BBC Cards

carrolls

I am in the process of obtaining a BBC FTA card from a friend in London.

He has no Sky Digital so he signed over his card to me, and it is now married to my box. (They did'nt cop that my digibox is married to my Sky card already)

What is the story with these cards?
Do they have to be updated by Sky every year or do they remain activated forever?.

Gadgie

As far as I know they are activated 'forever'. However I think they may lose their authorisation if you leave them out of the box too long and you may have to ring Sky and get them to re-activate it, something they may get suspicious of if it happens frequently.

HTH,

Glenn

byte

Yes it's true that if the card is left out of box for too long, you will get bluescreen instead of channel. You don't need to ring Sky however. If you put your card back in box and leave it there, it will reactivate the channels again.

Tony_ire

I have a sky subscription and one digibox. If i get a bbc card will i be able to marry that card to my digibox and switch between cards?

byte

Yeap. Been possible so far anyway.

chernobyl

Originally posted by Tony_ire
I have a sky subscription and one digibox. If i get a bbc card will i be able to marry that card to my digibox and switch between cards?

But if you have a Sports/Movie package and also want to Marry the BBC card, surely thats impossible?

bmg

i've got 3 cards married to one digibox, one official sky with the full package,one scottish card and one n.ireland card that i hardly use anymore but still works o.k.

byte

Would you like to sell the NI card?;) I'm interested!:D :cool:

bmg

how much are you offering. i also have a few bbc england cards.

Mossy Monk

i would be interested in one of the England ones.

a few questions
1. have they been married to a box
2. do you have an address for them in case i want to marry one to my digibox

thanks

bmg

don,t know any addresses where they came from but can get hold of 1 or 2 off the boxes they came out off, if some sort of swap deal could be arranged with the boxes.

Lads,
mightn't be appropriate to be having the "selling" FTV cards discussion here-pm's maybe?
mm

bmg

yes i agree sorry

jez

Lads,
I'm a new subscriber to these fun pages.
I'm an ROI Sky Digital Subscriber. One simple question...

If I get the BBC Card via a nominated UK address,what is the 100% certain method of activiting this card on my digibox when it arrives here in post.

Pls advise.
Jez

swoofer

Welcome, just look down thru the posts and u will get your answer.

gbcullen

jez

Thanks for that.

But basically as I have a normal Irish sky subscription,when I phone to get the BBC Card activated ,do I just quote my digibox number or what. If I give the correct number is there a chance I'll be rumbled??

Big Lad.

Jez,

I received the card from my London based sister on Friday and I rang this morning to get it activated. I followed the advice from the threads on this forum. I was not asked any akward questions, nor was I asked serial number of my receiver. I only had to give card number and confirm address and postcode. When I got home this evening all channels were activated.

This is my first time to post anything on this forum but I just want to thank all the people who posted information about the FTV cards. It was a great help to me get sorted with a card.

Big Lad.

Leesider

>>>nor was I asked serial number of my receiver. I only had to give card number and confirm address and postcode. <<<

This is the second time that this has been mentioned in recent days. Can anyone confirm if the FTA cards are no longer 'married' to digiboxes, and more interestingly, will the BBC channels now be accessible if the card is put into ANY digibox??

medja

First of all I too would like to thank this board on the tips on how to get the card. I got my card working on saturday, M y friend in london rang up and was asked ............................... Nothing. Al he had to give was his name and the first line of his address plus the postcode. No card number, nothing. The Nice person on the other end of the phone said that the card would take a while but should be on in a few hours. 15 minutes later here in the west I had all stations except BBC 1 which was on the next morning. Does this mean that I can use the card on another box as well?

Is it possible that the serial number was given when the people in England first requested the card?? ie when they requested it to be posted?

If thats the case then-The card has been married,they just didn't bother confirming it when activating.
If it's not the case ,this is a newand interesting development as it makes getting the cards easy
And there would be no reason that I would know of that the card couldn't work in any box with the BBC channels.
mm

medja

Madman,

the only details that were given, when first ringing up were name, address and name of box (pace).

