Help me ditch SKY!

bog master

Bye Bye Sky

Time for Sky to go, so kindly asking those in the know, their recommendations and advice for the best box.

Requirements:

Receive Irish and English Channels and at least Sky News and CNN (news junkie!)- Freesat????
Be able to programme to record in advance and of course play back that recording.
Currently use a Go Flex 1 Tb drive to store and playback video content-will this also work in tandem with the new box?
Stereo audio outputs as I have a quality AVR and 5.1 Surround System.

A new telly is on the cards after this purchase-will the new telly require any special features?

Budget-€100-€150

Thanking all in advance ~~~

Gooey Looey

bog master wrote: »

Bye Bye Sky

Time for Sky to go, so kindly asking those in the know, their recommendations and advice for the best box.

Requirements:

Receive Irish and English Channels and at least Sky News and CNN (news junkie!)- Freesat????
Be able to programme to record in advance and of course play back that recording.
Currently use a Go Flex 1 Tb drive to store and playback video content-will this also work in tandem with the new box?
Stereo audio outputs as I have a quality AVR and 5.1 Surround System.

A new telly is on the cards after this purchase-will the new telly require any special features?

Budget-€100-€150

Thanking all in advance ~~~

There is no off the shelf plug and play option that can combine saorview and Freesat. With a bit of work the Tiviar Alpha can do what you need
https://touch.boards.ie/thread/2057827739/4/#post106783394

blackbullet

heres my current tv set up i have amazon uk firestick with uk and irish players all legal rte player,virginmediea player for uk tv theres tv player which hash all the min freeview channels all legal also dplay for dock channels like bbc,itvs theres also sky news and cnn apps on amazon firestick to gain access to uk tvplayer you will need a vpn service with a uk ip then sorted i recomennd ipvanish theres also alegal kodi addonn called catchup you have more freeview channels stv quest quest red blaze theres a a blaze tv app also on firestick and my 5 for more freeview live tv hope this helps.

blackbullet

theres also the https://manhattan-tv.com/ try this option hope theses help

Irishphotodesk

Gooey Looey wrote: »

There is no off the shelf plug and play option that can combine saorview and Freesat. With a bit of work the Tiviar Alpha can do whaot you need
https://touch.boards.ie/thread/2057827739/4/#post106783394

My TV can do saorview and freesat and it was purchased in 2013, full week epg and can record to a usb.

I’m guessing a more modern smart tv will allow plenty of apps etc, we purchased a Firestick and it has opened Disney+ and more for us. Disney+ is great if you have kids or want to rewatch the Disney movies, it’s fairly limited outside of that.

Gooey Looey

Irishphotodesk wrote: »

My TV can do saorview and freesat and it was purchased in 2013, full week epg and can record to a usb.

In the same listing? Can you go straight from RTE1 to BBC1?

Irishphotodesk

Gooey Looey wrote: »

In the same listing? Can you go straight from RTE1 to BBC1?

Takes a second or two to change input, but no different to using the remote to change channels, my point was more about no need for an extra box and cables ....a modern smart tv should give the OP access to everything.

Irish_peppa

Best thing i ever did was ditch sky. It was what 30 or 40 a month. And the same stuff on repeat. Ended up just using the couple of terrestrial saorview channels and anything else stream from the phone via the chromecast. dont miss it in the slightest. Surprised people still pay for sky tv in this day and age with netflix youtube etc

I got a freesat box for bedroom. Its one of the boxes you dont need to ever retune. I had a box ariva 500 i think that would constantly loose channels very frustrating one day various channels there next then gone

Ditched sky 12 months ago and got a tiviar.
We never bothered connecting saorview to it.
We use Netflix and Disney mainly with the kids

bog master

Thanks all! Busy digesting and researching. For the record, Netflix is out as unreliable internet and with a daily cap limit. Am able to obtain many of what's on Netflix. No kids in the house-no need kids programmes. Just looking for the simplest method that meets my needs.

Gooey Looey

Gooey Looey wrote: »

In the same listing? Can you go straight from RTE1 to BBC1?

My TV can but it has no epg beyond what's currently on.

Nunu

I’m in exact situation as OP.

Are recordable saorview connect combi boxes any use? It seems they’d tick all the boxes? I know my brother has one and he says he has it hooked up to a dish and aerial so can record all available Ire/Uk channels...I’ve yet to see it in action.

