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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
Tuesday, 18 January 2011
P
philup
12:48 PM

i have a sky dish but am not using sky, can i just buy a freesat box connect it to the sky dish cable and be up and running

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Briantist
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

12:51 PM

philup: Yes.

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philup
12:54 PM

thank you very much getting this sorted has been such a ball ache. much appreciated.

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P
philup
2:07 PM

i have bourght a freeesat box and it is all plugged in and wired up but its not picking up any signal through the satalite. any ideas why thismight be?

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D
Dan
3:52 PM

Hi.

My folks want to upgrade from a Humax Freesat box to a Humax FOXSAT-HDR Freesat+ 320GB HD Digital TV Twin Tuner HD Recorder. They are told they'll need a different ariel cable, is this correct?

Many thanks.

Dan

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T
tony
5:06 PM

i have basic sky fed through one tv and then back to 8 way powered splitter in the roof space.TV's in 5 different places all fed through tv outlets.
Have to watch the sky output on all tv's but can change channels ok.All sets can watch terrestrial channels .
Can i buy a freesat box to replace the sky box?
Will the tv sets around the house be able to watch channels independantly?
tony

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Wednesday, 19 January 2011
Briantist
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

11:23 AM

tony: No, Freesat boxes do not have analogue RF outputs (as this system is now discontinued).

The idea is that Freesat boxes are cheap and you can put one on each set - so you can watch any channel you like.

You can easily attach up to eight devices to a dish, you just need an 8-output oct-LNB for the cables to connect to.

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Briantist
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

11:25 AM

philup: Did the connection work before?

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Briantist
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

11:26 AM

Dan: The cable is the same, but you need two connections to the dish for a recorder (and also a quad-LNB on the dish for the connections to go to).

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Dan
4:38 PM

Cheers Brian.

They're gonna be charged £90 for the new connection etc so I presume that's about right.


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