Freeview or Free To View or Free To Air or FreesatFromSky or Freesat?
Everyone is confused by these terms but it's really quite simple.
High Definition TV - "HD Ready"
Do I need to buy an "HD Ready" TV?
Probably not! An "HD-Ready" TV has extra circuitry that lets it accept an input from (for example) a Sky High-Definition satellite TV receiver. There are currently no High Definition broadcasts on Freeview digital terrestrial* so an HD Ready TV is pointless for most people. Nor are any High Definition broadcasts planned for Freeview in the near future. In addition, an "HD Ready" TV might actually make ordinary TV programmes look worse than an SD (Standard Definition) TV set. So please think carefully before wasting your money.
*There will be a Freeview HD channel (1080i) after analogue switch-over in some areas.
Freeview terrestrial
Nothing to do with satellite TV. You will need a terrestrial TV aerial in the UK and a Freeview receiver. In good reception areas, any suitable aerial and Freeview receiver should work (but depends on local conditions). In fringe reception areas the choice of aerial and receiver may be critical. No viewing card is required. Viewing is free. Click here for more information.
Click HERE to see the Freeview channel listing (not satellite).
Note that cheap Freeview receivers do not incorporate an RF modulator so you must use a Scart lead to connect. The very cheap ones have only one Scart socket, making it awkward to record programmes. We stock Freeview receivers with TWO scart sockets AND an RF modulator. If your TV has no Scart socket or if you want to pipe the Freeview programme to a bedroom, you need an RF modulator. Buying a Freesat receiver with an RF modulator built-in is cheaper and less messy than buying one separately.
Can I receive terrestrial Freeview at my UK location?
Click HERE to find out
Do I need to buy a Freeview TV?
No. You can plug a Freeview receiver into an ordinary TV set.
If I buy a Freeview TV, will I be able to record programmes from it?
Possibly, but, in most cases, you will only be able to record the programme that you are actually watching so the TV has to be left switched on. If you want to watch a different programme you will need to connect a separate Freeview receiver to your VCR. A better choice might be a "Freeview PVR". This is a Freeview receiver with a Hard Drive built-in. Recordings are saved to the Hard Drive for playback later. You can erase them after watching or transfer them to a VCR or a DVD recorder if you wish to keep them. We stock Freeview PVRs. (Currently my wife uses a Humax 9200T PVR).
Top Up TV (terrestrial)
With a suitable terrestrial Freeview receiver and a TopUpTV viewing card, it may be possible to watch additional programmes. Viewing currently costs around £8 per month. For more information please visit www.topuptv.com
Free To Air (FTA) satellite
Means you can receive the programmes with a simple digital satellite receiver and a suitable size of dish with universal LNB fitted and aligned. You don't need a viewing card or Conditional Access Module (CAM). In the case of FTA programmes broadcast from the satellites at 28.2 degrees East of south (28.2'E), you can use ANY Sky Digibox or any other Digital satellite receiver. All BBC and ITV programmes are FTA. (CH4 is also now FTA). Viewing is free.
Freesat
The BBC partnered with ITV to launch a free-to-view digital TV service transmitted by satellite in spring 2008. You can buy a suitable "freesat" receiver from us and in many High Street stores. It can be used with your existing Sky dish system. NO subscription is required. Please see more information click here.
Free To View (FTV) satellite or Freesat (fromSky).
As FTA but, in the case of FTV programmes broadcast from the satellites at 28.2 degrees East of south (28.2'E), you will need a Sky Digibox and suitable viewing card to watch SKY3 and a few other programmes in addition to the FTA channels. (At the time of writing, FTV cards are available direct from Sky; see "Freesat" below. If you have one, you will be able to watch these programmes with ANY Sky Digibox). You can buy a second-hand Sky Digibox for as little as £20.
A "Free To View" card is simply a Sky card (dark blue, yellow house outline) but with one big difference: the phone number on the back (if it was issued by the BBC) is 08700 500 744. This card gets you SKY3, CH4 and FIVE (and all the Free To Air channels like BBC and ITV). Later FTV cards issued by Sky (from October 2004) have the number 0870 8500033 on the back.
If there's any other number on the card, it may not be a FTV card but maybe Sky or Zee TV or something else and could be turned off at any time if the original owner reports it stolen.
(A common scam on Ebay is for a person to cancel his Sky subscription then sell his Digibox and card. The card will continue to work as a FTV card for a while but IS NOT GUARANTEED. It could stop working at any time if the card is reported as stolen).
If you cancel your Sky subscription your card will become a Freesat card. You will continue to receive SKY3, plus BBC, ITV, CH4 and FIVE and all the FTA programmes.
Note: CH4 is now broadcasting FTA and can be tuned in via "Add Channel" in the Sky Digibox menu, without needing a viewing card at all. Channel "Five" is also now FTA.
Can I therefore receive BBC and ITV at my location?
YES if you are in or near the UK and your dish has a clear view of the satellite. If you are well outside the UK then Click HERE to find out the required dish size.
Sky Digital via satellite
As above. You can receive the programmes broadcast from the satellites at 28.2 degrees East of south (28.2'E). You will need a Sky Digibox and suitable viewing card to watch Sky programmes (SKY3, CH4 and FIVE are also included as well as all the FTA channels such as BBC and ITV).
Can I receive Sky Digital at my location? YES if you are in or near the UK and your dish has a clear view of the satellite. If you are a long way outside the UK then, even if you can't receive BBC and ITV, you may be able to receive many of the Sky Digital programmes with a suitable size dish.
Sky-Plus (Sky+)
Sky plus is a special Sky Digibox which incorporates a Hard Drive and two tuners so that you can record one programme while watching or playing back another. This record/play system will not (currently) work without a Sky viewing card costing a minimum of £10 per month.
Sky High Definition (Sky+HD)
Sky+HD is a special Sky+ Digibox which includes a decoder to handle High Definition pictures that can be displayed (via a HDMI connection lead) on a suitable HDTV. The record/play system will not (currently) work without a Sky viewing card costing a minimum of £10 per month. The encrypted HD programmes will not be displayed unless you pay an additional £10 per month. (BBC-HD is not encrypted). ITV-HD can not currently be displayed by a Sky+HD Digibox.
FreeSatFromSky
BskyB announced the launch of a new marketing campaign on 22nd October 2004 in which they will install a satellite dish and Sky Digibox with a card for a one-off payment of £150. This is identical to the FTV system (above). You can phone 08706 061111 to order the installation of a dish, Sky Digibox and FTV card which will get you all the Free To Air programmes available from the Sky platform, plus SKY3, CH4 and FIVE. The cost is £150 inclusive.
There is also an option to phone the number and buy for £20 inclusive just the Freesat card.
You may be read a legal notice telling you that you must not use the card outside the UK. (However, it will work outside the UK of course). Sky often quote a delivery time of "3 days" for the card but some people have received theirs next day. The card is guaranteed for 3 years. There is currently no official limit on the number of cards (I know someone who has ordered five) but you'd better be ready with a good excuse if you need more than one. You have to call Sky to get the card activated in your Digibox. (Just for the record, the number on the back of the card is 0870 8500033).
You can also phone the above number and get a free information pack posted to your UK address without speaking to a human being.
See the Freesat/FTA programme listings HERE (may not be up to date).
Phone connection for FreeSatFromSky?
Not required and not mandatory but if you have the £150 installation "we will connect the Digibox to your phone line if a socket is available unless you ask us not to". Obviously a phone connection will let you make use of the Interactive Services and I'm fairly sure that you will be able to pay to watch Pay Per View movies, although, curiously, the Sky information doesn't push this point.
(Although everyone refers to Sky's system as simply "FreeSat", this is a registered trademark of the BBC).
Can I record Sky Programmes on my VCR?
Yes but you can only record the programme that you ae watching. If you want to watch a different programme you would need to use a separate Sky Digibox or get a "Sky-Plus" Digibox (Sky+) which has a built-in Hard Drive and works like the Freeview PVR mentioned above. You may have to pay Sky a monthly fee to use this recording facility.
Sky Multiroom
BskyB will supply additional "multiroom" viewing cards for (at the time of writing) £10 per month extra subscription. These can be used in additional Sky Digiboxes to give you independent programme choice in each room. The Digiboxes can be new or used. You can get them installed by Sky or buy them independently. You will need a suitable multi-output LNB on your dish. A quad-output LNB will give you four outputs for either four standard Sky Digiboxes or two SKY+ boxes (or a mixture). Make sure you get the correct LNB for your dish. An "OCTO" LNB will provide eight outputs.
How Many Cards?
You can have up to four cards per household.
Card won't work
A viewing card has to be "paired to its receiver" before it will work. If your Sky Digibox is connected to a phone line you can try "New Installation" in the on-screen menu to do this. If it doesn't work you'll have to phone Sky. Note that card activation can take up to three days!
A viewing card has to receive a "refresh" signal periodically (about once a month). If the card is left out of the Digibox or if the Digibox is not receiving a signal, the card will miss its refresh signal and will no longer allow you to view the channels that you are paying for (does not affect FTA channels). You must leave the card in a working Sky Digibox for up to three days so that the card receives its "refresh" signal.
A Freesat/FTV card will work in *any* Sky Digibox.
A Sky viewing card will work in *any* Sky Digibox except for the "Premium" channels.
If the phone number on the back of the card is 08700 500 744 it was issued by the BBC. The BBC no longer issues these cards and there is no way to activate them because their serial numbers are not on Sky's database. Consequently, if you have one of these cards whic has never been activated then its only use is as an ice scraper or a plastic filler applicator.
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