Info on getting a FTA/FTV card

mijmu

Hi

I am getting a bit fed up with sky's rising prices and I seriously thinking of cancelling my subscription. If I can buy a FTV/FTA card can I then ring sky with my digi box number 3rd and 4th digits reversed, an address in England and my card number to get it activated.

Also I have seen a number of people selling cards on this site, is it advisable to buy one of these (will they actually work)

Any info would be very helpful.

Thanks
Michael

spuddy

Yes you can buy one and marry it - I wouldn't bother changing the serial digits around - I had no problem at all registering my irish digibox with a uk ftv card - The operator could tell me my box was a Pace but thats it - he didnt have any other info.

ShaneOC

It's all here.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=37638

Genghis

Don't respond to ads or notices from strangers offering to sell FTA cards. Usually they don't have anything to sell - always remember that it simply is not possible to stockpile, manufacture or collect BBC Cards in enough numbers to sell. To work they must be linked to a physical address and a paid licence fee, and this limtis their availability somewhat.

I know this because I have encountered one or two of these chancers (mainly on e-bay and other auction sites).

Your best bet: Use a mate or relative in the UK to get one for you. Then you will be sure to get one, and you probably won't be charged anything more than postage. The follow the advice in the thread Shane posted.

Paul007

It's funny you should mention that because I found the site below recently and wondered if it was a scam.
It advertises FTV cards for £20 sterling plus £3 P+P
http://www.west-sat.com/

I e-mailed them asking the following questions :-
1. What postal region will the card be from and do I get a choice?
2. What is the procedure for activation of the card?


I received this reply.

Your card will be activated for West Country
We use our English address
The FTV can be used in Europe
We have sold many in Europe

Does this sound like a scam?

Mr E

It may or may not be. I wouldn't even consider it unless I heard of someone on these boards who successfully dealt with west-sat, and is now using a working FTV card.

Anyone?

- Dave.

Genghis

Originally posted by Paul007

Does this sound like a scam?

It's definitely a scam - there is no such thing as a legit exporter of BBC cards. There is no way they can have a continuous supply of these cards. If you are going to try them insist on payment after delivery and commissioning (i.e. when you are satisfied that the card has been activated and is decrypting all the BBC and other UK terrestrials for you).


Oh, and let us know how you get on one way or the other!

carrolls

Does this sound like a scam?

Very unlikely its a scam.
It seems perfectly logical to me as long as the Name, Address and account number are correct for the particular card. ( And they also send you out those details with the card)

ShaneOC

It was mentioned previously is another thread that each household is entitled to four FTV cards. This is obviously to ensure that people do not set up little enterprises like west-sat have done.

You are much better off if you can get a friend or relative to get the FTV card for you.

mijmu

Thanks to everyone that has replied.

I have asked for more info and hopefully I will get that today. I will keep you updated on what happens.

Thanks Again

Michael

dmeehan

Originally posted by Paul007
I received this reply.

Your card will be activated for West Country
We use our English address
The FTV can be used in Europe
We have sold many in Europe

Does this sound like a scam?

sounds very much like a scam
thats the same info that a guy gave me who advertised on these boards, i thought it was fishy so i gave it a miss

needless to say he was subsequently booted off

sceptre

Like others, I'd be tempted by that as a convenient way of getting an FTV card.

Thing is though (along with the other things mentioned by people), if the BBC figured out that many cards were going to this one address in the UK, they could pull the plug on all of them. Back to square one and down 23 quid.

byte

Not sure on that one. It's hard to tell. There's a full address listed and everything. But I was wondering what they are on about at the bottom of the page regarding a £50 fee for SBO? Eh?

Would it be possible at all to instead of a FTV card get a UK subscription? Or do subs come with the need to plug into phone for 12 months? I thought it could be possible to use credit card instead of a bank account. That way it would be possible to get ITV2 and E4 interactive (though that's not in use for another year).:)

dp_polo

I hane a NI card and was just wondering if any1 had a scottish 1 2 swap with me 4 the footy?? Where would I get one?? Text me on +447816115920 if you want to swap.

mijmu

I mailed WEST-SAT today to find out about activating a card. They told me they will get the card activated for me there is no need for me to ring sky. I have to email them when I want it activated.

Michael

Paul007

I also e-mailed West-Sat again expressing my concerns about the method of payment. I stated I would be willing to buy the card on a cash on delivery basis and would be willing to pay any extra costs that this would incur.

In replying, they didn't say if this was a possibility but instead sent me their bank details and said payment can be made by bank transfer.

I don't see how this helps really as I'd imagine it's not too difficult to set up a dodgy bank account.

Tony

Originally posted by Paul007
I also e-mailed West-Sat again expressing my concerns about the method of payment. I stated I would be willing to buy the card on a cash on delivery basis and would be willing to pay any extra costs that this would incur.

In replying, they didn't say if this was a possibility but instead sent me their bank details and said payment can be made by bank transfer.

