Bush BFSAT01HD

The Bush BFSAT01HD is a high definition freesat set top box manufactured by the Alba group, available since freesat’s launch. The receiver offers stunning High Definition and colourful standard definition pictures.

The box is upgradeable via over the air updates and the software has been improved since launch now offering the facility to add non freesat channels to the receiver.

The Bush includes the usual standard freesat features including a 7 day TV guide EPG, 5.1 surround sound audio out and is energy efficient consuming less than 3 watts in standby.

Features:

• HD High Definition freesat Digital Box
• freesat compliant
• Access all freesat Digital Channels and Radio Stations
• On-Screen TV Listings 7 Day EPG
• Energy Efficient less that 3 watts in standby
• Parental control
• Red button interactive service
• Digital text
• Subtitles and Audio Description

Connections:

• 1 x HDMI Socket
• 2 x Scart Sockets
• LNB In and Out
• Ethernet – For future broadband connection
• SPDIF – Dolby digital audio output 5.1

What’s in the box:

• freesat Digital Box
• Scart Cable
• Remote control
• 2 x AAA Batteries
• Quick Start Guide
• User Manual

Dimensions:

• Width – 257mm
• Depth – 165mm
• Height – 42mm
• Weight – 1kg

More Info:

Bush Website
Quick Start Guide
User Manual
What Hi-Fi Review
freesat Channels

Review:

The Bush freesat BFSAT01HD is a HD (High Definition) receiver for thefreesat satellite television service, the set top box is manufactured by Alba which also produces freesat receivers under the Grundig and Goodmans banner, it appears all of the set top boxes manufactured by Alba seem to share the same specifications it would be no surprise the the internal hardware was the same as well placed into a different casing for each brand.

The Bush is unassuming, slim and small measuring only 257mm width, 165mm depth, 42mm high and weighing only 1kg, this is smaller footprint than a sheet of A4 paper and can easily be accommodated due to its size with other AV equipment, it seems SKY is the only one where they think big is better.

Connecting the Bush BFSAT01HD

The Bush was a breeze to connect up as this is a HD set top box you must connect via a HDMI cable to a HD ready TV which has a HDMI input, rather disappointedly the BFSAT01HD did not come supplied with a HDMI cable and you will have to purchase one separately so allow around £5 to £10 pounds if you do not already have one. The Bush does however come supplied with a SCART lead, we would have preferred to see both HDMI and SCART included or a HDMI lead and no SCART lead as most people are more likely to have a spare SCART lead kicking around than the new format HDMI connecting lead which is required for HD.

Rear Panel

The rear panel of the bush has a LNB in and out and we connected the satellite cable to the LNB connector, the LNB out can be used to daisy chain to another satellite receiver, however we would recommend if you needed to connect an additional satellite receiver you changed your LNB on your satellite dish to a multiple outlet LNB, typically 4 outlets and run a separate feed to the other receiver rather than use the LNB out as only one receiver can be powered at the same time and there are reports that it does not always work as it is supposed to. The other rear connections are: TV SCART, VCR SCART, HDMI, Ethernet RJ45 (for future use with a broadband internet connection) RS232 (for service only), SPDIF (digital optical 5.1 output) and a mains input socket, the power supply is a “power brick” contained in the 13amp plug.

Front Panel

The front panel of the BFSAT01HD is black with five buttons: volume up/down, channel up/down and a power on/standby button. Note there is no channel number display like the premium Humax FOXSAT01 HD has, this is not really an issue but it is a bonus to have one.

Satellite Dish

We already had an old SKY mini dish installed on the side of the property pointing towards the Astra satellites at 28.2 degrees east, if you require installation of a satellite dish you can expect to pay a one of fee of around £80 for a single feed, more for multiple feeds. You can purchase installation when buying the set top box or you can just buy the set top box and make your own installation arrangements.

The Display

With the set top box powered up and connected to the TV and the two supplied AAA batteries inserted into the remote control we were presented with first install screen which checks that you have a satellite signal reception suitable ours was over 90%, the next screen shows that you are locked onto the correct satellite and then the receiver automatically downloads the latest available system software direct from the satellite, after the latest software has been installed you are prompted to enter your postcode, the postcode is used to provide you with your regional programmes from the BBC and ITV, you can put in any UK postcode its only purpose is regionalisation on ITV and BBC.

The Bush then prompts you to set you screen size/type etc Then the BFSAT01HD started to auto tune for all available freesat TV and radio channels. In our case it found around 80, freesat have advised that the number of channels on freesat will increase to around 200 by the end of year.

With the installation finished we tuned to various standard definition TV channels which seemed as good as Freeview’s broadcasts, although some channels appeared slightly “soft” we feel this is an issue with the actual issue with the bandwidth used by some channels via Satellite rather than a fault with the Bush though. We then tuned to the BBC HD channel and this is where the BFSAT01HD shone, the picture was crisp and sharp with vast amounts of detail, an HD broadcast carries fives times the picture quality compared to standard definition and we can assure you you will not be disappointed here.

We also a watched a live Euro 2008 football match broadcast on the newly launched ITV HD which is currently exclusively on freesat via the normal standard definition channel (103) and as soon as a program that is broadcast in HD a small banner appears in the top right hand corner offering to watch in HD to press the red button on your remote, you were then taken to the HD feed, again the picture quality on the ITV HD broadcast was outstanding.

The EPG

The Bush has a seven day EPG (Electronic Program Guide) which serves it’s purpose but is not a smooth and good looking as the Humax FOXSATHD EPG included as well is a reminder function to let you know when a programme is going to start and audio description which adds additional narration that describes all significant visual information such as body language, facial expression, scenery, costumes – anything that is important to the plot of the story, event or image.

At the current time their is no option on the Bush for a manual tune for free to air channels that are not currently available on the freesat EPG. Alba have advised they are currently working on this and it will be made available in a forthcoming OTA (Over The Air) software update, this will happen automatically sometime soon we are advised, this will be a great addition as you will be able to receive some 200+ channels in a non freesat tune, they however will not appear in the freesat EPG though. The Humax FOXSAT01HD has had this facility from the start.

The Remote

The remote is functional with all the buttons you could desire for, it will not win any prizes though but is sufficient and fit for purpose.

Sound

Sound quality was as good as the TV it was connected to and we found no problems here, we did connect the Bush to our Sony surround amp via the digital optical connection and confirm that all was well with 5.1 being broadcast on the BBC HD channel.

Overall

We are very impressed with the Bush freesat BFSAT01HD and is well worth the money with good picture quality and will bring the most out of your HD ready TV now that you can display the resolutions that HD ready TV’s were designed for. A shame that no HDMI lead was included but this should not put you of purchasing. freesat has only just launched and there will be many more channels to come and additional functionality like the forthcoming BBC iplayer on freesat which the BFSAT01HD is already equipped for (when BBC iplayer launched it is anticipated that you will need a broadband connection and connect the set top box to a router)