Channel4 available in Ireland?

matty2003

Just got SKY installed - I can find C4 but not view it. Watching Life on Mars on BBC1 last night, there was considerable breakup - wondering if the reason for both might be weak signal. Signal Quality looks quite low, maybe 15/20%, while signal strength is about 50%. Anybody know if these are normal for Dublin? Should I be able to get C4?

Headshot

matty2003 wrote:

Just got SKY installed - I can find C4 but not view it. if Should I be able to get C4?

ull need a ftv card for to get channel 4

watty

Your dish is badly aligned, or blocked by trees or has damged Coax, or LNB skew (twist in holder) is wrong . Quality here is 90% and the signal is weaker further west.

Signal strength is irrelevant.

You can't get C4 or Five without either a UK subscription, a card from a cancelled UK sub (not a cancelled card) or a UK FTV/"Freesat from Sky" card.
A UK address is required to order the 22 Stg, FTV card.

matty2003

Thanks for the reply. So C4 not available even with Irish SKY subscription card?

matty2003

matty2003 wrote:

Thanks for the reply. So C4 not available even with Irish SKY subscription card?

Correct.
Tuning it in manually with an Irish card in your box will give you the "08" this channell is not available message.
Either get a relation to get you a FTV card in the UK or get one on ebay and swap each time you want ch4.
The FTV card will load up a UK epg with ch4 in the listing as well as all the BBC's and ITV's in the EPG.

Blaster99

I'm sure this has been discussed to death but why can't Sky do a deal with C4 for Ireland? NTL has clearly managed to.

watty

It's not worth it in Sky's judgement, I'd guess. If the combined Chorus/NTL as UPC gets act together as is real competiton, then you could see UTV, C4 and Five in the Sky ROI variety pack pretty quick.

But at present Chorus, particularly MMDS loses a lot of customers to Sky and Sky loses very very few to NTL/Chorus. I think this will change if UPC really shake up the new merged company. I hope they do because it will benefit those that can't get cable (Better price package from Sky) and benfit those than can't get Sky (Good value Digital + phone + broadband).

Those with a choice will, er, have a real choice.

Pal

well the way I have it figured ( and highly likely to be totally wrong so don't all jump on me);

CH4 would want SKY to pay.
SKY would want CH4 to pay.

watty

Sky pays BBC for ROI EPG. BBC pays Sky for UK EPG

Blaster99

I know quite a lot of people with NTL who would dump NTL in a heartbeat if Sky did Ch4 in Ireland. Unless I'm mistaken, you get two digital packs for the price of NTL's analogue service. NTL's analogue service is pile of dog poo in the general scheme of things, from channel selection to picture quality. Anyways, Sky's loss.

watty

Even the FREE channels on Satellite ar'nt bad. In truth it isn't hard to arrange a UK address to get 22 Quid FTV card for C4 and Five. Hardly ever watch them myself. Sky have a lot more growth here than in Italy, Mexico or UK, so I guess they arn't fussed yet. In december you could hardly get an install date.

Blaster99

I just had a glance at Sky's UK offering, and unless I'm mistaken, they aren't offering C4 there either as part of their subscription cards. You need a separate freeview card there also? Having to swap cards is a pain.

I have an FTV card and it's definitely very good value. But I like channels like Sky One, Discovery, and History, and it would be very handy if all the terrestrials and the subscription channels could be available on the one card.

I can't say I watch C4 either, but my wife does. And you know who's the boss.

Mossy Monk

Blaster99 wrote:

I just had a glance at Sky's UK offering, and unless I'm mistaken, they aren't offering C4 there either as part of their subscription cards. You need a separate freeview card there also?

no

Channel 4 is available on all UK subscription cards

jhe

I've just received a FTV card already activated thru a cousin in London.I have followed the steps outlined in previous threads about swapping the FTV card with my Irish card whilst in 'Interactive' in Sky News having taken the phone line out.The UK epg does load but channels 104 and 105 are not there(the positions of C4 and C5).Can anyone tell me what I'm doing wrong?

Thanks

watty

Leave it in for a while after unpluging and pluging in at mains when it has UK EPG. It may need to receive a fresh key.

jhe

Sorry Watty,I don't follow you.Can you give the simpleton's guide to doing this as I also had the problem of being unable to get back my Irish epg last night after following the same swapping procedure.I have a spare Sky box which I will use in the bedroom and had to connect it up downstairs in order to get my Irish epg back.

