Freesat F.A.Q

Freesat launched in May 2008 offering 80 digital TV and radio channels, via a satellite.

For more on the Freesat service, which is a joint venture between the BBC and ITV, see our Freesat page.

This page contains answers to frequently-asked questions.

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How do I get Freesat?

Dish: If you don't have a satellite dish pointing to where Sky Digital's satellites are - you'll need to get a dish installed. Freesat will charge you £80 You need to have a satellite dish installed, if you don't already have one. You can order installation from Currys, Comet or Argos(cat no: 527/0086)

Set-top box: You'll also need a Freesat Set-top box. See next question.

Freesat Installation loophole!

With Freesat, if you don't have a dish, it'll cost you £130 to get Freesat working (£50 for a basic box, and £80 for installation of a dish). However... Sky Digital are offering something called "Pay Once, Watch Forever", which offers over 200 channels, for just £75 - this includes installation and a Sky Digibox. You also get four months of Sky's pay-TV channels as a trial. So, here's what you do:

Get "Pay Once, Watch Forever" - dish and box for £75.
Watch the 200+ free channels plus the Sky subscription channels for 3 months, then tell Sky that you don't want to subscribe after the trial.
You can still use the Sky box for the free-to-air channels. If you fancy moving to Freesat (for their HD service), then you've already got a dish installed suitable for Freesat, and a spare satellite receiver.

You can only get "Pay Once, Watch Forever" if you've not had a Sky contract before.

What set-top box receiver do I need?

You'll need a special Freesat receiver. Set-top boxes capable of receiving Freesat became available in May 2008.

They are available from Comet, Currys, Argos and John Lewis. Boxes cost from £50 for a standard box, or £120 for a box capable of getting High Definition.

Click here for a list of Freesat receivers

Is there a PVR (disk-recorder) for Freesat?

Yes. When Freesat launched in May 2008, there was no PVR hard-disk recorder or twin-tuner in their receiver lineup.

The first Freesat PVR launched in November 2008 - the Humax Foxsat HDR (pictured below). These are available from John Lewis, Laskys and from Comet.

If you want to record from Freesat, you can connect a Freesat receiver to a DVD recorder or video recorder using a SCART lead. See our recording FAQ

I have a Sky satellite dish. Can I use this for Freesat?

Almost certainly, yes. As long as the dish is pointing in the same direction as the Sky satellites, all should be well. It certainly works for us.

Freesat channels

What channels are on Freesat? At launch, there are 80 channels of TV and radio available, and Freesat has announced that the target is for 200 channels. You can find a full Freesat channel list here: Freesat channels
Missing Freeview channels? There are a number of channels that you can find on Freeview (TV via an aerial not a dish), that surprisingly can't be found on Freesat. At launch, these were: Five (appeared on Freesat in Nov 2008), Five US, Fiver, Dave, Virgin 1, UKTV History, Sky Three, TMF, The Hits and Sky Sports News. When Freesat launched, these channels were being broadcast on the Sky platform and could in theory be received on a Freesat box, but they're encrypted and so aren't available. The channels will have their encryption disabled for Freesat, but may be tied to a contract with Sky that prevents this. We're sure many of these channels will appear in due course.
How do I get such-and-such channel? See our Channels summary for common channels
Can I get Setanta Sports on Freesat? No. See our Setanta page for options
Getting extra channels? It's possible to access other Free-to-view channels with some Freesat boxes, such as the Humax Foxsat - See our other channels FAQ
Channel not available? If you're looking for a free channel that's not yet in the lineup, it may be coming soon. Freesat is planning to increase to 200 channels, so your channel may be coming soon. It may be that it's already available free to view (more).
Sign up to our newsletter for updates, or try asking in our Freesat forum.

High Definition?

