| The holiday in Crete was good but I gat bitten repeatedly by some sort of horrid bed bug and still have the scars! I also bashed my head on a wall cupboard - another big scar. Anyway, I came home full of ideas. One idea was to recruit a Technical Assistant to relieve me of some of the workload. See below. SPECIAL OFFER FOR TODAY ONLY For some months I have been selling my DVD "Installing a Sky Minidish tutorial", see http://www.the-cool-book-shop.co.uk/minidish.htm Well I've converted it to a QuickTime movie file that you can download for just £2.95 ! You will need a broadband connection and - since many of you will be rushing to take up this offer - some patience because the server might not cope! Click on this link NOW: http://www.satcure.co.uk/movieoffer.htm Sony TV problem When the fault occurs, the video blanks out and, after a second or two, reappears with "AV4 1080i" in the top-left of the screen - as if you'd pulled the cable in and out quickly. This affects only certain models and certain serial number ranges. If it's happening with yours, you must get your TV to your local Sony dealer for an upgrade. More info here: http://forum.digitalspy.co.uk/board/showthread.php?t=382995 Overheating Digibox Dear SatCure, For your information, my Grundig digibox got very hot on the top surface. I looked underneath the box and discovered the ventillation grilles (2). I then placed the box on four plastic bottle tops to raise it up half an inch. It has stopped overheating. It seems that the four feet it sits on are too small,and therefore do not provide enough ventillation. I hope this is of interest to you and your customers. SIMON R (M.P.: This applies to all electronic equipment. For best reliability, each unit should be placed on an open shelf with a minimum of 100mm air space all round.) Scam Analoguesat (Ross) writes "...the following text appears on the website of Early Warning - an online fraud prevention site." Credit Card Fraud Scam Targets Sky TV Customers Early Warning the online fraud prevention company have just discovered a new type of scam which directly targets Sky TV Customers How the fraud works 1. Members of the public receive a pre recorded telephone call asking if there is Sky TV in your property, 2. A week or so later you receive a telephone call from a fraudster saying he works for Sky TV and that your Sky subscription has not been paid and would you like to pay for it over the telephone by credit card as your Sky TV is about to be turned off. If you fall for this scam your credit card details are then in the hands of Fraudsters who can use your card over the Internet / Mail order to buy goods or they can create a card that can be used abroad to withdraw money from your account. Sky TV were unaware of this scam. Early warnings advice is as follows 1 If you receive a call from any company asking for payment by credit card over the telephone. Decline their request and ask them to put the request to you in writing. 2 Members of the public should check each and every bank statement they received to make sure they are aware of every transaction shown on their statement. You should contact your bank immediately if you find any transaction you are unsure about. Comments: Andrew Goodwill, Managing Director of Early Warning: "This scam was tried on me. Luckily I did not fall for it. It all sounded very genuine. It was only that I knew I had paid my subscription to sky recently that it did not ring true" Link: http://www.early-warning.org/scam.php4?id=450 MP: Coincidentally, I received a call from a computer last week. Ring ring "Hello, this is an automated call from Skycare. Do you have Sky Television". I didn't say anything. I was fascinated and interested to know how it was programmed to cope with no answer. "Hello, do you have Sky Television". I didn't reply. The call was terminated. Next time I'll see what happens when I say "No." Digital switchover Whitehaven to be Border TV region pioneering town. The Cumbrian town of Whitehaven will lead out the UK's switchover to digital, the government has announced. Broadcasting Minister Shaun Woodward and Industry Minister Margaret Hodge said analogue television signals will be switched off in autumn 2007. The move will herald the country's switchover to digital TV, which is due to be complete by 2012. Residents will get an extra TV and radio channel through their aerials - as long as they buy a set-top digibox. The government has pledged help for older and disabled people. Shaun Woodward said: "The people of Whitehaven will lead the rest of the UK into the digital future. Full report: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cumbria/5199170.stm and http://media.guardian.co.uk/site/story/0,,1825084,00.html?gusrc=ticker-103704 Switchover has already been completed in Ferryside and Llanstephan in Carmarthenshire. See http://digital-lifestyles.info/display_page.asp?section=distribution&id=2057 "The government is keenly perusing its pledge.." I think that should be "pursuing"! Welcome to Mark Mark in Grimsby has joined our technical team as a consultant. Congratulations to Mark who pipped 38 other applicants to the post. