Help getting rid of sky.....for a bit ;) freeview help + sky needed pweety pwease? :0)

[andrea1]

Hi all, ok, I've cancelled my sky (effective from the 17th) as so many of my friends have been upgraded to sky + etc for free (as they either buy more channel packages known to man or are newbies) and when I enquired it was gonna cost �250 as i'm already a customer ....for over ten years!!!!!! I then bought my own sky+ box from ebay plus 'gubbins' and installed it myself....badly but it still works fine, it just doesn't record 2 channels at once etc........anyway, i'm sick of having sky+ but not able to use it properly so i've cancelled it and want to go to freeview for a month or 2 till sky has a great offer that I can buy as a 'newbie'!
Anyway, my freeview box doesn't seem to pick up anything when i've tested it so am I doing something wrong? I'm in a busy town of essex so I don't know why it shouldn't work?!? Also, I know about skys freesat for �20 (?) if you already have the box/dish etc, which means I can bypass freeview, but will that then still make me an existing sky customer?
Any help GREATLY APPRECIATED, as ever, from you lovely peeps!!!!
Kind Regards
Rain :0)

[MrBounty]

How do you have your freeview box set up?

[andrea1]

Hi, thanks for your reply! Sorry I haven't replied sooner but it's been overly manic here at the mo.
Anyway, I connected the aerial co-axle lead (from my aerial in the loft) into my freeview box then used another co-axle lead and connected out of the freeview box and into the tv, I also used a scart lead from the freeview box into the tv at the same time.
Any help greatly appreciated!!!
Kind Regards
Andrea :0)

[Buenchico]

(2-part post):

Satellite bit first:
There are two types of 'free' satellite broadcasts. Most transmissions are 'free to air' (FTA). They're unencrypted and can be received using any Sky box, even without a valid viewing card. A few transmissions are 'free to view'. They're encrypted and so require a valid viewing card (such as the �20 'Freesat from Sky' card, which you refer to).

Currently the only FTV channels are the 'Five' group of channels (Five, Fiver, Fiver+1, Five US & Five US+1), together with Sky 3, Channel 4+1and Setanta News. All of the other free channels are FTA.

So, if you can live without the few FTV channels, your Sky box should receive everything you want to watch, without having to purchase a �20 card. If you do purchase the card, you won't be subscribing to Sky services, so you won't count as an existing customer.

Freeview bit:
All UK terrestrial TV services, both analogue and digital are intended to provide users with a good signal when using a good quality external aerial. Many people get by with using just a loft aerial (or even a set top aerial) but this is simply because they live sufficiently close to a powerful transmitter. Digital reception requires a slightly stronger signal (at the aerial) than that required for analogue reception. At the moment digital transmitters are currently running on reduced power (in order to avoid interference to analogue signals). They won't be switched to full power until the analogue transmitters are turned off.

[Buenchico]

So it seems extremely likely that your Freeview box isn't getting a strong enough signal from the aerial. (It was originally expected that up to a third of viewers would need to change their aerial - and its cabling - in order to receive Freeview. While the number of people needing to upgrade their aerials is much lower than this, it's not surprising when people with indoor aerial report reception problems).

Check that you're actually in a current Freeview reception area. (Some people, even in large towns, won't be in a reception area until the changeover is complete and the transmitters start operating at full power).
http://www.freeview.co.uk/availability
If you are, consider using a decent external aerial, such as this one (which has been frequently recommended here on AB and in technical journals):
http://www.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?moduleno=2 2523

Chris

[andrea1]

Hi Chris, thankyou soooooo much for your reply!!!! You are a veritable 'smorgas board' of useful knowledge!!! :0D
Your name doesn't do you justice and you should retitle yourself as excellentechico!!! lol :0)

