Can I use my ex-contract sky digital satellite receiver to get Freeview channels?
You can get the following Freeview channels on with an ex-contract digital satellite receiver (once it is connected). Items marked with a star require either a Freesat from Sky (fSfS) card, or a expired Sky subscription card to view.
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Jim PierceThursday 9 September 2010 8:59PM
Ormskirk I have Sky Freesat with an up to date card.
I intend to buy a Humax Freesat receiver with hard drive. I'm told I will require an extra cable from my satellite dish, is this true?
Will I be able to record from both Sky and Freesat? and how do I do this.Jim Pierce: Yes, each tuner in a satellite receiver requires an individual connection to an LNB output on the dish.
You won't be able to record from Sky, as Freesat+ boxes do not support ananlogue input, and the Sky box has no digital output.
You'll need three connections to a quad-LNB to use both devices too. Mike DimmickFriday 10 September 2010 2:45PM
Dave: I assume you're asking about a Top-Up TV *card*, and yes, you can get Sky Sports 1 & 2 through Top-Up TV as well as through BT Vision. See 
Top Up TV | Freeview, Digital TV Recorder (DTR), ESPN & More TUTV will sell you a new box rather than just a card - there seems to be some incompatibility. (If you just wanted ESPN they'd sell you a card.)
If your transmitter has not yet switched over, you have to be able to get Mux B (e.g. BBC Four, CBeebies). If it has, you need to be able to get the ArqB multiplex. It looks like you're most likely to be using the Sutton Coldfield transmitter, which hasn't yet switched. For you, coverage should be very good to excellent. sueFriday 24 September 2010 10:48PM
can someone please help.... sky 3 has gone off of free view... the signal was so bad.. so i rescanned and now its gone and i cant get it back... any ideas!!! help please i miss it..CAROLFriday 24 September 2010 10:49PM
Liverpool seanMonday 27 September 2010 9:59AM
i hope to upgrade my sky digi box to a sky+ digi box, do i need to up grade my sky dish too.
Thankssean: Not the dish, but you need a quad-LNB fitted to the arm, and another cable run in. Sky provide this if you buy Sky+ from them. john redmondSunday 3 October 2010 10:58AM
Kilbirnie i live kilbirnie north ayrshire,and i seen to have lost chan-bbc1/2,stv,chan4 and 5,have checked out my airial its fine,but i am not getting the cuhannels can you tell me why,my postcode is ka256ab.thank you john redmond SimonTuesday 12 October 2010 3:53PM
Macclesfield Hi
I have bt vision have bought the espn card - it is activated but cannott receive the channel. also do not get fiver or itv3 or virgin which I believe may be related? BT vision just advise re scanning which has no effect.
any help greatly appreciated! I live in Bollington nr Macclesfield in Cheshire Hi Simon,
It sounds like either you have a poor aerial that cant pick up those channels or you aerial is pointing towards a rely transmitter which does not broadcast those channels.
Mark Aberfan Aerials KMJ,DerbyTuesday 12 October 2010 6:34PM
Simon: You need to receive signals from the Winter Hill transmitter. Use a group C/D aerial mounted for horizontal polarisation. MuxSDN is on C58 from Winter Hill.Scott HarrisWednesday 13 October 2010 12:49PM
I have recently switched from Sky to Bt Vision. Can I use my old Sky satellite dish to pick up the channels for my BT Vision?
I live in a top floor flat and it appears the ariel has been disconnected in order to make way for the Sky line. I have bought an apdator but will this stop working as soon as the Sky system is disconnected.
Thanks
Scott
Mike DimmickWednesday 13 October 2010 1:38PM
Reading Scott Harris: BT Vision uses an aerial to pick up the UHF transmissions from ground-based masts, the same as Freeview. A dish receives signals at much higher frequencies transmitted from satellites, orbiting 38,000 km above the equator. You need the right sort of equipment to go with the box you have.