I don't see how this helps really as I'd imagine it's not too difficult to set up a dodgy bank account.

I'm not defending west sat but a cod system is virtually impossible to set up between countries, in any case you would have to pay up without first testing the card. Bank accounts are difficult to set up so references from other customers are your best safe guard.

Regards Tony

seca2

For gods sake chaps take the risk.for 30 quid it works and saves you 30euro per month.If it is a set up well then hard luck,you are getting better odds here then at the Galway races. Sometimes you have to take a risk to gain "Throw in the small fish to catch the big fish"
BTW..I got my card also from an unknown..

byte

The 2 replies I got from them. From two different people

Hi, Will.
The FTA card gets activated from our English address, you shouldn't have any trouble. We haven't so far.
Regards,

Don'yt worry about the number of cards we can supply. We have got that covered. Postage to Ireland is £3.

Paul007

I have decided to bite the bullet and take a chance with West-Sat. If it turns out to be a scam, I'm only down about 36 euros so it's not that bad.

From scouring the net, I noticed that they have also sold equipment on eBay and have received many recommendations from satisfied customers. They have also given me a tel no. if I need to contact them so they seem genuine enough.
Either way I'll let you know how I get on.

Mr E

I imagine that if it works out OK for you, they'll get ALOT of business from these boards....... (me included)

- Dave.

seca2

hey Paul 007 why tell them all if it works out?
They are all waiting to laugh at you if it does not work out,and if it does work they will jump on the bandwagen.
Go and take the chance. and GOOD LUCK

robert muldoon

I have just returned from Marbella, and while I was there I saw an amazing amount of adds in english speaking journals for companies who will install BBC FTV cards, where is their scource?. There must be a huge demand out there, from all the ex pats

mijmu

To Paul007

I have also decided to bite the bullet, like yourself I thought it was worth the risk for £20 sterling. I should have a card early this week.

Again I will keep the message updated.

Michael

mijmu

I got the FTV card from west-sat yesterday, put it in the box and emailed west-sat. By the time I got home from work yesterday I had all the channels expected.

The service with this company was excellent and I would recommend them to anyone.

Paul007, nothing to worry about.

paul_mccourt

Is there an Irish FTA card scheme? if not why not?

If there is, would anybody consider a swap?

I can get one here

Regards

Pab

DMC

Originally posted by paul_mccourt
Is there an Irish FTA card scheme? if not why not?

No. The way terrestrial channels appear on other platforms is quite different to the way UK terrestrials appear on other platforms in the UK.

If there is, would anybody consider a swap?

Irish Terrestrials appear on a subscription basis on Sky Digital, whereas BBC appears on a FTV card based system. It would not be a like-for-like swap.

Cheers,

Damo.

Paul007

Originally posted by mijmu
I got the FTV card from west-sat yesterday, put it in the box and emailed west-sat. By the time I got home from work yesterday I had all the channels expected.

The service with this company was excellent and I would recommend them to anyone.

Paul007, nothing to worry about.

Cheers Michael, that's good to know.

I sent a postal order yesterday so I should get the card shortly.

Hmm when clicking on that west-sat link now, you get a page that says "access forbidden".
Site blocked?
Thats not a good sign:(
mm

Aquos76

QUOTE]Hmm when clicking on that west-sat link now, you get a page that says "access forbidden".[/QUOTE]

I also tried this site and i got the same access forbidden message...
But I was able to access the site over the weekend so I have a contact email address if any one would like it. Email me and I will pass it on.[

telecinesk

According to yerman's url its >"""Important Notice !
This site is undergoing a routine update.
Please call back soon.
Any enquires please e-mail.""

Dont panic I suppose. I was wondering how far bbc cards have travelled.We should do a survey for the fun of it. S4C have a viewer in Austria anyway.

byte

Now that I have an FTV card, how difficult is it to turn on S4C? I rang but it's Sky I'm ringing (with a bit of Welsh thrown in).

telecinesk

Get "whoever" turned your card on or if it was you to ring the s4c number in the menu on the screen when you select 184.Theres no bother, my NI and Scot cards that are on the way here are having the same. Then again what the hell is on s4c digidol worth a look. I did it for the laugh only.

jonny1976

I live in Northern Ireland and have a spare digibox that has a FTV card for BBC England.I was wondering if more than one FTV card can be used in the same receiver?If so I would want to get a BBC Scotland one to use with the receiver also so that I could watch both BBC 1 Scotland and BBC 1 England on the same receiver simply by switching cards!Is this possible and if sp where could I get a FTV Scottish card from as I have no contacts in Scotland? Any suppliers or websites anyone can suggest???

Genghis

Paul,

As someone who was initially sceptical, I am delighted it all worked out for you. Thanks for keeping us informed!! And enjoy the new channels.

west-sat.com

Many thanks for the kind comments and I hope I have helped a few people out in receiving the channels they want. And don't worry the website will be back online soon.

