Sky box as Freesat box w/ UK EPG but no "Other Channels" ???

Butch Cassidy

I'm using the Sky box as a UK Freesat box with the Irish card the wrong way around to get the UK EPG but doing this means I can't access Other Channels which means I'm missing out on stuff like Five and STV/STV HD.

Save for putting in a UK viewing card is there any way around this?

When I go in to Other Channels I get a message saying there isa problem with the viewing card and to ensure it is inserted correctly.

ScrubsfanChris

Why do you even have the card in the reciever and upside down

You don't need anything extra to recieve the FTA channels on a Sky reciever.

Kristopherus

ScrubsfanChris wrote: »

Why do you even have the card in the reciever and upside down

You don't need anything extra to recieve the FTA channels on a Sky reciever.

+1
Take out the card and you will get the UK EPG. You will not get any of the 5 family of channels on that EPG, but you will get them in Other Channels. You will only get Now & Next on the programme details. For full EPG you will need a Freesat fro Sky card. And to get that you will have to have a postcode in the UK. Forget about this upside-down mallarkey. It does nothing for additional channels.

Butch Cassidy

So can I tune in Five and STV et al in "Other Channels" without the card in the slot or do I need a UK Sky card to get the Freesat channels in the UK EPG and these others not in the UK EPG?

Kristopherus

When you have the UK EPG it will look like this:
101 BBC 1
102 BBC 2
103 ITV 1
104 Channel 4
105 Channel 5, but not viewable.
106/7/8 Sky1/2/3.etc., etc.
In order to view 5 or any relations you will have to retune and save the to your Other Channels.
I hope this is of some help to you. The above description is what happens with my box anyway, so I am presuming same goes for all.

watty

Butch Cassidy wrote: »

So can I tune in Five and STV et al in "Other Channels" without the card in the slot or do I need a UK Sky card to get the Freesat channels in the UK EPG and these others not in the UK EPG?

you need to disable "hiding porn channels" and disable parental control or else you are blocked from "other channels" without a card.

Or put card in, select other channels, enter PIN (last 4 digits). Only take card out when you want UK EPG.

Kristopherus

Watty, I will bow to your bottomless depth of knowledge, but, in my case at least, you are incorrect in that Other Channel are not blocked without a card. I am watching "Out for a Kill" on 5 from Other Channels without a card as I post this. My FTV box is a Sky + Thomson if it makes any difference.

watty

It's only if the "Hide Porn channels" OR Parental Control has been enabled when there was a card. Then you need a card + PIN to access other channels.

I maybe didn't make it clear. Re-read what I said. Obviously if the "Adult EPG" has never "hidden" and no parental control was ever set, then no card is needed.

Marcusm

Need to be very careful with the terminology as there is a difference between FTA and FTV. A Sky box without a card will be capable of picking up Five, Sky 3 etc but unless it has a "Freesat from Sky" card in it, these channels will only be available via Other Channels. When a UK sub is canceled, the card becomes a FSfS card but not so with an Irish sub.

Johnmb

Kristopherus wrote: »

Watty, I will bow to your bottomless depth of knowledge, but, in my case at least, you are incorrect in that Other Channel are not blocked without a card. I am watching "Out for a Kill" on 5 from Other Channels without a card as I post this. My FTV box is a Sky + Thomson if it makes any difference.

You obviously don't have parental controls enabled. But since the OP can't access Other Channels, he likely does have them enabled. I had the same problem with my Samsung HD+ box. I don't know if Watty's instructions work or not as nobody mentioned that to me at the time, and I've changed systems at this stage so can't try it out.

Butch Cassidy

Nah I don't have a UK card or a UK sub. I'm in Ireland so only have an Irish card - an old blue one with yellow house and one of the newer white ones. The bill hasn't been paid so the sub is off. I don't think anything I do would be capable of getting Sky 3... not that I want that crap anyway!


No we don't have "hide the porn" enabled or any parental control.



Basically what I want is: UK EPG & FIVE, STVHD etc. in Other Channels or wherever I can get thenm. What do I need to do?

At the minute I've got the UK EPG grand with loadsa channels except the aforementioned ones. My "other channels" isn't working cause the card is in upside down. When I take the card out and go to "other Channels" I'm told there is not card in the slot. When I put the card in the right way round I get my other channels but then the Irish EPG loads back up.

Butch Cassidy

Is it possible to get the UK EPG and also access the Other Channels with the card in upside down? When I put my Irish card in the EPG just stalls, crashes and eventually the Irish one loads up.

charlemont

The masses seem to always think they need a viewing card ..They dont !!

Some people I know of are so thick , they got rid of their box and dish when they cancelled their Sky subscription, even though after that length of time, its their property..Now they are stuck with the home channels...

five is working away grand in my apartment now, with no viewing card...

Preset No.3

Marcusm wrote: »

A Sky box without a card will be capable of picking up Five, Sky 3 etc QUOTE]

Can someone give me the tuning in other channels for Sky 3?

watty

Sky3 needs a viewing card. Then it's on EPG and works. Otherwise it's encrypted. So no point in adding to "other channels".

Marcusm is mis-informed. Five works, not Sky3.

Butch Cassidy

Without a card I can't access "Other Channels". To access the "other channels" on my Sky +HD box I need the card in the right way up - but when I do this I lose the UK EPG.

With the UK EPG set up on the box I can't get Five (or STV/STVHD) - it's not in the EPG and I can't access "Other Channels".

Does anyone understand my problem?

watty

put card in and go to setup
make sure the box is set to show Adult channels on EPG and there is no Parental control
Then other channels should work without card.

jaytobe

Butch Cassidy wrote: »

I'm using the Sky box as a UK Freesat box with the Irish card the wrong way around to get the UK EPG but doing this means I can't access Other Channels which means I'm missing out on stuff like Five and STV/STV HD.

Save for putting in a UK viewing card is there any way around this?

When I go in to Other Channels I get a message saying there isa problem with the viewing card and to ensure it is inserted correctly.

Thread I was looking for as I just got a free Sky + upgrade so can use the old box..what is:

- EPG
- 'Freesat from Sky' card. Where does one get one.
- FTA and FTV difference?
- What channels will be different from a Freesat box to a Free to air box.

Thanks..

watty

jaytobe wrote: »

Thread I was looking for as I just got a free Sky + upgrade so can use the old box..what is:
Thanks..

- EPG
Electronic Program Guide. replaces RTE guide/Radio times etc. Only Freesat & Sky boxes do them for 7 days. Generic FTA boxes only do now/next on Channel list.

- 'Freesat from Sky' card. Where does one get one. From Sky.
Adds Fiver, FiveUS, Sky3: It's a FTV card. Only posted to UK Post codes (inc N.I.). It belongs to Sky even after you "buy it". Only available from Sky. Ones on eBay often don't work as cancelled/Stolen.

- FTA and FTV difference?
FTA = Free To Air. Costs nothing and no encryption
FTV= (nearly) Free To View. Is encrypted and needs a card. Initial cost and periodic replacement cost.

- What channels will be different from a Freesat box to a Free to air box?
None.
non-Freesat channels need to be manually added to Freesat box (Sky News).
ALL channels need to be added manually to a "Free to air box". It will need re-scanned periodically.

"Freesat HD" box recommended even if you don't have HDTV.

jaytobe

Thanks Watty! Have you worked out the average no. of posts per day!!

- So old Sky box with no card= Free to Air channels?
- Are all the Lidl/Aldi boxes Free to Air type?
- Who is maintaining/running Free to View?
- Why would anyone go for Free to View if there are regular replacment costs..?
- Why are Sky giving out Freesat cards rather than plugging the Sky membership? How much are they to UK residents? Do you need to be a Sky customer?

watty

A Skybox with no card is nearly like a Freesat box.
Skybox and Freesat have Interactive, full EPG etc.

Aldi/Lidl box is Generic FTA. No MHEG5, no Interactive, no auto-tuning, no EPG. Poor User interfaces.


"Free to View" is Sky = "Freesat-from-sky". It's a "puppy dog" to get people sucked into Subscription TV. The old BBC era FTV (Solas card) is gone. This answers your last question. About £21 for as long as Sky decides.

