Advice please

Bit confused.

With the advent of Freeview, am I correct in thinking that the best way to get more than 5 channels in the bedroom without forking out for another Sky subscription is to get a portable and one of these 100 quid boxes?

If so - which box and what are the differences, how many channels will I get (is it dependent on the box used?)

OR

Are there any portables/small tellies that are already digital enabled so don't need the box?

thanks and apologies if dumb questions - only just thought of this!

 

Hello jmjm

1) To watch digital terrestrial in you bedroom you will need a good quality, digital compatible aerial feed into the room

2) The same channels are available on all the different boxes. Only factor that might change which channels you get is the aerial reception where you live.

3) Not aware of any small iDTVs at present, but they will come eventually. Even so, the first models will probably be more expensive than buying a standard portable and a DTT box

4) If you don't want to go down the DTT in the bedroom route, then could simply distribute the signal from your Sky box to the bedroom. Two ways to do this:

i) a suitable length of TV co-ax cable (front room to bedroom) and 'TV-eye' to send the remote control signal back to the Digibox

ii) use an RF video sender device (have seen them for sale for about £60) to send the Sky signal to the bedroom without the need for any cablng. These devices usually have the ability to send you remote signal back to the originating device as well.

Hope this helps

 

An alternative would be to buy a set of those digital/video senders. im not sure how they work fully but they transmit pictures from one tv to another without having wires trailing everywhere. in addition, you can also buy extra boxes for extra tvs. they sell them in argos from £80. Then (in theory)you will be able to watch sky in the bedroom without an extra subscription.

 

That's what I said in option 4)ii)!

The picture and sound signals are transmitted from sender to receiver using radio frequency (RF) signals.

Can buy from Maplin for £49.99 at the moment.
Maplin website

PS: the frequency these senders use (2.4GHz) is the same as that used for digital cordless phones (not analogue ones). This can cause interference if you have these types of phone in your house.

 

Why not get a second SKY digibox and a BBC FTV smartcard?
Initial cost and installation might be higher than a DTT Freeview box but if you already have SKY you know what you will be getting in terms of content and quality.

 

My apologies.

By the time i had posted the reply you had got there first.

 

Thankyou for the detailed reply - option 4 sounds like a good bet, although obviously it means watching the same channel on both TV's.

"Why not get a second SKY digibox and a BBC FTV smartcard?
Initial cost and installation might be higher than a DTT Freeview box but if you already have SKY you know what you will be getting in terms of content and quality."

Don't quite understand this option tho - won't this be the same as DTT Freeview - or are you suggesting there is a way to get Sky the same as my existing Sky sub but independent from it and, more importantly, without paying for a second sub?

Either way, one of these options should solve the current crisis in my house - namely me playing games on the widescreen TV downstairs while other half is forced to watch 5 channels of bad quality TV upstairs without access to Sky Sports.

 

Nope, no way to get a free second subscription.
I am suggesting that a FTV SKY digibox is a good alternative in terms of channel line up and price compared to Freeview.
Freeview has it's advantages in that it carries some channels that need a subscription if watched on SKY but a FTV SKY system also has channlels that do not and will not appear on DTT.