We had a setup in a suitcase bought from Lidl last year.
It was a nice compact unit although a bit fiddly. The dish had to be spot on in the right direction to work. It didnt like anything in its path whether it was a tent, van or tree. It also didnt like rain or wind and I was forever tweaking it to keep it working.
It was carefully repacked up and returned to Lidl for a refund!
We now use a freeview box and a mini high gain aerial.
Works for us!
------------- I started out with nothing and I've still got most of it left - Seasick Steve 2008
Does this decoder actually "get" Freesat [Freesat UK Ltd ] as opposed to "freesat from Sky"?
I have Freesat at home via a Humax decoder and receive the BBC/ITV channels plus Channel 4 its derivatives and 5, all I need actually.
This suits me well and I want to get this in the van without forking out £150 for another Humax decoder.
Ally,
I understand the "boxes" are quoted as FTA [free to air]. That I know embraces a whole lot of both different satellites and channels including Sky's encrypted and non encrypted ones. The Sky encrypted ones being free to receive but requiring a one off payment Sky card to de-encrypt and view. But not including the Sky premium ones.
The aspect I am struggling with is whether it can get true "Freesat" [ not to be confused with Sky's "freesat from Sky"], or does true Freesat require a unique decoder such as made under licence by Humax, Grunding, Foxsat, and Goodmans.
It is a very confusing situation at least to me. What I know is that if I get the true Freesat I will get all the UK channels I need.
Any better inform colleague able to clarify please?
Turning to the stability of the dish. The dish must be stable; the "satgears" tripod looks to have a far too small a foot print on the ground for this compared to the much more expensive Omnisat [Maxview] tripod. Again looking like it's "you get what you pay for".
Cheers John
no freesat is just an expression for free satellite channels .the humax boxes pick them up but there's more with a proper satellite receiver.
admittedly the humax boxes get the best of the bunch so your missing little, going the whole hog on a fixed dish is pointless.
sky freesat needs a card and you get all the free ones plus i think a couple of sky ones chucked in ,exactly the same channels though but you pay £20? for the privilage of using your sky box instead of investing in another box.
you will get all the "ordinary" tv channels plus more on any of the 3 systems you choose ,HD on HD boxes ofcourse if you have an HD telly and a dual port LNB (single versions for non HD)
4 & 5 are in the clear as are more4 more4+1 film4 film4+1 e4 and e4+1 ,4 bbc channels and all the itv ones plus many more.
if it says channel 4 is scrambled then sky is up to its old analogue trick of encoding non encoded channels
I bought the Sat setup from Aldi last year,best bit of kit I`ve bought for camper.I use a sturdy camera tripod and if weather looks bad anchor it down with elastic straps.Never had a problem setting it up and now takes about 10 mins from start to finish,you can get all the terrestrial channels plus or course loads of other rubbish.As with all dishes you need a clear line of sight to satellite to get a signal so go and buy one you will not be dissapointed.Look at www.freesat.co.uk or satelliteforcaravans you will find out all you need to know.
Wyn.