converted so it is set for digital, with the help of a digital set top box - I like to think they would have used a freesat digibox, but given the reported price of about 20 quid, I imagine it was probably just a freeview digibox. Oh well. Still it proves that it doesn't matter what television you have, a simple investment will get you ready for digital.

The set was tracked down as a result of a competition held by Digital UK and is a Marconiphone from 1936. Gloriously black and white for a true vintage appeal, it sports a massive 12 inch screen that would put any of todays Freesat Televisions to shame :)

Freesat From Sky, Freeview, Freesat

It really is easy to get confused with the different digital television options of Freesat, Freeview and Freesat from Sky. All these broadcast technology options sound very similar and one could be forgiven for thinking that they were all the same thing, or at least just variations on a theme from the same company. However, they are all seperate entities and different ways of enjoying digital television, which is obviously all the more important given the UK television's digital switchover which is occurring soon.

Freesat is the digital satellite television broadcast service from the BBC and ITV, Freesat from sky is a similar satellite television broadcast service but supplied by Sky and Freeview which is also an initiative that is sponsored by the BBC is a non-satellite digital television broadcast service.

So, how can you decide which option is best for you? Well Freeview is undoubtedly one of the easiest ways of getting digital television in the UK. It uses a standard television aerial on your rooftop and a decoder box to bring you digital television. However, it doesn't support HD yet. Freesat is a great service to get if you don't get good terrestrial television reception because it uses satellite broadcasting to bring you your standard BBC television channels, plus a host of other radio and TV channels. Obviously you need a satellite dish to use Freesat for your television viewing. It already supports HD, and although you most commonly need a decoder box, you can already get televisions with Freesat built in to them. Freesat from Sky is a non-subscription based package from Sky which gives you access to a fair number of channels in the Sky lineup. Again, you are going to need a satellite dish to watch television (though Sky obviously install this for you) and you will automatically be signed up to one of Sky's basic packages after 3 months, so you need to remember to cancel the subscription if you want to carry on watching only the free offerings. Freesat from Sky also offers you HD viewing. Again with Freesat from Sky you don't need good analogue television reception because it works using a satellite dish.

So why would anyone chose Freesat over Freesat from Sky? Both need a satellite dish, and unless you already have one installed, Getting Freesat means plumping for a satellite dish and a decoder box, whereas with Sky, you simply pay for the installation and get the decoder box, satellite dish and installation. In the end, it works out to be about the same price whichever of the satellite services you go for. Many people don't want to end up on Sky's mailing list and don't want the hassle of cancelling a subscription 3 months into their viewing. And this is obviously how Sky makes their money, but if you are organised, getting freesat from Sky can be a good option. Of course, if you already have a satellite dish installed from a previous occupant or old Sky installation, you can just hook up a Freesat (from the BBC) to the dish and enjoy Freesat HD Digital television.

It can be very confusing with the three digital television options all sounding so similar, and why the BBC didn't keep sky from naming their product "Freesat From Sky", I will never know. It seems a foolish marketing step, especially as Freesat is a new service that was only launched this year and is still relatively unknown.

Missing guide information on the Bush BFSAT01SD

So a funny thing happened on my Bush freesat box the other day.The programme guide kept listing “no information available” on a whole bunch of channels that were previously fine. Also, attempting to view the channels gave me the “no service available” message and a blank TV screen. Not good at all! I know we have been having bad weather and it can sometimes affect the satellite signal. And I have had the occasional no information available on a few channels before, but this usually rights itself after a few minutes or at most a few hours. But it seemed to be getting worse and worse. More and more of the listed channels were being affected. I wondered whether my father in law’s recent visit had anything to do with it…..He seemed a little at odds with how to use the freesat box, and his lust for watching the cricket on any channel that would show it led to him hitting buttons on the remote left right and centre and getting in a right state about it. Eventually I just set him up with listening to the commentary on one of the radio channels – I can’t remember which one.

Anyway so back to the lack of freesat channels. As you know, I can’t receive terrestrial television because of the rubbish reception I have in my area, so I rely on freesat exclusively for my television. I flipped through a few menus to try and see if what the signal strength was……all good there. I tried manually adding a channel, but for some reason, it wouldn’t let me. The only thing left to do (because the bush has an extremely limited menu system) was a first time install! Yikes….wipe out all my settings – so with some trepidation I selected the option, only to be prompted for a lock code! I’ve never set one up, so either my father in law had somehow managed to create a lock code, or the automatic upgrade to the software has put one in by default! A little worrying really, especially if it was simply upgraded automatically to include one – I mean that would be pretty confusing to the casual user. Anyway, I took a wild stab at an access code of 0000 for my freesat receiver , and hey presto, luckily, it worked. OK off we go with a complete fresh re-install…..or first time install. Typed in my postcode and set it off to find all its channels again. Which it duly did. And hey presto all my tv guide information is once again displaying, and all my channels are back up and running! Thank goodness for that. Even got a few new channels showing up, which weren’t there before. One of which seems to show mixed martial art all day long! Cool!

Metronic Freesat Boxes

The choice of freesat box is pretty thin on the ground at the moment. With only a few manufacturers actually producing freesat boxes, your choices are very limited indeed.
Bush, Goodmans and Humax all produce freesat boxes, though we all know that Bush and Goodmans are basically the same manufacturer. All three produce HD freesat digiboxes, and Bush and Goodmans also have SD freesat boxes for those not bothered with HD or without a TV that can support HD. Grundig have also got an offering, and Panasonic are producing televisions that have built in freesat receivers which look very tempting indeed!

Anyway, recently, Freesat announced that they have decided to add another manufacturer into the fold. So, Metronic will be adding their version of a Freesat digibox to the fray, with the first version tipped to be released in mid October. There you have it, more choice for your freesat viewing! If you haven't bought a freesat box yet, check out the links to right to purchase one!