How to get Channel 5 and BBC One HD on your Irish EPG and Recordable!!

gtg60 · 10-08-2011 8:18pm #1

Yes, discovered this little doosey a few days ago

Here's what I used:
My Sky HD box
My genuine Sky sub card
A White UK FTV card [link deleted - ICDG]

Here's how I did it:
Plugged out my Sky HD box, inserted the FTV card, plugged it back in and switched it on.
Changed channel to 105 (Channel 5) and switched off box.
Put back in my normal Sky sub card switched it on and viola Channel 5 and BBC One HD on the EPG!

Weirdly 3e and Channel 5 are both on channel number 105 and also BBC HD and BBC One HD are on 143.

All the Sky+ pause, rewind record functions work as normal, haven't tried Series link yet.

Discovered this trick 2 days ago and has worked ever since, channels seem to remain until the box is plugged out, will do a bit more testing including series link. Could be a great find for those looking to record the new BB :cool:

Additional note:
It turns out that if you have the correct regional variations of ITV, ITV 2 etc stored in other channels (that match your FTV card) then these will also be added. I now have all the ITV's including ITV HD

twinklerunner · 10-08-2011 9:10pm

gtg60 wrote: »

Yes, discovered this little doosey a few days ago
Here's what I used:
My Sky HD box
My genuine Sky sub card
A White UK FTV card [link deleted])

Here's how I did it:
Plugged out my Sky HD box, inserted the FTV card, plugged it back in and switched it on.
Changed channel to 105 (Channel 5) and switched off box.
Put back in my normal Sky sub card switched it on and viola Channel 5 and BBC One HD on the EPG!

Weirdly 3e and Channel 5 are both on channel number 105 and also BBC HD and BBC One HD are on 143.

All the Sky+ pause, rewind record functions work as normal, haven't tried Series link yet.

Discovered this trick 2 days ago and has worked ever since, channels seem to remain until the box is plugged out, will do a bit more testing including series link. Could be a great find for those looking to record the new BB :cool:

I discovered this recently too. I've noticed that it relates to free-to-air channels that you have stored in 'other channels'. I insert the FreeToView card, put it on 973 (BBC1 NI), remove the card, put in my Irish card which switches channel number to 141 (BBC1 NI again) and hey presto all the free to air channels (that you have on 'Other Channels') are there on the epg along with all the Irish card enabled channels, both TV & radio. Red button services work; series link works; Channel 4 programmes ( C4 on 104 & C4+1 on 135) are not blocked, all the BBC radio channels are here as well as ITV, etc. The only difference is that to watch a programme you have recorded on one of the 'extra' channels you have to enter your pin to watch. I have a London region FTV card, so some channel numbers double up, ie: 101 is BBC 1 London and there is a second 101 with RTE1, etc :cool::cool: Don't unplug the box or you have to go through the whole saga again !!

gtg60 · 10-08-2011 9:28pm

Ah, interesting, good find though must experiment with 'Other Channels' too.

twinklerunner · 10-08-2011 9:40pm

gtg60 wrote: »

Ah, interesting, good find though must experiment with 'Other Channels' too.

I don't get Channel 5 on the epg though .. it's not a FTA channel on Sky .. FTV card required to view it .. interesting that you get it !!

gtg60 · 10-08-2011 9:49pm

Just checked and I have nothing in my 'Other Channels' list. There is an FTA Channel 5 available, check in the stickies.

twinklerunner · 10-08-2011 9:53pm

gtg60 wrote: »

Just checked and I have nothing in my 'Other Channels' list. There is an FTA Channel 5 available, check in the stickies.

I know there is .. anyway your box is obviously behaving differently to mine. I've checked a few Sky+ HD boxes .. they all behave as per my post above

gtg60 · 10-08-2011 9:58pm

Possible it's my FTV card region, can't check it right now but will in a few hours.

bsj · 10-08-2011 11:50pm

I discovered this a couple of weeks back too, I get UTV and Channel 5 on EPG, wish I could get BBC1 HD, have 103 tv3 and 103 utv, also get itv3 on 119.

gtg60 · 11-08-2011 1:13am

Jay-sus lads would ye's not have mentioned it earlier :rolleyes:

My FTV card is BBC South West / ITV West country, this gives me Channel 5 (105) and BBC One HD (143) but nothing else (that I can find).

The Dark Knight · 11-08-2011 8:25am

bsj wrote: »

....have 103 tv3 and 103 utv......

How does that work, what station tunes in when you press 103.

All the above sounds interesting. I have an old "blue Freesat from Sky card". Will try it with that tonight.

bsj · 11-08-2011 8:49am

The Dark Knight wrote: »

How does that work, what station tunes in when you press 103.