Many Thanks


Luke

robert muldoon

I got my BBC FTV card from NI and successfully activated same. Now I wonder how can I get Sky Sports on same card. Will the card have to be upgraded by my friend in NI. I really dont want to bother him again, it was a lot of hassle to get him to get the card in the first place. Sky tell me me I will have to get a contract, the whole thing gets a bit tricxky with addresses, credit cards etc, and whose name your using.--- Is their any easy way around this?

ShaneOC

Originally posted by robert muldoon
I got my BBC FTV card from NI and successfully activated same. Now I wonder how can I get Sky Sports on same card. Will the card have to be upgraded by my friend in NI. I really dont want to bother him again, it was a lot of hassle to get him to get the card in the first place. Sky tell me me I will have to get a contract, the whole thing gets a bit tricxky with addresses, credit cards etc, and whose name your using.--- Is their any easy way around this?

Are you having a laugh?

Do not try and get any subscription channels on the FTV card. The card is for picking up the UK FTV channels only. It may look like a regular Sky card but it is not.

If you want to get Sky Sports you will have to get a regular Sky subscription card.

sceptre

Originally posted by robert muldoon
I got my BBC FTV card from NI and successfully activated same. Now I wonder how can I get Sky Sports on same card. Will the card have to be upgraded by my friend in NI.

You won't have to bother your friend again.

You'll need a "proper" Sky card to get SkySports. Which means paying Sky monthly. And swapping cards so you can watch UTV/C4. No way around it.

byte

I have thought about this too as getting a UK Subscription would get me all UK terrestrials and ITV2, E4 interactive (tho they'll prob have this sorted in ROI next year), and talkSPORT (dunno why it isn't ftv).

The main hurdle is does a new sub mean having to have foneline connected to box for 12 months or does this only apply if you're getting a subsidised box?

You'd need a close friend or relative in UK. You'd need to pay with CC in sterling so that they won't trace you (AFAIK). Lots of hassle though it will mean not needing to swap cards all the time! I still worry that swapping cards regularly might knacker my card reader! :rolleyes:

eirman

I am absolutely certain of the following ......
A FTV card and a Sky card with a full Irish or UK sub are physically and electronically identical. If you have a full UK based sub and you cancel your sub it is reprogrammed/becomes a FTV card.

I am almost certain of the following .......
You can reactivate your UK based FTV card and have it converted into back into a full UK based sub. All they will need is your address and credit card number. There may be a time limit on this before a new contract is required.

Conclusion ........
It seems logical to me that once you have a working FTV card that never had a full sub, it can be upgraded to a full UK sub. This would involve signing a contract, having it posted from within the UK and giving any cc number or uk bank details.
Why would sky waste money sending you a new card when the one you have will do the job just fine.

robert muldoon

The reason I got the FTV card was to get rid of Chorus, however I am a bit concerned about swapping between the two cards on a regular basis, in that it might damage my box- Do I need to be concerned about this?

On another matter, as I have two boxes, and I Need another FTV card ,so I emailed West- Sat, but I got no reply after three days! . Will I be able to get another card from Sky, if I continue to get no response from West-Sat?

west-sat.com

Have replyed to Robert Muldoon just now. Sorry for not replying sooner. I am not sure what happening there. Will not happen again. Once again sorry.

Leesider

Can someone tell me if it's absolutely mandatory to give your box serial number to have FTV card activated?

I'm hearing mixed reports where sometimes they ask you, and sometimes they don't. Can the 3rd/4th numbers be swapped (or is it 4th/5th)??

And they seem to want 'version' info as well.

Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks.

west-sat.com

The BBC have just installed new software on there system for activating the cards. Before they never needed the Version and Serial Number but now it is required. What they said to me was they are now able to activate cards a lot faster. I can say that this is true as I activated a card for a customer yesterday and it was active within 5 mins which is very good for them.

Hope my reply was helpful.

Regards


Luke

www.west-sat.com

Leesider

Luke,

if the serial number of the box is married to an Irish sub-card, won't it cause problems when trying to activate an FTV card in the same box, if the serial number is given?

Please advise.

ShaneOC

Originally posted by Leesider
Luke,

if the serial number of the box is married to an Irish sub-card, won't it cause problems when trying to activate an FTV card in the same box, if the serial number is given?

Please advise.

They do not cross reference the serial numbers, so there is no need to worry. The best thing to do is to give all the information from your "System Details" page to your UK contact, they can then give whatever information is asked for.

dosfromclare

Just posted on another thread,

When I registed my FTA card they did not ask for serial numbers etc, however when I tried to view BBC on the card last Friday I got a message to say that the card was not associated with my digibox. It worked ok for C4 and ITV though.

Do I need to call them now to update the details they didn't ask for first time around ?

robert muldoon

I also activated a card last Saturday and I gave them all the info they required, and it was there within two minutes

byte

This new service must be just a week in as I didn't have to disclose my serial or version number when I got mine activated Thursday before last. I was amazed to see BBC1 active in half an hour though as it usually took 24 hours I'm told.