whats the story with FTA cards

conZ

whats the story with these FTA cards...
what extra channels etc can you get with it?
how does it work?
do all the new channels etc come up in the sky interactive guide?

conZ

carrolls

The channels are:

BBC1
BBC2
ITV (All regions Available ,but only local region on EPG)
C4
C5
BBC CHOICE
CBBC
CBeebies
BBC FOUR
BBC News 24
BBC Parliament
All BBC Radio Stations

Not bad for free if you can get a card.

conZ

and do you have to take in and out your sky card to view these.?
do they appear on the sky ineractive guide?

The Cigarette Smoking Man

Originally posted by carrolls
The channels are:

BBC1
BBC2
ITV (All regions Available ,but only local region on EPG)
C4
C5
BBC CHOICE
CBBC
CBeebies
BBC FOUR
BBC News 24
BBC Parliament
All BBC Radio Stations

Not bad for free if you can get a card.

You also get Sky News, ITN News, Euronews...

http://www.angelfire.com/tv2/skydigitalfaq/index.html#9

osullima

Originally posted by The Cigarette Smoking Man


You also get Sky News, ITN News, Euronews...

http://www.angelfire.com/tv2/skydigitalfaq/index.html#9

You will get these channels also without a FTA card. They should appear without any card in the box.

carrolls

The channels that I mentioned are the ones specifically switched on by the BBC FTV card. The ones you mentioned are already there without a card.

Amnesiac_ie

Also worth pointing out (as I learned mere days ago on this very forum) that the BBC channels are unavailable if the FTA card has previously been activated in another box... ie the only extra channels are the all ITV Regions, Channel 4 and Channel 5. Ironically, w/o any card in the box you get BBC Parliament and all the BBC Radio channels...BBC

John R

Originally posted by Amnesiac_ie
Also worth pointing out (as I learned mere days ago on this very forum) that the BBC channels are unavailable if the FTA card has previously been activated in another box... ie the only extra channels are the all ITV Regions, Channel 4 and Channel 5. Ironically, w/o any card in the box you get BBC Parliament and all the BBC Radio channels...BBC

Except 5 Live, that is encrypted because of the live sports I presume. The other BBC radio channels can be added to the other channels list if necessary.

conZ

so...
where does the card go in???
is it in the "interactive card" slot above the viewing card?
or do i have to keep swapping the cards?
also, do the new channels on the FTA card come up in the SKY GUIDE and can i check what program is on next etc.??
does the blue sky bar come up when you are changing channel?

Cloud

I have another question - when you ring up the phone number to get a FTV card enabled, and you switch digits - is it digits 3 and 4 or 4 and 5 (I've seen two different answers here)?

carrolls

Sky never ask for the Digibox serial number, so you don't have to worry about switching digits.

John R

Originally posted by conZ
so...
where does the card go in???
is it in the "interactive card" slot above the viewing card?
or do i have to keep swapping the cards?
also, do the new channels on the FTA card come up in the SKY GUIDE and can i check what program is on next etc.??
does the blue sky bar come up when you are changing channel?

You have to swap the cards.

When the cards are swapped the box re-loads the sky guide listings and shows the listings appropriate to each card, so you lose the Ireland only listings when the FTV card is in the box and the UK only listings are not available when the Irish card is put back.

It leaves me wondering how many times the cards can be changed before the card or card reader gets damaged.

jez

Interesting development re FTA Cards. I have a UK sky digibox with bbc channels etc...All ok..... However,was alarmed to hear that ex Sky subscriptions may be turned off at some point.I'm not sure yet whether mine is ex Sky or FTV ,I'll check tonight. I've had three trouble free months so far. However, I rang the FTV number in the UK to order a FTV card (just in case) as I have a UK address I can use. However,they will not just send out the card,you must have a digibox which you have already advised Sky of the details re serial number etc. then they will send you the card. Looks like they are clamping down??

Dun

Originally posted by John R


You have to swap the cards.

It leaves me wondering how many times the cards can be changed before the card or card reader gets damaged.

My little nephew has developed an annoying habit of pulling out the Sky card at a crucial point in any programme. It's in a non-movable location so we can't do anything about it - it's been pulled out a thousand times by now with sticky fingers and it's still working fine

Don't know if it'll stay fine but if you're careful I don't think you have to worry a lot.

Michael

ShaneOC

Michael,

Simple solution to this. Cut off the bit of the card that is sticking out of the box. Make sure that you can still take it out with a pliers (or tweezers) but little fingers will not be able to remove it anymore.