All the above sounds interesting. I have an old "blue Freesat from Sky card". Will try it with that tonight.

When i enter 103 , utv comes up, I have an old blue Northern Ireland sky card.

My sky hd box no longer reverts to the uk peg if the viewing card is removed, and I can no longer view BBC1HD through other channels. The blue card brings up all the UK free to view channels, including BBC1HD, Channel 4HD, but not Channel 5 HD, but does show ordinary channel 5.

One day when i switched the cards around UTV and Channel 5 stuck!!

gtg60 · 11-08-2011 10:11am

Tried this with an old Blue card, only BBC One HD stayed, seems to vary based on cards original region.

christo82 · 11-08-2011 12:27pm

Just a question, do you actaully need an FTV card for this? I remember when I first inserted my viewing card, BBC one HD and BBC HD were both on 143 I think. Don't remember any other channels staying though.

twinklerunner · 11-08-2011 1:20pm

christo82 wrote: »

Just a question, do you actaully need an FTV card for this? I remember when I first inserted my viewing card, BBC one HD and BBC HD were both on 143 I think. Don't remember any other channels staying though.

You will need a FTV card .. because if you re-boot your box you will only get the Irish card enabled channels.

christo82 · 11-08-2011 2:04pm

twinklerunner wrote: »

You will need a FTV card .. because if you re-boot your box you will only get the Irish card enabled channels.

Okay, thats a pity. By re-boot, do you mean unplug rather than just turn off? Is it possible to remove the Irish card, turn the box into the FTA Uk box and then put the card back in and get the irish channels back, or would the card need to be reactivated?

200motels · 11-08-2011 2:37pm

Interesting but do you have to take cards out all the time you want to record, it seems to me you'd be better off with Freesat.

twinklerunner · 11-08-2011 3:30pm

200motels wrote: »

Interesting but do you have to take cards out all the time you want to record, it seems to me you'd be better off with Freesat.

No, you record everything via the Irish card.

200motels · 11-08-2011 3:46pm

twinklerunner wrote: »

No, you record everything via the Irish card.

That's even more interesting.

bsj · 11-08-2011 4:00pm

I just died this on my neighbours hd box and couldn't get it to work, then it dawned on me that she didn't have any channels in other channels. Put UTV, Channel 5, ITV2, ITV3 into other channels and low and behold she now has all these on her EPG.

p.oconnor · 11-08-2011 4:15pm

lads this sounds very good, can the cards be still ordered from Ireland, does anyone no?

christo82 · 11-08-2011 4:20pm

Anyone have an FTV card that I could borrow? Ordering my own card seems a bit tricky.

200motels · 11-08-2011 5:03pm

I tryed this with an old blue free to air card and it worked. Superb find and let's hope Sky doesn't stop it some way.

200motels · 11-08-2011 6:27pm

I tryed it on our other HD box a Thomson one and it didn't work. Strange.

galtee boy · 11-08-2011 6:42pm

twinklerunner wrote: »

I don't get Channel 5 on the epg though .. it's not a FTA channel on Sky .. FTV card required to view it .. interesting that you get it !!

Do you have a London region ftv card ? The London version of Channel 5 is still encrypted. I have just done as instructed in the posts above and can merge all UK channels into my Irish EPG, except Channel 5, despite having the fta version of it in my "other channels", but my ftv card is a London one and I can only assume it won't import Channel 5, because it's looking at the encrypted one. As someone said in previous posts, this "merging" of the two epgs, only works for fta UK channels, that are stored in other channels. I can't import BBC1 HD or Channel4 HD, even though they are fta, because I didn't have them stored in "other channels" and can't store them now, because they are DVB S2 and can't be added manually to a Sky box. That said, I'm delighted to have 101 BBC1, 101 RTE1, 102 BBC2, 102 RTE 2 etc. And as previously said, despite duplicating of channel numbers, all recordings, series link etc works fine. I deliberately set the box to record 101 (BBC1) and 101( RTE1) at the same time and it worked, no problem. We're probably shooting ourselves in the foot here, with all this publicity, how long before Sky send some sort of "signal" to nobble this quirk in their system ?

200motels · 11-08-2011 6:45pm

I have a old blue card from Newcastle and your right Sky could noble this, I don't have channel 5 which I'm not bothered with anyway.

johntommy · 11-08-2011 7:07pm

Got UTV on 103, Channel 5 on 105 and ITV2 on 118.
3 extra channels to record for nothing.
Thanks a lot

galtee boy · 11-08-2011 7:10pm

johntommy wrote: »

Got UTV on 103, Channel 5 on 105 and ITV2 on 118.
3 extra channels to record for nothing.
Thanks a lot

Out of curiosity, did you use a ftv card and what UK region is it belonging to ?

bsj · 11-08-2011 7:17pm

200motels wrote: »

I tryed it on our other HD box a Thomson one and it didn't work. Strange.

