I'm thinking of buying a Coolsat 8000 HD. Is it possible to receive Bell Express Vu & StarChoice channels?

Question

FTA,Coolsat 8000 HD,Bell Express Vu,Free,Satellites

Answer 1

You cannot receive StarChoice channels on a Coolsat or any FTA receiver as they use Digicipher 2, NOT DVB. You need a Starchoice box. a 4DTV receiver is technically capabile of receiving Starchoice but they will not authorize a non-StarChoice receiver and you'll only be able to get the free channels since you can't subscribe to SC with the 4DTV box.

There are 3 unencrypted HD channels (2 are promo channels) on Nimiq 2 at the moment so you should be able to pick those up. No HD on Nimiq 1. Non HD stuff, Nimiq 1 has 4 radio channels and 3 TV barker channels unencrypted. Nimiq 2 has 6 radio channels and a TV barker unencrypted. You won't be able to pick up anything else from Bell ExpressVu without modifying the firmware and this would be illegal. There are plenty of free stations out there on other satellites you can pick up with the 8000 HD legally. PBS has 2 HD stations on AMC3/Ku now. If you have a C band dish, Movie Central HD is in the clear on Anik F2. Outdoor Channel HD is on G10R/C. That's about it for ITC HD channels. Everything else is standard definition that you can pick up with any ordinary FTA box. If those handful of HD stations are worth the extra few hundred dollars to you, then go for it. Otherwise, get something cheaper.

Answer 2

Coolsat 8000