Consult your landlord, his/her agent, or the building manager on why the aerial system was disconnected or isn't working.ronnieThursday 14 October 2010 9:44PM
I have got a sky + hd box from a friend hoping to use it for freeview but i only have one lnb going into it and it says no signal but on the settings part it has a signal on lnb 1.
anyone have any advice or tipsNick GreenFriday 15 October 2010 1:39AM
Hi i have a new sky+ HD box which was bought from the north east area of england,is it possable to retune it to the london area
ie channel 101 shows BBC london instead of BBC north east !!!
thanks
NicktomSaturday 16 October 2010 8:40PM
Hi i have left subscribing to sky and now cannot record or play programmes which are on my sky plus box is there any way to get back play and record Hi Tom,
Not without paying sky at least £10 a month, its skys policy to disable your box to remove these functions.
If you dont want to pay sky every month you could replace the sky+ box with a humax freesat+ box which has hd & record functions without being forced to subscribe to be able to record pause etc.
Mark Aberfan Aerials AnnaTuesday 26 October 2010 12:28PM
I have just moved into a my new home and there is no arial just sky dish and cables. How can i access the free channels without subscribing to sky?? I dont have a sky box or card. I do not want to buy a second hand box if its not going to work as the box does not come with a card but somebody has offered me there expired card. WOuld this work??...also i dont understand the freesat box that you can buy from argos for £29.99. All help will be appreciated.Anna: Just get the box from Argos and connect it up, it will provide access to all the Free channels.
If you have an HDTV, get a Freesat HD box, if you have two connections to the dish (there was Sky+ before) you can use a Freesat+HD recorder.
No card is required. AnnaTuesday 26 October 2010 1:17PM
Yes there is 2 black cables coming in with the same connection for both. Thankyou very much i will go and buy the box today which will make my daughter very happy as we have had no tv for nearly a week!!Anna: If you've got broadband, most Freesat HD boxes support the iPlayer, which can be a bonus. phillipWednesday 27 October 2010 4:36PM
Stevenage I have 3 analogue TV's.I am soon having a dish fitted as I live in a low reception area.I assume that the output signal from the freesat box is analogue so that I can connect the box directly into my vcrs and then to the tv.Can I still watch one channel And record another?If not is there a twin tuner system available?If there is I suppose I will need two cables for each vcr i.e.an 8 output LNB?phillip: You assumption is not correct, most Freeview, Freesat etc boxes do not have a modulated RF output, so you can't use them with an "aerial cable", only SCART.
If you want to watch a channel and record another you will need a Freesat+ box, two connections to the dish and two LNB outputs for each device.
I'm not sure what you want to use a VCR for when you will have a PVR... StuartThursday 28 October 2010 9:48PM
We're moving house and we have a BT vision box that we've now cancelled the contract for. Once we move will it useable as a recordable freeview box? Maybe we need a BT broadband connection to keep the program guide up to date?Stuart: You can easily find out. Disconnect the broadband connection from your BT Vision box, power off, power on and see what happens. BecMonday 1 November 2010 1:27PM
When I moved into my new house, there was already a satellite dish (think it was sky) but I have never used it. Will it still be connected and can I use it for FreeSat?Mike DimmickMonday 1 November 2010 4:04PM
Reading Bec: It's unlikely that cables to an existing dish would have been disconnected. You'll have to look for a wall-plate with connections marked 'SAT', or a coaxial cable with an F connector on the end. These look a bit like the TV aerial connectors but have a screw thread on the inside of the outer barrel, and normally a hexagonal shape or knurling on the outside, to get a better grip to do them up tightly.
If you have a single connection, that should be fine for Freesat. If you want Freesat+, the ability to record one channel and watch another, you will need a second cable from the box to the dish, and the box on the arm in front of the dish needs to support two connections.
If the dish is relatively new, after 2001, it should already be pointing at the correct satellite cluster. If it's older than 1998, it may still be pointing to the Astra 1 cluster that Sky used for analogue services, and you'd need to get it moved.JennyTuesday 2 November 2010 3:56PM
Hi there, I've moved into a new house that previously had Sky but there are two black connection cables rather than one (I presume they had Sky+ or something installed).