Freesat run by a company owned/funded by BBC, ITV, C4, Arquiva etc I think.

boomslang

"Freesat HD" box recommended even if you don't have HDTV.

@Watty
Are the freesat boxes as good as each other or are some better or worse?
Is the epg the only real advantage a freesat box has over FTA boxes or should those be considered too?
Thanks

watty

FTA:
No MHEG5, no Interactive, no auto-tuning (Manually add and re-scan all channels), no EPG. Poor User interfaces.

Freesat
Interactive, (e.g. Wimbledon, Olympics etc on BBC), all Freesat channels automatic, Full detailed 7 day Program guide


Don't even think about a non-Freesat box unless it's mostly for other Satellites and not Freesat.

Freesat HD gives better BBC1 even on a non-HDTV

boomslang

Freesat box it is then!
I assume they have the ability to add non freesat channels easily?
Does anyone know if the Humax HD box is capable of pvr? It has a usb slot but only mentions software update.

Butch Cassidy

watty wrote: »

put card in and go to setup
make sure the box is set to show Adult channels on EPG and there is no Parental control
Then other channels should work without card.

Thanks for the help. Unfortunately it still doesn't work. I've checked the adult channels are still showing and there is no parental controls on anything but it's still :

• With no Sky card in when I go to Other Channels I get a message telling me to put my
• card in.
• With the card in backwards/upside down I get a message saying there is something wrong with the card.
• With the card in the right way around I get Other Channels but I lose the UK EPG.

How come FIVE and STV aren't in the EPG without the card? Do Sky have separate Scottish and Welsh cards that would hvae S4C and STV at the start of the EPG?

boomslang

I have just powered off inserted viewing card upside down and have UK epg and I can access the other channels no problem.
Also without viewing card.
Make sure in Parental that all options show the blue as turn on PIN restrictions is showing (means PIN restrictions are off) - You will need the card the correct way around and will need to know your pin too.
Hope that helps.

Butch Cassidy

boomslang wrote: »

I have just powered off inserted viewing card upside down and have UK epg and I can access the other channels no problem.
Also without viewing card.
Make sure in Parental that all options show the blue as turn on PIN restrictions is showing (means PIN restrictions are off) - You will need the card the correct way around and will need to know your pin too.
Hope that helps.

Ah mea culpa! Thank you very much for pointing that out. It was the little blue button thing I was forgetting about.

Mr Gumby

The routine that has always worked for me with a standard Pace digibox is, go into interactive, remove card, come out of interactive, this I believe forces a default down load of the London settings. Now the only reason to use other channels is if you want other regions.
The other routine to consider is a forced download of the operating system, in the past other channels were lost on the pace box if it ever lost power, but after a forced download in the past the software was renewed and this no longer happens.
I can personally recommend a freesat HD twin tuner box, it can be slow at times but the ability to pause and record soon becomes the norm.
Link for routine for forced download:- http://www.satelliteonline.co.uk/forced_downloads.htm

Butch Cassidy

The interactive/take card out thing actually doesn't work. The Irish EPG stays put, or at least did before I did the parental thing properly.

Also, I want "other channels" to get FIVE and STV/STVHD which is not in the UK EPG for some reason I don't know.

jaytobe

Tuned my new HD Samsung LE40C650 100hz today and best option with Sky+ HD box(Sky HD plans not bought) was 1080i @50Hz.

Question: Are Sky only transmitting at 50Hz? Whats the point of a 100Hz TV (apart say from DVD player)??

jaytobe

jaytobe wrote: »

Tuned my new HD Samsung LE40C650 100hz today and best option with Sky+ HD box(Sky HD plans not bought) was 1080i @50Hz.

Question: Are Sky only transmitting at 50Hz? Whats the point of a 100Hz TV (apart say from DVD player)??

Also, when connecting the old Sky digibox up to oner of the LNB feeds its not detecting the signal. I see the EPG etc.. ANy tips

watty

jaytobe wrote: »

Tuned my new HD Samsung LE40C650 100hz today and best option with Sky+ HD box(Sky HD plans not bought) was 1080i @50Hz.

Question: Are Sky only transmitting at 50Hz? Whats the point of a 100Hz TV (apart say from DVD player)??

