Have sky+ box/min dish - what are my option if I cancel sky subscription please

justagirl

I'm a newbie (and out of date technologically!) so apologies in advance if I'm asking something someone already has...

I have sky+ box/mini dish and currently paying approx €55 per month for various channels and sky sports.....

I would to cancel my subscription for financial reasons .....and my questions are:

1. Is there an alternative way to get Sky Sports ... (i.e. one off payment for other type of card etc..)

2. Is is possible to still use the sky+ recording feature if I cancel my sky subscription

3. Does anyone know of any other options for me.


Thanks for all your help - you clever people you!.

justagirl

anyone ? please .....

AceHigh

Answer to all three is, unfortunately, no.
you need a subscription to get premium channels.
Sky + recording facility is also subscription based.

watty

The recording functions do not work, though you might get a 15 Euro p.m. recording only sub.

The box will receive BBC/ ITV etc, many good channels.

The Sky+ only takes Sky card.

A minimum 2 mix pack with recording is about 37 Euro p.m.

In UK they allow a record only sub for the free channels. It should be 15 Euro.
About 20 or so decent channels. But while it can receive UTV, BBC3 , BBC4 etc, it won't record them on a hypothetical Irish Record only sub.

Perhaps a UK Record only sub would be better (You must order from a UK address) as it would give C4 and Five.

As for completely different options, if depends what kind of sport you like
There are other pay TV systems (cards don't work in a Sky box), also free sports channels.

justagirl

thanks for reply acehigh .... just thought I'd check ..... much appreciated... gr8 boards ... I'm learning a lot!

justagirl

thanks watty .... I'm interested in rubgy only ..... so sky sports is a bit of a waste at the mo. Its all very confusing!

watty

Free to air S4C~Digidol has rugby nearly every week (during time rugby played). My dad (75) is a rugby fan and feels paying for 2 or 3 weeks a year rugby is bad value. He didn't know about S4C.

You Sky+ will receive it without a sub, if you get a minimum 15 Euro recording sub it will record too. It's on the Irish EPG.

justagirl

Watty .. u r a star ....

So - if I cancel my current sky sub ... how do I get S4C digidol ?.. Do I get it thru a different company ?? Thanks for reply!!!

byte

S4C digidol is free to air (FTA), so no viewing card is required.

I am unsure whether Sky allow for a Sky+ recording-only subscription or not. No harm in asking them though.

justagirl

Thanks for that ......

So what do I need to do to get FTA - can I use my current sky box/mini dish or do I have to buy a different box/mini dish etc ...... (sorry for all questions I just don't have a clue ).

Thanks again.

watty

No. You don't need anything new.

Two options to see what FTA is like.
(1)
Go Sky news.
press interactive
wait
put viewing card in UPSIDE DOWN (or an old cheque card etc).

Press backup. Ignore error messages. Leave card pushed in.

The UK EPG will load (without C4 and Five).

All the FTA channels will work and no channels will record. The pay TV channels give an error message.

If you remove or joggle the card or it is not fully in the box resets to Irish EPG.

(2)
Take card out and ignore error messages. The channels that still work are FTA.
However a cancelled IRISH Sky card will decode Sky3, so add it to list of channels. (It is Free To View = FTV )

The ICDGopedia has lists of channels FTA and FTV.

Notice the upside down card trick WON'T give you Sky3, or C4 or Five (the UK FTV channels), but you do get extra on EPG:

BBC3/Cbbc, NBBC4/Cbeebies, BBC news24, BBC parliament
All BBC radio
ITV1 & ITV2
All regional and national versions of ITV1/UTV and BBC1 /BBC2

RTE/TV3/TG4 won't work. Use a TV aerial

mjsmyth

Also lets not forget about the BBC channels. they show the 6 nations also, you will get the Ireland (BBC NI), Wales (BBC Wales) and Scotland (guess where, thats right, BBC Scotland) games all FTA, unless something has changed since last year that is.

MJ

justagirl

watty .... I've done as you suggested and I now! understand what I will get when I cancel my subscription.... thanks for your patience..... Lord, I do feel very old indeed!! Thanks so much.

mjsmyth ... thanks for that also. Much appreciated.

justagirl

watty

I'm looking forward to the new 50 favorites EPG as it is sooo tedious scrolling through channels you either never want (but get anyway), or don't get or never want to get.

BSC PhD

Hi
Thanks Watty, very informative.
I am contemplating upgrading from SKY to SKY+. Will it record/chase play etc the programs I have programmed as extra channels? These are the ones I watch the most (ITVs, BBCs etc)?
If not its hardly worth the €149. :eek: