Sky + box

rolo-polo1965

Not sure if this is in the right place but here goes.

Cancelling sky as on next Saturday for purely financial reasons and are hoping to use the boxes as free view boxes for as long as possible.

Can any one tell me if the recordings i have on the sky + box will still work when sky is switched off? Will i still be able to use my sky + box to record?

Thanks

davb

AFIK, any recordings that you already have on the box will not play without a valid viewing card. I know that if you cancel just say movies, then anything you have recorded from those channels won't play.
I don't think you will be able to record any programs (even free ones) without a subscription either.

Cash-Cow_3

The record or play back feature will not work once your subs end.

onetomany

if u want to keep the sky plus its £10

ddoris

http://www.maplin.co.uk/digital-box-with-usb-pvr-for-free-satellite-tv-224746

£34.99 - need to spend a penny for free del. otherwise £2.99
You can use a usb memory stick or card reader + sd card or hdd to record to.

glenn77

Unplug (and keep unplugged) the box from the phone connection then cancel. As far as I know sky send a signal down the phone line cancelling your services - if you unplug the box before they can do this the box will still function as a recorder/player - obviously you will only receive freeview channels though.

Inner_Zone

glenn77 wrote: »

Unplug (and keep unplugged) the box from the phone connection then cancel. As far as I know sky send a signal down the phone line cancelling your services - if you unplug the box before they can do this the box will still function as a recorder/player - obviously you will only receive freeview channels though.

Wrong on both counts:

1. The signal is sent via satellite.
2. You can't get Freeview by satellite, you get Freesat from Sky with a suitable viewing card or Freesat without a viewing card.

glenn77

I have a sky+ box i picked up - i don't have a sky subscription - i linked it up to a dish i put on the wall, fitted a dual lnb and it receives free to air channels (freesat if you like), it also records and plays back programs and will let me set reminders, series links etc - explain how then??

spannerzone

glenn77 wrote: »

Unplug (and keep unplugged) the box from the phone connection then cancel. As far as I know sky send a signal down the phone line cancelling your services - if you unplug the box before they can do this the box will still function as a recorder/player - obviously you will only receive freeview channels though.

Sadly that won't make any difference, they send the signal via satellite and not phone line... removing the Sky card from the box for up to 6 months just before you cancel the service might however work..... Sky send out card killing commands for up to several months after cancelling subscription... if you leave the card out the box for over 3 months then reinsert and try it you might find it continues to record and playback free to air channels but not any subscription channels recorded previously.

glenn77

Guess i was just lucky then - all works well here

spannerzone

Opps I deleted a post... oh well.

Glenn, you've been lucky as have others, it's a very useful trick to do if you can bear to leave the card out the box for some time.

Remarkably it even works for the now defunct Sky blue cards which were all replaced with White cards a couple years back.