Existing sky dish - can I just plug in a new receiver?

[dinkle]

Hello,

Excuse me if this is a daft question.

I have recently downgraded from a sky subscription to Freesat at the end of my 12 month subscription. I therefore have limited channels on my equipment - no e4, more 4 etc etc.

Could I buy a different receiver and plug it into the dish that is already on my roof? If so, what channels could I hope to receive? and what box is best to get on a limited budget?

I have seen a Technomate 1000D for £60 and I hear that if I get to my local Lidl at the right time I might get a receiver cheaply.

I'd be interested in getting more than the sh*tfest that Sky deem appropriate for free viewing! The more the better.

Thanks for any advice.

Vince

[BGonaSTICK]

LOL, welcome m8. Not happy with Sky then?

For general-purpose viewing, the free stuff isn't that bad. You can get a bit more than is listed in the Sky EPG.

There's a list of FTA stuff here, and your downgraded Sky subscription card will act as an FTV card for Channel4, FIVE and Sky Three.

There's no such thing as a daft question, so ask away.

Yes, you can plug any digital satellite receiver into your sky dish and get all the free channels.

If you want some more exciting stuff, then you either need a subscription to a package on another satellite, be happy scanning the skies for other FTA stuff (lots of interesting channels out there, but not that much in English) or turn to the dark side and apply a patch to your receiver, program your own cards and CAMs, use a specialist 'programable' receiver running Linux, or use your Windows PC as a receiver (with a PCI satellite card).

All of these methods will allow you to watch free movies, porn and football for example. Sometimes. It all depends on what's 'hacked' at the time, but there's usually something open if you're prepared to invest a little time and money keeping up to date.

The Lidl boxes are £40, but strictly FTA. The £60 Technomate TM-1000 D is a very good value for money STB which can be patched. You'll also need a new dish and LNB as the minidish is too small to be of any real use on other satellites, although will get you some stuff.

Have a read in our Technomate and Beginners sections, and think about which way you want to go.

STICK

[dinkle]

OK sounds interesting.

So if I were to invest in a Technomate 1000 or 1500 then I plug in, scan and get a few more channels than Sky offer for free (does anyone know if I would get E4/ more4 etc? didn't see on that list).

Basically I think if I got a box that liberated the TV for my missus then that would open the door to discussing 'more options'. Plus she always moans about having to skip past the locked channels on sky (as they can't be removed).

I will have a bit more of a read on here this evening - thank you very much for your reply.

Vince

[Analoguesat]

You wont get More4 or E4. these are part of the sky pay packages until at least 2008.

[dinkle]

So effectively I will get exactly the same as I get now - just without the sky interface?

Thanks,

Vince

[Analoguesat]

A non Sky receiver will allow you to access all the fta channels, and arrange them in any order you wish. Therefore you can eliminate all the scrambled channels from your vieewing list. You lose access to C4, C5, Sky 3, More 4 E4 etc as these are scrambled. You also lose all the red button interfaces as these are skybox specific. You can add in any fta feeds that happen to be around (NASN Europe was fta for weeks until recently - using parameters not available to skyboxes - its gone now so dont get your hopes up )

[dinkle]

I do have a viewing card that unscrambles c4, c5 - I take it that will be redundant?

Thanks,

[Analoguesat]

This is where it gets complicated - a normal non skybox cant use the sky card. However, a dragon cam inserted into a CI slot on a receiver can access the card, (but you may need the sky digibox to update the card as well once a month.)

[dinkle]

Ok ok!

I am starting to grasp it now. So in real terms I would be better off keeping my Freesat setup as it is as I am not really going to gain anything by simply pluggin in a new receiver.

But, If I was interested in getting more.....

Aside from the Receiver (technowotsit 1500), what other bits would I need? I appreciate I'd need a 60cm dish, and some cable at least.....

I have seen a few patched technowotsit 1500 on ebay for 87 sheckles + post:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/TECHNOMATE-TM-...QQcmdZViewItem
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/TECHNOMATE-REC...QQcmdZViewItem

and there are various 60cm dishes on ebay from about 30 sheckles inc delivery (any good?):

http://search.ebay.co.uk/search/sear...itle=60cm+dish

So we are up to about 130 sheckles - what else would I need?

Obviously I'll have to other perform a covert install or buy something for the missus if I am to get away with this!

Cheers,

[jontydog]

To be honest m8 you may be better with an 80cm dish instead of a 60cm one and there is not much different in price but there would be a difference in signal