FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions

Civil Servant wrote: »

Can my current sky box be reconfigure to recieve FTA channels?

Just turn off the power and remove the Sky card - turn on your Sky box and you should get all the Uk channels. You can add Five to your "Other Channels". You pay Sky one month in advance, so you should have all your normal subscription for up to 30 days after you cancel Sky.

Did Sky make an offer ? - friends of mine were offered standard Sky package including Irish channels for less than half price for 6 months.

There are lots of threads on this - you shouldn't need to buy a new box on ebay.

granty-baby wrote: »

Thanks for all the info lads. I was on to sky last week and asked the man in the Cork call centre lots of questions and he sussed what I was planning to do. He told me it will work for a max of 3-4 Months after which the box will no longer be able to receive a signal if the designated phone line is not connected. This is designed to stop people taking boxes to Spain etc.

thanks for that
i wondered why we had to have phone lines attached
now another question
can one get some other way of rigging up phone line, other than the wire going around the house if it is two rooms away from sky, it is a nusance
help

Here's a great site I used to find out satellite locations without a satfinder-type tool;
http://www.dishpointer.com/

Quite accurate and I get a great reception now!!:D

You mean Freesat?

Is there any connections that I can get (not multiroom) which will allow me to connect the sky tv from the living room to the bedroom.
Even if i have to change the channels in the living room, all i need is a cable which will allow me to watch it upstairs??

thank you

I have a question, I got a new HD ready tv that supports mpeg4. I have it plugged into a typical non amplified rabbit ears on the top floor of a building in Dublin city. The auto store finds 7 digital channels but the signal strength varies from 45->0 so the channels are unwatchable.

Any recommendation on how I can get these digital channels properly?

Thanks

I will be looking at getting a Satellite PVR. Most possibly getting a freesat hd+ machine. Currently have one coax cable going to roof.

Is there a switch or such device that I can take two cables from the dish, convert into one cable, and then divide into 2 again to connect to the tuners of the STB?

Thanks.

Hi folks,

I currently have Sky+ in one room.

I have been offered a spare Sky box from a mate.
Is it possible to set up this spare box in another room to receive the fta channels only, off the current setup?
Is it possible to watch fta channels in one room & watch a non-fta channel in the other room at the same time?

Thanks.

muffler wrote: »

Basically you need 2 cables coming from the dish to the sky+ box and then you will need a third cable to run from the dish to the spare box in order to watch free/subbed channels on 2 separate TVs.

Assuming its just a basic LNB you have on the dish you can either change it to a quad LNB capable of running 4 cables from it or simply split the signal to the sky+ box which will only allow you to view the same channels on both sets.

Thanks muffler. I don't know what LNB is on the dish, but I'd assume it's standard.
Is it straight forward enough to change the LNB?

lubo_moravcik wrote: »

Is there any connections that I can get (not multiroom) which will allow me to connect the sky tv from the living room to the bedroom.
Even if i have to change the channels in the living room, all i need is a cable which will allow me to watch it upstairs??

thank you

norbert64 wrote: »

There should be 2 rf out connections on your sky box. Get whatever length of cable you need to run a line from said connection to your bedroom and bobs your uncle.
You will of course be restricted to watching whatever channel you're viewing in the living room though.

Butch Cassidy wrote: »

Yep. You can even get a little gadget that will allow you to change the channels on the box from the 2nd room. Should be able to get it in any TV/electronics shop or even dinky hardware shops.

This is it:




You might be able to buy it alone or you might have to buy it with a remote. There is some fiddling around the settings to use this tihng but ain't very difficult.

Thanks for this info
I picked one of these bad boys up today and currently have the program that's on downstairs, showing upstairs
Where I'm going wrong is in changing the channel. There is no light on on the wee 'adaptor/box' thing in the image above, should there be?? Where have I went wrong with regards to changing the channel upstairs??

I don't know if this part makes a difference now that I can actually see a program, although still can't change upstairs. The instructions say about finding RF OUTLETS on the sky + hd box, but when i go to sky + setup (services > setup) then press 0, then 1, it takes me to picture; but no option (as it says on instrucions) to highlight RF OUTPUT POWER SUPPLY, and then turn it ON. The only option it gives on there is to change picture size, 16:9, 4:3 or 4:3l.
This is the instruction manual
http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Technical/DataSheets/Philex/MXSLXLINK.pdf

Thanks again

Flashdean wrote: »

I have 2 probs..First one is i got SkyHD plus this morning and i cant live pause or record.... Ny Ideas??????

Im no expert but it looks as if you have only one active cable fro the dish. Check that both cables are in the back of the box.

Flashdean wrote: »

Secondly the sky plus box was put upstairs and when i go onto ext 1 i can hear the sound but cant get a picture..ive messed around wiv scarts and connections but no joy??

Check the input via the menu on the TV remote and ensure its not set at "TV" - should be AV1 or the likes.

Quick question lads, i have been offered a Sky+ HD Box. Could I use this with a Sky dish with no sky sibscription i.e. just to view the freeview channels.

Thanks watty. Would you recommend going with a specific fta receiver or with the sky box? See ad in my sig, its a swap deal so no impact cost wise. I would prefer having a customisable epg, i.e. only the channels i want / have access to.

Both working fine for me with HD box. Im just watching the end of Predator2 on C4+1

emt16 wrote: »

hi quick question.

I'm moving from Galway to Donegal and have my sky+ subscription until November. Can I move everything up with no hasle and set the dish up myself with dishpointer.com or will I have to contact sky to send out a technician to take down my dish and another one to set it up in Donegal. Also will this cost

Or am I just better of cancelling my subscription

You just need to inform them I believe. Fill in a few forms, put things down in writing.
http://www.sky.com/helpcentre/moving-home/

They'll happily let you do all the legwork yourself. :P

cirse wrote: »

I apologise in advance as this question may have been asked a million times. I'm new to boards and just looking for advice. Movin into a new house and I'm torn between Sky or NTL. I need to get a phone and broadband with NTL anyway, but a few people have said Sky is better for TV. Any opinions???

It's UPC now,not NTL.

Best option is get broadband from UPC and your TV from Sky,it actually works out cheaper plus Sky's tv offering is way better than UPC.
Check out fatcheese for offers regarding Sky-you get enough money back to cover about 9 months subscription.:)