A lot of people has contacted us asking to see if we have an updated channel list for the Xoro 3000 Free to Air Satellite Receiver. After the frequency change last weekend, we have tracked down a box, reprogrammed it and the updated channel list software can be found below
This can be added to your receiver by copying to a memory stick and using the upgrade software function in the settings menu. You can see how to do it in one of our videos in the Xoro 3000 user manual page
The problem of channels going missing is a real pain for those who live in the world of ”Free to air satellite”
This can be caused by
Channels going out of business (rare)
Channels going onto a pay per view basis (rarer still)
Channels whose frequency have changed (most likely)
Some good news first
This rarely effects the main channels e.g. BBC, ITV etc
It is simple to tune them back in
Over the past few days, several channels have gone missing from peoples free to air boxes and combo receivers. The list of missning channels includes…
POP, Tiny Pop ,Tiny Pop +1 ,Kix! ,PopGirl, PopGirl +1, The Vault, Chart Show TV, NME TV, Flava, Bliss, Scuzz, DanceNation TV, Lava, True Ent, True Movies, True Movies 2.
For our range of current boxes, we have created new channel list with missing channels re-tuned.
You can find them in the downloads tab on each individual receiver that was affected by the frequency changes. Simply download the channel list updates and .load onto your box.
Alternatively where a download is not available, you could just scan the new TP and pull them in that way.
1 Scan the Affected TP
For those people wanting to manually tune in the channels, the following TP settings will be needed….
scan either …
11307 / 27500 / v
or
11308 / 27496 / v
and the missing channels should be found on either of these TP settings
The 2 Steps to manually tuning a satellite channel back in
There seems to be a lot of confusion with regards to people trying and failing to add BBC 3 and BBC 4 onto their free to air receivers or the other channels section of their sky box.
The route of the problem is 2 fold:
BBC 3 and BBC 4 do not broadcast during the day – they only start to broadcast at 7pm
BBC 3 & 4 broadcast on the same frequency as CBBC & CBeebies respectively. At 7pm CBeebies simply becomes BBC 4 and at 7am the role is reversed.
To complicate matters further some boxes will tune them in as 2 separate channels and some will not.
First tip: check on your box do you have CBBC and CBeebies – if you do, then you do not need to do anything as you effectively already have BBC 3 & BBC 4
A very common query I have gotten over the last few days is how to add Channel 5 (used to go by FIVE) onto a Free to air receiver or the other channels section of your sky box.
Following on from last weekends Frequency changes by the BBC to their HD channels, they have followed this up by chaning the frequencyies for BBC1 Northern Ireland and BBC2 NI.
The new settings are as follows……..
Frequency: 10817
Polarisation: Vertical
Symbol: 22000
Please see the previous blog entry (including how-to video) on the BBC HD frequency changes for a general idea on how to change these settings.
Word reached us today that UPC will no longer be carrying the ITV2, ITV3, ITV4 channels. Funnily enough it’s April 1st and we thought it was a joke at first. Unfortunately it’s not. If you select the appropriate channel on your UPC Digital TV box, it will simply come up Channel no longer available.
UPC Lose the Rights to ITV2, ITV3 & ITV4
This is a huge disappointment for the many UPC customer who regularly watch these channels. The extra ITV stations carry a varied content with many old series and classic films being shown on them. By losing the rights to broadcast these channels it add to the fiasco surrounding their price increase at the start of the year.
Allied to the fact that there are hoardes of people across the country that are unhappy with their service already and don’t get me started on their customer support, it really is a body blow for UPC.
Anyway the basic fact is that now more then ever the UPC service is getting to be less and less value for the average punter. That is why in the last couple of years, more and more people have been moving to free to Air TV services. ITV2, ITV3 & ITV4 are still being broadcast on these Free Satellite TV systems.
With regard to this you have two options really. You could go for a Free to Air system which would give you all the free UK satellite TV channels. These free to air systems are relatively inexpensive and can even do recoring of TV programmes (with the addition of an external hard drive) and some even have media players built in for playing your movies and music. You can even get HD Receivers that will allow you to receive the likes of ITV HD, BBC HD, BBC Once HD & Channel 4 HD.