I had passed on all details to my london contact and a list of 10 Questions he could be asked, He was asked nothing.

Medja,
could you when you have the time , go to a friends digibox,plug it out and put in your BBC card and see what happens.
Post back when you can.
mm

bmg

when i first got my card a year ago i didn,t have to give the box serial number or version number.the card married to the box it was activated in and won,t work bbc in any other box so there is some way for cards to marry without the serial no.

medja

madman
It will be about 4 weeks before I can do so as Everyone I know around here Has NTL. But the next time I get to dublin or Cork I will make sure to try.

rovingrover

I just called to activate an FTV card and they said they didn't need the serial number for my Digibox.

I'll check later

1) If it works

2) If the card will work in my other digibox.

brenny2506

Can anyone answer the following question for me

1. I subsribe to SKY WORLD Package, when I get a FTV card what station do I receive along with BBC,ITV.C4,C5?

2. If I was a new Subscriber in UK do I have to ring the 08 number to receive a FTV Card and use 2 cards like a Irish subscriber?

ShaneOC

brenny

The Sky package that you have makes no difference to what channels work when you are using the FTV card. The channels that you get with the FTV card are BBC1, BBC2 (All regions), BBC Choice, BBC4, BBC News 24, BBC Parliment, ITV 1, Channel 4 and Channel 5. You will also get all the BBC Radio stations on the EPG.

UK subscribers do not have to get a FTV card if they have a Sky package as all of the above channels will be active on their Sky Card. The FTV card in the UK is for people who do not wish to subscribe to Sky.

brenny2506

Thanks ShaneOC

brenny2506

Sorry ShaneOC, forgot to ask if my source in UK rings on my behalf to get FTV card should on mention that he has a digital satellite system not a Sky digital satellite system as they may query why does he need a FTV card when he has those stations already thro' his Sky package.

ShaneOC

All he has to say is that he has got a box second-hand for a tv in a different room. If they ask when is the system being installed tell them in the next day or two.

rovingrover

Activated my FTV card yesterday. I never
gave detials of my Digibox.

All channels BB1 etc available last night.

I then switched the card to another box and
message came up that card was in the wrong box.
ITV, Channel 4 & 5 still worked of course but
no BBC.

Messages

1) Still not possible to move cards around without
name and address of original owner.

2) Much safer for Irish subscribers as Sky don't
ask for Digibox serial numbers now.

brenny2506

Just reveived by FTV Card.

When applying they did not ask for serial number, just name and address. I was given Reference Number to use when calling to activate the card.

My query is that I am moving house in a few weeks time and I am going to cancel my present Sky subscription and re-apply under my new address. If I put the FTV Card in my Digibox without ringing to activate what will I receive( ie ITV,C4,C5 and not BBC) I do not want to activate the card in this box then have to go thro' the procedure of getting a new card in a few weeks time.

Check with Sky regarding moving house( as they may have a scheme for this)-or alternatively with a local independent installer to see what they would charge for hooking in your existing dish and digibox.
Theres no need to go through a cancellation and re-start, if theres nothing in the difference in the charge or if it's €40-50 more for the house change,I would think.
mm

In relation to not having to give the serial number to the ftv people.
It would seem that they are able to marry boxes and cards, without a phoneline connection via a signal from the satelite.
Thats technology:cool:
mm

brenny2506

I was quoted 35 euro to take down dish and 85 euro to re-install.

75 euro for new installation. this from local installer.

So basically you have to decide if you want to spend that extra €40 or go through the hassle of getting a new bbc card after your new instalation.
It's not a big job taking down the dish your self,btw, ( no re-aligning to do,just take it down with the stuff from your tool box)
You could do that and just pay for the new install.
If you go for the new instalation,your existing BBC Card will give you ITV,CH4 and ch5 in the new Box,but no BBC's.As you have bbc 1 and 2 on your existing Irish card,then all you'll be missing really is BBC Choice BBC 4 and News 24 and 5 live-the last two might be the killer!
mm

Genghis

Why don't you
1. get a new subscription, complete with new digibox
2. find an friendly installer who will hook up one of the Quad LNB's (you need to do a search of UK suppliers to find one, not available here),
3. then get a new subscription from Sky for your new box (the one with your €75 installation), and
4. hook up the FTV box to one of the spare LNB connections in another room.

