All F.T.V Card Questons Answered Here

Greenman

Well done!!!:)

mickeyboymel

9. There are a number of ways to obtain these cards, but at the moment EBay seems the handiest way once you bear a few things in mind:

A. Only buy from sellers who have loads of positive feedback and tend to sell Satellite or Electrical equipment on a regular basis

B. Beware of sellers who sell you their Sky card and then ring Sky to report it lost or stolen, once the transaction is completed. The card you have will then be deactivated and the seller will get a new card which can be resold again to an unsuspecting customer

C: Try and determine the history of the card before you commit to the transaction (i.e. if it is an expired sub card or a legit FTV card)

D You have to be quick as EBay sometimes withdraw the cards before the auction is completed as Sky Subscription Services have complained regarding the resale of their cards


10. If you have a UK address available for use you can use the “Adult Channel Method” for obtaining a card, someone else might be able to elaborate on this one……….

11. There are a number of retailers who advertise in Buy & Sell, Loot and other such publications who sell the cards but be warned, the prices can often be in excess of €200

12. The average price on EBay seems to be floating around the £70-£90 sterling mark

13.There is some speculation that ITV will become free to air once their current contract with Sky expires this autumn, but has not been confirmed as of yet

14. All the default EPG with the BBC channels is available at anytime on any Irish Sky box by rebooting the box with your Sky card turned upside,or any blank card,inserted in the slot.

15.Sky+ services will not work with the FTV card as they require a subscription, however the card can be used in a Sky+ box , for normal viewing

16. When swapping between subscription and FTV cards, it is best to tune to a non encripted channel such as 501 or even 999 as this speeds up the reading of the new card by the box, and vice versa when changing back

17. NEVER mention anything to Sky regarding your FTV card if your system breaks down or a fault develops with your original subscription card. ( This may seem obivious but you cannot be too careful!!)

18. It is a good idea to use the card at least once a week, or leave it in the box overnight once in a while, to prevent the card from "deactivating"or loosing its "key".
If you have not used the card in a while, it may be nesscarry to leave it in the box for up to 48 hours, if it has lost any of the channels, so regular use/swapping will prevent this happening.

neonitrix

I would like to find out about the adult channel method?

tks

Neonitrix

watty

The FTV card is nothing to do with BBC on EPG. That is a side effect.

* ALL BBC works via other Channels even with NO Card

* Sky hide most BBC Channels on the Irish EPG. To make the Digibox "forget" the Irish EPG and show the default UK EPG, all that is needed is to power up with ANYTHING in the slot that is not a Working Irish Card (A cancelled Irish Card still "Works"). A cheque card, Tesco card or upside down Irish card will do. Unplug at mains socket is the only "repower"/"power up" with a Digibox.

*Since all FTV cards are various regions in UK, you do NOT get the default EPG with BBC1 & BBC2 London at 101 and 102. The 101, 102, 103 channels (BBC1, BBC2 and ITV1) depend on the card region (original postcode). C4 is also regionalised to about 6 regions, but only differs in adverts. ITV is much less diverse than it was, now rarely differeing in more than Local News.


Good Job, Mickey!

Tony

Excellent job Mickey

rovingrover

Originally posted by neonitrix
I would like to find out about the adult channel method?

tks

Neonitrix

Ok you need a UK address and phone number then contact any of the channels mentioned - eg Pout and subscribe - downside is most look for min subscription now.

you just tell them you have a full Sky setup but no card.

I did it with NASN and only had to pay for 60 days - actually watched quite a bit of it too in the baseball season.

nospamjl

I was under the impression that the Pout/NASN method can only (re)activate an existing FTV card.

I also was under the impression that if you tell them you have no card then the new card they supply is a non-FTV card (even to a UK address)?

Has anyone used this method in a Sky Box with no other FTV card? If anyone has detailed instrucitons by email/phone to acquire it I think it would be useful for the FAQ.

LegacyUser

Originally posted by rovingrover
Ok you need a UK address and phone number then contact any of the channels mentioned - eg Pout and subscribe - downside is most look for min subscription now.

OK, and let me say it here first ... the Pout method no longer works. I called last night, and they no longer offer cards ... however, if you have a deactivated card, that may still work.

Greenman

Damo.
Will all this info and hard work on the FTV card be put up as a sticky or will it be lost down the line?

byte

Great work, Mickey

Definitely worth Sticky status!

Marty

If you have a deactivated UK Sky card (an e-bay special for ITV...).
Could you ring sky (on the mobile) and ask them to reactivate the card and pay for one of the packages from your credit card?
OR are you better off just ringing sky, tell them you have a full sky set up and just want a card and whatever package?

I spoke to one of their installers recently and said l just wanted a card, he told me l still had to pay the installation fee, which l reckon is a rip off if you have the set up.

Any advice?



PS. Good post Mickey - nice one

pay the installation fee for what??
If you are already installed...

Regarding the UK card that you got off EBAY , ringing Sky will do more harm than good as you do not know who or where the original subscription is.

Regarding Sticky status for this topic...

You do realise that having or obtaining a Free to View card in the Republic of Ireland is illegal.
It is ok to talk about it on a random basis here but I would not advocate a sticky FAQ on how or where to get one.

It would be better and more above board in my humble opinion, for a regular to keep a link handy to this thread to be supplied each time a question comes up in another thread.
It only takes a few seconds for a mod to merge a new thread into this one.

watty

Have a FTV card in Ireland isn't illegal. It doesn't even contravene Sky T&C which don't have crimal status if broken.

Obtaining one Actual in Ireland *might* be fraud. Obtaining one in UK and bringing it to *ANY* EU country is OK. It would be illegal under EU law to prevent you!

Since the FTV card is to limit services to UK, Sky are within their contract terms with the Program suppliers to "terminate" any card outside UK. But someone with such a card has broken no contract or law themselves.

Sky own all cards so may ask for any of them back at any stage.

Since there is no magical way to have an item ordered to UK address appear automagically directly to Ireland, even *possible* allegation of Fraud is not possible.


Artifically limiting EU transmissions by National boundary with in EU is forced by "rights" owners. Unlike Piracy of Cable or Pay TV it is NOTHING to do with criminal acts.

In fact if a consumer group ever has money to fight "sports interests" / "hollywood lawyers" etc, it may be that the present scenario might be found to be illegal.

The "rights" issue are
1) Contracts between Program providers (Sport/Fox /Production outfits/ Actor) and Platform providers/Broadcasters (ITV/ BBC/ Sky) . Not with the viewing public.

Pirate cards, hacking viewing cards and tapping cable are criminal acts in EU. Using a FTV card or Pay TV card that is itself "genuine", out of the original supplied area is NOT a criminal act.

The sale of ftv cards by third parties is illegal.
Fraud is also illegal.

Sky usually request ebay to take down advertisements for third party sales of cards, once they are aware of the add, as they own them.

Selling something that doesn't belong to you is an unlawfull act unless you have the permission of the owner.

Tony

Originally posted by Marty

I spoke to one of their installers recently and said l just wanted a card, he told me l still had to pay the installation fee, which l reckon is a rip off if you have the set up.

Actually its not a rip off, the retailer will be charged by sky if he orders a new card and it is not activated in a new box. You should ring sky directly for a card to be used with an existing set up.

Tony

Marty

Thanks tony, Sky it is.

mickeyboymel

Of the 138 Digiboxes currently listed on Ebay, 4 are offered with cards and as Ebay have not removed the listings, I see no harm in pointing people in that direction, until such time as they decide to pull ALL adverts which refer to the cards.

Most of the larger sellers who specialise in the sale of satellite and electricial equipment, will gladly talk to you by email or messaging service regarding cards,even if they have only a box listed.

All forums on the internet worth their salt and who have any section dealing with satellite tv have reference and posts regarding FTV cards.....what do we do.....sit back and let people become members of these forums or support boards.ie by offering the information here easily and freely?