So, do I keep my sky card in the slot or remove it to watch freeview when my official sky goes offline?
Do I need to do anything to watch freeview using my skybox?
Will all my saved stuff on my sky plus be lost?
When I get a decent deal to go back to sky, should I say I haven't got a dish so I get a new one? (mine is about 10 years old but looks 20! lol)

I know i'm taking the biscuit by asking you so many more questions but you're just too knowledgeable (and lovely for replying in the first instance!) for me not to! Sowwy! :0)

Also, if Chris is busy being great somewhere else then I would appreciate anyone else who might have some answers for me :0)

OOOOOOO.... nearly forgot, does anyone know if living tv is on freeview? I'm praying a lot that it is as I can't miss my 'grey's anatomy' fix! ....<~~~~typical bird lolol :0)

Thanks again Chris, you diamond you!
Kind Regards
Andrea :0)

[Buenchico]

(Another 2-part post):

Hi Andrea

Thanks for your reply (and for the compliments!).

I can't answer all of your questions (because I don't have Sky) but I can deal with most of them.

I'll start with a bit of clarification:
'Freeview' is solely a terrestrial service, received through a conventional TV aerial, with either a set-top box or a TV set with a built-in digital tuner. It's completely separate to the various satellite services (detailed below) and carries a different selection of channels (although there's quite a bit of overlap with the satellite services). To see what's available on Freeview, see here:
http://www.freeview.co.uk/freeview/Channels

As stated in my original post, there are lots of 'FTA' channels which you can receive using your Sky box (without a valid viewing card). To the best of my knowledge, it doesn't matter whether you leave your old Sky card in the box or not (but you might as well leave it in place). You can also get the extra FTV channels by purchasing a 'Freesat from Sky' card for �20. The FTA channels are listed in black here:
http://www.vowles-home.demon.co.uk/Sat/SkyFTA. htm
The additional channels you can get by purchasing a 'Freesat from Sky' card are shown in mauve on that list.

[Buenchico]

To complicate matters further, the BBC and ITV now have their own free satellite service, which is (confusingly) called 'Freesat'. (i.e. 'Freesat' is not the same as 'Freesat from Sky'). To receive this service you can use a Sky dish but you require a new digibox. To find out which channels are on offer, see here:
http://www.freesat.co.uk/index.php?page=whatso n.Main

I can't see Living TV among those lists. According to the station's listing in the Radio Times, it's only available on the Sky and Virgin platforms.

I've spent ages looking through the Sky+ website. I can't see anything to suggest that stored programs can only be accessed by current subscribers, so I assume that you won't lose everything on your box when you cease to subscribe (but I'm not guaranteeing it!).

Sky's records might show that they've fitted a dish to your house, so it might be rather awkward if you state that you've not got a dish.

Chris

[andrea1]

Chris, you ickle bit of heaven you!!!!....APOLOGIES for not replying sooner but this site is supposed to inform me when a posting has been replied too....it didn't!!!!! Thankyou for your valiant and time consuming effort, a man after my own heart .....(as the saying goes! lol) ....I often do the same for peeps on other boards/life in general etc etc so we may be kindred spirits! lolol :0)....as for the sky thing, i've phoned and pretended to now be a new customer as my old sky is disconnected and they've said it's fine to get sky.....I don't have to wait a month etc (just for the workmen lol).....anyway, i'm now looking for the deal of the month, while I can get it as a newbie and will start a new thread soon to that effect....my dad would appreciate the introduce a friend thingy as my sky only went yesterday but he's had to skyplus 3 progs for me already.......it is thursday night though and the best tv night for girlies lolol....
Again, you're a star and I wish you a lottery win at the very least!!!!
Kind Regards
Andrea :0)
PS: Do you have any inklings of where I can view my sky one/living tv progs online whilst i'm waiting for my new sky? I know it's illegal etc, you tube, hows your father etc lol but to me it's like taping the top 40 from the radio every week!!!! It wasn't allowed but we all did it!!! lolololol ok i'm showing my age now but i'm this side of 30 and proud! lolol :0)