which freeview i should go for? Satellite or UHF aerial

Forums › Freeview (DVB-T/DVB-S) › which freeview i should go for? Satellite or UHF aerial

bitem

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#39393 13-Aug-2009 16:26

NEED SOME ADVISE PLZ !!

    Im thinking to get freeview for my new house, did some research from freeview website, but not sure which option i should go for?
    There is already a sky satellite dish on the roof, but is that only UHF aerial freeview gets HD signal? how the UHF better than the Satellite dish?

     I also saw some STBs and PVRs. http://www.topfield-newzealand.co.nz/freeviewhd.html
Are those only for Satellite? any other recommands?

Thanks alot !!!!

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#246132 13-Aug-2009 16:30

If you are in a Freeview HD/UHF signal area, I would seriously recommend going for that option.

There is currently only one main twin tuner PVR for freeview HD, the Zinwell one, but others are supposedly on there way. There are far more PVR's for the satellite service as it uses an older but far more common format.

bitem

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#246133 13-Aug-2009 16:40

thanks for the info! i check on the freeview coverage check, its showing "Very Likely" for UHF signal, is that mean i m in a good UHF signal area?

how much cost to put up an UHF aerial avreage?

Regs

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Snowflake

#246150 13-Aug-2009 17:19

what sort of TV screen are you going to plug the freeview set top box into? if you dont have a large HD screen, then perhaps you can save yourself some money (on set top box, hdmi cables and aerial installation) and just buy a satellite box to plug in to your existing dish...

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#246214 13-Aug-2009 18:46

Also depending on the TV you have it may have a DVB-T tuner built in which will give you Freeview|HD although will not give you the ability to record.

Personally I would go down the UHF route as there are more likely to be more stations on that platform then DVB-S which has higher costs involved.

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#246323 13-Aug-2009 22:27

Check out the webpage: http://www.freeviewnz.tv/whats_on_freeview/channels

This will allow you to see what's on DVB-S vs DVB-T - at the moment a quick count shows that there are more on Satellite ... although I suspect that in the future the UHF would be the choice for quantity.

bitem

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#246473 14-Aug-2009 10:40

i got a 37inch Panasonic Full HD LCD, without freeview built-in.
Is that only UHF get HD signal? or both of them can?

wellygary

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#246474 14-Aug-2009 10:41

bitem: i got a 37inch Panasonic Full HD LCD, without freeview built-in.
Is that only UHF get HD signal? or both of them can?

Only UHF is HD,

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geek4me

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#246476 14-Aug-2009 10:44

Only UHF will get the HD signal in NZ at present. The high cost of putting HD on the satellite compared to UHF HD is likely to stop HD appearing on the NZ satellite any time soon - but things do change!

bitem

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#246481 14-Aug-2009 10:48

thx, i think i will go for UHF since its more likely be more channel on this platform and with better quality signal.

Jaxson

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#246486 14-Aug-2009 11:01

bitem: thx, i think i will go for UHF since its more likely be more channel on this platform and with better quality signal.

If you have a large TV then you'll really notice the picture quality improvement on the UHF service. You'll need a UHF aerial to receive this.

If you don't care about the picture quality, then you just need a satellite receiver box to connect to your existing satellite dish.

UHF good points are picture quality, and possibly easier to setup than all the parts of a satellite system.
Sat good points are that there is more equipment cheaply available for sat as it uses an older but more common system, so PVR's are cheaper etc, but it has a lower quality picture.

There are more channels available on freeview satellite right now than UHF, plus there are other channels available from other sources on the same satellite as freeview, plus other satellites you may one day want to point a dish at.

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Snowflake

#246801 14-Aug-2009 23:37

if you dont already have a UHF aerial installed.... you could try getting one through prime for $145. I rang an aeral installer who quoted me over $200 for an install. Check the www.primetv.co.nz website and hit the "tune in" link for details.

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bitem

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#248203 18-Aug-2009 15:15

I decided to get the UHF freeview, since my house "very likely" to get its signal and its HD..
Now the question is what Receiver i should go for?

1gkar

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#248267 18-Aug-2009 17:39

Trust what people are saying. Once you view FreeviewHD, you will NEVER want to look at analogue (SD: standard defintion) again.

Can you ask a neighbour if they can get Prime via their aerial? If so, I'd say, you're good-to-go.

I use an HTPC for my FVHD so can't help. But here's a place to start. Then, research. There are threads here about various STBs. Personally, if you can afford the extra & go with a dual tuner model with HDD, I would. Something like this, maybe. Hope you're sitting down, though, when you view the prices. Makes my HTPC cost look better & better.

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#248271 18-Aug-2009 18:10

Go freeview HD for better picture!

bitem

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#248644 19-Aug-2009 13:58

Regs: if you dont already have a UHF aerial installed.... you could try getting one through prime for $145. I rang an aeral installer who quoted me over $200 for an install. Check the www.primetv.co.nz website and hit the "tune in" link for details.

I called Prime yesterday, and they took my details and got a return called from SKY TV regarding my request for the UHF installation, the SKY lady said they dunt do UHF anymore! :(

So now im looking for some local installer to do the job..

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