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Upgrading from Sky+HD to Freesat+HD

What to do if you want to stop subscribing to Sky+HD but do wish to record/pause/play free HD television.

What to do if you want to stop subscribing to Sky+HD but do wis
published on UK Free TV

You might get a glossy magazine every month, but what do Sky really think of your custom?

"Give me a f**king name on a direct debit and it's mine for life,"
- Sam Chisholm, former boss of BSkyB.


Perhaps you responded to an offer like the one blow that promised a gratis Sky+HD box (for new customers taking their first Sky+HD package) with free standard set-up



But you were so excited with the thought of a £50 M&S voucher that you didn't think to follow each of the little daggers and little stars to quite read all the terms and conditions:



So, your twelve months of commitment are over and, for reasons of budget (or politics) you have decided you want to keep all the features of Sky+ - live pause, high definition, extended electronic programme guide, series record, and recording two programmes at once whilst you watch another - but don't want to fork out every month on top of your TV Licence - and you still get hundreds of free TV channels

Here's what you can do.

First you need to buy a Freesat+HD box. There are many on the market, and can be bought from Argos, Currys DIGITAL, John Lewis, Comet and online at Amazon, as well as other stores.

When you use a Freesat+HD box NO SUBSCRIPTION HAS TO BE PAID. NONE. NOT A PENNY TO ANYONE.

Installing

This will take no more than ten minutes. First you will need to disconnect the Sky+HD box mains from the wall socket.

Then you will need to disconnect the cables from the back of the Sky+HD box.

Pull out the mains power connection (1), carefully unscrew the satellite dish links (2) and (3), and then take out the HDMI lead (4) to your HDTV. If you have an "surround sound" amplifier, you may also have a digital audio connection (5).

Remove the Sky+HD box and put the Freesat+HD box back in the same position.



Then reconnect the cables: the mains power cable (1) - but not to the wall just yet, screw the two satellite dish links (2) and (3) and connect the HDMI cable (4) to your HDTV. If you had one, reconnect the digital audio connection (5).

If you have an Ethernet router, you can connect it to the Freesat+HD box at this point (5).

With everything in place, turn on the mains power and power up the Freesat+HD box.

The TV screen first displays the box's logo



The first set-up screen allows you to select the TV type, widescreen mode and resolution:



Next the box checks for the satellite signal:



Then there is a check for updated software:



Then you enter your postcode and the box checks it:



The next step is a scan for channels. This takes about 30 seconds:



And that's it. You can now view channels, like 108 for BBC HD:



Or press the GUIDE button for the EPG:



And that's it.

Help with Free satellite?
What can I do when my Sky Digibox says 'No Signal' or 'Technical fau1
Can I receive UK TV in Ghana?2
What is a CA module?3
My box says "No Satellite signal being received"4
Is there any way I can get free channels via satellite and have the kind of hard5
In this section
Freesat adds a plethora of new channels in time for Christmas including channel 1
A tale of a two Freesat boxes2
Yesterday, Drama and Really joining Freesat this month3
PBS America joins Freesat for Halloween4
Fixing the Freesat Freetime internet connection problem5
Satellite TV operators FRANSAT, TIVUSAT and our Freesat launch FreeTV Alliance 6

Comments
Tuesday, 10 January 2012
S
sharealam
sentiment_satisfiedSilver

2:38 PM

june lewis go to www.freesat.co.uk and you will able to see which channels you will able to receive on freesat.

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sharealam's 226 posts GB flag
Tuesday, 17 January 2012
Wednesday, 18 January 2012
T
Tony
5:16 PM

Hi Can someone help with a quick query. My Sky+ HD Subscription ends Feb 15th - i have just brought a Humax Fox HD 500GB freesat box. I want to try it out to see if it works but i also want to use the Sky box until my Subscription ends. If i unplug sky (following the above procedure) and test the humax works, will it cause any issue by then connecting back up to sky unti lthe 15th and then on the 15th reconnect the Humax. Just worried that if i unplug the sky box it may need to be re-set or something when i put the cables back in. I guess i will have to setup the Freesat box again when i come to reconnect it in Feb? hope that makes sense!

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Tony's 2 posts EU flag
J
jb38
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

9:36 PM

Tony: You can safely uncouple the two "F" connectors from the Sky box and connect them into your Humax for purposes of setting it up ready for action when your Sky subscription ends, as there is no danger whatsoever of upsetting anything, as indeed you will find when you reconnect the "F" connectors back into the Sky box.

By the way, it doesn't matter either which way round you reconnect the "F" plugs, as they are identical to each other as well as being electrically independent.



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jb38's 7,179 posts GB flag
T
Tony
10:41 PM

Jb38 - Thanks, much appreciated!

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Tony's 2 posts GB flag
Wednesday, 25 January 2012
M
Michael
8:58 PM

I replaced a sky+ box with a Humax freesat+ HD box to save money and the sky box was playing up - losing signal. The freesat box is now doing the same thing. It's very intermittent and can work fine for months then start losing the signal for some channels. I've remade the connections loads of times because I thought that was the problem, but now I think it's more likely to be a fault somewhere in one of the cables to the dish. Is it better to get someone to look at it or just go to Maplins and replace the cable. As it's an intermittent fault, it's bound to work perfectly if someone comes to check it

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Michael's 2 posts GB flag
J
jb38
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

9:33 PM

Michael: Although its always possible that the problem could be caused by the cable, however its much more likely that its occurring at the "F" connection to the LNB, so I would unscrew that and check that no water has crept in, then coat it with vaseline before screwing it back in again.

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jb38's 7,179 posts GB flag
Thursday, 16 February 2012
P
Paul Robins
4:27 PM

From reading this, am I right in thinking that the receiving dish does not need to be adjusted / repointed for freesat HD?

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Paul Robins's 1 post GB flag
J
jb38
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

5:01 PM

Paul Robins: If you are referring to an ex Sky dish being used for Freesat (whether HD or not) then no adjustments should be required "if" the Sky dish was previously performing perfectly OK.

link to this comment
jb38's 7,179 posts GB flag
Sunday, 19 February 2012
L
lee bowen
10:09 PM

Hi, Im soon to be moving to a new property, the couple who live there at the moment have sky & will be cancelling their subscription aswell. I want to purchase a freesat box, will it work if they have cancelled their sky subscription & will i need anything doing to the dish eg wires or anything?
thanks

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lee bowen's 2 posts GB flag
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