It’s €160 in DID ... he paid half that in a sale...edit: €155 Power City.

https://powercity.ie/product/DXD7025

https://www.did.ie/powerpoint-saorview-connect-box-black-dxd7025svc-dxd7025svc-prd?param1=wglowmarfb&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI87u_0PSP6gIViLHtCh1jVATTEAQYASABEgJThvD_BwE#fo_c=1898&fo_k=113fed01b8ad71f3bc1decc5bc4a8955&fo_s=gplaie

Edit: important info regarding add ons needed for full capability...

What do I need?
A Saorview aerial, satellite dish with dual LNB, a WIFI or wired broadband connection and external USB 3.0 drive for recording (we recommend 500gb to give approximately 100 hours of recordings)

Gooey Looey

Irishphotodesk wrote: »

Takes a second or two to change input, but no different to using the remote to change channels, my point was more about no need for an extra box and cables ....a modern smart tv should give the OP access to everything.

So can you record on Freesat while watching saorview? Can you record on Freesat while watching another channel on Freesat. There are many other advantages of an enigma receiver over the functions on a standard TV, it's a full PVR. Enigma also gives a closer experience to what they've been used to with sky, like timeshift (pause and rewind live TV) and autotimers (series link)

Niner leprauchan wrote: »

My TV can but it has no epg beyond what's currently on.

Therefore is no good for recording unless you manually configure start and finish times

Gooey Looey

Nunu wrote: »

I’m in exact situation as OP.

Are recordable saorview connect combi boxes any use? It seems they’d tick all the boxes? I know my brother has one and he says he has it hooked up to a dish and aerial so can record all available Ire/Uk channels...I’ve yet to see it in action.

It’s €160 in DID ... he paid half that in a sale...edit: €155 Power City.

https://powercity.ie/product/DXD7025

https://www.did.ie/powerpoint-saorview-connect-box-black-dxd7025svc-dxd7025svc-prd?param1=wglowmarfb&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI87u_0PSP6gIViLHtCh1jVATTEAQYASABEgJThvD_BwE#fo_c=1898&fo_k=113fed01b8ad71f3bc1decc5bc4a8955&fo_s=gplaie

Edit: important info regarding add ons needed for full capability...

What do I need?
A Saorview aerial, satellite dish with dual LNB, a WIFI or wired broadband connection and external USB 3.0 drive for recording (we recommend 500gb to give approximately 100 hours of recordings)

Avoid the saorview connect, there are lots of issues with it, it didn't live up to the promises it made. There's a big thread on here about it. You only get now and next EPG for satellite so it's pretty useless for satellite recording.

https://touch.boards.ie/thread/2057041188

andy1249

Tiviar Alpha plus is good , have one myself , there are two big threads on here about it with downloadable images so little to no setup knowledge needed.

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057827739

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057925678

However the Tiviar is now old and harder to find , so the new kid on the block is the Zgemma H7S combo box.

Both boxes run enigma 2 which comes in various flavours such as openvix or openATV

For a noob , openvix is easier as there is a full manual for the OS on this site and the "blue" skin shamelessly rips off the sky interface so that its not really too much of a change for switchers.
https://www.openvix.co.uk/

Open ATV is more powerful but also more involved and takes a lot of time to learn , there is no manual , you will have to trawl the above threads for information on how everything works.

Both the above are powerful boxes that do everything you want , both are combo boxes that integrate both saorview and FTA satellite into one 7 day epg and both record to an optional internal hard drive.
Recordings are not encrypted and can be copied to and from the box to play on anything you like.

If I was buying now , it would be the Zgemma H7S , its very powerful and does all you want and more.
https://www.world-of-satellite.co.uk/air-digital-zgemma/zgemma-h7s


The Saorview connect box is an absolute turkey , stay away from it , its an overpriced stinker !!

Nunu

Thanks lads. Love board’s for this sort of stuff when I’m completely clueless!