Make sure you have the channels added into other channels, it won't work otherwise. I tried it about 10 times on a sky hd box earlier, same make as mine and couldn't get it to work, as soon as I added utv etc into other channels, it worked first time.
Maybe it only works on Amstrad boxes.

blueser · 11-08-2011 7:18pm

Just tried it, and it works (up to a point). I have a NI FTV card and I do get UTV on 103 as well as TV3 and 5 on 105 along with 3e. However, I don't get Ch4 HD on 140 or BBC1 HD on 143 (which I would get if I unplugged the box and inserted the FTV card.

christo82 · 11-08-2011 7:18pm

Just to confirm, this can't be done by returning the box to an FTA UK EPG, then putting the Irish card back in? thx

twinklerunner · 11-08-2011 7:26pm

christo82 wrote: »

Just to confirm, this can't be done by returning the box to an FTA UK EPG, then putting the Irish card back in? thx

On a Sky+ HD box you need a FTV card to get back to a UK epg.

twinklerunner · 11-08-2011 7:28pm

galtee boy wrote: »

twinklerunner wrote: »

I don't get Channel 5 on the epg though .. it's not a FTA channel on Sky .. FTV card required to view it .. interesting that you get it !!

twinklerunner wrote: »

Do you have a London region ftv card ? The London version of Channel 5 is still encrypted. I have just done as instructed in the posts above and can merge all UK channels into my Irish EPG, except Channel 5, despite having the fta version of it in my "other channels", but my ftv card is a London one and I can only assume it won't import Channel 5, because it's looking at the encrypted one. As someone said in previous posts, this "merging" of the two epgs, only works for fta UK channels, that are stored in other channels. I can't import BBC1 HD or Channel4 HD, even though they are fta, because I didn't have them stored in "other channels" and can't store them now, because they are DVB S2 and can't be added manually to a Sky box. That said, I'm delighted to have 101 BBC1, 101 RTE1, 102 BBC2, 102 RTE 2 etc. And as previously said, despite duplicating of channel numbers, all recordings, series link etc works fine. I deliberately set the box to record 101 (BBC1) and 101( RTE1) at the same time and it worked, no problem. We're probably shooting ourselves in the foot here, with all this publicity, how long before Sky send some sort of "signal" to nobble this quirk in their system ?

Can we just delete this thread now that I've spread the word

christo82 · 11-08-2011 7:29pm

twinklerunner wrote: »

On a Sky+ HD box you need a FTV card to get back to a UK epg.

Are you serious? This is news to me. So, when I cancel my account, I'm gonna have to buy an FTV card to use it as an FTA box?

blueser · 11-08-2011 7:34pm

christo82 wrote: »

Are you serious? This is news to me. So, when I cancel my account, I'm gonna have to buy an FTV card to use it as an FTA box?

Don't think so. You only need the card to get CH4 HD and 5 HD (although I can't get 5 HD using my NI TFV card)!

200motels · 11-08-2011 7:53pm

christo82 wrote: »

Are you serious? This is news to me. So, when I cancel my account, I'm gonna have to buy an FTV card to use it as an FTA box?

If it's an old Thomson box it will default to English EPG but the new boxes don't.

johntommy · 11-08-2011 7:59pm

galtee boy wrote: »

Out of curiosity, did you use a ftv card and what UK region is it belonging to ?

Yes, its an old card I have. Got it in Newry about 5 years ago.
I presume its an Northern Irish card as I have UTV.

galtee boy · 11-08-2011 8:17pm

blueser wrote: »

Just tried it, and it works (up to a point). I have a NI FTV card and I do get UTV on 103 as well as TV3 and 5 on 105 along with 3e. However, I don't get Ch4 HD on 140 or BBC1 HD on 143 (which I would get if I unplugged the box and inserted the FTV card.

As I said earlier, you can't add BBC1 HD and Channel 4 HD to the epg, because you don't have them stored in "other channels" and you can't store them now, because the Sky box won't recognise DVB S2 channels. But as usual, much wants more ( myself included ! ), we can put SD BBC1,2,ITV1,2,3,4, Channel 4, ITV 1 HD, BBC News etc into the Irish epg and yet, we're not happy ! We would have "killed" for this all along. But, will it last ? How long before the likes of TV3 see this and get on to Sky about people being able to add UTV to the ROI epg ?I know it's a very small minority of us anoraks, that go to the "trouble" of ftv cards etc, but that won't do any good, if Sky think this is a potentially serious problem.

rlogue · 11-08-2011 8:31pm

Enjoy it lads while it lasts.

danny004 · 11-08-2011 8:36pm

I think when TV3 see this thread they will be onto sky to close out this loophole. I don't think sky would particularly care and in fact I seem to recall one time they were doing a phone survey asking people if recording from other channels was a function people were interested in having. I hope its a software loophole that sky cant close but for now lets enjoy it.

lafayette · 11-08-2011 8:45pm

Hey Guys,

I have a Thomson Sky+HD Box and I also have an old blue Sky FTV card set for ITV West Midlands.

