Tim

Beware though -  a few early Freeview digi-boxes will not work in France. The technical specification of the broadcast signal is slightly different and some older boxes cannot cope with the change. Anything recent though should be ok - mine certainly are. Tim

Thanks for the info Will - I've got a very old Humax receiver, still working well, and I'm very pleased to hear that they still make decent boxes. I'm waiting (finances permitting) for the Humax PVR - hopefully available later this year. Tim

Likewise - I'm glad you've managed to get it to do something!   Tim

Good, that'll save you having to ring Sky - never a pleasant experience, in my opinion.   Tim

Well, I'm afraid your card will not get anything extra than the channels we've already mentioned. UKTVhistory is currently one of Mr.Murdoch's pay channels so a Sky subscription would be needed to get that one. As Martin has said - Channel 5 is expected to join the freesat party sometime soon. As you will have seen Channel 4 and all it's associated channels do not need a card now. Incidentally, the numbers Sky will need, if you have to get the card activated, are not the serial numbers on the box. They are a set of numbers that have to be read from the system menu on the box. Which is why I said you will need it switched on when you call them. I suppose you could make a note of them all now and have them to hand when, or if, you have to call. It's likely that if you got the card from a friend it will be activated already and may well 'wake up' after a day or so. Regards - Tim

I'm not being 'picky' but it's not a Freeview card you have as they don't exist, it's more likely to be a Freesat from Sky card. Does it have an outline of a yellow house on it? It should have. If it's not been activated,then you will need to do so, normally with the box on so you can read out a load of numbers to the people at Sky. It just may be that if the card has not been in a working box for a while that it's missed it's 'stay alive' signal. What channels are you missing, because a card like this will now only get you Five and it's derivatives and Sky 3 - none of the other 'main' channels require a card. As far as a Sky remote goes, apart from the Sky plus, and HD boxes, I think they are all the same. If ErnieY is around, I think he had a couple of spare ones. Regards - Tim   Edit - beat me to it Martin - I'll leave it here anyway. Tim

Ok - a long post, so I'll try a bit at a time. It seems as if you're having problems inputting a new transponder on one of your receivers. I hope I've understood that far. Have you tried adding a transponder? As has been said previously, all these boxes vary somewhat in their operation and I had a similar problem with a friend's machine - he wasn't able to tune into the latest channels because the transponder wasn't listed. I found 'Add Transponder' on the menu and away it went. Is that of any help? Regards - Tim P.S. - I shouldn't worry too much about the software update - as far as I know, most of these take place on Astra 19e or Hotbird 13e and your dish is not pointing in the direction - I don't think!!

Forgive my slowness about this Martin (my excuse is that I've been sawing up wood all morning and my mind is still outside) and I haven't looked at your link to the Yahoo forum yet, but if this means that the digital channels on AB3 will remain where they are - at least for the time being - I will be able to reassure a friend who lives in a steep vallley. Terrestrial analogue and digital are almost impossible without an enormous mast on the top of the house. I put up a lovely litle dish for her to get these digital channels - and FIP radio (an essential for her) - whilst muttering things to her like  'make the most of it while you can, they may switch this lot off soon'. Tim

Well, Sky boxes do not give anywhere near reliable figures as far as signal strength and quality is concerned - but, having said that, the figures you quote are too low for a good quality picture. As I said before, I still think that the problem lies with the dish alignment, or the 'skew' of the lnb. To start, try loosening the bolt that holds the lnb in place and twist it one way then the other and look to see if you see any improvement in the picture.The lnb should not be mounted verticaly in it's holder, it should be at approximately between the "twenty five and twenty to" position when looking at the dish from the front. ( I think that's correct. I don't take too much notice of the exact position when I put up a dish, I just rely on getting a decent signal. If I've got that wrong, someone elase on here will correct me) If that doesn't help, then you may have to re-align the dish.  Make some marks on the brackets that hold the dish and then slightly loosen the nuts and move the dish a little. Only do this if you feel confident enough ( I wouldn't want to be responsible for you loosing everything) and it is safe to do so (health and safety). The marks will help you put the dish back to it's original position if you can't make any improvement. If not, then you will have to get someone in for you. If you have no luck, then don't forget that the race will be shown on TF1. I hope this will be of some help. Regards - Tim