Thanks

If he only activated the card by just putting it in his digibox as it is brand new it wont have ch4 and 5 unless a call is made to the ftv centre with the digibox serial number to pair the card.

Leaving it in the box when those channels arent on the epg it gives wont fix that problem.
It will only fix the problem where they are on the epg but give an upgrade message.

You will have to get your cousin to call them giving the card number and your box details.
He will have to pretend he has your box.

jhe

I thought the FTV card could work on any box in that it was not 'paired' to a particular box?I asked my cousin to call SKY upon receipt of the card and I now need to contact her to see if this was done.A note by her that came with the FTV card said that it had been activated.

watty

Yes it works in any box. But if not used all the time it misses keys and then won't decode C4, Five and Sky3 till it gets fresh key. An hour to a day.

The UK epg will now only appear on an ROI box since Favorites SW update by removing ROI card and putting NO card in during viewing of Interactive on Sky News.

After UK appears put in UK card. Then try Interactive and exit.

If C4 and Five is not on EPG the card might not be authorised as Earthman says. If it worked on C4 and Five in the Cousin's Digibox, then try unpluging at mains and reconnecting after 20s when you have it changed to UK EPG and new card in.

If card is not fully inserted C4 and Five may also be missing.

Since last update it may be getting harder to swap cards. I will do some research now and post back.

To get Irish EPG you should insert Irish card while in Interactive. If this does not work, unplugging the digibox and reconnecting mains after 20s with Irish card in slot should work.

If the card is not fully inserted to operate the rear card sense switch it may stay on UK EPG.

Do NOT use the top slot. It is for a credit card.

jhe

Thanks for that info.I will check with london tonight to confirm if the FTV card was correctly activated by phoning the Sky centre and pairing up the card with her box.If so I will follow your suggestions.Also be interested to know how you get on Re: the possibility that Sky may have made swapping cards that bit nore difficult.

watty

Research indicates that on the recent SW update the following definately works:

Change to UK EPG, with C4 and Five.
ROI card -> FTV Card
1) ROI card firmly in bottom slot
2) 501 Sky News
3) Red button, wait for interactive to load
4) change card. Make sure FTV card firmly in bottom slot
5) press Backup
"Searching for Listings" appears
"Sky Welcome" on 998 appears, OR occasionally "No Signal"
6) IF "no signal" appears, simply press on/off on remote twice to "sleep" and "wake up" the digibox.

Change to ROI EPG
FTV card -> ROI Card
1) FTV card firmly in bottom slot
2) 501 Sky News
3) Red button, wait for interactive to load
4) change card. Make sure ROI card firmly in bottom slot
5) press Backup
"Searching for Listings" appears
"Sky News" on 501 should reappear


Change to UK EPG, without C4 and Five.
ROI card -> NO card
1) ROI card firmly in bottom slot
2) 501 Sky News
3) Red button, wait for interactive to load
4) Remove card. DO NOT reinsert upside down.
5) press Backup
"Searching for Listings" appears
"SkyNews" on 501 reappears.

This is for a Sky Digibox originally used only with an ROI card. Using an ROI card on a UK original Card Digibox will be similar.

IF the C4 and Five does not appear on UK EPG, then the card is not plugged in or not fully in, or in wrong socket, (or perhaps not authorised, not sure about this).

IF the ROI epg does not appear after UK EPG, then the card was not fully inserted or was in wrong socket.

bauderline

Folks,

I have had one of these FTV cards sitting around for a little bit, I tried it in the digibox last night, just took out sub card and inserted the FTV card and then went into the EPG. UK EPG came up no problem and I could get the BBC and ITV channels, but no channel 4. I get the upgrade message, so guess it needs to AU the keys, so I will leave it in the box for the day.

Note when I swapped the cards back it went back to the ROI EPG without issue. I have the new EPG layout so I guess I have the new SW. I am using an old PACE digibox (black and grey effort) about 4/5 years old.

No need for any of the nonsense described for me ! (large grin).

rgs. baud.

PaddyFagan

Just to be picky:

watty wrote:

Change to ROI EPG
FTV card -> ROI Card
1) FTV card firmly in bottom slot
2) 501 Sky News
3) Red button, wait for interactive to load
4) change card. Make sure ROI card firmly in bottom slot
5) press Backup
"Searching for Listings" appears
"Sky News" on 501 should reappear

Step 4 should read:
4) change card. Make sure ROI card firmly in bottom slot

Paddy

[Watty: Fixed, thanks!]

