No aerial and about to cancel Sky. How will I get terrestrial TV?

Forums › Freeview (DVB-T/DVB-S) › No aerial and about to cancel Sky. How will I get terrestrial TV?

lebowski

15 posts

Geek

#123391 5-Jul-2013 17:52

Hi,

I have no aerial on the roof of my house and just have SKY TV. I am just about to cancel my Sky subscription though and I want to know how I can receive TV now? Will I have to buy an aerial or does Sky leave the dish on my roof? And if they do, will I be able to buy a freeview box and use that?

Im pretty clueless to be honest. Please help!

Many Thanks

Goosey

2829 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

#849837 5-Jul-2013 17:57

Hiya, checkout http://www.freeviewnz.tv

In simple terms yes you can use the sky dish (they wont take it) as your better off taking the decoder back to SKY yourself (or one of their agents).

Theres pros and cons of using a dish to get freeview vs using a UHF aerial.
Its up to you on what you want to watch and what you have already i.e. do you have a freeview compatable tv?

RunningMan

8953 posts

Uber Geek

#849838 5-Jul-2013 17:58

You could buy a Freeview or generic satellite receiver and plug this in to the dish which Sky will almost certainly leave behind. This would be the cheapest and easiest option, but not necessarily the best.

If you are in a Freeview|HD area and able to receive the signal from a terrestrial transmitter, then you could install a UHF antenna and either use a Freeview|HD receiver, or TV with built in Freeview.

Have a read here for more details

http://www.freeviewnz.tv/

ajw

1932 posts

Uber Geek

#849842 5-Jul-2013 18:10

Make sure you are in a Freeview HD coverage area if you do not have a adequate UHF signal the only other option is freeview satellite. If you have adequate UHF signal and a inbuilt freeview decoder in your TV with the addition of a UHF aerial you will get freeview HD. Perhaps you should seek the advice of a professional aerial installer in the area that you live.

http://goingdigital.co.nz/what-you-ll-need/myhouse.html

lebowski

15 posts

Geek

#849862 5-Jul-2013 18:36

Thanks so much for your swift replies.

I live in an area that receives "Freeview HD likely with high aerial" and "Also get freeview on satellite dish'.

So, my question is...Do I really need to invest in a UHF aerial, or would the SKY satellite dish be adequate? Would I notice a difference in the HD picture quality.

Also, do you have recommendations on hardware. IE What aerial I should go for if I need it. What freeview receiver (with or without the ability to record-not sure which yet) I should go for?

Thanks again.

RunningMan

8953 posts

Uber Geek

#849864 5-Jul-2013 18:43

There is a noticeable difference with HD, but it depends on how much TV you watch if it's worth it.

It sounds like you are in a fringe area for reception, so may worth consulting an aerial installer for your area to get the best result.

ajw

1932 posts

Uber Geek

#849892 5-Jul-2013 20:00

Last year I bought one of these satellite decoders from the warehouse. Really easy to set up and hooked up through the existing sky dish. Sky transmits from the same satellite as freeview.

http://www.thewarehouse.co.nz/red/catalog/product/Transonic-Digital-Satellite-TV-Receiver-TWH-S1?SKU=1400533

B1GGLZ

1961 posts

Uber Geek

#849944 5-Jul-2013 22:06

If you want to get Terrestrial TV you need a UHF antenna and a FreeviewHD STB or Freeview TV.
If you want Satellite Freeview (which isn't HD) then you need a Satellite STB and use the Sky Dish (which they don't take away).
There is a massive difference in picture quality. Terrestrial is HD and Satellite is not.

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bales

116 posts

Master Geek

Subscriber

#849960 5-Jul-2013 22:59

go to matchmaster.co.nz and use their aerial guide to work out price and what you need. i use this as first step for jobs.

Username01

142 posts

Master Geek

#849967 6-Jul-2013 00:19

Find a way of testing a terrestial decoder into $10 (or so) rabbit ears. I'm HD-capable with a high antenna, or so it's claimed, but a $10 set-top works for me. Checkout Sommet for a special they are sponsoring. They are terrestial only. My receiver is a HarveyNorman DishTV special, with usb pvr. Cost about $75 or so from memory.

raytaylor

4014 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#849973 6-Jul-2013 01:14

If your TV is larger than 32" then you will probably definitley want to get the HD if you can. The picture quality is just so much better.

Its like going from a standard sky decoder to a MySky-HD

However if you only have the standard sky decoder (black motorola, pace or slim silver one) and you are happy with it then it wont look any different.

Ray Taylor

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ajw

1932 posts

Uber Geek

#850025 6-Jul-2013 11:08

To save yourself a lot of grief why don't you just get a professional aerial company in your area to do a signal test and give you a free quote.
If you can get Freeview HD coverage you will need a UHF aerial anyway.

ilovemusic

1439 posts

Uber Geek

#850058 6-Jul-2013 11:50

Go for terrestrial Freeview if you can.

Not only is the picture quality better in HD but so is the sound as the system is capable of carrying Dolby Digital surround soundtracks.

rayonline

1734 posts

Uber Geek

#850196 6-Jul-2013 17:43

We put up an aerial in our place with is surrounded by hills with houses along it and trees.

Easiest - use the current dish, get a sat dish receiver and get Freeview. This isn't terrrestrial.
Harder - get HD Freeview by installing the aerial and run a new cable. This is terrestrial.

The hardest thing for us was getting the right aerial despite what the electrical place said, they had a exchange / refund policy. I would go for a $100 aerial like a 91 element or a Phased Array if you cannot see the tv station hills ... basically without a meter it's just about trying it out. You could get a $30 analogue meter which you attach onto the aerial and you move it around to get the optinum angle. You may not just point it in the same as everyone else cos sometimes you may point it elsewhere to get a better reflection.

We just did it ourselves, took us 4 days in total. In 2000 we gor the pro's to install a VHF, well 2 pieces of VHF, a diplexer to joint the two (dunno why), and the cable - cost us $600. 2 outlets - tv room and a bedroom.

We don't really watch it (Freeview HD) much, we have a CRT TV in the main room and it has WTV which is standard def anyway. We're not fanatics so haven't mind the difference.

Free quote? Don't they cost a min fee to do that - check first though.