£300 install for freeview/help with sky freesat

[pipwolf]

Hi
Just had a aerial guy round. will cost £300 for new aerial and other bits and pieces to have freeview points in 3 bedrooms.
I have a sky dish box etc working with the free channels in the conservatory,i have VM in the lounge.Iam considering having the v+ box so i could keep the other box and get vm to install that in the main bedroom.
What would it cost to have vm in all 3 bedrroms ,would i need 3 vm boxes?


Can i easily install the sky in the other bedrooms, only really concerned with getting it in 2 of the bedrooms.Must be able to watch individually so would i need to purchase 2 more sky boxes, if so wheres the cheapest place to buy them from.If anyone as any other possibilites please advise.
Hope i havent confused anyone, the kids are growing up and they want tv in their bedrooms.


Also would it be possible if i did have the vm in the main bedroom to send the pic from the main bedroom to 1 of the other kids bedrooms, which would save on 1 sky installation and 1 box.

[Rob]

Each STB can only output one programme at a time (although the V+ can also record at the same time as outputting one channel), so yes if each TV wants it's own channel selection then each TV needs it's own STB, whether that is VM, Sky or Freeserve.

It is possible to send the signal from a STB to a different room, and even enable the STB to be controlled remotely from another room. Look up items such as Digisender.

Bear in mind your freeview aerial at £300 is a one off cost. If you want VM or Sky you will add monthly costs, as well as an install fee.

[pipwolf]

i already have the sky dish and box, i only want to have the free channels in the extra 2 bedrooms, so would i still need to subsribe or could i just go and buy the extra boxes for £200, 2 sky cards for £40 and get someone local to install without sky getting involved.If i could keep the costs to around the £300 mark, i know the sky would be a better signal in our area than freeview.

[NoKnowledge]

£300!!!

If you look in the local paper there should be adverts like "aerial installers". I had mine done for £25

I amateurly looked in the Yellow Pages and just picked a random company asked "how much for a aerial that is acceptable for Freeview"
The company - "You need a digital aerial, cost £110 + fitting + VAT"
Me - put phone down

Looked in the local paper advertising aerials + fitting £25.
Phoned the guy up and said "how much for a digital aerial". The guy laughed for a second and said a normal aerial does the job.

£25 job done.

[pipwolf]

i have a normal ariel on the roof, its about 15 yrs old.
Was that £25 just to go on the roof and connect new aerial to existing.
They reckoned i would need a ampliphier as well,and that the existing aerial is to old.
All from loking from the drive. i know we are in an area that doesnt get a great signal or the full range of channels.

[NoKnowledge]

Originally Posted by pipwolf

i have a normal ariel on the roof, its about 15 yrs old.
Was that £25 just to go on the roof and connect new aerial to existing.
They reckoned i would need a ampliphier as well,and that the existing aerial is to old.
All from loking from the drive. i know we are in an area that doesnt get a great signal or the full range of channels.

We didn't have a aerial at all, the job was new aerial + fitting, all in £25.

If your aerial is 15yrs old then I think a new aerial is in order as they weren't built in the factory with Freeview in mind.
Not sure about the amplifier part but a booster aerial could do the same job.

[pipwolf]

Thanks ,looked up on wolf bane and i need a extra high gain aerial.

---------- Post added at 16:05 ---------- Previous post was at 14:47 ----------

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?...906&doy=search
what do you guys think of this aerial

[RUSTY]

works well for me, self install with sat.quality cable. rec. signal qual. 9 out of 10 as shown on pani. lcd. no interference at all 10/10 pic & sound.distance from long eaton to walthem transmitter approx 45 miles.

[pipwolf]

Thanks rusty, i was going to buy this then get someone to come and fit on the roof, that way i would have a decent aeriel at what i regard as a fair price.
Climbing on to a roof is not for me, get a nose bleed on a step ladder.

[dragon]

Try Ebay for the Sky boxes, and Multi LNB required.

You can get the freesat cards needed for the Free but encypted channels for £20 off sky and they should work ok with Boxes bought off ebay.

The sky box becomes your property to keep so theres no problem with people selling them on ebay·its the cards that people aren't allowed to sell.

[Itshim]

I know that I have said this before & I shown friends it works as they thought I was joking. I have an in door aerial (one for all?) sat on top of a beer cooler in my conservatory ( ok when the cooler cuts in the sound goes for a second). Also My LG is a freeview set & I have a "one for all" on the window that looks out on the conservatory. That also works well . Get one try it - Maplins or Argos if it don`t work take it back ( repack etc of cause) get your money back. You have nothing to lose except your time.

[handyman]

Originally Posted by pipwolf

They reckoned i would need a ampliphier as well,and that the existing aerial is to old.

An amplifier will cost £20 tops and will be used to amplify the signal to distribute it to 3 points.

[dave6x]

FreeSatFromSKY requires no subscription. The majority of Free to Air (FTA) channels are also Free to View and don't need a viewing card, however you will need a viewing card for ITV1, Ch4 and Ch5 an a few other minor channels, and the viewing card is required to set the region however there are ways to obtain the regional channels for BBC and ITV. The FreeSatFromSKY viewing card is a one-off purchase.

There are several ways to get FreeSatFromSKY. You can pay SKY £150 to install a digi-box and dish and provide a viewing card. You can use the dish you have and buy a second-hand SKY box, I have two I bought from car boot sales for £2 and £5 respectively, a multi-LNB will allow you to connect multiple boxes to one dish, and purchase a card for each box from SKY for £20ea. A third route is to buy a box with a cancelled subscription card in it, this will give you access to the FTA channels that are not Free to View but will have settings for the region in which it was first installed.

There is some very useful information on setting up SKY equipement at this link http://www.satelliteforcaravans.co.uk/ Don't be put off by the caravan title, the information applies to all installations.