I cant seem to get this to work at all.

In my "other channels" I have ITVHD, ITV2,3,4, Five, BBC News.

Any help?

200motels · 11-08-2011 8:48pm

lafayette wrote: »

Hey Guys,

I have a Thomson Sky+HD Box and I also have an old blue Sky FTV card set for ITV West Midlands.

I cant seem to get this to work at all.

In my "other channels" I have ITVHD, ITV2,3,4, Five, BBC News.

Any help?

It won't work on a Thomson box.

200motels · 11-08-2011 8:51pm

danny004 wrote: »

I think when TV3 see this thread they will be onto sky to close out this loophole. I don't think sky would particularly care and in fact I seem to recall one time they were doing a phone survey asking people if recording from other channels was a function people were interested in having. I hope its a software loophole that sky cant close but for now lets enjoy it.

I don't think Sky will give a hoot but it's those idiots at ITV3 oh sorry TV3 that will kill this.

200motels · 11-08-2011 8:52pm

I think the mods should remove this thread.

twinklerunner · 11-08-2011 8:59pm

200motels wrote: »

I think the mods should remove this thread.

I agree 100%

blueser · 11-08-2011 9:02pm

galtee boy wrote: »

As I said earlier, you can't add BBC1 HD and Channel 4 HD to the epg, because you don't have them stored in "other channels" and you can't store them now, because the Sky box won't recognise DVB S2 channels. But as usual, much wants more ( myself included ! ), we can put SD BBC1,2,ITV1,2,3,4, Channel 4, ITV 1 HD, BBC News etc into the Irish epg and yet, we're not happy ! We would have "killed" for this all along. But, will it last ? How long before the likes of TV3 see this and get on to Sky about people being able to add UTV to the ROI epg ?I know it's a very small minority of us anoraks, that go to the "trouble" of ftv cards etc, but that won't do any good, if Sky think this is a potentially serious problem.

As it happens, I have got BBC1 HD in my ''other channels'' (added before the change to DVBS2!). And I am aware that
1. ITV1 HD is not available on the EPG in Northern Ireland (do have it in other channels, BTW).
2. Channel 4 HD is not ''add-able'' to the other channels menu (it is, however, on the EPG in NI. The same applies to 5 HD).

gtg60 · 11-08-2011 10:42pm

Right, made another discovery, turns out you need to save the correct regional variations in 'Other Channels' to match your FTV cards region and then those channels remain. Hopefully that'll sort out this for those that currently can't get it to work.

houseplant · 12-08-2011 4:17pm

Hi guys I need to find out how to be able to get Channel 5 like the rest of my channels. I want to be able to record Big Brother for the Mrs. I really know nothing about this so I really need you to break it down for me very simply. I have no idea what a FTV card is. I need to know if it is possible to be able to get Channel 5 like the rest of my channels. I have the regular Sky+ and Channel 5 is on my "other channels" thanks.

200motels · 12-08-2011 4:42pm

houseplant wrote: »

Hi guys I need to find out how to be able to get Channel 5 like the rest of my channels. I want to be able to record Big Brother for the Mrs. I really know nothing about this so I really need you to break it down for me very simply. I have no idea what a FTV card is. I need to know if it is possible to be able to get Channel 5 like the rest of my channels. I have the regular Sky+ and Channel 5 is on my "other channels" thanks.

It won't work on the normal Sky+ box, a FTA card is giving out by Sky to UK customers for 20 pounds for those who don't want to subscribe to Sky and they get all the free to air channels, to get one over here you could try ebay.

celj · 12-08-2011 6:13pm

Is there different regions for Channel 5?
I can get everything except 5.Have a northwestern FTV card.

gtg60 · 12-08-2011 6:35pm

celj wrote: »

Is there different regions for Channel 5?
I can get everything except 5.Have a northwestern FTV card.

Yes, there are at least 3 different scrambled ones and one FTA one, is the one in your 'Other Channels' the FTA one?

celj · 12-08-2011 6:58pm

gtg60 wrote: »

Yes, there are at least 3 different scrambled ones and one FTA one, is the one in your 'Other Channels' the FTA one?

It's the one thats in the tuning guide here.
Is there other frequencies somewhere on the net?

Wife wants to watch Big Brother so its the channel I need!

How to get Channel 5 and BBC One HD on your Irish EPG and Recordable!!

Comments