Can I only use a freesat+ box with this type of connection or can a normal freesat box also be used?
Thanks very much for your help!Mike DimmickTuesday 2 November 2010 9:11PM
Reading Jenny: the second connection is to allow a second tuner to select a different output from the dish. If your box only has one connection, you only need to connect one of the cables - you can leave the other disconnected.JennyWednesday 3 November 2010 10:34AM
Mike thank you so much for your help, that's awesome :) It means I can use my old Sky box from my last flat (which has a viewing card in) for the time being until I have enough cash to get a Freesat+ box.
Thanks again!cliffWednesday 3 November 2010 11:02AM
Hi,
We are in our 80s & hate all this fast moving technology, but have to live with it.My Question is this/ We have Sky television in the lounge & are happy with that. We also have a telly in the bedroom not yet connected. At the moment we record BB1 programmes whilst watching Sky " from anologue I.O.W. Meridian area " Poor signal destined to get worse by the change over to digital, & I have been told that even with the change over it still will not be a good signal My question is / I have a old Sky dish which I purchased cheaply, If I erect it can I use it to tune in free-view in the bedroom on my other set, & also record from it? Also While I am asking/ what is the simplest vhs/ dvd recorder to buy that will record digital BettyFriday 5 November 2010 9:41PM
My 12 month sky subscription is coming to an end. I have sky+ downstairs and sky upstairs. I pay £29 altogether. Will I be able to get free channels if I terminate my contract? If not, what can I do? Thank you. Mike DimmickSaturday 6 November 2010 7:17PM
Reading Betty: you will be able to get all free-to-air channels, and the free-to-view channels if you keep the Sky viewing cards up-to-date (Sky may occasionally change the FTV encryption, requiring a new £25 card). However, the PVR functions of your Sky+ box will stop working, and you won't be able to play back any previously-recorded programmes. Sky want at least £10 per month for this to keep working.JaimeSunday 7 November 2010 10:55PM
Shepperton Hi
My house mate worked for sky so we had free sky all while he lived with us. He's now moved out but left me with a sky+ box but no card (as it was a staff one) He said that the box would work as a free didgy box and that I would get all the free view channels. For some reason I can't get channel five anymore and it even skips it on the menu eg... It goes from 104 to 106 and says that the channel is unavailable? Any ideas on how I could get it back please?mike bromleyWednesday 10 November 2010 11:42AM
Bideford i have had sky hd whitch gave me hd on main tv then to a loft amplifier to feed two other tv,s but not in hd ihave cancilled my sky subscription and purchased humax freesat hd my question is how do i get hd on the other tv,s from freesat box regards mikeAndrewWednesday 10 November 2010 2:48PM
I have just been given a Sky+ box from a friend who has upgraded to HD it has no card but I only want freeview but it will not record with out a card is there any way round this without subscribing?mike bromley: You can't do that. If you want HD on other sets, you need a Freesat HD box (and dish link) for each one. ChrisThursday 11 November 2010 10:13AM
can i play my 'Freesat from Sky' through a freeview plus box and therefore record and live pause progs?Chris: No, you can't do that. You will need to replace the box with a Freesat+ or Freesat+HD box. garethThursday 11 November 2010 1:42PM
Reading through the post has been very informative, but just to confirm if ihave cancelled my sky hd subscription the box will continue to work recieveing both freesat sd and hd channels but i will no longer be able to record or pause tv?gareth: Yes, that is correct. garethThursday 11 November 2010 1:49PM
Carrickfergus Thanks Brian, time to go shopping for a freesat hdr box then!gareth: Please let me know how you get on. JaimeThursday 11 November 2010 7:40PM
Shepperton Thanks Brian thought my tv was going mad!ian valentineFriday 12 November 2010 12:28PM
If I have a satelite dish etc already installed but no subscription to sky can I still connect a sky + HD box and get the free channels with an expired subscription card?
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