sky dish ??useing any old sky box

[knockavacca]

ok,i had a new freeview ariel installed,so no longer use my old sky dish,like a fool i got rid of my old sky box, and now im wanting to utilise my "sky dish" to connect a small tv in my garage ,(so the wife can watch tv whilist using her walking machine), as i said i no longer have a sky box,so can i just pick up any old sky box and connect to the tv that way,i do not intend to pay for sky tv,just watch 1 2 3 4 5,any any other free programs available ,many thanks for any advice

[LCDMAN]

Yes, you can, there are loads of free channels broadcast on the Sky platform - but be aware that not all the terrestrial channels (1,2,3,4,5) are broadcast "in the clear" on Sky. 4 and 5 are currently "free to air" but not "free to view" via the Sky platform - they are still "encrypted" and need decoding to be viewed on the Sky system which requires a viewing card in the box!. You don't need to actually subscribe to Sky, just have a viewing card present in the box.

This means you would need to use either a) your old Sky card or b) a "FreeSatFromSky" card for �20. { THIS IS NOT THE SAME AS FREESAT - TO CONFUSE YOU EVEN MORE) or c) someone elses old viewing card that they no longer use. If you are buying a second hand Sky box from Ebay or similar then ask if it has a viewing card with it,

"Free to Air TV Channels
You will need a viewing card to view certain channels on Sky Digital. Currently these include Channel 4, Five, Five Life, Five US and Sky Three - but the list may vary in the future.

BBC1, BBC2, BBC3, BBC4 and ITV1, ITV2, ITV3 and ITV4 are all free to air channels and can be watched without a viewing card (with a Sky Digibox and a correctly aligned satellite dish of the recommended size). "


You could always buy a FreeSat box instead of a Sky box. Uses the same signals and your Sky satellite dish, look here;

http://www.freesat.co.uk/index.php?page=whatso n.Main

This is a useful page which should answer any other questions you might have about this;

http://www.stevelarkins.freeuk.com/freeview_on _Sky.htm

[knockavacca]

lcdman, many thanks for your very informative answer, realy appreciated,now im off to read all about it cheers