Can I live without Sky+

[Gollom122]

I'm looking for some advice.
Until recently I had the full Sky+ and Multiroom package - I wanted to upgrade to SkyHD but could not get it installed in time for the World Cup, so I bought a Humax HDCI-2000 instead. I replaced the Sky multiroom box with this connected to my Sammy LE40M61 - Fantastic, but no Ch4 or Ch5 (Wife winges that she cannot watch Big Brother) So I have now switched units and have the Humax connected to my Infocus Screenplay 5700 Projector and have moved the Sky+ box onto the Sammy. I also called $ly today and cancelled multiroom and removed Movies from my package (I watch a lot of DVD's and never watch Sky movies), saving myself £16 per month. That still leaves me paying £36pm for very little other than cartoons for the nippers and Sky sports when the Prem comes back.

Now... all of the above in mind especially the Wifes Big Brother (PVR everytime she blinks) Can I live without Sky+ and stop the £36pm forever, which will be £36.50 from September BTW.

I could buy a dragon CAM, motorised dish(s) to pick up the sport and cartoons elsewhere - can I use the card from the defunkt multiroom box or do I need to keep the Sky box for Ch4?
Is there a HD receiver with PVR or a cheapo SD PVR for the short term that would replace the Sky+ box?

Any experience of Sky migration would be fantastic to hear.!

 

[pgh13]

Are you in a Freeview area? Aldi have recently advertised a twin tuner PVR for around £100

 

[spiney]

There's also lots of sat receiver PVRs, with CI slots (for CAMs), then there's a fair bit of free sports (but no English commentry!), but for further (unpaid!) conditional access you just have to accept "what's available" (via flashing, etc) .....

Not being a sports/blockbuster-films fan (!), I find nearly all Sky's subscription channels utterly useless. So, I get free CNBC from Astra1 (Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien), excellent (the very best!) films in English from Arte, and lots of classical music/opera from various German channels. And now Film4's comming to Freeview ....... I don't have the time to watch what's already available, never mind any more stuff, so would find it a bit pointless doing any receiver/card flashing. But, that's just personal tastes ....

 

[rolfw]

The biggest danger in dropping Sky and relying on viewing from other satellites, is that apart from the sport coverage from ART etc, which is cheap and easy to subscribe to, there is little in the way of English language children's and light entertainment channels reliably available.

Many are the times we have had desparate posters looking for keys for this or that, because they are getting grief from their family, having promised them that the outlay on the dish, motor and receiver was easily offset against the huge gains in "free" channels.

Of course, if they are happy with the output of free to view channels, then just keep one of your Sky boxes with the old subscription card.

 

[Gollom122]

Thanks for the advice. I'd like to stick to satellite rather than Freeview.
Can I get Ch4 and Ch5 without the Sky digibox? Can I use the Sky Card in a dragon Cam in the Humax?
If so this would save a lot of messing with cables etc and keep 'Er in doors a bit happier - Might even dust off the VCR for those 'must have' Davina moments for her!!

 

[moffatt]

You CAN, but (and it's a fair sized but) you'll still need the sky dodgybox so the card can get the 'keep alive' signals.

 

[PaulR]

And NOBODY can say for how long $ly will keep the current system of encryption which allows these 3rd party CAMs to work. They are, after all, a hack - even if it's a benign hack which doesn't cost $ly money.

 

[Gollom122]

Moffatt,
Does $ly need keep alive on a FTA viewing card also, or just the paid up subscription ones (Only thinking of CH4 and CH5)?
If so I take it I need to put the card in the Dodgybox every now and then?

 

[spiney]

If you can get Freeview - ie, no reception problems at your location - then that's worth doing. Some receivers now down to £20 at Argos.

 

[PaulR]

Moffatt,
Does $ly need keep alive on a FTA viewing card also, or just the paid up subscription ones (Only thinking of CH4 and CH5)?
If so I take it I need to put the card in the Dodgybox every now and then?

Exactly. The card $ly supplies for FTV viewng is exactly the same design as their subscription cards and needs regular "keep alive" signals sent to it.

In my experience you will usually be OK up to about 4 weeks but at 6 weeks the card will need leaving in a dodgybox overnight.

 

[2cvbloke]

Freeview's best for the usual 5 channels, plus you get kids channels aswell for free, and if you opt for TopUp TV (less than £10 a month) you can get some cartoon channels too aswell as other channels. So ditch sky, get a proper satellite PVR & dish and a freeview/TopUp box and you're sorted, all the channels you need plus the ones you can happily watch till the cows come home...