Sky and Freeview

[mg511]

We have decided to disconnect from Sky as we never watch it (probably 2 films in 18 months, and not that much sport) and switch to Freeview. The problem we have is that our house has no external ariel and we are in an area where you are not allowed external ariels (local by-law). As Sky do not want our box or dish back can we use it to access channels when we are switched off (ie free channels) and how can we get Freeview channels using our Sky equipment? Grateful for any suggestions or ideas.

[5ltr-chim]

You can't get all the Freeview channels on your old sky box or use your dish & LNB as the aerial but here's what you could do:

1/ If you contact the BBC (can't remember the number) they will enable you're old sky card for some free channels on your sky box - primarily ALL the BBC ones.

2/ If you have a loft - put an good aerial in there, but place it nearish to the tiles where it's pointing and you should be ok for receiving Freeview.

I'd recommend the Goodmans GDB3 btw. Most have the same hardware and the software on this one responds faster than most.

[saf]

Couldn't you ask to downgrade to FreeSat from Sky?

we had this installed before Christmas, you just get the card from sky, and install on your box.

Get as much as Freeview plus the extras like MotorsTV and Extreme Sports.

You can tell what was on mainly over the Christmas period

[srebbe64]

Can't you just canel your DD / Standing Order? The free channels on satellite are not encrypted - so just view them in the normal way.

[selmer]

You get these free to air TV channels as mentioned, plus, they keep making new ones FTA as time goes by, such as ITV 2 lately. So you can watch as much Jerry Springer as you want.
Motors TV is a godsend.
All of the dital radio channels are stil available too.

[mg511]

srebbe64 said:

Can't you just canel your DD / Standing Order? The free channels on satellite are not encrypted - so just view them in the normal way.

That's what I was asking, will I still get all non-encrypted channels or will Sky turn me off?

[mg511]

5ltr-chim said:

You can't get all the Freeview channels on your old sky box or use your dish & LNB as the aerial but here's what you could do: 1/ If you contact the BBC (can't remember the number) they will enable you're old sky card for some free channels on your sky box - primarily ALL the BBC ones. 2/ If you have a loft - put an good aerial in there, but place it nearish to the tiles where it's pointing and you should be ok for receiving Freeview. I'd recommend the Goodmans GDB3 btw. Most have the same hardware and the software on this one responds faster than most.

Thanks alot for this, very helpful.

[mg511]

saf said:

Couldn't you ask to downgrade to FreeSat from Sky? we had this installed before Christmas, you just get the card from sky, and install on your box. Get as much as Freeview plus the extras like MotorsTV and Extreme Sports. You can tell what was on mainly over the Christmas period

Saf you are a genius and have saved me much aggro and money! I had never heard of FreeSat and Sky didn't mention it when I rang up and asked for disconnection. I have just checked with them and all I need is a £20 card, no new ariel, no Freeview box. And I'll get 120 channels, much more than Freeview, including Motors TV, the only Sky channel I would really miss, their motorsport coverage is fantastic. Many, many thanks, I owe you a good few

>> Edited by mg511 on Saturday 8th January 20:48