New Sky Cards - Confirmation

[satandpcguy]

Sky has offically confirmed today that they will be issueing new sky viewing cards.

they have updated the messages on the sky information channels (999 and press red), and state that new viewing card will be issued during April.

If you have a sky subscription, then the new viewing card will be sent to the UK address (or your installers / agents uk address).

If you bought a new FSFS card in the last 3 years then these should also be replaced.

it is expected that ex subscription cards and fsfs cards bought over 3 years ago will not be replaced.

it is expected that all exisiting "blue house" cards will be swicthed off by May.

More information on Sky channel 999 and press red or Home | Sky Viewing Help

EDIT: it appears that at the moment only Sky Subscription cards are being changed...no news on the freesatfromsky card...maybe they will not be changed...maybe you will not need them in a few months time...

[Valencia1]

Sky cards

All seems a bit slow at the moment, only heard of the odd ones in the forums who say have got the new white card - or that may just be the usual 'net talk' . I went on freesatbox.net and got 2 books by download and on disc that shows how to get sky without a card, only the free channels, but at least i dont have to worry about the switch off !
A bit annoying as when i bought my card for £20 they said it was good for at least 5 years. Got me again Murdoch you B*****d !!!!!!!!

[satandpcguy]

most cards with scottish addresses have been replaced.
irish addresses are currently being done.
english addresses will be later - 1st week in june i understand.

it will be slow - they only have over 13million cards to replace...!!!

those cd / books are basically rip offs, as all the information they have is in your sky user manual anyway (the site says they tell you how to get upto 50 free chanenls on a sky box - well there are around 50 bbc and itv channels alone - not counting the 150 other channels you can get for free on a sky box - just by turning it on!)

you do not need a sky card (or a sky box!) to view the free channels (like bbc!). they are free and can be watched on any digital satellite receiver, for free.you do not need a sky card to view the free tv channels like bbc or c4...they are free...even on a sky box and a freesat box doesnt have the ability to use a sky card anyway!

you have not needed to use a sky card for bbc channels for about 6 years, for many itv channels for 3 years, for c4 channels for a year. the only thing a sky card is required for bbc channels is to set you default bbc1 (andbbc2) regions!
and all the information on the link is available for free on the internet anyway, most of it in your sky user manual, and even on my site!
Additional Extra Secret Sky Freesat Frequencies Transponders Costa Blanca Spain


you do need a freesatfromskycard (£20 in the uk) to view five, fiver, five usa, sky 3 setanta sports news).

when these ffs cards were first produced yes sky said that they would be good for 5 years at least - so obviously if you bought it a year ago then that would have been reduced to 1 year.

personally i do not think that the freesatfromsky card will be needed by the end of the year - as five may have all of its channels totally free, c4hd may well be free, and sky3 goes onto a subscription package.

[Valencia1]

Freesat books

most cards with scottish addresses have been replaced.
irish addresses are currently being done.
english addresses will be later - 1st week in june i understand.

it will be slow - they only have over 13million cards to replace...!!!

those cd / books are basically rip offs, as all the information they have is in your sky user manual anyway (the site says they tell you how to get upto 50 free chanenls on a sky box - well there are around 50 bbc and itv channels alone - not counting the 150 other channels you can get for free on a sky box - just by turning it on!)

I bought the books and judged for myself, THE SAT AND PC GUY WOULD SAY THIS AS I BELIEVE FREESATBOX.NET ARE A COMPETITOR OF HIS ) so its maybe not a fair criticism, I thought this site was a help forum ? Not a platform to slur competitors. The books did not just give me free channels but clearly tell all how to set up and adjust your own dish and lnb, plus lots more. I posted this to help folk who want to save a few quid.

you do not need a sky card (or a sky box!) to view the free channels (like bbc!). they are free and can be watched on any digital satellite receiver, for free.you do not need a sky card to view the free tv channels like bbc or c4...they are free...even on a sky box and a freesat box doesnt have the ability to use a sky card anyway!

you have not needed to use a sky card for bbc channels for about 6 years, for many itv channels for 3 years, for c4 channels for a year. the only thing a sky card is required for bbc channels is to set you default bbc1 (andbbc2) regions!
and all the information on the link is available for free on the internet anyway, most of it in your sky user manual, and even on my site!
Additional Extra Secret Sky Freesat Frequencies Transponders Costa Blanca Spain


you do need a freesatfromskycard (£20 in the uk) to view five, fiver, five usa, sky 3 setanta sports news).

when these ffs cards were first produced yes sky said that they would be good for 5 years at least - so obviously if you bought it a year ago then that would have been reduced to 1 year.

personally i do not think that the freesatfromsky card will be needed by the end of the year - as five may have all of its channels totally free, c4hd may well be free, and sky3 goes onto a subscription package.