Have you tried restarting the box? It's always the first thing to try - and the simplest. I'm not familiar with the numbers you quote, but I'm assuming we're talking about a Sky digibox. Regards - Tim

You don't say what equipment you are using, but it sounds as if you're getting a reduced signal from your dish. It's slightly odd that it is only effecting the ITV channels.What problems did you experience earlier this week? Have you had any strong winds that have moved the dish slightly? I would certainly be suspicious of the dish/LNB. Tim

As you can see, there are quite a few people on this forum who have 'played' with many different makes of digital boxes. As Martin says, the menus vary, even between the same make of receiver. When setting up these things I got fed up with all the different satellites that came 'pre-loaded' when switching on for the first time, so I usually delete the lot. Then, with the help of a print out from one of the satellite info pages on the net, I  just scan and re-load the transponders and frequencies of the channels I want. I've found it better than getting a load of stuff I don't want and going through and deleting them. Still, good luck. What better on a wet Friday afternoon? Regards - Tim

I think he must be Cathy - Sky have no control over the satellites - they don't own any. Tim

And don't forget the issue of the 'skew' of the lnb on it's arm. If you're not sure about that, please come back and ask and I'm sure there will be someone around who will help. Regards - Tim

Anton - a quick correction, if I may - you say that Channel 5 is available on a freesat receiver - well it's not yet. As has been said, everyone seems to expect it to be going free to air later this year, but at the moment, it's only watchable via a Skybox with Freesat from Sky card or subscription - unless you are clever!!. Regards - Tim

One thing to add - for those of you who have been unable to receive Channel 4 +1 - the final channel in the group that was encripted - it is now also free to air. So, that should complete the set. Tim

Don't get carried away - a Sky box - even with a card - doesn't get you UKTVHistory. It still might be a good buy for you though, despite that. Tim

For simplicity we use a France Monde card - you buy it from the Post Office and put credit on it. We usually buy €15. Then using our France Telecom phone we can call all over Europe for what seems to be a very reasonable price. The system tells you how much credit you have and how long for each call. When the credit gets a little low, you just top it up at the Post Office. My wife used to use it alot and it lasts us a couple of months between top ups. We still use it from time to time, even though we now have ADSL and use VOIP for our calls. Regards - Tim

A very good point Martin - I'd forgotten about that even though I was reading about it just last week.[:$] I put it down to age. Tim   Edit - spot on Martin - it's quite an interesting machine - Freeview box with built in VCR - but here's a link that may mean that Frederick can save it from the landfill - even if only for a short time.  http://www.frequencycast.co.uk/freeviewlandfill.html    

It's only got one hard drive [;-)]   Sorry - couldn't resist it.[Www]

I've read a little about this, but not much as it's not something I've been inflicted with. I can say, that under normal circumstances it's not the satellite signal because if it was, there'd be thousands more complaints. So, that leaves the receiver. I should have a look on the internet to see if there's anybody else around with a similar problem, that may lead you to what they did about it. Unless, of course, there is someone on here who knows more. Regards - Tim

I think not - the UK started their terrestrial digital service with a speed of 2K - the French system uses 8K - the reason your box doesn't work now is probably because it's not able to deal with an 8K signal which is what the UK is changing over to. Sorry for the bad news - Tim

I've had one for quite a few years, although I'm not sure if it's worth buying one now. See this link http://blogs.rnw.nl/medianetwork/is-it-all-over-for-worldspace This story has been 'doing the rounds' for a while now but it's still on at the moment. If you see a second hand one for a cheap price it may be worth it - your decision. Tim

One other thing to look at whilst you're clambering around looking at the dish in the pouring rain - check the 'skew' of the LNB - I can hear you saying WHAT? Well, the LNB is held at the end of the arm of the dish - it's possible that it may have not been done up tightly enough and turned a little. I can't tell you much more about it because you are using a Sky mesh dish and it's a long time since I've played with one of those. You will need somebody to watch the TV while the tweaking is going on. Goodluck - Tim

Right - BBC1 North West - unfortunately there is no BBC 2 on that group of channels so that's no help to you. I don't think you are, as you say, getting all the BBC1 channels - I'm gussing you don't see BBC1 Wales & Scotland - if you did you should also get BBC2 Wales & Scotland. I'm still thinking your dish may have moved slightly although it is possible that your cabling may have seen better days. Anton suggested trying your receiver on someone elses dish - can you manage to do that just to confirm my suspicions. Tim