Gooey Looey

Gooey Looey wrote: »

Therefore is no good for recording unless you manually configure start and finish times

yep, doesnt tick the required boxes. why i didnt mention it originally. You just seemed surprised that there was a combi TV

Tec Diver

blackbullet wrote: »

theres also the https://manhattan-tv.com/ try this option hope theses help

Looks interesting. I see it's UK based, can it get Irish channels (my OH loves them...), also we don't have an ariel :-(

Irishphotodesk

Gooey Looey wrote: »

So can you record on Freesat while watching saorview? Can you record on Freesat while watching another channel on Freesat. There are many other advantages of an enigma receiver over the functions on a standard TV, it's a full PVR. Enigma also gives a closer experience to what they've been used to with sky, like timeshift (pause and rewind live TV) and autotimers (series link)



Therefore is no good for recording unless you manually configure start and finish times

Yes I can record on freesat and watch another channel on saorview, but why could you want to ? I don’t believe the OP requested this either? How often do you have two tv channels showing content you want to watch at the same time?

With my tv I have time-shift(can pause tv and rewind/fast forward), I can set to record a tv series or an individual show.

Have a Samsung f8000, it’s a bit old at this stage (purchased in 2013), I would be fairly confident a smart tv would be enough to fit the OPs requirements.

Live at Three

There is a serious niche in the market right now for a product that simplifies all the options mentioned above.

Gerry Wicklow

Live at Three wrote: »

There is a serious niche in the market right now for a product that simplifies all the options mentioned above.

That market only really exists here in Ireland. Most other countries use either/or sat or terrestrial. Starting from say, 1 million homes, remove those on cable in major cities and the others who have to get their fix of Sky sports and movies, you're soon down to a very small market. Most manufacturers aren't interested which is why we ended up with the Saorview Connect turkey.

bog master

Starting to get the hang of this. So it seems (please correct me) that one of the ehmm problems in my case is wanting all 3 Irish/UK and FreeSat. As I am not to pushed on UK stations, would something like this Ferguson do the job forr me, Irish and Free Sat, progamme, record, live pause etc-just NO UK channels?



https://www.freetv.ie/ferguson-ariva-254/


Or I could forego FreeSat and gain UK channels?

Irish_peppa

Gerry Wicklow wrote: »

That market only really exists here in Ireland. Most other countries use either/or sat or terrestrial. Starting from say, 1 million homes, remove those on cable in major cities and the others who have to get their fix of Sky sports and movies, you're soon down to a very small market. Most manufacturers aren't interested which is why we ended up with the Saorview Connect turkey.

Obviously very simplified idea here but.... could saorview not ask loads of those free sat channels if they would like to be included in their Saorview service for free or a nominal charge to cover the set up costs (it could hardly cost much)? I assume Saorview would receive the signal from Astra and retransmit on its Saorview network along with RtE etc. this way all the channels would be in order and tuned. Those free channels in return Sure they would get 2 million plus extra viewers and in turn be better for their advertisers also !
ie: The Vault Music Channel, surely they wouldnt turn their nose up to a few million extra potential viewers in return better for their advertisers

Gooey Looey

bog master wrote: »

Starting to get the hang of this. So it seems (please correct me) that one of the ehmm problems in my case is wanting all 3 Irish/UK and FreeSat. As I am not to pushed on UK stations, would something like this Ferguson do the job forr me, Irish and Free Sat, progamme, record, live pause etc-just NO UK channels?



https://www.freetv.ie/ferguson-ariva-254/


Or I could forego FreeSat and gain UK channels?

That's a free to air box, not Freesat. Freesat is a branded product, a joint venture between the BBC and ITV. Their business is to sell Freesat branded products.


The trouble with free to air boxes is they loose channels every so often when they change frequency on the satellite. You have to rescan and manually rearrange the channel back into your channel list when this happens. It's a continuous battle issue. They also only get now and next TV guide making them poor for recording

Gerry Wicklow

For starters there's all the additional electricity to re-broadcast lots of channels. You're promoting a competitor to your own channels. Then there's the whole copyright issue. It is only by a quirk of geography that we get the UK channels. Many UK channels are on narrow spot beams intended to only cover the UK and not be available in the rest of Europe because they would have to pay more for the content rights.

g6fdyotp5nj2l7

andy1249 wrote:

Tiviar Alpha plus is good , have one myself , there are two big threads on here about it with downloadable images so little to no setup knowledge needed.

The OP needs to know these boxes aren't plug and play and need to be setup.
While this isn't too difficult and there's plenty of information online not everyone wants to be bothered.
Most people myself included just want to plug in and work away.

