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Upgrading from Sky to Freesat

It takes less than five minutes to replace an existing satellite box with a Freesat one.

It takes less than five minutes to replace an existing satellit
published on UK Free TV

If you have an existing Sky or fSfS (Freesat from Sky) installation and want to go to upgrade to Freesat, it is a simple process.

First, buy the Freesat box from a Argos, Curry.digital, Comet, John Lewes or your local independent shop:



In the box you will find the Freesat box:



Also included will be a remote control, and this model also comes with a SCART cable, a HDMI cable and a stereo-with-composite cable. Unpack the ones you need:



You old Sky box looks like this:



Unplug the mains first from the Sky box, then pull out the SCART (or SCARTs) and then unscrew the connection to the satellite dish.



Remove the Sky box and fit the Freesat box. Reconnect the satellite cable (take care as to not damage the connection) and then the SCART and finally connect the mains power:



The box will look like this:



The box also contains the manual, which has full installation instructions. Finally fit the batteries into the remote control.



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:



(Apologies for the photos not being of the top quality)



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
Friday, 3 October 2014
J
js
sentiment_satisfiedGold

12:55 AM

Nick: As you have discovered, for ASTRA 28.2E, the standard DVB Event Information Table (EIT) is limited to Actual Transport Stream, present/following event information.

Both BSkyB and Freesat have proprietary EPGs which are unavailable to standard DVB devices.

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js's 822 posts GB flag
Saturday, 4 October 2014
N
Nick
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

10:08 PM

Thanks guys.
You said
"Both BSkyB and Freesat have proprietary EPGs which are unavailable to standard DVB devices. "
Yet I am able to get the full guide if I connect in my Humax box via HDMI?

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Nick's 58 posts GB flag
J
js
sentiment_satisfiedGold

11:57 PM

Nick: evidently the Humax box is a Freesat box (and set to Freesat Mode).

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js's 822 posts GB flag
Sunday, 5 October 2014
N
Nick
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

2:01 AM

Ah, I see. So would it be possible to set the TV to Freesat mode by modifying the TV's firmware?

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Nick's 58 posts GB flag
Friday, 17 October 2014
T
Terry
6:33 PM

I have just purchased a humax 1010S freesat (2Chns) to replace my skysat box I have two scart inlets (video-rgb in/out & video-rgb out) on the sky box but only one on the Humax box. I use one scart to the DVD and the other for a AV Wireless signal. Suggestions please. Terry

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Terry's 1 post GB flag
M
MikeB
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

8:38 PM

Terry: Looking at the back of a 1000S (I couldn't remember exactly what the Freesat ones have, unlike the Freeview ones) View our gallery of photos for the Humax HDR-1000S , you've got the usual scart plus a set of RCA's (which very unusual this days). So you could use one to the DVD, and just use the left right RCA's to the AV .

Can I assume your outputing to a DVD recorder so you can save a programme in much the same way as with Sky plus? You'd have to check if you can output to an external source on a Humax. Since Brianist has one, you can ask him!

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MikeB's 2,579 posts GB flag
Tuesday, 21 October 2014
I
ITV5
4:12 PM

We'll Be On Freesat And Virgin Next year :)

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ITV5's 4 posts GB flag
I
ITV5
4:14 PM

We haven't scanned Freesat or virgin media Yet! We'll let you know when it's Ready ;)

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ITV5's 4 posts GB flag
Wednesday, 12 November 2014
C
clwyd
9:27 PM

I have a Sky Plus box which has someone's earlier Sky card and works OK for viewing. It will not record on the internal HDD with this card and Sky seems to charge to supply a suitable "upgrade" card. Is there any better way to enable Record.

Clwyd

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clwyd's 1 post GB flag
J
jb38
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

11:40 PM

clwyd: You cannot use a Sky+ boxes recording or playback facilities unless the user of the box has a subscription in force, and there is no way of overriding this.

I feel that you are being mislead by the fact of being able to view channels, it should be appreciated anyone with a Sky box "is" able to view normal channels irrespective of whether or not they have a card, because the only purpose that the card serves when no subscription is in force is to enable viewing of the news channels appropriate to their location, otherwise the box defaults to London.

By the way, although not being fully aware of exactly what has been discussed with Sky, but they can provide an update card purely to enable a viewer to use the recording / playback side of the box, the info I have which is somewhat dated, pricing the card at £10.25 per month, most who have enquired about it deciding to decline the offer in favour of purchasing a twin tuner Freesat recorder, Freesat and Sky+ being 100% compatible with each other as far as dish connections are concerned.


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jb38's 7,179 posts GB flag
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