Humax FoxSat HDR – Freesat HD Digital Recorder

Information about the Humax FoxSat HDR – The Freesat+ High Definition receiver with a built-in disk recorder.

The Humax Foxsat-HDR

The Humax FOXSAT-HDR is the first Freesat receiver to have a hard-disk recorder built-in. It supports Freesat+ as well as High Definition. The FOXSAT-HDR became available in November 2008 at Argos.

With a Humax Foxsat HDR, you can watch and record satellite TV without a subscription, including high definition content.

Following on from the successful Foxsat HD, this is a high specification twin tuner hard-disk PVR that supports pause, rewind and record of Freesat HD digital TV, as well as access an expanding choice of standard definition TV channels on Freesat.

The Humax Foxsat HDR has a large 320GB hard drive, which allows for recording of up to 200 hours of TV, or up to 80 hours of HD programming. It has an 8-day electronic programme guide, which makes it easy to scan the Freesat TV schedule and plan your viewing.

Until now, the satellite TV recording market has been dominated by Sky, with their popular Sky+ and Sky+HD recorders, but this receiver / recorder offers a high-spec alternative to Sky, and of course doesn’t require you to have a monthly subscription to watch and record satellite TV.

The Humax FOXSAT-HD has two digital tuners, meaning that two Freesat channels can be recorded at the same time, so you never need miss a thing.

The Humax FOXSAT-HDR offers a whole host of advanced recording features for the Freesat+ digital satellite service, such as:

• Series recording – Supports automatic recording of all episodes of TV and radio series
• 8 Day Programme Guide – Onscreen EPG for programme selection
• Live pause and instant rewind – Great for when the phone rings, or if you missed an important plot development
• Schedule tracking – Recordings start and finish on time, even when broadcasters change their schedule
• Split recordings – Handy for recording a two-part programme that may have a break in the middle (such as a news bulletin)
• Radio recording – Never miss your favourite radio shows by recording by individual shows, or even series record
• Low power consumption – less than 1 watt in standby mode and an automatic standby function to put the box into standby when inactive
• Parental controls – access codes prevent children watching inappropriate content
• Audio description – for the blind or visually impaired and one-touch subtitles

Humax FoxSat HDR Connectors

Here’s a quick look at what’s on the back of the Foxsat HDR:

• 2 x LNB IN (from the dish)
• 1 x LNB Out (to loop to other boxes)
• 2 x SCART sockets
• Audio phono left and right
• Video phono output
• HDMI Output
• SP/DIF Dolby digital audio output
• Ethernet socket

Rear of the Humax FOXSAT HDR

Humax Foxsat HDR Specifications

A collection of other spec snippets on this Humax:

• Dimensions: 380 x 252 x 55mm
• Drive: 320gig
• Video: HD (MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 and MPEG-2) as well as standard definition
• Audio: Nicam Stereo, Dolby Digital output
  
• Supplied with: SCART lead, HDMI lead (for high-def), remote control with batteries, user guide.

Your Humax Foxsat questions

Q. Hi can you tell me if the Humax FoxSat HDR box can be connected to two separate TVs?

A. Yes, and no. Some satellite receivers have a standard TV aerial socket on the back which is modulated, and allows you to run an aerial cable off to a TV in another room. Sadly, the Foxsat HDR doesn’t have such a socket.

There are workarounds though. You can use a wireless video sender, connected to one of the SCART sockets, or you can buy an RF modulator box that converts SCART to aerial.

Useful Links

• More on Freesat? See our Freesat page
• Answers to common questions in our Freesat FAQ
• Freesat channel listings: Freesat channels
• Got a question about Humax set-top boxes? Ask in our Humax forum
• Information on free satellite – See our Free Satellite page
• If your question isn’t answered, please leave a message in our Freesat forum