Irish_peppa

bog master wrote: »

Starting to get the hang of this. So it seems (please correct me) that one of the ehmm problems in my case is wanting all 3 Irish/UK and FreeSat. As I am not to pushed on UK stations, would something like this Ferguson do the job forr me, Irish and Free Sat, progamme, record, live pause etc-just NO UK channels?



https://www.freetv.ie/ferguson-ariva-254/


Or I could forego FreeSat and gain UK channels?

****Free to Air Box vs Freesat Box****

https://www.freetv.ie/free-to-air-vs-freesat-satellite-receivers/

Johnboy1951

bog master wrote: »

Starting to get the hang of this. So it seems (please correct me) that one of the ehmm problems in my case is wanting all 3 Irish/UK and FreeSat. As I am not to pushed on UK stations, would something like this Ferguson do the job forr me, Irish and Free Sat, progamme, record, live pause etc-just NO UK channels?

https://www.freetv.ie/ferguson-ariva-254/

Or I could forego FreeSat and gain UK channels?

There are two only (besides the Sky exclusive satellite channels and Freeview the UK terrestrial broadcasts) ....

1. Saorview - the Irish terrestrial channels received via an aerial

2. Satellite - From the Astra channels for most of us, which carries all the Free to Air channels as well as the Sky encrypted channels, received via a satellite dish.

'Freesat' is a proprietary system in a specific range of devices which arrange the majority (not all) of the FTA channels in their own specific order. Freesat provides 7 day Electronic Programme Guide (EPG) for those channels. Further when a channel changes its name, or the frequency it broadcasts on, these boxes automatically make the adjustments needed without user input.

FTA is a generic satellite receiver capable of receiving all unencrypted channels from the selected satellite/s. Usually name changes are reflected automatically but changes of frequency can mean the user must make the adjustment manually to view the channel. Basic models only have Now & Next EPG, not 7 day.

Combi Boxes are those with tuners for both Satellite and FTA. There are no combi boxes that include the Freesat proprietary firmware.
Some of the better combi boxes, such as those running linux/Enigma2 are capable of all a Freesat box does regarding channel changes and EPG, while carrying the full compliment of FTA satellitechannels as well as the Saorview channels.

Those combi boxes are not set up 'out of box' and require some user input to set them up ..... a very popular model on Boards is the Tiviar - see separate threads about this model.

So you need to be very clear about your requirements at first and then use the correct terminology so your needs are clear to those reading, to get the best help possible.

You could use two boxes, but you would need to switch between them when changing from a satellite channel to a Saorview channel.

The combi boxes can be arranged to have all the channels on one listing, in your preferred order, so there is no need to change to a different list.

Meeoow

However the Tiviar is now old and harder to find , so the new kid on the block is the Zgemma H7S combo box.

Both boxes run enigma 2 which comes in various flavours such as openvix or openATV

For a noob , openvix is easier as there is a full manual for the OS on this site and the "blue" skin shamelessly rips off the sky interface so that its not really too much of a change for switchers.
https://www.openvix.co.uk/

Open ATV is more powerful but also more involved and takes a lot of time to learn , there is no manual , you will have to trawl the above threads for information on how everything works.

Both the above are powerful boxes that do everything you want , both are combo boxes that integrate both saorview and FTA satellite into one 7 day epg and both record to an optional internal hard drive.
Recordings are not encrypted and can be copied to and from the box to play on anything you like.

If I was buying now , it would be the Zgemma H7S , its very powerful and does all you want and more.
https://www.world-of-satellite.co.uk/air-digital-zgemma/zgemma-h7s


Anyone got one of those zgemma boxes? I'm thinking of buying one. I cancelled sky years ago, just using the box for free sat now. But I wouldn't mind having a record function.

dulpit

Meeoow wrote: »

Anyone got one of those zgemma boxes? I'm thinking of buying one. I cancelled sky years ago, just using the box for free sat now. But I wouldn't mind having a record function.

I have one, it's great. I know there are a few others floating around here who have one too. I have mine set up with PurE2, feel free to fire any queries.

g6fdyotp5nj2l7

dulpit wrote:

I have one, it's great. I know there are a few others floating around here who have one too. I have mine set up with PurE2, feel free to fire any queries.