Yes - good news is that with Freesat, it's possible to get High Definition without a subscription. The bad news is that the channel choice is a lot less than on Sky's HD service. Here's some useful information:

As of February 2009 , all that's available is one channel of BBC HD content, and a few hours a day of ITV HD content, compared with the 30+ channels on Sky+ HD (including Channel 4, Sky 1, Sky Movies and Sky Sport)
ITV HD launched in June 2008, and is exclusive to Freesat. It's only available via the red button on your Freesat remote - this is to get around having a separate channel that could be picked up by non-Freesat hardware. Update: There's now a way to view ITV HD on a Sky+ HD

More on HD on our HDTV page

Can I get other satellite channels

Yes - at least with some Freesat boxes. By default, the Freesat channel lineup is a closed list of channels managed by Freesat - see our Freesat channel list. However, there are lots more free-to-view channels available on the Astra and Eurobird satellites. See the Free-to-air channel list to see what's available.

Some Freesat receivers are capable of tuning in to other free-to-air channels. The Humax Foxsat-HD Freesat receiver, for instance, is capable of tuning to these other free satellite channels. See our Humax FoxSat FAQ for details on how to do this.

We had a scan to see what we could other, non-Freesat channels we could see. In May 2008, our scan revealed 370 TV channels and 106 radio channels. A small percentage of these channels were encrypted and not viewable - this is because the broadcaster may be in a commercial agreement with Sky that prevents them being shown free-to-air (this is known as Free-to-View), or because the channels are subscription channels and you need to sign up to Sky to get them.

We were able to access a stack of free-to-air channels from our Humax Foxsat, including:

Business Channel, Baby Channel, Wine TV, Film 24, UCB TV, Sky News, Nuts TV, Bloomberg, CNN, JJB Golf, Fight Network, Luxe TV (in HD!) and Rockworld TV. There were also quite a few religious channels (such as the God Channel), a stack of shopping and quiz channels, plus a collection of free-to-air adult tease channels (such as Babestation, Essex Babes and Playboy 1). There's a list of the major Free-to-air channels on Sky's site.

It's handy being able to switch between Freesat and Non-Freesat channels, for situations where a channel is not yet part of Freesat, or is a Freesat-only channel. Note that when scanning for non-Freesat channels, the numbering sequence will be a bit odd, and also they can't be accessed via the Freesat Electronic Programme Guide.

Scanning for non-Freesat channels on a Humax Foxsat

Connecting to TV and recorders

As standard, you can connect your Freesat box to a TV set and DVD recorder via SCART cables. The Freesat boxes that were available at launch have 2 SCART sockets - one for connection to a TV, and one for connection to a recorder. Boxes with high-definition output can be connected to an HDTV set via the HDMI socket. Some other notes on connectivity:

Yes - you can connect a Freesat box to a digital TV that has built-in Freeview (via SCART, or if HD, via HDMI).
How to record to DVD: See our recording FAQ

Connecting to a PC

If you have a TV receiver in your PC, you may wish to connect the output of your Freesat box into your PC receiver. Your PC TV receiver will need to support "analogue" input. If your Freesat box has a standard TV aerial output socket and is "modulated", you should be able to connect an aerial lead from the Freesat box to the PC TV receiver, then tune the PC software in to the Freesat box output channel.

Many Freesat boxes don't have a modulated aerial outout, so you may need to connect from the Freesat SCART socket using an RF modulator. You can find more help on this subject on our TV on your PC page.

Can I record from Freesat?

Sure. If you have a DVD recorder or a VHS video recorder, it should be a case of connecting from one of the Freesat box SCART output sockets, into a Line In SCART socket on your recorder. All Freesat receivers support recording via their SCART sockets.

Recording HD content? Some Freesat receivers, such as the Humax Foxsat-HD support reception of High Definition content, but recording HD is not cheap. You'd need to buy a stand-alone Blu-Ray DVD recorder (likely to set you back £800!).

Freesat PVR / DVRs? Coming soon. See our PVR FAQ

Sky+ / Sky+ HD? We've been asked if you can use a Sky+ or Sky+ HD box to record Freesat. Seems the answer is "yes" - you can record the Free-to-air channels on a Sky PVR - however, note that if you're not a Sky subscriber, Sky will charge you £10 a month to use the Sky+ recording facility

Can I use my Sky box (or another receiver) to get Freesat?

We're not experts on this subject, but we can give you some information to help you out:

The Freesat service is broadcast from the Astra 2 satellites at 28.2° east and Eurobird 1 satellites situated at 28.5° east.

