FreeSat and Sky encrypted channels mixed up

[retiredbri45]

UK User Sept 2020

I’ve just got a Sony Android TV, KD-49XH8196 that has a Satellite receiver in addition to the Terrestrial receiver. When it tunes the Astra satellite it also picks up a nearby satellite, maybe BSB?   The result is that the EPG shows the Freesat TV and Radio channels (about 122) all mixed in with about 400 more (could be SKY “subscribed” channels).

I’ve got the Sony Channel Editor but am at a loss as to how I can get the EPG to just show just the 122 channels that come under the Freesat” banner.

My previous Panasonic set just tunes the 122 channels.

I’ve hunted the Forums high and low but have not got an answer. Any tips please?  

Also, the UK channel More4 is showing as an encrypted channel while adjacent channels are free to view. Any ideas how to get More4 retuned back to free to view?

At 75, I’m struggling.

Regards retiredbri

[Peter_S. · Accepted solution]

Hi,

When doing the satellite scan please select for service type "Free Services" and  for channel type "TV".

Thus the TV will scan for free TV channels only.

Cheers

Peter

[royabrown2]

@retiredbri45 

The satellite reception on Sony TVs isn’t FreeSat, which is a full week-ahead EPG service for a curated selection of channels.

Sony gives you everything that’s out there In or around the direction your dish is pointed, which is a blessing or a curse, depending on your point of view.

But with only a Now & Next EPG, and channel numbers that won’t correspond to Freeview/Freesat.

You can get over the channel numbers issue with the Sony Channel Editor you have.

But if you want more than the Now & Next EPG, or to be able to record conveniently, you may need to consider a separate Freesat box as an adjunct to the Sony TV. 

[retiredbri45 · Accepted solution]

Thanks a million, it worked.
It took a bit of too and fro to navigate the TV menu to filter to Free
channels but when it rescanned, the number went down from about 800 to
about 470 channels. Lots of duplications (BBC regions) but the Sony
Editor will quickly clear those. The "encrypted" More 4 programme was
also sorted.

5 STARS thanks to the Community.

regards Retiredbri45

[Cliffy34]

Just to add to this, I recently took delivery on Saturday of a Sony 77" OLED screen and also had tuning issues. I can't receive Freeview at all, so as the set did have two satellite tuners in it, I (and Currys where I got it from) expected it to work.

Needless to say, the first few attempts picked up 891 channels from the Astra satellite, but no programme scheduling information. I had to wait until Monday when Sony customer support reopened, who then advised of a software upgrade, which the tv didn't know about. The software has to be installed via a USB stick, challenging enough since as my set is wall mounted, the USB sockets are inaccessible (poor design there Sony). Once installed there was no discernable improvement. On re-contacting Sony support, they stated that as I'd done the software upgrade, there was nothing else they could do, and by the way, Sony do not guarantee their OLED sets for FreeSat reception. This is simply shoddy treatment of their customers and misrepresentation and I was gearing up to return the set to Currys as not fit for purpose.

However, as an ex IT guy, I tried a number of additional things before I scrapped the tv. Only after a full power off, mains plug removal, AND a factory reset, did anything improve. On powering back on, I did get presented with a Freesat tuning option, which found the more usual 186 channels, all correctly numbered, and EPG programme schedules - except for BBC 1/2 and Channel 4 stations which only have current and next programmes showing.

It goes without saying that this only worked for one of the tuners so recording a different programme to the one you are watching is not possible. 

So the software fix, released in December 2020, does help if you are a freesat user, but it doesn't fix all the issues. For a so called 'flagship' product this is poor, (especially when a Samsung 8K QLED tv I have, had no issues at all!) and I've given Sony till end of January 2021 to fix the remaining channels.

So BEWARE - tv screen hardware is fine, but the software issues let the overall product down. Very disappointing.

[HannahEd01]

Hi Cliffy34, I'm a bit confused, do you have an issue with FreeView? Or Freesat? because Sony TVs aren't satellite certified, so no support for a Guide there. And to get FreeView you need a digital aerial. What model do you have by the way?

[Cliffy34]

Well there’s the issue. I can’t get Freeview and didn’t know that a new 77” Sony OLED AG9 tv with twin satellite tuners wasn’t certified for satellite reception. More to the point, nor did Currys when I specifically stated I needed a tv with Freesat, nor could I find where that deficiency is clear on Sony websites.

This is especially frustrating when an 85” Samsung 8K QLED tv I had did all this Freesat tuning on twin sat tuners, with no issue at all. The Sony software patch has fixed a number of Freesat issues but the fact remains that I bought a flagship Sony product where, unusually, key features do not work and/or are not guaranteed. I feel I have been misled about the capabilities of this Sony product.

I am expecting a further software update by the end of this month to fix the remaining issues. If they are not forthcoming I’ll reserve my options to reject the tv as not fit for purpose, and/or misrepresentation at point of sale.

Regards

Cliff York

[spannerzone]

The problem is Sony don't make it too clear, the specs mention it has 2 IF Satellite sockets and you can see the TV has the satellite F connector sockets and you'd assume it would work... when you drill down through the specs on their site it mentions HD usb recording but there's no mention of satellite or Freesat... further down, when you reveal the footnotes it says:

"HDD recording (REC) and Satellite features are not available if YouView functionality is enabled."

This seems common on all their Android TVs when used in the UK, you can only use satellite if Youview is disabled, which disables some other catchup TV players.

It's a poor show... clearly they sell these TVs all over Europe and I imagine other countries setup allows satellite and free to air terrestrial.

[HannahEd01]

Hey guys, the recording on YouView is disabled by YoView themselves, not Sony. And it's always been like this for FreeView, you either get FreeView or YouView but on the 2020 models I heard they don't get FreeView. Regarding the Freesat, it's only the guide functionality that's not guaranteed. BR, Hannah

[royabrown2]

@spannerzone 

Sure, and they don’t have YouView. And they couldn’t anyway get any of the Players it brings, either.

But I don’t know if Sony leaves users in those other European countries worse off for players than, say, Samsung or LG do?

Though @rooobb might have an opinion here....