Can they run IPTV

dulpit

Colson Zealous Steak wrote: »

Can they run IPTV

Think so, but zero interest in IPTV so can't really comment.

paulhardman

dulpit wrote: »

I have one, it's great. I know there are a few others floating around here who have one too. I have mine set up with PurE2, feel free to fire any queries.

Ditto here, shout up for any questions. I have done very little configuration on mine, save creating my own bouquet that contains all the Freesat stuff plus Saorview on channels 401+.

Zardoz

Colson Zealous Steak wrote: »

Can they run IPTV

Yes .
It runs it extremely well.

g6fdyotp5nj2l7

https://www.satworld.ie/formuler-s-mini.html

Does anyone here have any experience with this box. I'd be interested to know what the sat tuner is like in them

Bif

paulhardman wrote: »

Ditto here, shout up for any questions. I have done very little configuration on mine, save creating my own bouquet that contains all the Freesat stuff plus Saorview on channels 401+.

Sounds good. For a non techie type like myself how hard are they to set up? Which exact model would you recommend? Thanks.

dulpit

Bif wrote: »

Sounds good. For a non techie type like myself how hard are they to set up? Which exact model would you recommend? Thanks.

H7S (make sure it's the S, as this has 2 x satellite tuners). It's very straightforward, most of the setup is done by following the tutorial/steps when you first boot it. Loads here will be able to walk you through it further if needed.

ec_pc

dulpit wrote: »

H7S (make sure it's the S, as this has 2 x satellite tuners). It's very straightforward, most of the setup is done by following the tutorial/steps when you first boot it. Loads here will be able to walk you through it further if needed.

Does this do Saorview?

Irishphotodesk

Can someone explain to me why the need for a box ?

A TV with dual tuners is enough to receive the signals and most modern TVs will have access to a full EPG (electronic programme guide) too.

All we had to do when we got our TV in 2013 was scan for channels and then we selected our favourites and ignored the rest.

Since that time we have purchased Netflix and Disney+ subscriptions but these are mainly for the kids to have extra stuff to keep them entertained when we do allow them to watch the TV.

Gooey Looey

Irishphotodesk wrote: »

Can someone explain to me why the need for a box ?

A TV with dual tuners is enough to receive the signals and most modern TVs will have access to a full EPG (electronic programme guide) too.

All we had to do when we got our TV in 2013 was scan for channels and then we selected our favourites and ignored the rest.

Since that time we have purchased Netflix and Disney+ subscriptions but these are mainly for the kids to have extra stuff to keep them entertained when we do allow them to watch the TV.

You don't need a box, but a box can give much better functionality and you can rearrange and put all your channels in a single list if you want to. Am enigma box can be setup to emulate Freesat and Saorview so it scans for frequency changes and new channels. An enigma box can also stream to other devices like phones and tablets, i can watch live TV and recordings on my enigma box from a hotel anywhere in the world if I want to (I've actually used this when away for work)

dulpit

Irishphotodesk wrote: »

Can someone explain to me why the need for a box ?

A TV with dual tuners is enough to receive the signals and most modern TVs will have access to a full EPG (electronic programme guide) too.

All we had to do when we got our TV in 2013 was scan for channels and then we selected our favourites and ignored the rest.

Since that time we have purchased Netflix and Disney+ subscriptions but these are mainly for the kids to have extra stuff to keep them entertained when we do allow them to watch the TV.

Most TVs will have now and next only. And likely will not auto-update channels for changes. Unless you are lucky to have a freesat enabled TV I guess.

monkeycork

looking for a new tv 43" anyone have experience with LG TV with both Freesat and Saorview built-in? can you pause / record?

Bif

dulpit wrote: »

H7S (make sure it's the S, as this has 2 x satellite tuners). It's very straightforward, most of the setup is done by following the tutorial/steps when you first boot it. Loads here will be able to walk you through it further if needed.

Cheers. Which firmware did you go for? Thanks.

dulpit

Bif wrote: »

Cheers. Which firmware did you go for? Thanks.

I played with OpenATV and OpenVIX, both were fine, but I ended up going with PurE2, looked nicest.

Bif

dulpit wrote: »

I played with OpenATV and OpenVIX, both were fine, but I ended up going with PurE2, looked nicest.

Sorry for my ignorance but when buying do you not need to specify one of those listed?

