Can I stop paying Sky and use my satellite receiver to get Freeview ?
Brian Butterworth published on UK Free TV Yes, but only "sort of".
Freeview is the name of the (BBC-backed) digital TV system that uses hilltop transmitters to rooftop aerials. It is run separately from the "Sky" satellite-to-dish service.
free-to-VIEW is a term for satellite channels that need a viewing card to watch, but not to collect a subscription. free-to-AIR channels are ones that can be received without needing a viewing card or subscription.
The free-to-AIR satelite service backed by the BBC and ITV is called Freesat. The free-to-VIEW service operated by Sky is called fSfS or Freesat from Sky.
As long as you have finished your first year, you can leave Sky when you want.
To do this just give Sky a call and tell them you don't want to subscribe any more.
If you stop subscribing you will be able to watch the hundred or so free-to-air channels listed on free channels list. This service is called Freesat from Sky (fSfS).
Some of the channels on the Freeview service are subscription only on satellite, specifically: 4Music, Challenge, Dave, Dave ja vu, Quest, VIVA and Yesterday . See these links to compare the TV channels on Freesat-from-Sky and Freeview, and to compare radio stations on Freeview and fSfS. Many homes have free satellite and Freeview to get the full range of channels.
You will still need to keep your Sky viewing card. If you stop subscribing on a Sky contract, you can keep using that card to watch 5USA, 5* and PICK TV, the so-called "free-to-view" channels. (All ITV channels are free-to-air).
It is not possible to plug an aerial into a Sky Digibox to receive Freeview channels because the boxes have not been designed this way.
You will continue to get the full Sky EPG listings; you just will not be able to watch subscription channels.
If you want to go for High Definition, HD, you can swap out your Sky box for a Freesat one very easily.
A card is not needed to watch BBC services, but it is needed to get the correct BBC ONE and BBC TWO regions on 101 and 102.
Another option is to disconnect your Sky Digibox altogether and Upgrade from Sky to Freesat - ukfree.tv. If you have an HD-Ready TV and a standard Sky box, this is a good option.
2:28 PM
My 2+ year old Sky+HD box has started to give intermittent recording problems due to signal loss. Normal viewing is fine. Since its installation Input 2 signal strength has always been less than Input 1. I have swapped over the cables on the rear of my box to see if it might be a cable or lnb fault but Input 2 still shows lower signal strength. Does this suggest a problem with the box itself?
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5:06 PM
Robert: If swapping the two input cables over did not make any difference and with LNB2 input still indicating a lower signal strength than one, then that certainly points to the LNB2 inputs tuner being down in performance.
Normally I might have said that maybe its just the indicator circuitry that is causing this to happen and the actually signal as such was OK, but if you are experiencing intermittent recording problems then that suggests the contrary.
Just out of curiosity what levels are being indicated? as both strength & quality should be roughly the equivalent of 60%+ for satisfactory reception, if not then the dish is slightly out of alignment and that will make the situation with LNB2 worse.
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3:52 PM
jb38: could you please tell me the frequency for channel 5 in southern ireland tried the two posted but they do not work thanks
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5:27 PM
pat: I am unaware as to what you have tried but my information and which I have just verified on my Sky box as being correct is as follows.
(Standard Sky box)
Press SERVICES on your remote control
Select (4) :- SYSTEM SET UP
Select (4) :- ADD CHANNELS
FREQUENCY :- Punch in 10.964
POLARISATION :- H
SYMBOL RATE :- 22.0
FEC :- 5/6
then select and press on FIND CHANNELS
When the new channels are found, highlight FIVE (or more) by pressing the
Yellow button then press "select" to continue.
To watch channel 5 etc select SERVICES, then OTHER CHANNELS then select the
channel required.
This said tough, if you havent already done so you should first of all unplug your box from the mains supply, then after waiting about 30 seconds plug it back in again then once it starts to respond to the remote control let it search for listings and it should find Ch5 itself.
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9:39 AM
jb38, Thanks for the suggestions. My recording problems have only been experienced in the last month or so with the message "recording interrupted by loss of signal". However, to answer your question the following are my signal readings today with moderate cloud :-
Input 1 S 80% Q 90%
Input 2 S 70% Q 90%
These are my best approximations from the bar
strengths on screen and are well above your 60% minimum level. Before suspecting the box I think I will re-check the dish alignment when the weather improves.
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6:23 PM
Robert: Levels such as these indicate that the dish alignment is perfectly OK and so this can be crossed off the list, but though it doesn't exclude another possibility, and being that water has entered the "F" connector on the coax that feeds the boxes LNB2 input and something which can either cut off reception completely or result in the type of problem you are experiencing, and so this would require to be unscrewed from the block and then further unscrewed from the coax for purposes of inspection and drying out with a tissue should it be required.
One this is done smear some Vaseline on the inside of the connector and screw it back onto the coax again but first of all! making sure that all strands of the braiding are pulled back over the coax's outer cover.
It wouldn't do any harm though to check the other "F" connector as well, however the fact of your initial test having revealed that the low signal indication on LNB2 input did not change when you swapped the cables over still points to an intermittent fault on that input on the box, as the action of swapping cables doesn't just check the cables themselves but also the port on the LNB.
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5:00 PM
I'm considering terminating my Sky contract. I note you say that it is not possible to view recorded programmes on the Sky box after termination. Is there some way I can download/transfer/backup these programmes now so I can access them after termination of the contract?
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5:29 PM
Graham Dent: Unfortunately not unless by recording them one at a time (and in real time) via the Sky boxes scart or HDMI output socket into a DVD recorder that also incorporates a hard disk drive, a very long winded process!
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2:18 PM
Do you know whether 'magic eye' channel changing continues to work on a sky hd box after the sky subscription is cancelled?
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4:52 PM
Pete: Yes! as there is no connection between what you receive and the eye's circuitry,
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