Film is 24fps. DVDs are either from Film, 24 fps speeded to 25fps, or from USA TV converted from 30fps interlaced fields at 60Hz, or from European TV 25fps interlaced fields at 50Hz .

I can think there is little value in 100Hz unless you are related to a Cavy (guinea pig) as they would find 50Hz looking like what 12fps looks like to Humans.

3D TVs use 100Hz ideally as the pair of 960x 1080i images in a 1920x1080 25fps 50Hz frame are deinterlaced to 50fps 50Hz and Left and Right frame shown alternately, so 100Hz is total frame rate on Screen, but blank 50% time 50Hz / 50 fps for each eye.
The 40 cent IR LED flasher on the TV runs at 100Hz to synchronise the LCD shutter glasses.

If it's not a 3D TV, then the 100Hz is pretty much a gimmick. No-one transmits 100Hz, nor any discs 100Hz. Some German broadcasters use 1280 x720 p50 (50Hz progressive), upsetting German HDTV fans as 1920x1080i (25fps 50Hz) is actually same bandwidth but better quality. 1280 x720 p60 as used in USA is of value as it doesn't have the 3:2 pull down artefacts of 30i60 Modes. ALL UK and Ireland TV is either 288p50 (multiscreen images scaled up), 567i 25fps/50Hz or 1080i 25fps/50Hz


In the USA, converting from 24fps to 30fps/60Hz interlaced is an issue, and 120Hz can alleviate the 3:2 pull down artefacts. Here we have no Film to TV interlace artefact, so no advantage at all for Progress DVDs here as the De-interlace to progressive 50Hz from 25i 50Hz can be done perfectly for Film source. Many newer TVs and some DVD/BD players can do 24fps (the Cinema and TV actually shows each frame twice, 48Hz). If it's a "PAL" Region DVD or BD, playing at 24fps will lower sound by 5% as the sound track would have already been corrected for the 24fps to 25fps speedup. Only actual 24fps discs or "NTSC" region discs should be played at 24fps.

jaytobe

Thanks Watty.

On the other question, should an old sky digibox transmit the free to air channels once sat feed is connected? Is there any programming needed.

I am just getting the 'No sat feed error'...room is fed from the F180 where I have one of the LNB signals connected to input.

jaytobe

jaytobe wrote: »

Thanks Watty.

On the other question, should an old sky digibox transmit the free to air channels once sat feed is connected? Is there any programming needed.

I am just getting the 'No sat feed error'...room is fed from the F180 where I have one of the LNB signals connected to input.

@watty

watty

It sounds like you have the F180 on the Satellite IF and not TV RF. That doesn't work

See http://www.techtir.ie/tv-radio/satellite-distribution

jaytobe

watty wrote: »

It sounds like you have the F180 on the Satellite IF and not TV RF. That doesn't work

See http://www.techtir.ie/tv-radio/satellite-distribution

Thanks..none of the two installers have ever mentioned that...RF2 into F180 now works on the remote TV point but 8yr. old Sky remote doesn't switch channels (read that it needs to be sky+ remote).

What I really need is to be able to switch channels seperately in each room;

What is the best way to do this?

Can Sky+ signal and freesat box feeds go into the F180?

weeder

unplug the box and plug it back in with no card at all in it, you should then have access to uk epg plus other channels

watty

google. You can program Sky+ to recognise old remote I think?

Strawberry HillBilly

Watty - I have changed the parental control settings / adult channels access etc. yet never get the access to other channels ? i.e. same request to insert viewing card appears.

Could this be dependant on the make/model of SKY+ box I am using for FTA viewing ?

watty

Maybe

kooga

guys

got a sky hd box today going to use if for the BT Sub

anyway the default fta epg has bbc England, went to other channels to search store and save BBC NI, Wales Scotland etc but they haven't been stored in my other channels. any advice. I don't have a card

Ronnie Raygun

The HD versions? And you can't select the right symbol rate? No way round that AFAIA.

kooga

Ronnie Raygun wrote: »

The HD versions? And you can't select the right symbol rate? No way round that AFAIA.

it wont give me the hd versions they are all at 22000 symbol rate scanned and got the SD versions but just wont save in other channels.