New Sky Viewing Cards 2009

JHMEG

http://www.skyviewinghelp.com/

Will our FTV cards stop working I wonder?

byte

I'd imagine all current cards will stop working, same as last time they were changed.

I see they're gonna be white cards this time around.
http://www.skyviewinghelp.com/how-to-change/step-by-step-guide.html

JHMEG

Does that mean FTV cards are gonna stop working tho? I know there's not much left on them in terms of channels anyway, but they're still handy.

steveon

More than Likely all FTV cards will stop working, messages will appear more frequently on screen telling you to change viewing card until they finally switch off.

muffinhead

When the FTV card is switched off will we still get the BBC and ITV regions set by the card or will they revert to the London version?

gtg60

JHMEG wrote: »

http://www.skyviewinghelp.com/

Will our FTV cards stop working I wonder?

Yes, they will, I posted this back in February
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055480909

JHMEG

Did a bit more googling. Nothing is cut in stone yet. But, it looks like anyone with a freesatfromsky FTV card (eg in NI) will probably be issued a new card. Anyone who has an expired UK sub card and is using it as a FTV card obviously won't.

In addition, what about using FTV cards in receivers not supplied by Sky? I was using a FTV card in a dragon cam with a technomate box for quite a while. Speculation this kind of setup won't work any more and that only a Sky box will work.

gtg60

JHMEG wrote: »

Did a bit more googling. Nothing is cut in stone yet. But, it looks like anyone with a freesatfromsky FTV card (eg in NI) will probably be issued a new card. Anyone who has an expired UK sub card and is using it as a FTV card obviously won't.

This has all been discussed in the thread I just posted a link to and quoting Sky's T&C:
Your viewing card
You may only use your Viewing Card for private viewing purposes at your Address in the UK, the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands. For security reasons your Viewing Card may be replaced from time to time after it has first been enabled to receive Free to View Channels (normally when it is first used in the Box). If we replace Viewing Cards within 5 years (if you have paid £146.81) or 3 years (if you have paid £19.57) of your card’s first enablement, then a replacement Viewing Card will be provided to you free of charge, provided that you have complied with these Conditions. If we replace Viewing Cards after that period, you will need to purchase a new one by paying our then applicable charge (which shall not be more than £20).

And yes, one of the reasons they are allegedly changing the cards is to prevent cardsharing which in turn will also likely knock out the use of CAM's in other receivers, although I suspect it won't be long before new CAM firmware will sort this, so I'm not throwing out my Dragon or FTV card just yet!!

watty

I always warned never to buy non-gear especially for Sky. That is always going to be a moving target.

pajoemccracken

£20 every 3-5 years for a card to watch CH4 and Channel 5 etc isnt bad money compared to paying 160 Euro annually for a TV licence to watch **** on the terrestial channels.

patrick whitty

all english channells are now free to air if you use the right frequences.
no card is needed except hd for ch. 4
patrick

dpsf

Are these new cards available yet? If a new sub is taken out with sky will they send a new card?

gtg60

patrick whitty wrote: »

all english channells are now free to air if you use the right frequences.
no card is needed except hd for ch. 4
patrick

Not true, with a FTV card you get Fiver, Five US, Channel 4 HD, Setanta News, Sky 3 (and Five comes with 7 day EPG listings)

gtg60

dpsf wrote: »

Are these new cards available yet? If a new sub is taken out with sky will they send a new card?

Not yet, they are supposed to be starting in April but with the millions of cards out there don't be surprised if it gets delayed a bit.

patrick whitty

sory gtg60 the longer you live the more you learn
patrick

Onikage

Looks like CH4 is now on the FTA epg, no need for the "other channels" menu or FTV card.

chelseaaremagic

there is you cant access it at 104 it states 'insert viewing card':(

alke

My five, fiver and five usa and the +1s have already gone. but sky 3 and setanta sports news are still there all the channel 4s are still there with epg.

Widescreen

Hi folks, I noticed that there is now a Red Button option on the Sky Customer channel which explains everything about the pending replacement of the viewing cards.It also clarifies that Sky 3, Fiver,Five US and certain ITV regions will remain FTV .

icjzfmq7ewon1t

Widescreen wrote: »

Hi folks, I noticed that there is now a Red Button option on the Sky Customer channel which explains everything about the pending replacement of the viewing cards.It also clarifies that Sky 3, Fiver,Five US and certain ITV regions will remain FTV .