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who applied or who passed the information to their friends. The response was overwhelming. I hope that, as we expand, we'll be able to take on other helpers in the near future. Technical Stuff Our technical information section continues to grow. If you want to know how to interconnect your AV equipment, see this page: http://www.satcure.co.uk/tech/avhelp.htm (Yes, OK, I cheated, but why "reinvent the wheel"?) There's information about splitting the Digibox RF output to more than one TV set here: http://www.satcure.co.uk/tech/split.htm I continue to add jokes to my humour site. Keep them coming! http://www.just-humor.com Those of you looking to start - or improve - your home-based business can consult my Marketing Tips site: http://www.marketingtips.uk.com (top) Extra Aerials It seems that every day someone writes to me about fitting extra aerials. "I want Freeview in the conservatory and my local installer says he can fit another aerial on my chimney for only £200. Is he ripping me off?" The answer could be "yes" or "no". If you already have a working aerial, why fit another? It's usually much cheaper and often simpler to connect an amplified splitter ("masthead amplifier") to your existing aerial and feed as many TVs or Freeview boxes as you want from it. The amplifier can be installed at the bottom of the aerial mast or in the loft. You can choose the number of outputs. I recommend our Vision V20-1420K C12554 4-way Mastamp: http://www.satcure.co.uk/accs/page11c.htm#variable This has an adjustable gain so you can set it to give exactly the right signal level. If your Freeview transmitter power is increased after the "digital switchover" date, you can simply turn down the gain. If it's impractical to use a splitter like this, then installing a second aerial may be your only option (rare). In this case bear in mind that installing it in the loft may be the cheapest way but it will lose about 50% of the available signal in the roof tiles. It will also be susceptible to problems caused by nearby objects (such as people moving around below it). Aerials should be kept at least a metre apart, otherwise they can affect each other's performance, effectively reducing the gain. It should be relatively cheap to have an aerial installed on a gable end; a little more expensive on the rear of a house where the pole has to bend around the gutter. The most expensive is to have it lashed to the chimney. Many installers charge at least £100 extra because it means rigging ladders up the roof. In some cases full scaffolding and a standing platform are required, adding even more to the cost. Also bear in mind that your wall or chimney could need repair before it will take the strain of an aerial bracket. You can save money by reading our "Freeview Bible". Even if you don't plan to do the job yourself, the information in this eBook might save you from being ripped off.
Happy Customers I am using the Smart Eye and Smart Blaster to control my digibox and DVD in a cupboard. This all works fine apart from the TV controls on the sky control no longer work. The TV controls work fine from the TV and DVD controls but not from the Sky control. Why is this, is there any way round it please ? Sorry, I need more details. When you point your Sky remote at the TV set, press TV then a number button does the TV change channel? If so then I don't understand your problem. If not, then your remote probably isn't programmed for your TV. No the TV didnt change channel, anyway, brilliant, thanks for the help, I looked up the Digibox manual and re-programmed the remote control, it seems to work fine now. I did work before so I can only assume that the remote control somehow lost its settings at some point during the setup of the Smart Blaster etc. and I naturally thought they were related issues. Cheers, Barry
Re: Order number SAT010906 The packet arrived today - 21 July - in good condition as far as I can see. Thank you for the prompt dispatch. I am amazed that the postal service was so fast! Now out with the soldering iron and the side cutters and the Help request ;-( Regards Marcus F
Regarding Customer receipt (Keep-me): SAT010817 Couldn't find a feedback page specifically, but thanks, I do think you are brilliant! I ordered a cable which came really quickly. It had the wrong connectors (my fault - I didn't know what I was ordering) so I ordered adaptors which came the next day, even though I'd only paid for 3 day delivery. Brilliant service, thanks. S. Elson You can post feedback in our discussion forum in the "Customer Feedback" section.
(top) From Sky Digi Online ( http://www.media247.co.uk ): (top)
eBook Updates None this month. - All eBooks have been moved to a more reliable secure server which requires a username and password. If you can't access it, please contact Me with your original Order number and ask for the new download information, stating exactly which eBook(s) you purchased and the EBK number(s).
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"Installing a Sky Minidish" tutorial on DVD. Click 
