Tuesday 2 August 2011

Freesat from Sky with Humax Foxsat HDR

Following on from my previous post on Freeview vs. Freesat vs. Freesat from Sky - Channel Smackdown I thought I ought to post some more information on what your options are in you've already switched from Sky to Freesat and paid out the cash for a new box. In my case the Humax Foxsat HDR.

Can I get Freesat from Sky using my Humax box?
According to Humax: "Yes; your sky card can be used in the Humax Foxsat HDR CI Module slot. This can be bought separately. This will give you give you Channel 4, Five, Five Life, Five US and Sky 3." But there issues, lots of them, see below....

Should I just buy the Freesat From Sky box?
No. You can't record. It's a SkyHD box not a Sky+HD box. You'll have to pay around £10 a month to record.

Can I record?
Yes it would seem you can. But, see next question.

Will I have a fully working EPG with Series Linking, etc?
No. From what I've read the Humax box won't have a working EPG with the Sky Card in. You have to set it to non-freesat mode which disables the EPG. I've also read that this loses all programs scheduled to record.

Do I have to pay a subscription?
No, not for using the Sky card in the Humax box. If you want to record using a Sky box, then yes. You'll have to pay around £10 a month.

Can I use my old card?
Apparently yes. but you will need a CAM. From my research it looks like only Diable 2 CAMs support the correct decoding for Sky. The going rate for these is about £90. Plus you may need a programmer for it, and some software for your PC to get it all set up.

Can I use the Sky App to Remote Record?
Almost certainly not.

So, Should I do it?
No, probably not worth it.