I thought that was the whole idea, a good reference point for the Irish angle on any subject???

PS thanks for the comments everyone

Originally posted by mickeyboymel

All forums on the internet worth their salt and who have any section dealing with satellite tv have reference and posts regarding FTV cards.....what do we do.....sit back and let people become members of these forums or support boards.ie by offering the information here easily and freely?

I thought that was the whole idea, a good reference point for the Irish angle on any subject???

Does digital spy have a sticky on how expats can get FTV cards?
No they do not and theres a reason for that, they cannot be seen to be actively promoting the illegal getting of the cards.

They do discuss it and it's always been and always will be discussed here too.
But and its a BIG BUT, a sticky on the subject of how to get an FTV card illegally would be seen as this site promoting something illegal.
You must realise that Sky do read this site from time to time , and to think otherwise would be naive.
Leaving a sticky up on this subject could leave both ICDG and Boards.ie open to legal action from Sky and that would harm what is a very precious resource for Sky users ie this forum.
I am advocating erring on the side of caution in this regard.

You will notice that the discussion regarding downloading tv series and how to do it on the Television forum and the Broadband forum is strictly forbidden.

That is all I'm pointing out here and in no way do I want it to be seen as critisising your thread which is a good guide

mickeyboymel

There have been 25 threads started on the subject since the close of the scheme on Jan 31st. My whole point of starting this was as a reference point for people as the continual clogging up of this forum with duplicate posts on the subject was a bit annoying to say the least and I found myself actually using other forums rather than continually trawling through the constant FTV posts here to read threads.

I,m sure anyone from Sky are well able to find all these posts should they so wish to do at any stage, without this becoming a sticky. Its a pity that people do not search themselves and find the information here, rather than open so many new threads.

As noone has been prosecuted for buying a card, and Ebay continue to list them, I cannot see the harm, ok it is a grey area, I just thought it might make the forum more user friendly for everyone.

Originally posted by mickeyboymel
ok it is a grey area, I just thought it might make the forum more user friendly for everyone.

It's not just a grey area Mickey, thats the problem.
Stickifying a thread on the subject gives credence to what the thread is discussing.
More than that it identifies the fact that a moderator has promoted information on how to obtain a card illegally.
It's not that difficult for information about ftv cards to disseminate here without risking it being seen to have the blessing of ICDG or Boards.ie.

Thats the way Digital spy handle the topic and as I said thats for a reason.

This has been discussed a few times before by the way and the same conclusion and decision was outlined .
I would suggest that your thread be kept as a valuable reference to be passed onto anyone that enquires.
I've certainly bookmarked it, as it saves a lot of typing for whenever the question does arise -well done

LegacyUser

O.K. NASN now only supply an "NASN only" card, so that's them and Pout out. Only ARY left to try.

Tony

I totally agree, I really dont see what harm making it a sticky will do, in fact I think more people will use this forum as a result of not having to trawl through the repetitive FTV posts.

Tony

Originally posted by mickeyboymel
There have been 25 threads started on the subject since the close of the scheme on Jan 31st. My whole point of starting this was as a reference point for people as the continual clogging up of this forum with duplicate posts on the subject was a bit annoying to say the least and I found myself actually using other forums rather than continually trawling through the constant FTV posts here to read threads.

I,m sure anyone from Sky are well able to find all these posts should they so wish to do at any stage, without this becoming a sticky. Its a pity that people do not search themselves and find the information here, rather than open so many new threads.

As noone has been prosecuted for buying a card, and Ebay continue to list them, I cannot see the harm, ok it is a grey area, I just thought it might make the forum more user friendly for everyone.

Prisoner6409

I would like to get my hands on an "Active Sky Card", primarily to watch ITV and CH4. I see a few of these cards for sale on various sites. I had always thought each card had to be paired to a particular box. Is it o.k. to buy an active card from someone and will it work on any box.

Tom Dunne

I think you are referring to FTV cards.