Seve OB

bog master wrote: »

Bye Bye Sky

Time for Sky to go, so kindly asking those in the know, their recommendations and advice for the best box.

Requirements:

Receive Irish and English Channels and at least Sky News and CNN (news junkie!)- Freesat????
Be able to programme to record in advance and of course play back that recording.
Currently use a Go Flex 1 Tb drive to store and playback video content-will this also work in tandem with the new box?
Stereo audio outputs as I have a quality AVR and 5.1 Surround System.

A new telly is on the cards after this purchase-will the new telly require any special features?

Budget-€100-€150

Thanking all in advance ~~~

bog master wrote: »

Thanks all! Busy digesting and researching. For the record, Netflix is out as unreliable internet and with a daily cap limit. Am able to obtain many of what's on Netflix. No kids in the house-no need kids programmes. Just looking for the simplest method that meets my needs.

bog master wrote: »

Starting to get the hang of this. So it seems (please correct me) that one of the ehmm problems in my case is wanting all 3 Irish/UK and FreeSat. As I am not to pushed on UK stations, would something like this Ferguson do the job forr me, Irish and Free Sat, progamme, record, live pause etc-just NO UK channels?



https://www.freetv.ie/ferguson-ariva-254/


Or I could forego FreeSat and gain UK channels?

honestly you don't have to go to much trouble. you have sky, a sky box and a satellite dish. take out your irish card when your sub is up. see if you know someone in the uk who might have an old Sky card they can give you, if not you can buy them on adverts for 50 bucks. you need a white card. this will allow you to have all the uk channels on your sky box without any need for going into other channels. but the bonus if you make sure you get the white card is that you will be able to record, pause etc.

a pair of rabbits ears will pick you up saorview (although a proper aerial is better and means less clutter around your tv) as long as you have a new tv, if your tv is old and not saorview compatible then this is the only reason you would need a box. most tv's will allow you to stick a usb plug in to a hard drive for recording etc.

dulpit

Bif wrote: »

Sorry for my ignorance but when buying do you not need to specify one of those listed?

You pick one when purchasing, but you can download an image onto a USB stick and flash it onto box very easily, so it's easy to chop and change.

Sam Quentin

Nunu wrote: »

I’m in exact situation as OP.

Are recordable saorview connect combi boxes any use? It seems they’d tick all the boxes? I know my brother has one and he says he has it hooked up to a dish and aerial so can record all available Ire/Uk channels...I’ve yet to see it in action.

It’s €160 in DID ... he paid half that in a sale...edit: €155 Power City.

https://powercity.ie/product/DXD7025

https://www.did.ie/powerpoint-saorview-connect-box-black-dxd7025svc-dxd7025svc-prd?param1=wglowmarfb&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI87u_0PSP6gIViLHtCh1jVATTEAQYASABEgJThvD_BwE#fo_c=1898&fo_k=113fed01b8ad71f3bc1decc5bc4a8955&fo_s=gplaie

Edit: important info regarding add ons needed for full capability...

What do I need?
A Saorview aerial, satellite dish with dual LNB, a WIFI or wired broadband connection and external USB 3.0 drive for recording (we recommend 500gb to give approximately 100 hours of recordings)

Can you elaborate on the exact set-up. Why a dual LNB etc.

Gooey Looey

Sam Quentin wrote: »

Can you elaborate on the exact set-up. Why a dual LNB etc.

Most PVR boxes come with dual satellite tuners. This allows you to record or pause a satellite channel while watching another

Meeoow

Seve OB wrote: »

honestly you don't have to go to much trouble. you have sky, a sky box and a satellite dish. take out your irish card when your sub is up. see if you know someone in the uk who might have an old Sky card they can give you, if not you can buy them on adverts for 50 bucks. you need a white card. this will allow you to have all the uk channels on your sky box without any need for going into other channels. but the bonus if you make sure you get the white card is that you will be able to record, pause etc.

I have an old sky plus box that I use for free sat now. All I am missing is the record function. Are you saying that I can buy a white card that enables the record? That would save me buying a new box.

g6fdyotp5nj2l7

Meeoow wrote:

I have an old sky plus box that I use for free sat now. All I am missing is the record function. Are you saying that I can buy a white card that enables the record? That would save me buying a new box.

I didn't think you could record on a sky box without a sub but I'm open to correction I got rid of them years ago