I bought the books and judged for myself, THE SAT AND PC GUY WOULD SAY THIS AS I BELIEVE FREESATBOX.NET ARE A COMPETITOR OF HIS ) so its maybe not a fair criticism, I thought this site was a help forum ? Not a platform to slur competitors. The books did not just give me free channels but clearly tell all how to set up and adjust your own dish and lnb, plus lots more. I posted this to help folk who want to save a few quid.

[satandpcguy]

fair comments.
but i was really commenting on the part where you said "on disc that shows how to get sky without a card, only the free channels, but at least i dont have to worry about the switch off !"

firstly you cannot "get Sky channels without a card" as you say. almost all sky channels are pay tv channels and need a valid working sky card to view - i think sky news is the only sky channel that is free and available without a sky card. all the other channels (like bbc and itv etc) are nothing to do with sky at all!!!!! and there are around 200 plus free tv channel;s available on a sky box as soon as you plug it in (dish size depending!).

The site quotes..."You can add 50 more free channels to your skybox " - i wonder if these include all the other ITV regions (all 15 plus of them!) apart from the two (103 and maybe 993) on your box as normal..? or those C4's and More4s on 12480? This information is freely available on the net - infact the alternate ITV and C4 frequencies 12408 and 12480 have been posted many times on various expat forums to enable better c4 and itv viewing. (you even posted them 3 times post after post http://www.torrevieja.com/forums/25525-post13.html !apart from those, and whats already in the EPG there are no other channels available on a sky box pointing at the uk tv satellites.

"QHow many free channels will i be able to get ?
A Up to 3000 in any free to air receiver"
yes any freetoair receiver can get many many channels...as long as your dish is looking at the right satellites (there is about 3000 free to air channels on astra and hotbird...with about 5 in english!)...nothing new there... go to lyngsat and see all the frequencies available on all satellites or even flysat.com/fta.php for all the freetoair channels. and yes most freetoair channels on other satellite will work on a freesat box also. but for this you need to have your dish looking at other satellites (astra 1 or hotbird).
"Q My sky digibox has problems, will your book help me ?
A Yes, we have all the codes for resets and latest software downloads"
Your skybox automatically download the latest software when sky release it...why do i need a book when my system does it automatically?
(PS its : unplug and press and hold backup button on box and reinsert power cable, see lights on box and release backup button....it just downloads the latest release of the sky software...nothing magical in that...it will not worek all the time as the datastreams are not available for all boxes at all times...infact someone on another forum had to wait 6 weeks before their datastream came available for their box!)
Never heard of any reset codes...unless it means "changing the defualt transponder" to another frequency...not exactly a "code" and most people know about this process already, to help boot up their sky box.

i think i have justified my opinion that these books and cds may not be all that people expect, and they may already know many of the things in these books already. i would not "slur" someone, but merely pointing out that it sounds like a lot of the information (like the nonfreesat mode on freesat receivers!) on the disk is already freely available elsewhere (like the user manuals or other forums and sites!).

"I posted this to help folk who want to save a few quid. " So did I!!!!

"I thought this site was a help forum " so you could post the information rather than asking people to go to another site and pay for it!

i am quite happy if they send me these two books to see what their contents are and i will happilly retract any of the above if incorrect...cannot say fairer than that!

if they were a competitor i was not aware of them...but i am now...what are your links to them?? (bearing in minds all your posts have links to the site!!)


Anyway...to continue this threads orignal purpose....

Sky are continuing with the sky card change...a bit slower than originally planned. Most addresses in Scotland and Ireland have had their replacement cards and now English addresses are getitng theirs. I do not know the format of the change...it may be region by region...ubt noone seems to know.

You will know when your new sky card has been sent by sky to your cards UK address as you will see the "insert your new card" message on the screen

If you see a "this is the wrong card for this set top box" on ALL channels, then your new card has been issued. However, you must get your existignc ard PAIRED to your sky box, as the new card can only be activated in the sky box that is on the sky database. (note this message usulaly only appears if you try to view the sports and movie channels on another box....but in this cxard swap case this message appears on all sky card channels - including Five!

In 99.9% of the cases, when you activate your new white card, your old blue one will cease to function...(it may still work in nonsky boxes for a few days tho!)

Again dont panic if you have not seen this message or are wondering where your new card is...it will come (you may have to contact your agent or installer if you "borrow" a UK address from them.

At the moment freesatfromsky cards have not been replaced. These card only unlock Five, Fiver Five USA and timeshifts, Sky 3 (and until 6pm gmt today) Setanta Sports News (and the alternate ITVs and C4s on 12408 and 12480.!) There ghas been no indicatoin that Sky will be changing these card...who knows..in a few months time you may not need a card!

You will not loose all channels. BBC and many ITV and C4s are available for free without a sky card.

Hope this helps