Talk Quesada forum

Advice please.

I've got a recent LG smart TV. It has a direct Sat connection so it saves me using my old box.

It gives me the option to use Freesat or 'other' (which I assume is standard free to air). I opted for Freesat.

The other night no freesat programme guide was available which prevented me from making a timed recording.

That, and the fact that the Freesat guide is sluggish at the best of times, I'm thinking of retuning the TV to standard Free To Air which I've always used in the past.

Has anyone else experienced issues with Freesat?

It did go slow the other night and actually dropped out for some reason.
Normally quite good.

You'll have a problem with option for "normal" satellite as opposed to Freesat as every channel will come up and in no particular order.
For example, if I select the non-Freesat I get ITV 1 on channel 1, ITV2 on channel 2, CITV on channel 3 and have to go to channel 13 to get BBC 1 London.
There doesn't appear to be any reasoning behind the channel numbers and C4 is down on number 23.

The EPG only gives me today and tomorrow, unlike Freesat which gives me 7 days.

I've stuck to Freesat as, although it may be slower, is far more logical and I can set record on something more than a day in advance although, like you, it sometimes fails which is a nuisance.

Thanks for the advice.

Am I right in thinking that if the Freesat guide fails, it is not possible to record apart from real time?

The LG manual instructions are non existent in this regard.

You need an EPG in order to schedule recordings however it doesn't necessarily have to be the Freesat one, what you can or cannot do with a non Freesat one may well depend on the individual box though.

I have two Freesat boxes and noticed nothing out of the ordinary with them over the past days.

A.N.Other wrote:You need an EPG in order to schedule recordings however it doesn't necessarily have to be the Freesat one, what you can or cannot do with a non Freesat one may well depend on the individual box though.

I have two Freesat boxes and noticed nothing out of the ordinary with them over the past days.

Actually you've sort of hit the nail on the head!

On my standard Free To Air box, occasionally the EPG is empty. However I can still make a scheduled recording by manually entering a Start time and duration. This does not seem to be possible on my Freesat TV (unless I ditch the Freesat programming).

There's an option on mine (Samsung) in Freesat to go to recordings and select Schedules. There is then a Add Recording option and I can manually select the channel, start time and finish time without using the EPG. That's, like you, using the built in satellite receiver.

Under the same Schedules is an Add Viewing option which you can set manually and it will go to that channel at the time specified.

Have a look in your online manual and enter the keyword Schedules. It might be under there.

Ok. I'll have a play, Thanks.

Is the TV officially Freesat or does it just have a satellite tuner but in?

If it's genuine Freesat then it should have the logo on it somewhere, if locally bought then it's very unlikely to be.

Model?

It is an LG model 28TL520S and yes it is officially Freesat as I mentioned before.
Bought from MediaMarkt.

I have the choice to install it as Freesat or 'Other' (which I assume is native satellite FTA).
Freesat works ok (ish) but dose not display a thumbnail preview on the programme guide.

This may be relevant...
When I did the initial installation of the TV it has an option called Location, with 3 sub options:
1. Broadcast country - I've put UK
2. LG service area - Spain (I kept this default)
3. Postcode - 03170 It did not allow a UK postcode, presumably because of the service area above.

I'm now wondering if I should change the service area to UK. Any thoughts?

Will it let you change it, without a VPN it will think it's in Spain, thats probably why no thumbnails too.

Try running through the setup without it being conneced to the infernet.

Not a long term solution for smart TV but could prove a point.

If you have a stand alone Freesat box you might find yourself resurrecting it.