Freeview Recorder

Od tv. No need to remember to record again. We haven’t recorded since sky tv vanished and FTTC arrived, on me about 5 years ago.

About reception I don’t know, could never get an ota receipted pre or post digital. My signal actually got worse with the digital switch. All to do with my location.

You could use your sky box to watch BBC and frewiew, and od for catch up. Actually you can watch live on the iplayer too.

Just make sure your download limit is suited for such use. Live TV is about 1gb an hour (rule of thumb ).

Youview or freeview play is a nice way to do catchup. My new telly has Youview built in, so for catch up you just scroll backwards in the planner and press play (it then plays the program via the relevant catchup up app). I think Freeview Play is similar. Its much easier than going in and out of individual catchup apps (although you can still do that if you want). You can get STBs that do the same – I’ve got a BT youview box that supports the 7 day catchup (by going backwards in the guide) and also supports netflix and nowtv. Cant remember the model as I’ve lent it to someone – but was about 80 quid on ebay.

I have a few series links set on my STB, it beats ITV and C4 catchup a you can skip the ads. So I’m probably 70% cacthup and 30% recording.

I did a thread recently as I had to upgrade my aerial (lost some HD channels after a change in lineup). Worth checking if anything similar has happened in your area.

Yes John your sky box just turns into a dumb box, but it gives you access to what you need. Though we just binned ours and don’t do live TV. Catch up only.

If you (tc) do fix your signal issues, I agree with the above, you view is the best live TV and catch up ui out there bar non. Even my in laws “just got it”, it’s so simple and everything is kept for 7 days with no need to record. They must have some patent as it’s such an obvious solution and been around maybe 6 years. No use to me, having a terrible signal, but if you have a signal and internet, it’s the dogs doo-dars.

But tbh it’s not needed. Ditch the box and go on demand only. It’s stops you watching crap you would never usually chose to watch. Make your tv viewing more meaningful while freeing up time to do other things.

Bob you’ll get there mate….don’t worry about that.  On the TV – I’m running Linux STB with one FreeSat and one Freeview tuner – plus all the goodies the internet has to offer.  Catch up lets id down (BBC and ITV, no C4 or C5) but the new Telly handles that.

I found the model of the YouView receiver I’ve lent out – BT YouView DTR-4000. Its re-badged Hunax apparently – dual Freeview HD tuners, 1TB HDD, Netflix, NowTV etc and 4K capable (although not much 4K you can watch). When I was using it I was very impresed with it. There may be better versions now, but that one ges around £70 – £90 on ebay (the BT branding doesn’t stop anything working on a different provider).

TC if you mean the post about the aerial here iit is:

https://forumite.co.uk/forums/topic/freeview-retune-new-aerial/

Regards the value of the Sky box – not much. When I binned Sky I got £25 for my 1TB 895 box and a tenner for the 500GB Samsung box. I imagine as Sky push out Q-only now the value would be even less.

As a freeview recorder they are pretty worthless as Sky kill the recording capabilities once you no longer have an active sub (petty and stupid). I think you have to pay a tenner a month to keep the “plus” features which means within a few months you could have paid for a new freesat receiver. The Sky boxes (pre Q at least) are also very power hungry even in standby.

I think you need to confirm whether your current aerial is up to supporting all the Freeview channels. If is is then a Freeview Play or YouView (2 flavours of the best catchup service) is the best way to go. If not then you’d have the option of either a new aerial (assuming that your neighbours can get all the channels and you are not in a blackspot) or a new satellite dish and a FreeSat STB. The satellite equivalent of Freeview Play/YouView is called “FreeTime HD” and this box appears to be the daddy.

Depending on where the dish would be fitted it might be slightly cheaper than a new aerial (if its lower) – and you would want one with a “universal” LNB – at least a 4 port (quad) or an 8 port (octo) – both very cheap. For a satellite dish you’ll need (like Sky) two cables from dish/LNB to the STB. If its an aerial then only one.  DIY can save you loads, I’ve done plenty of dishes (normally on the/side/front/back of a house) but not great with heights so paid someone to do the aerial.