You then have:

A. The full Sky package with complete Irish Channels from April in one room.
B. The UK terrestrials and BBC digitals, Sky One UK and Sky News UK and the other FTV satellites on a seperate system in another room.

While you have to pay Sky for your subscription, the other box is FTV forever, i.e. without any other charges, even if you terminated the subscription on the other box. There is also no way for Sky to know you have the FTV system, as far as they are concerned you would have just one box - the subscription box. You also avoid having to continuously switch cards to watch channels, as well as the advantage of being able to watch different satellite broadcasts in different rooms.

It might cost you a few extra € in installation charges, and I think the Quad LNBs cost about £80 Stg, but taking account of the savings you can make by uninstalling the dish yourself, and not paying for a 'full' re-install, I would say this is the best all round solution.

Of course, all this assumes your current box is out of contract!

ShaneOC

Genghis's suggestion is what I would do myself however he states that you would have Sky One UK on your FTV box. This is by no means guaranteed. There were some very fortunate people who get Sky One when using their FTV card but this is not usual.

brenny2506

Cheers Genghis!!!

Made a few enquiries with a friend in the business. He will help me out.

Just on my original query, if I put my FTV card into my box I have at present without ringing to activate it, will it do it automatically and be married to this box. sorry if I am repeating myself??

ShaneOC

The FTV card has to be activated in order to work. This means a call to Sky.

If the card has been activated in another box previously then ITV Channel 4 and Channel 5 will work in any box with the card. The BBC channels will only work for the box with which the card was activated.

Genghis

Originally posted by ShaneOC
Genghis's suggestion is what I would do myself however he states that you would have Sky One UK on your FTV box. This is by no means guaranteed. There were some very fortunate people who get Sky One when using their FTV card but this is not usual.

My Mistake, I thought this was standard.

Brenny, will you let me know how much the whole thing costed, and anything you learnt from it. I would like to do something like this, but it will be a while before I have the cash,

Thanks.

Digi dec

I am currently bidding for a fta bbc card on ebay which has never been activated.
Will I receive ITV, Channel 4 & Channel 5 without ringing Sky to activate it?
I live in the R.O.I. and I do not know anyone in the UK who would help me out with their postcode details etc.

PacMan

I was looking at those very cards earlier on E-Bay. The description stated that you would receive ITV/Ch4/Ch5.
Yes you would receive these without having to phone Sky. I often transfer a UK card to my Irish box, and it receives ITV/Ch4 etc.

ifconfig

This topic may have been covered before or buried
in one of these FTA/BBC card threads but....

Someone mentioned that when activating your card
it might be worth quoting your serial number of
the digibox with 4th and 5th digits (perhaps I
got this slightly wrong...) swapped over. The
idea apparently was to avoid a scenario where the
operator realised that the card was already
reserved for a full Sky subscriber. What I don't
get is how this would work. It seems to suggest
that the FTA cards have a kind of 'fuzzy marriage'
(to coin a silly phrase) whereby the 4th and 5th
digits of the serial number are interchangeable
and the order of them is inconsequential for
activation purposes.

Can anyone enlighten me. The last thing I want to
do is to botch up my activation when I receive a
card (due next week, ordering it via a relative
went fine so far).

--e

Erin,
That advice is all gone out the window now...
According to latest experiences recounted here,your relative will have been given a ref number when ordering the card and that plus the card number is what you quote when ringing them.
mm

ifconfig

Interesting. I actually made the call (prefixing
with 141, of course) and they didn't quote me
any reference numbers when ordering the card.

we'll see what the story is when they send it
out. Of course, I guess I could call them again
just to see if they have a reference number
for my ordered card.

--e