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Upgrading from Sky to Freesat

It takes less than five minutes to replace an existing satellite box with a Freesat one.

It takes less than five minutes to replace an existing satellit
published on UK Free TV

If you have an existing Sky or fSfS (Freesat from Sky) installation and want to go to upgrade to Freesat, it is a simple process.

First, buy the Freesat box from a Argos, Curry.digital, Comet, John Lewes or your local independent shop:



In the box you will find the Freesat box:



Also included will be a remote control, and this model also comes with a SCART cable, a HDMI cable and a stereo-with-composite cable. Unpack the ones you need:



You old Sky box looks like this:



Unplug the mains first from the Sky box, then pull out the SCART (or SCARTs) and then unscrew the connection to the satellite dish.



Remove the Sky box and fit the Freesat box. Reconnect the satellite cable (take care as to not damage the connection) and then the SCART and finally connect the mains power:



The box will look like this:



The box also contains the manual, which has full installation instructions. Finally fit the batteries into the remote control.



The TV screen first displays the box's logo



The first set-up screen allows you to select the TV type, widescreen mode and resolution:



Next the box checks for the satellite signal:



Then there is a check for updated software:



Then you enter your postcode and the box checks it:



The next step is a scan for channels. This takes about 30 seconds:



And that's it. You can now view channels, like 108 for BBC HD:



Or press the GUIDE button for the EPG:



(Apologies for the photos not being of the top quality)



Help with Free satellite?
What can I do when my Sky Digibox says 'No Signal' or 'Technical fau1
Can I receive UK TV in Ghana?2
What is a CA module?3
My box says "No Satellite signal being received"4
Is there any way I can get free channels via satellite and have the kind of hard5
In this section
Freesat adds a plethora of new channels in time for Christmas including channel 1
A tale of a two Freesat boxes2
Yesterday, Drama and Really joining Freesat this month3
PBS America joins Freesat for Halloween4
Fixing the Freesat Freetime internet connection problem5
Satellite TV operators FRANSAT, TIVUSAT and our Freesat launch FreeTV Alliance 6

Comments
Monday, 7 November 2011
J
jb38
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

8:21 PM

Briantist: Ah! I find that interesting, has this been the case for long? my only reason for asking being that when one of my more distant sons stopped subscibing to Sky he found that after a week or so his card stopped allowing him access to his local ITV service plus 5*, him then having to purchase the "free to view" card.

Would this likely have been caused by an operator error at Sky's base?

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jb38's 7,179 posts GB flag
Briantist
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

9:22 PM

jb38: Yes, Sky don't want the hassle of sending out new cards when people re-subscribe. Sometimes you have to power off with the card out and re-insert it, but otherwise there is no difference between an ex-subscription card and a "free to view" card.

Cards are only cancelled for two reasons - a new one has been sent out, or it has been "detected" in use abroad.

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Briantist's 38,915 posts GB flag
Tuesday, 8 November 2011
P
Peter Lee
5:07 PM

I have a Sky HD+ box with twin LNB input and want to stop SKY basic subscription or £12.50 a month as we rarely watch Sky, mostly ITV 1&2 but still want to be able to have the watch and record and HD facilities.Is this possible without paying a subscription or changing the box for a Freesat HD+ one?

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Peter Lee's 1 post ES flag
J
jb38
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

9:27 PM

Briantist: Thanks, I will keep that in mind.

When I was told what had happened I assumed that the Sky base operator had accidentally deactivated everything on his card by mistake rather than just his access to subscription channels, as although they are on the ball most of the time its not exactly unknown for the occasional mistake to be made now and again.

I used to have contacts who worked at the control base, albeit that they could be easily be mistaken for members of the secret service!

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jb38's 7,179 posts GB flag
Wednesday, 9 November 2011
Briantist
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

8:54 AM

jb38: I was explained to me that Sky would like any of their ex-subscription customers to easily rejoin the subscription service.

Having to send out another card in the post is a "barrier" to getting someone back on-board - the option to "get your channels back immediately" is an "easy win" for Sky.

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Briantist's 38,915 posts GB flag
M
Martin
9:24 AM

HI, Was hoping you could help me. Do you know of any HD freesat recorders that can also use a sky freesat card as don't mind paying sky the £25 for their freesat card for the extra channels they offer over normal freesat but want to be able to record the channels too which skys freesat package box doesn't do and don't want to pay the £10 a month they want for the sky+ function.

Thanks for any advice or help.

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Martin's 1 post GB flag
Thursday, 10 November 2011
M
Martin bindon
12:16 AM

hi have recently stopped paying the rip off sky and bought a openbox s9 box . My sky dish has 2 feeds coming from the dish at first i plugged one into the openbox and one into the sky box also run a wire from the openbox to the sky box so it still had 2 feeds my problem is this at times when watching the openbox i got all the hd channels but now sky has ended i have removed the sky box so only have the one feed going to the openbox but some of the channels are now not working have tried the other feed just in case was also thinking of extending the distance between the sky dish and my house as it already has a little extender arm on it or could it be a bit simpler like the lnb settings any advice or tips more than welcome thanks in advance

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Martin bindon's 9 posts GB flag
Briantist
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

2:44 PM

Martin bindon: The connections to the dish should not effect each other, they are all separate, and the length of the cable should have no effect (unless it is very, very long).

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Briantist's 38,915 posts GB flag
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