A bit of advice for using a SKY box for free Channels

Deedsie

Hi,

I have just bought a new HD tv and I am having a UHF aerial installed to receive the saorview channels. I have also got an old sky box and a dish off a friend to receive the free channels available. The sky box is standard. Will I have to get a freesat HD box eventually to receive the HD channels?

By using an old sky box am I missing out on any channels that a freesat HD box would receive? Do I need a card for the sky box?

fat-tony

Realistically, only the BBC1 HD / BBC HD / ITV 1 HD are available free-to-air (ok plus the LUXE HD channel:rolleyes:) so that's what you would be missing by using an SD SKY box. No card required to receive the FTA channels and the EPG should be the default UK EPG. I did find, though, that the SCART output on the Thompson HD box was way better than the PACE SD box which it replaced.

Johnmb

Deedsie wrote: »

Hi,

I have just bought a new HD tv and I am having a UHF aerial installed to receive the saorview channels. I have also got an old sky box and a dish off a friend to receive the free channels available. The sky box is standard. Will I have to get a freesat HD box eventually to receive the HD channels?

By using an old sky box am I missing out on any channels that a freesat HD box would receive? Do I need a card for the sky box?

An old basic Sky box won't show the HD channels, but it should show the rest of them (Five will have to be tuned in via "Other Channels, the rest should be on the EPG). You don't need a card, but if you had a UK card (without active subscription), as far as I know, you'd have Five on the EPG, and you'd also have Five US and Fiver. Those last two channels are not available on Freesat, as they are FTV, not FTA and need a UK FTV card to decode them. Other than the HD channels, you should be able to receive all the Freesat channels via the Sky box, but they will be all over the place, with lots of encrypted channels in between them, so either learn off the numbers or set up favoutites.

watty

C4 HD may be FTA early next year.

Sky cards on eBay are often disabled and it's illegal to sell them there as they are Sky/NDS property. You need to order a FTV card yourself, direct to an NI or other UK post code address.

Deedsie

watty wrote: »

C4 HD may be FTA early next year.

Sky cards on eBay are often disabled and it's illegal to sell them there as they are Sky/NDS property. You need to order a FTV card yourself, direct to an NI or other UK post code address.

I think I will just get an edision Argus in the new year. That would eliminate any requirement for a sky card? I'd receive the HD channels through that? Is that correct? Or am I talking crap?

watty

The Only difference between a Sky Box without a UK Sky Card of some kind and ANY other box is Five. On a Sky box you may have to enter it manually via other channels.

An Edison Argus can't show any encrypted Sky Channels even if they work with FTV card (Five US, Fiver, Sky3) any more than a Skybox can without a FTV card / UK card.

Johnmb

Deedsie wrote: »

I think I will just get an edision Argus in the new year. That would eliminate any requirement for a sky card? I'd receive the HD channels through that? Is that correct? Or am I talking crap?

The Argus is fine, I have the 2in1 that I use for a multiroom setup, and I get everything (except Fiver and Five US) on it, including the HD channels. Although, there is no requirement for any card with the Sky box either, unless you really want Fiver and Five US. But if you have a HDTV, then a HD box would be best. There aren't many HD channels at the moment, but in the future more will likely be added.

Edit: Just seen Watty's reply, anywhere I've mentioned Fiver and Five US, add in Sky 3 to that, I never remember Sky 3 as a FTV channel!