Does this mean that new FTV cards will be available.

Widescreen

Ernest Most Aerosol wrote: »

Does this mean that new FTV cards will be available.

I think they are now known as Freesat cards. Think they cost £20 in the UK but you would need a UK address to get one.

byte

Widescreen wrote: »

Hi folks, I noticed that there is now a Red Button option on the Sky Customer channel which explains everything about the pending replacement of the viewing cards.It also clarifies that Sky 3, Fiver,Five US and certain ITV regions will remain FTV .

Thread now merged with existing thread.

icjzfmq7ewon1t

Sky has officially confirmed today that they will be issuing new sky viewing cards. they have updated the messages on the sky information channels (999 and press red), and state that new viewing card will be issued during April. If you have a sky subscription, then the new viewing card will be sent to the UK address (or your installers / agents uk address). If you bought a new FSFS card in the last 3 years then these should also be replaced. it is expected that ex subscription cards and fsfs cards bought over 3 years ago will not be replaced. it is expected that all existing "blue house" cards will be switched off by May. More information on Sky channel 999 and press red or Home | Sky Viewing Help
__________________

Read this on another forum does it make sense that the older FTV cards will continue to work.

gtg60

Ernest Most Aerosol wrote: »

it is expected that all existing "blue house" cards will be switched off by May.

There isn't a chance in hell that Sky will be able to issue the MILLIONS of Sky cards and have the changeover done in 8 weeks.

In fact it sates on the Customer Info channel that cards will be issued over the coming few months, a much more likely timescale would be 12~16 weeks and possibly even longer if there are any hiccups...

slegs

It would be cheaper for Sky to let Channel4HD out of the exclusive deal and let them go FTA on the EPG than replace FSFS cards. Surely noone would be bothered with FSFS if that happened (hardly worth it for Sky3, Five USA and Fiver)

watty

Sky are contracturally bound to provide the FSFS cards as long as ONE broadcaster is using them.

patrick whitty

does anybody know where fiver fiver are gone they are not on 28% at the moment.
patrick

gtg60

Plus they can set the FSFS cards to your UK region and you get the decent EPG, cheaper than buying a new Freesat receiver if you've ex-Sky equipment already there.

patrick whitty

no signal on fiver usa five on technomate with ftv card chan.4 ok.
any information.
patrick

gtg60

patrick whitty wrote: »

no signal on fiver usa five on technomate with ftv card chan.4 ok.
any information.
patrick

Looks like the transponder is down.

givecredit

patrick whitty wrote: »

no signal on fiver usa five on technomate with ftv card chan.4 ok.
any information.
patrick

They moved to 12422.00 H on Astra 2A on Friday 13th March.

patrick whitty

they are all right on the sky box with ftv card
patrick

von Smallhausen

patrick whitty wrote: »

no signal on fiver usa five on technomate with ftv card chan.4 ok.
any information.
patrick

2c has been powered down fully yesterday so to get those channels you will need to rescan your box to get them back as they have changed freqs.

patrick whitty

thank you
patrick

von Smallhausen

patrick whitty wrote: »

thank you
patrick

No bother patrick, Had to rescan myself as I needed to record something for the auld one:)

Widescreen

gtg60 wrote: »

Looks like the transponder is down.

think fiver and five us have changed to 12442 27/5 2/3

Widescreen

Widescreen wrote: »

think fiver and five us have changed to 12442 27/5 2/3

Actually,this seems to be dud information.sorry about that folks..:o

Finne1993

Hope someone here can help me with this.
I recently installed a sky box in a mates house as he wanted the FTA channels and the possibility of subscribing to Setanta in the future, (He is a golf nut and has no interest in to subscribing to any of the sky packages) I went about getting the Setanta arranged for him soon after. Setanta said they needed a card to send the signal to, i explained the situation to the operator that i had no card and i was told Sky would supply me with a card, I then called Sky on a few different occasions and every operator told me the only way i could get a card was to subscribe to the basic package for 12 months, I called Setanta back and explained this and they told me there was nothing they could do if that was the case. I then asked if it would work on an old card (I have an old irish sub card that my sister had up till about 3 years ago) they sent the signal and it worked so i set my mate up with it, gave payment details and he's up and running and delighted with it. Problem solved or so i thought until i read this thread!! Where does this leave me now? Will this card switch off completely after the changeover of the cards? i'll not get a replacement sent out for this card anyway thats for sure. As its an Irish card there are no FTV channels on it so he does'nt care about that, he's happy enough with the FTA channels, its just the Setanta situation thats the problem. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