Blaster99

Having tried yet again to decipher Sky's web site, it looks like if I have an NI Sky card then I will get the Irish terrestrials and the British terrestrials and whatever else I like to pay for. So, can I ask somebody in the North to sign up for a Sky subscription and can I use the card in my Digibox in the South?

realcavanman

Hi,i have Sky+ with an Southern Irish subscription.I also have a FTV card from Northern Ire. should i be able to record channels from FTV card on my Sky+ box?

watty

No. Not unless you have still access to an NI address.
In UK recording on a FTV card requires a basic Sky+ sub (about 15 Euro per month).

You can only view.

watty

Blaster99 wrote:

Having tried yet again to decipher Sky's web site, it looks like if I have an NI Sky card then I will get the Irish terrestrials and the British terrestrials and whatever else I like to pay for. So, can I ask somebody in the North to sign up for a Sky subscription and can I use the card in my Digibox in the South?

Nearly true, but no TV3 and some programs are blanked out. Variety Mix pack.

But perhaps you can get the Irish channels on an Aerial. Mostly that's what I do and only get the free channels, though I have 2 x mix packs at present.

ShaneOC

realcavanman wrote:

Hi,i have Sky+ with an Southern Irish subscription.I also have a FTV card from Northern Ire. should i be able to record channels from FTV card on my Sky+ box?

Unfortunately this is not possible. The recording functionality is tied to the card so when you take out your irish sub card you loose the ability to record. The best solution for Sky+ owners is to get a subscription based in Northern Ireland. This would give you access to all of the UK channels and RTÉ1, RTÉ2 and TG4 are also on the EPG in the North. I'm not sure if any programmes on the Irish terrestrials are blocked on an NI card though.

eirman

ShaneOC wrote:

The best solution for Sky+ owners is to get a subscription based in Northern Ireland. This would give you access to all of the UK channels and RTÉ1, RTÉ2 and TG4 are also on the EPG in the North. I'm not sure if any programmes on the Irish terrestrials are blocked on an NI card though.

I have an Sky+ NI subscription and it is by far the best solution. All you need is a NI address and pay using your ROI cc.

Some RTE sport programs are blocked on my NI sub - e.g. priemership & racing

watty

Hopefully anything you want to record on TV3 is on UTV

Blaster99

Cool. So when I connect up the Digibox or Sky+ to my republican phone line, Sky isn't going to realise that I'm south of the border and will kill the subscription?

Is it possible to get free or subsidised uninstalled equipment when signing up for a Sky subscription in the North? Obviously I don't want it installed at the address that the subscription is bound to.

watty

Don't connect it to the phone... Phone only needed for Mirror subs.

My phone line is Nationalist

Tony

Mark Deering said the today that he reckoned the ch4 issue would be resolved one way or the other within 2 months.

Mossy Monk

Tony wrote:

Mark Deering said the today that he reckoned the ch4 issue would be resolved one way or the other within 2 months.

interesting. anything said about FTA channels off the EPG, like ITV?

Tony

Mossy Monk wrote:

interesting. anything said about FTA channels off the EPG, like ITV?

No they wont comment on that,pendng legal action by TV3

Mossy Monk

ah ok, thanks Tony

byte

Tony wrote:

Mark Deering said the today that he reckoned the ch4 issue would be resolved one way or the other within 2 months.

Hmm, that'll be interesting. C4 if added at the end of Spring, would boost Sky sales during a usually quite time of year regarding installs for them.

channelsurfer

did he mean either way on the irish epg issue or for maybe going fta earlier than thought? just a curiousity or maybe faint hope seeing as I have just cancelled my sky sub.

Tony

channelsurfer wrote:

did he mean either way on the irish epg issue or for maybe going fta earlier than thought? just a curiousity or maybe faint hope seeing as I have just cancelled my sky sub.

What he meant was it will either be on within two months or not at all, if they are talking to sky about it its either going to be FTA but on the epg or added to a basic sub here.

darkbeatz

Tony wrote:

Mark Deering said the today that he reckoned the ch4 issue would be resolved one way or the other within 2 months.

where did you read that? got a link?

Mossy Monk

i am assuming Mark Deering was at the Sky HD seminar so essentially it would be from the horses mouth