See thread below on everything you need to know about FTV cards. We really don't need another thread on "How do I get UTV/C4".

irishgeo

we need a sticky og how to get FTV cards not that people read them? :rolleyes:

Perhaps the new mods can do it.

Hello to the new mods.

Tony

agreed

Al the info here
Thread merged

LegacyUser

Couple of questions:

If I put a current UK sub card into my box, to which it is not married, will it be automatically cancelled, or will it just not work?

Is it possible for me to take out a UK family pack subscription by using a UK address and have the direct debit taken from my credit card, or can Sky trace the credit card as being Irish?

The UK card if it has an active subscription will work in any box but it will only give the family pack channels and it will not give you ITV2 .
Premium channels and ITV2 require a marriage.

On the second question, essentially yes.
Take all the usual precautions though when setting it up.

vanelic

Hi!

Next Tuesday I am off to Ireland and will be spending a week there.

I was wondering - is it possible to obtain Sky FTV card in Ireland? I know they're not being sold anymore but maybe someone could help me.

Thanks.

Vedran

sceptre

There's no such thing as an "Irish" FTV card that will enable you to receive the Irish channels. Irish channels are Family Pack or higher only. A cancelled Irish subscription card will give less channels than no card at all (or as watty has helpfully put it, putting a Tesco card in the slot and rebooting)

If it's a UK card you're after, have a look at this thread for info.

LegacyUser

Fcuk An Post anyway ...

Put in a bid for a UK ex-sub card on eBay, which was removed from the site. Later agreed with the seller to buy for stg.40, as long as he got payment by tues/wed this week.

Now, there's no guarantee I could even get the money out of the country, never mind the card back in.

celticfc

Moved to Satellite.

And merged with the existing thread.

Vanelic-the info is at the start of this thread

jman

I saw an advertisement for Sky Digital FTV cards
on sale in Ireland.

When I rang up the phone no. I was quoted €200 for
the card.

Now while I would love to have access to CH4/ITV
on my sky box, I am not prepared to pay €200 for this.

My understanding was that:

A) These cards are not "available" for Rep. of Ireland
Its illegal to "officially" sell/resell these cards

Anyone else out there come across anything like this ?

watty

Having or using it is not illegal.

But selling one is. They all belong to SSL (Sky/NDS).

Buying is fraught with risk as the original UK post Code addressee can phone Sky any time (after you bought it) and claim dog ate it. Sky then stop sending it fresh keys and it dies. Seller gets a new card.

They NEVER send a new card without at once "killing" the alleged missing/faulty one.

watty

Typically I would watch 1 or 2 program a week on ITV, occasional on C4 and almost never Five. C4's Men of Iron series was good. But C4 has been commissioning much less programming and stuff like "Merlin" not at all (closed Film production division).

I had Five on analog Sat and also "RLO TV" had licence to rebroadcast it a while in Limerick, but maybe only the odd film watched.

€200 is seriously not worth it. More and more ITV series are on TV3 too.

BBC (3 full time channels, 4 part-time channels and even regional variations plus about 10 radio) all free on any Digital receiver.

The FTV card might have been worth fussing about in BBC FTV days, but not now that BBC is FTA.

ITV may even go FTA next september.

UTV and C4 may join Irish Family pack.

Five may become a Sky only Pay TV channel (UK and Ireland).

It is all very "up in the air"

Well the way I look at it is like this:

There are no transmitters for ITV and four and Five in the ROI.
If you live on the East Coast or near the North, you would spend way more that €200 on the aerials and amps and mast to get reception , not as guaranteed as you do with the FTV card.

So if you look at it that way...

Marty

€200 is a rip off, as the guys said these cards belong to Sky, even though they sell them in the UK on e-bay for typically £70-80.
Sky will/can pull these auctions before they close, unless you get lucky and buy one with a digibox. From the price you quoted, l'll guess you've been hunting in the Buy and Sell. For €200 you'd be better off subscribing to Sky.
This topic has been discussed many times in the last few months in this forum, you should read the post on FTV Cards by Mickey over the last two weeks.

watty

Originally posted by Earthman
Well the way I look at it is like this:

There are no transmitters for ITV and four and Five in the ROI.
If you live on the East Coast or near the North, you would spend way more that €200 on the aerials and amps and mast to get reception , not as guaranteed as you do with the FTV card.