If you have a Sky Digital receiver - a number of channels are available without subscription, including many of the Freesat channels - see Sky's list

Freesat transmissions are not encrypted. Standard definition channels are transmitted in MPEG-2 ISO/IEC13818.

The Freesat receiver we're using, a Humax Foxsat, has a frequency range of 950MHz to 2150MHz. DiSEqC Control version 1.0, 1.2, USALS, SCD

Presumably, if your dish is capable of being pointed at the right satellites, and your receiver can cope with the Freesat specs, you'll be able to get the Freesat channels.

What you won't be able get though, is the Freesat Electronic Programme Guide and any other services offered by Freesat, as this is specific to the Freesat software. Additionally, you'll be unlikely to get Freesat HD. Can you help add to this answer?

If you need more advice, ask in our Freesat forum

Which satellite does Freesat use?

Freesat broadcasts from the Astra group of satellites positioned at 28.2º East and the Eurobird satellite at 28.5º East above the Equator. If you have a dish that works with Sky Digital, it should work with Freesat.

If you're in the UK and are working out where to point your satellite dish to get Freesat, this varies depending on where in the country you are. You'll find that the dish needs to be pointing at a compass heading somewhere between 139 and 147 degrees (i.e. South- East) at an elevation of between 18 and 26 degrees.

BBC Channels are broadcast on the Astra 2D sat, and the Freesat EPG is is broadcast from Eurobird 1. Want to chat about sats? Use our forum.

I'm outside the UK. Can I get Freesat?

Freesat is intended for the UK only. When you first connect a Freesat receiver, you're prompted for a valid UK postcode, but as the box has no data connection back to a control centre, there's no way that the satellite knows where you are.

The signal from the satellites that broadcast Freesat can be received outside of the UK. In theory, if you have a suitably-sized dish pointing at the Astra 2 satellites at 28.2° east and Eurobird 1 satellite situated at 28.5° east, with a clear line-of-site, you may well be able to get Freesat.

It's worth noting that many of the channels are on the Astra 2D satellite, which has a smaller footprint and is much harder to receive outside of the UK. Pictured to the right is the footprint of the Astra 2D satellite.

We're a UK site, and can't offer much in the way of advice on how to get Freesat elsewhere in Europe. We have some more information on our UK TV Abroad page, otherwise, if you want more help or advice, we suggest you ask in our Freesat forum

Freesat covers 98% of the UK. What about the other 2%?

Pretty much the whole of the UK is in the footprint of the Astra satellites - there are coverage maps here.

The main reason that the coverage isn't 100% isn't related to the footprint of the satellite - it's the fact that it's not always possible to point a dish at the satellite.

The dish needs clear line of sight to the satellites. The dish needs to be pointing at a compass heading somewhere between 139 and 147 degrees (i.e. South- East) at an elevation of between 18 and 26 degrees. In built-up areas, valleys, etc, this may not be possible. If you live in an area with limited line-of-sight, check with your neighbours to see if they can get satellite. Additionally, some properties can't have a dish, or it's not practical to have one installed. A professional local dish installer can advise you.

In the event that you can't get satellite TV where you live, check out some of the other digital TV options

Can I get other UK TV regions?

When you first connect your Freesat box, you're asked for a postcode, to identify which TV region you should get. The BBC regional channels can also be accessed from channel 950 onwards. In May 2008, there was only a limited selection of BBC regions, but a new group went online in July 2008

Other regions, plus ITV regions, are available in non-Freesat mode.

I can't have a dish where I live - any options?

Possibly - see our Satellite TV FAQ for our response.

Can I feed two satellite receivers from one dish?

The answer is, yes... sort of.

A satellite receiver needs to take control of the LNB (the bit that sticks out from the dish), so that it can tune to the right frequency and polarity. Two boxes can't control the LNB at the same time, so you either need a switch box, or better still, to have a multi-LNB. The best option is to use a multi-LNB and have a separate cable run for each receiver, allowing each box to control its own LNB.

More on this in our Satellite TV FAQ

How do I contact Freesat?

Address: 4th Floor, 58-60 Berners Street, London W1T 3NQ
Helpdesk: 08450 990 990

Got a question on Freesat? Contact us