Hi all,
Trying to follow Ken Bruce upon his departure from radio 2, the OH found that he’s not on Freesat. Worse than that 
, Freesat is coming to an end in 2024. Then what!!! We don’t have a landline, because orange can’t be arsed to install a post . But since last month the fibre optic cable is running along the front of our drive, a matter of 10 meters from the house. What happens when Freesat is redundant? Will we need an internet connection after all, since we do fine on two SIM cards for the last two years??? Can someone help us arrive in the here and now please??
Where did you hear this?
If that is true then Freesat are not saying anything about on their website…
EDIT: I think that you might need to qualify what you mean, but you may be confused with the fact that all BBC SD broadcasts via Freesat are indeed coming to an end, but HD is very much alive.
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I wonder if he has an older SD receiver.
By 31 March 2024: All BBC standard definition TV channels on Sky satellite and Freesat will close. Viewers using older SD only receivers will need to upgrade or lose access.
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More here…
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Does this help?
I read this morning that he’s moving to Bauer’s Greatest Hits Radio in April.
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So that’s what is happening, it has already started, channel 106 came to an end and all BBC 1 programmes are on HD now, apart from a few regional ones Wales etc. which I have fled to as a refugee recently.
I have a smart TV and an 80cm dish in the Dordogne, so what do I have to do, buy a larger dish?
No, just retune if you have a normal receiver.
If you have a Freesat receiver it should retune automatically, provided you leave it in stand-by overnight. If not you will have to manually retune.
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You mean to retune to get the HD without any breaks?
I already do get the HD but it fails shortly after selection. At the moment I get over this by switching to the next channel and immediately back again, which seems to work. 
Yes it’s only SD channels affected. They are switching to HD, most old Sky boxes don’t receive HD channels.
The main thing is that you need a Freesat box that can receive HD (High Definition) signals. All recent ones will do this, but if your box is more than a few years old, it may only work for SD (standard definition) TV signals.
The easy way to check is to switch your TV to display your Freesat channels. Turn to channel 101 - it should display the HD version of BBC1. If you don’t see BBC1 you may see a text display saying something like ‘we cannot show this channel’ which would confirm that your Freesat box is SD only.
In the Dordogne, an 80cm fish may be big enough but you’ll probably find that the HD signal becomes unreliable during snow or rain. Moving to a larger dish would increase the reliability.
Just as I thought then, yes it does get HD but has been suffering more lately. A bit reluctant to buy a new dish as this one was a freebie found at the dechetterie.
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I’m brainless when it comes to satellite TV. I’ve had a 90cm dish and a Panasonic SkyDigiBox since the early 2000s, and both are working fine.
I used the remote to tap out channel 101 as you suggested to David_Spardo, and indeed I do get BBC 1. Do you know if that means I’m already receiving HD tv?
Freesat Channel 101 is BBC1 HD but I don’t know about Sky, I’m afraid.
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According to Google, it’s the same.
My TV may be a Smart TV as it appears able to connect to the internet. If TV programmes start disappearing, I’ll get a newer receiver or watch through an internet connection. I have a choice it seems.
It looks like Freesat HD/4K is the way to go for me.
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Not absolutely necessary to go with Sky, other boxes are available and will give you more programes free
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It sounds like your receiver, your LNB, or less likely your dish, has a problem.
The picture difference between HD and SD is very noticeable, you should be able to see it easily (unless your TV is not HD of course).
Tune to an SD channel then to an HD channel, you will see the difference.