So if you look at it that way...

But the aerial you erect (unless blown down) is yours and will work a long time.

A dubiously aquired FTV card may not work at all, or for a short time, or be obsolete (Sky will issue FREE replacements to registered UK post code addresses if they change system in next two years), or be un-needed after August.

If I could pick up a signal, an aerial is more of an investment. Unless I move to top of Keeper's hill though I won't.


You can get a UK accomodation address and a Basic UK Sky Subscription at that address (or instead of which Irish Sub you have), and this is better value if you want the Sky pay channels too.

I get the Irish channels via aerial as my subscription is cancelled. But quality is the same or better than it was on Sky as there is no Anamorphic WS and no MPEG2 artifacts on certain types of scene.

LegacyUser

Originally posted by Earthman
Well the way I look at it is like this:

There are no transmitters for ITV and four and Five in the ROI.

No, but there are licenced deflector operators (well, AFAIK Loughrea Community Entertainments in Galway, which serves 7,000 customers still have a valid short-term licence that was awarded by Etain Doyle in 2001).

Anyone know of any other such legal illegals around the country that are still on the go.

Originally posted by watty

A dubiously aquired FTV card may not work at all, or for a short time, or be obsolete (Sky will issue FREE replacements to registered UK post code addresses if they change system in next two years), or be un-needed after August.

Thats a valid point.
Assuming the card is dodgy, doesn't work or would have to be re-newed in less than two years time.
Of course we do not know for definite what the future is for the cards, it has only been suggested that they will last untill the end of 2005.
We will have to wait and see if ITV go fta or if ch4 do likewise and the more unlikely event of ch 5 following suit.
I have twin group B aerials here on a mast wich cost a lot more than the 200 being asked illegally by the seller refered to by jman.
I also have a valid ftv card in a spare Sky box, which I purchased via the freeview site for the £27 or so that it cost at the time.
The reception off the aerial for HTV is very good, but I watch it on Sky now almost exclusively for the constant quality.

Thread merged with existing FTV thread

sheff the ref

I got one of the Sky Cards on ebay. It came from East Anglia and gave me ITV East Anglia, CH4 and CH5.

The last time I used it was about 10 days ago, but tonight I piut it in and when I switch to ITV or CH4/CH5 a message comes up that I need to ring a number to subscribe to this channel. Whats the story?

Id have thought that if 'the dog ate it' the card wouldnt work at all and the program listings would not be available.

On another issue, the channel numbers seem to hae changed on my Irish card. BBC 1 is now 169 whe it used to be 214, BBC 2 is now 170 when it used to be 215.

Why have they done this?

watty

Card has missed keys. Leave it in 24hrs on ITV or Sky and it will be OK again.

The entertainment section has changed (Same change in UK and Ireland). So BBCNI and BBC2NI numbers for Ireland had to change.

JBoyle4eva

PLEASE HELP ME! I'm only 15, so it's I can't get a credit card. Thus, I have no way of getting an FTV card on ebay. I also know that I'll never have enough money to get one out of the Buy & sell. so, how can I get an FTV card?

mickeyboymel

I bought mine with a sterling bankers draft, you do not nescessarly need a credit card., check the sellers accepted payment methods.

Originally posted by Rip_Curl
PLEASE HELP ME! I'm only 15, so it's I can't get a credit card. Thus, I have no way of getting an FTV card on ebay. I also know that I'll never have enough money to get one out of the Buy & sell. so, how can I get an FTV card?

I've sent you a pm

carrolls

Most sellers on ebay will take a sterling draft if you contact them directly using the mailing service provided on the ebay site. I know its not as safe as a credit card, but its an option. Money is money whatever shape or form it takes.