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**Chris** · 26-08-2013, 16:16

We paid to replace our blue Sky card a couple of years ago when they replaced them with the white ones. It was somewhere between £10 and £20, IIRC. We had to pay for it because we were using the box in FreesatFromSky mode with no Sky subscription at all. AFAIK the card is paired with the box so you have to buy it from Sky, you can't just get one off eBay.

Because Sky Multiroom charges an extra subscription for every additional box, you won't get your old box working for free. AFAIK they will treat it as a FSFS box and you will have to buy the viewing card.

Also, Sky still charges for the recording feature to work, I think there is a risk that your box may lose its recording functionality, or at the very least lose the ability to record channels that are free-to-view but not free-to-air.

And another thing ... Dave is not free to air or free to view on satellite. You can only get it in a Sky subscriber channel pack. Stupid, I know, seeing as it's on Freeview, but I think Sky are paying them to keep it locked down to try to limit the appeal of 'proper' Freesat.

And finally ... ditch the old Sky box and get a proper Freesat PVR. All the free channels on FSFS worth having are on Freesat, plus you get an EPG that only contains the channels you can watch. No more tripping over blue screens with 'to upgrade to this channel...' on them. That was the thing that annoyed me most about FSFS and one of the reasons we eventually ditched it and bought an Echostar Freesat PVR.

26-08-2013, 16:16	#2
Chris Trollsplatter Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: North of Watford Services: Humane elimination of all common Internet pests Posts: 38,220	Re: Freeview / Freesat from SKY We paid to replace our blue Sky card a couple of years ago when they replaced them with the white ones. It was somewhere between £10 and £20, IIRC. We had to pay for it because we were using the box in FreesatFromSky mode with no Sky subscription at all. AFAIK the card is paired with the box so you have to buy it from Sky, you can't just get one off eBay. Because Sky Multiroom charges an extra subscription for every additional box, you won't get your old box working for free. AFAIK they will treat it as a FSFS box and you will have to buy the viewing card. Also, Sky still charges for the recording feature to work, I think there is a risk that your box may lose its recording functionality, or at the very least lose the ability to record channels that are free-to-view but not free-to-air. And another thing ... Dave is not free to air or free to view on satellite. You can only get it in a Sky subscriber channel pack. Stupid, I know, seeing as it's on Freeview, but I think Sky are paying them to keep it locked down to try to limit the appeal of 'proper' Freesat. And finally ... ditch the old Sky box and get a proper Freesat PVR. All the free channels on FSFS worth having are on Freesat, plus you get an EPG that only contains the channels you can watch. No more tripping over blue screens with 'to upgrade to this channel...' on them. That was the thing that annoyed me most about FSFS and one of the reasons we eventually ditched it and bought an Echostar Freesat PVR.