Friday 9 March 2012

Sky TV.

Now, this is weird.

We have English Sky satellite TV beamed into our home, but very recently ITV 1 (one of the major UK channels) disappeared. An on-screen message said we needed a new digital viewing card. I phoned a friend who has the same system and it was suggested that I simply take out the old card (which I had been informed was essential, and had cost about £110), and use the Skydigibox without it. I was both bemused and suspicious.

So, I turned everything off, and out it came. Turned back on again, and, lo and behold, I now have ITV 1 (and all the other channels) back again. Not ITV from the South East as before, but from Central England. I suppose I'll have to now cope with local news from somewhere called Nottingham, but at least I've saved £100 or more.

If the Skydigibox works perfectly well without a card, what was the point of selling me the bloody thing in the first place? Yes, I know; just to get money out of my pocket. CHARMING!

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18 comments:

  1. You may not be able to get ITV South but should be able to get BBC. Try looking around 983 on the box.

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  2. Once went through a phase of getting threatening letter after threatening letter from the television licence folk (and I did have a current, valid licence at the time).

    I explained - no effect. I explained again - no effect. I scribbled "Deceased" on the unopened letter and sent it back - no effect. I found a red wax crayon and wrote "Tax is theft - I'm holed up with plenty of firepower and you'll never take me alive" on the envelope and sent it back. They stopped writing then.

    It was a dozen or so years back but even so I'm surprised that the farm wasn't besieged by Police snipers and helicopter gunships, as it would be today.

    Utterly irrelevant, but your post reminded me! Sky TV - it's the way the Devil gets into your home. Kill the box now, kill it before it grows, while you still can...

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  3. Since the switch over to digital TV in our area, we left Sky and went to Freeview but unfortunately, we could no longer get Welsh news. Our friends over the border in Chester were equally dissatisfied as their main regional channel was - you've guessed it - BBC Wales.
    To get our regional news back, we had to buy a FreeSat card.

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  4. how strange...how bizarre. Kind of makes you wonder who's in charge.

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  5. We have English SKY in France.... and have received on screen messages telling us it is not possible to operate it.....but after turning it off and on again, it has worked....so far. It always seems a bit of an adventure ... "will the TV work this time ?" I am interested in the idea that it might work without the card at all. Thanks for the tip.

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  6. That's really interesting Cro. I recently had to buy a new Sky card for my parents so they could continue getting 'free' satellite through their Sky box, without a subscription. Hmm, maybe they should have just tried this trick, will do next time, might save £20 (or however much it then!) Thank you for sharing!

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  7. The licensing authorities here in Blighty are currently deciding whether or not B SKY B are a fit and proper company to provide TV in the UK, in the light of all the scandal surrounding News International's phone hacking mallarky.

    In short, everyone here is doing their absolute best to kick the Murdochs out of Britain before they buy the BBC in what they would call 'a level playing field'. They have been pushing for the BBC to be destroyed to make life easier for their empire, and I for one wouldn't give them a penny. I hope they get kicked out of the UK now that they are on the back foot.

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  8. I have to cope with local news from Nottingham too.

    Turn it off is my best advice.

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    Replies
    1. agreed!
      There is always i-player if you're desperate!!
      (does that work outside UK?)

      Delete
  9. Our tv providers here in the US are snakes in the grass. It seems like every few months, my bill goes up a few dollars. Sometimes it is not significant, so it is not always noticed, but at the end of the year, it adds up. In 10 years, it has more than quadrupled. I pay them so much money for stations that have very little entertainment value.

    So I guess it is the same all over. Glad you found a way around it.

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  10. We are able to connect to Free Sat in our house in the Lot with a box we bought in Argos for around 30 pounds -- it could have been even less. We do not have a card. We have not had Sky television for years and years -- they are scoundrals -- From what you say it sounds like you are not subscribed to Sky television just using the box as a receiver, is that correct? In that case, you should not need a card to receive FreeSat!

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  11. That's right TB. That's why I'm a bit peeved; I was sold an unnecessary card. We receive the same as you on Free Sat.

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  12. Remember the "good old days" when you could only get a couple static-filled stations on the TV ... and they went off the air at night? Now, we have a bazillion crystal clear station on 24 hours a day, and hardly a damn thing worth watching.

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  13. we have sky
    600 channels
    590 shite ones

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  14. I didn't grow up with cable and now that I have it I only watch three channels. Life would be so much better if they just brought back party lines on the telephones.

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