The other option is to get something like a Freesat receiver. These are more expensive than generic free to air boxes but they are the closest thing to a SKy+box out there on the market at the moment. All of the above info regarding channels etc about the free to air receivers is also true of Freesat. The additional cost is because the recording can be done with it’s own internal hard drive, the freesat boxes automatically retune them selves when new channels added and they of course have a 7 day EPG. There are cheaper and more expensive models in the Freesat range of receivers but there is something for everyone’s pocket.
All in all, it’s no wonder that the free to air and freesat market in Ireland today is over 10% of the TV viewing population and growing at a huge rate every year, especially in these harsh economic times. In a nutshell, why should you pay for something every month, when you can get pretty much the same or in some cases (ITV2, ITV3, ITV4) sometimes even better.
As someone once said on another free to air channel, ‘you know it makes sense’ !!!
————————————————————————————————————-
Example of how to tune the channels in manually
Press ‘Menu’ button
Scroll down and select ‘Installation’ option
Enter Password ‘0000′
Select ‘TP Scan’
Channel
Frequency
Polarity
Symbol rate
ITV 1, 2, 4
10758
Vertical
22000
UTV, ITV 3, ITV 3+1
10906
Vertical
22000
ITV 4+1
10832
Hor
22000
ITV 2+1
10891
Hor
22000
Type in Frequency, Polarity, Symbol and Specify ‘Free’ Channels only
Select Search
Additional channels are added to the end of the channel list.
————————————————————————————————————-
See what UPC have to say for themselves below;
ITV Channel Update on UPC
ITV2, ITV3, & ITV4 channels are no longer available
Unfortunately, ITV has withdrawn ITV2, ITV3, & ITV4 from the UPC channel line up, effective from midnight Thursday 31 March 2011 as UPC’s carriage agreement with ITV has expired.
ITV was not in a position to renew the current agreement with UPC on any terms. ITV has an exclusive rights arrangement with another Irish channel provider for ITV programming content.
We have tried every effort to keep these channels but unfortunately we have been left with no option but to remove the channels as our contract has expired.
We are very disappointed with this outcome, we recognise that these are popular channels. However many of your favourite ITV programmes will continue to be available on TV3 and 3e. In addition we are planning to launch a number of new channels shortly. We would like to apologise for any inconvenience this has caused.
Note: UTV is not affected by this change.
Here is some further helpful information:
Will these channels be coming back?
No, but we are currently in discussions with a number of other channel providers. We plan to launch a number of new channels very soon.
Will I lose my ITV 2, 3 and 4 Digital+ recordings?
No, you will not lose any of your ITV 2, 3 and 4 Digital+ recordings.
Where can I watch my favourite programmes?
Many of your favourite programmes will continue to be available on UPC and these include the Xtra Factor, American Idol and Britain’s got talent on TV3 or 3E. Gossip girl is available on TG4.
Will I lose any more channels?
The removal of ITV 2, 3 and 4 were outside the control of UPC. UPC has no plans to remove any other channels but we are working to replace the ITV channels. We constantly review the channels we offer so we can provide the best quality programmes to our customers.
From the 23th of March 2011 Channel 4 has begun broadcasting in HD on Free to Air Satellite Systems. It had previously been encrypted. By the addition of C4 HD, it will bring the number of proper HD channels on Free to Air to four, adding to ITV HD, BBC HD and BBC1 HD. Unlike on Freesat receivers (C4HD due to be added in April 2011), you will need to tune in Channel 4 HD manually.
Obviously, you will need a Free to Air HD Satellite Receiver and Full HD or HD Ready TV to get Channel 4 in High Definition. Just a couple of other points to note;
You will not need any special HD Satellite Dishes or LNBs to receive the new channel.
A Standard Defininton Free to Air Satellite Receiver CANNOT receive C4 HD or any other HD Channels
Cart is empty