TVDX

Widescreen wrote: »

Actually,this seems to be dud information.sorry about that folks..:o

12422

Eurorunner

Finne1993 wrote: »

Hope someone here can help me with this.
I recently installed a sky box in a mates house as he wanted the FTA channels and the possibility of subscribing to Setanta in the future, (He is a golf nut and has no interest in to subscribing to any of the sky packages) I went about getting the Setanta arranged for him soon after. Setanta said they needed a card to send the signal to, i explained the situation to the operator that i had no card and i was told Sky would supply me with a card, I then called Sky on a few different occasions and every operator told me the only way i could get a card was to subscribe to the basic package for 12 months, I called Setanta back and explained this and they told me there was nothing they could do if that was the case. I then asked if it would work on an old card (I have an old irish sub card that my sister had up till about 3 years ago) they sent the signal and it worked so i set my mate up with it, gave payment details and he's up and running and delighted with it. Problem solved or so i thought until i read this thread!! Where does this leave me now? Will this card switch off completely after the changeover of the cards? i'll not get a replacement sent out for this card anyway thats for sure. As its an Irish card there are no FTV channels on it so he does'nt care about that, he's happy enough with the FTA channels, its just the Setanta situation thats the problem. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Finne,
I'm in exactly the same position. Have been emailing setanta on a weekly basis ( they either dont answer my mail even though they guarantee an answer within 5 days OR on the one occassion that they did, they were totally evasive in their answer). I will continue to mail the bástards until they provide me with an answer.

The card that they were suggesting you get from sky is the freeview card that its possible to buy from sky in the uk - but NOT in Ireland. I had this conversation with their drones - asked them to double check their information came back and still assured me that such a card could be bought through any electrical retailer in the ~REP of IRL!

Keep mailing them. Talking to them on the phone is a waste of time and costs you money. Anything they tell you they will deny later. At least with mail, you have a track record.

patrick whitty

widescreen
fiver chanells on 12422h 27500 with free ftv card on technomate 6900.
patrick

Digifriendly

Rang FSFS yesterday about changing viewing cars. FSFS lady told me that as my FSFS card was over 3 yers old I would not be sent a new card. She said that either my present card will continue to work or I will get message on screen telling me to get a new card and I will then have to contact FSFS to purchase one. She was however unclear which of the 2 would happen. Seems a bit unfair if it is the latter as those with FSFS for less than 3 years will not have to pay anything.

von Smallhausen

Anyone got any ideas on what date they have set for the card swap? When they will send them out?

Widescreen

patrick whitty wrote: »

widescreen
fiver chanells on 12422h 27500 with free ftv card on technomate 6900.
patrick

cheers for that. btw I have a ftv card myself,just wanted to keep an eye out to see if they became fta at some point!

watty

Digifriendly wrote: »

Rang FSFS yesterday about changing viewing cars. FSFS lady told me that as my FSFS card was over 3 yers old I would not be sent a new card. She said that either my present card will continue to work or I will get message on screen telling me to get a new card and I will then have to contact FSFS to purchase one. She was however unclear which of the 2 would happen. Seems a bit unfair if it is the latter as those with FSFS for less than 3 years will not have to pay anything.

Actually they said that would be the case at the last card swap and when they were selling them.

Thus its fair. Would it be fair if someone that bought it 6 mths ago had to buy a new one?

In Netherlands it's an annual charge.

snaps

i feel a bit sorry for Setanta, even though i dont have much time for them now. If cards people are using for them stop working, where does it leave Setanta in regards to getting their subscribers new viewing cards? If no viewing cards are issued to these subscribers, itcould mean a lot of customers saying goodbye to them, especially if this is timed with the end of the footie season.

I have an old FTV card and i use it for Setnata news since i finished paying a sub to them, wont be buying another FTV card just for a few channels.

This will be another problem for the likes of Setanta news, five us, fiver & even perhaps ch4 (Ch4 HD available with FTV card) as advertising revenue could drop if viewing figures decrease?