What are sky engineers installing?

Derby1

We live in a remote part of Donegal and do not have an aerial signal so we have to have SKY to watch TV. We currently have the entertainment package in order to watch RTE and add in ITV / Channel5 manually.

I am moving the TV to another room so am going to order a new subscription in my wifes name and cancel old subscription and use the old dish and box as a freeview box.

I read somewhere on the net that sky installers are installing sky+ boxes as standard now when you order a new sky subscription - is this true?

Do any of the SKY+ functions work without a SKY+ subscription?

I'd like to be able to watch BBC HD and ITV HD - I have the telly but need a HD box - whats the minimum subscription to get a HD box with RTE TV3 etc?

Can I watch BBC HD / ITV HD on just a SKY+ subscription?

Whjat type of cable will the engineers run or does that depend on the subscription?

So many questions! - hope I've not asked too many!

Derby1

tomslick

1. Yes Sky+HD box is installed in all new connections as standard.
2. There is no Sky+ sub. As long as you subscribe to any package Sky+ will work.
3. See 1
4. Yes. BBCHD is channel 143 and ITVHD is manually available via "other Channels" both are free
5. They run a twin coax cable from dish to Box.

Hope this helps.

Derby1

Thanks for the replies - no wonder I couldn't find the subscription price for SKY+ on their site - doh!

I was in local electrical wholesalers this morning, they have a freeview box (HUMAX and I think it was HD also) for €45+VAT. Will this work off my existing sky dish, will the dish need re-pointing to different satellite and what type of cable will I need to run if it is HD?

Many thanks

byte

You'll need to go back and check it. If it has the Freeview logo, then it's for digital terrestrial in the UK. But often the word freeview is misused to mean free-to-air satellite receivers also.

So, basically, if it is a satellite receiver, then yeah, it will work on your existing dish.

Derby1

My fault - it was definitely a freesat box - as my existing system is a single cable and single LNB, will I need to run an additional cable to my existing cable run to watch freesat HD, plus install a dual LNB?

Back to original question. I notice on SKY site they offer the facility to order HD equipment in advance of purchasing HD Telly.
see here https://skyireland.sky.com/roi/site/tvequipment
Don't have an HD ready TV? Get all the Sky+ functionality and double the storage with a free Sky+ box and free standard set-up when you join before 24 June

Does that mean they'll install 2 runs of twin cable in preparation for HD? It would be very handy if SKY engineer would run all 4 cables in case I need it in future or would that need to be a private arrangement with the engineer?

200motels

Just give him a few euro and he should run the 4 cables.