Sky With No Subscription

[telboy1938]

I have a spare sky+ hd box and wonder what channels I could receive when connected to sky dish but no viewing card. Your advice will be most welcome.

[dannyk13]

Doubt that it will work without the viewing card.

[-Talbot-]

It does work without the viewing card.
No sky sports news ... which h for me makes it a chocolate chicken.

[EDDIE51]

You need 'FreeSat from Sky' pay a one off £25 and never pay again
http://www.radioandtelly.co.uk/skyfreesat.html

[EDDIE51]

More than 240 channels free forever after the £25 installation fee.

[EDDIE51]

Sorry just £20 for a Freesat viewing card . Then you just put it in your box like a normal card.

[New Judge]

I sould not be 100% sure, Talbot because I haven't checked, but I think if you take the viewing card out of any Sky box it will not work. As well as my Sky HD+ I have a standard Sky box with just the Freesat viewing card (which did indeed cost £25). I'm not sure it would work without. Among other things it determines, for example, which version of the BBC News you receive as standard (London, North, TellyWellyWelsh etc.).

[Bigbad]

I changed my Sky package a few years ago. Still pay for the main one, but have another 2 boxes that pick up more or less the same as Freeview. I think it may be called Freesat and I didn’t have to do anything after cancelling the subscriptions, the boxes received the free channels automatically.

I’ve just experimented by taking the viewing card out of one of them and it hasn’t made any difference - all the channels are still there.

[mikey4444]

5 years ago, I got fed up with paying SKY so much money every month, for 100's of channels I never watched, so I decided to save at least £26 a month and cancelled my subscription.

The following day, it worked perfectly and now gives me SKY's equivalent of Freeview. But it won't work at all without the card.

[New Judge]

"I’ve just experimented by taking the viewing card out of one of them and it hasn’t made any difference - all the channels are still there."

Well I never!!!! I wasted twenty-five quid !!! Wait 'till i see that Mr Murdoch. !!

[Buenchico]

Nobody seems to have directly answered your question!

Here's a full list of everything you can receive with a Sky box without a subscription:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_free-to-air_channels_at_28%C2%B0E

[Bigbad]

You most certainly did, New Judge.

I have now turned the Sky box off at the mains, waited a few minutes, then turned it back on.
Still working fine without a viewing card.

[Buenchico]

Re the 'twenty-five quid' thing:

At one time there were two types of free satellite transmissions. Most broadcasters used 'FTA' (= free to air) signals, which were unencrypted (so you didn't need a viewing card). However a few broadcasters used 'FTV' ( = free to view) technology, whereby their signal were encrypted, meaning that (although you didn't need to pay a subscription) you still needed a valid viewing card in order to decrypt them.

Any generic satellite receiver (which is what a Sky box is without a viewing card) can receive FTA transmissions but in order to also get the handful of stations which used FTV it was theoretically necessary to pay Sky £25 for a 'Freesat from Sky' card. (Actually many people reported that their old Sky card worked just as well anyway).

However nowadays all broadcasters using the Astra satellites at 25 degrees east (which is what Sky dishes are aimed at) use only FTA transmissions (rather than FTV), so there's no point whatsoever in having a 'Freesat from Sky' card.

[New Judge]

Ah, I feel slightly better now. I bought my card many years ago and felt (99%) sure the box didn't work without it.

Thanks 'chico.

[telboy1938]

Thanks Buenchico.....one final query. Although I don't need the card for most channels, does obtaining a card give me any Sports news?

[fender62]

i got shot of my sub yrs ago as well, then just used it for the freeview channels, and then sold the skybox and removed the ugly sat dish as well, got a freeview box, and gave that away after, as tv had built in freeview, sky...what a rip off

[Buenchico]

According to Wikipedia there are actually a few encrypted channels which a Freesat from Sky card will get you. (They must have been added to the service fairly recently as, at one time, there were no additional channels left when FTV transmissions were switched to FTA):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freesat_from_Sky#Extra_channels
However they don't include any sports news channels.

A NOW TV box (for around fifteen quid) includes the Sky Sports News HQ app though, so that might be of interest to you. It would also enable you to opt in and out of Sky Sports services, to see particular events of interest to you, without a subscription. A one-day pass, enabling you to watch a major football final for example (as well as all other Sky Sports coverage on that day) costs £6.99. A one-week pass (useful if you're a cricket fan and want to see a Test Match) costs £10.99.

[Guilbert53]

Note that none of the record / play and other special features will work on your Sky box if you stop your Sky subscription.

You still get some TV channels to watch but you cant record them and anything you have already recorded you cant play back once you cancel Sky.

[telboy1938]

I have a sky subscription allowing me all required channels in my lounge but I want to use my spare sky + hd box in my bedroom without adding to my monthly bill of £74.00.

[-Talbot-]

Get a magic eye.