Sky box without a viewing card?

Skeeter · 24 May 2013 at 19:17

Does a Sky box work if you plug it into a couple of feeds but don't have a viewing card? If so, what channels do you get? If you plug in a HD box do you get any HD channels?

TALON1973 · 24 May 2013 at 20:00

you cant run a sky box without a card ... even just for freeview

if youstop subscribing the card will still work for freeview purposes , but if you buy a 2nd box with no card your goign to have to pay sky to get a card to do that job

Skeeter · 24 May 2013 at 20:57

Its for a second set of feeds upstairs (previous tenant had multi room). So I'm better of just getting a cheap Freesat SD box for 30 quid?

We only want the Freeview channels upstairs, but there's no wired in aerial feed and the signal on my plug in little aerial is dire, but there are 2 Sky feeds.

malachi · 24 May 2013 at 21:26

TALON1973 said:
you cant run a sky box without a card ... even just for freeview

if youstop subscribing the card will still work for freeview purposes , but if you buy a 2nd box with no card your goign to have to pay sky to get a card to do that job

You will get some FreeSat channels but not all without a viewing card inserted such as Fiver and Five US.

I gave my Sky HD box to my brother without the viewing card and he still can get BBC 1, 1 HD,ITV,E4 etc.

Psycho Sonny · 24 May 2013 at 21:30

TALON1973 said:
you cant run a sky box without a card ... even just for freeview

if youstop subscribing the card will still work for freeview purposes , but if you buy a 2nd box with no card your goign to have to pay sky to get a card to do that job

Freesat

neil_g · 24 May 2013 at 21:35

The other halfs mum runs a sky box with no card, even some basic channels don't work

Caged · 24 May 2013 at 21:53

Freesat from Sky is what you want ideally, get the FTV channels not just FTA. The cards are £25.

Skeeter · 24 May 2013 at 22:12

£175 for Freesat from Sky, bit much for just occasional use.

Unless you can get a Sky box for cheap somewhere?

MagicBoy · 24 May 2013 at 22:43

Skeeter said:
Unless you can get a Sky box for cheap somewhere?

eBay.

Skeeter · 24 May 2013 at 22:47

Its full of Sky+ boxes

. Filtering out the non + HD boxes is a pain, but there's a few on there for cheap.

Psycho Sonny · 24 May 2013 at 23:51

Skeeter said:
£175 for Freesat from Sky, bit much for just occasional use.

Unless you can get a Sky box for cheap somewhere?

Skeeter said:
Its full of Sky+ boxes . Filtering out the non + HD boxes is a pain, but there's a few on there for cheap.

i bought a sky+ hd box and a wireless connector for £25 off gumtree.

why would you want a non +HD one?

also it is not £175 for freesat from sky, you need to pay them a one off fee (£10-£25) for a special viewing card which unlocks freesat on one of their boxes.

the other alternative is buying a freesat box which is most likely going to cost you a lot more than buying a box from gumtree then paying £10-£25 to use

MagicBoy · 25 May 2013 at 10:54

The "official" price from Sky is £175 for a new HD box with the card.

I can't really see the point in Skeeter buying a + box. The recording facilities will be disabled without a monthly subscription so it's a waste of electricity. HD less so, but there's only the five main terrestrial channels and it appears to be for a secondary room.

Psycho Sonny · 25 May 2013 at 11:24

MagicBoy said:
The "official" price from Sky is £175 for a new HD box with the card.

I can't really see the point in Skeeter buying a + box. The recording facilities will be disabled without a monthly subscription so it's a waste of electricity. HD less so, but there's only the five main terrestrial channels and it appears to be for a secondary room.

so if he wants to record he will need to buy a freesat box, it's actually cheaper buying a freeview recorder and an indoor aerial btw.

otherwise if he doesn't he needs to buy a normal HD box from gumtree and pay sky money as well, outlay of £50 maximum.

imo he would be better off buying a HD freesat box which doesnt record due to warranty reasons, etc.

anyway the choice is his, the last thing i would be doing is paying sky £175 for a box when you can get them from gumtree for £20.

leezer3 · 25 May 2013 at 13:56

If you want a white Sky Freesat viewing card, trust me your address.

I've got one spare you can have

-Leezer-

Caged · 25 May 2013 at 14:29

Skeeter said:
£175 for Freesat from Sky, bit much for just occasional use.

Unless you can get a Sky box for cheap somewhere?

The cards by themselves are £25.

MagicBoy · 25 May 2013 at 14:53

Yeah we know. You said yesterday.

Doesn't change Sky advertising it with a non-recording HD box at £175. :confused:

Psycho Sonny · 25 May 2013 at 18:02

MagicBoy said:
Yeah we know. You said yesterday.

Doesn't change Sky advertising it with a non-recording HD box at £175.

that's for installation too i would imagine for the sky dish, etc. that's why it's so expensive.

Caged · 26 May 2013 at 01:23

MagicBoy said:
Yeah we know. You said yesterday.

Doesn't change Sky advertising it with a non-recording HD box at £175.

Because that's the price with a box, a dish, and the installation.

http://www.sky.com/shop/freesat/home/faq/#3

It's the best option if you want some HD and don't want to pay monthly for it. I'm assuming since the thread is about a Sky box without a card that a Sky (HD) box already exists.