Are there any working Freesat boxes out there?

[CeilingCat]

My old Sky Digibox (even older than the TiVo) seems to be playing up, it stops responding to the remote until I unplug it for 10 minutes then it is good for a day or two before it locks up again.

I worry that buying a similar Sky box it will be nearly as old as the 15 year old lump I am using atm. So hoping for some advice...

Is there a modern Freesat box out there that works, ie that isn't second hand?

If I go the ebay Sky box route, would a sky+ work ok and can I still use my expired sky card to get channels?

Worst case, I could get a TV antenna installed and maybe use Freeview.

Edit to add: This seems to have a SCART connector http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/p ... 462323.htm

[mrtickle]

Not sure about Freesat or Freeview boxes, as I've only ever used Sky boxes with mine. To answer your Sky+ question, yes, any Sky+ or Sky+HD box will be fine (but check it has a SCART socket as some very new ones may not!) and your expired Sky card will serve as a freesat-from-Sky card (ie, to give you your correct BBC1 region on channel 101). Needs to be left in the card slot and powered on for up to 48hrs to be "woken up".

[CeilingCat]

Thanks, well that opens up the range quite a bit if I can get a sky+ box.

Time to get looking I guess.

[mrtickle]

and now that I'm back home... here are the IR codes to select during Guided Setup. The extra Sky button is very useful in case the digibox is in standby. Use "slow" for maximum reliability.

Code: Select all

Manf    No Sky button   Sky button
----    -------------   ------------
Grundig 20000         = 20014 (repeating digits, unreliable, avoid)
Grundig 20006         = 20016 (use this for normal Sky digiboxes)
Pace    20010         = 20017 (use this for Sky+/HD digiboxes)
Sky     20006         = 20016 (use this for normal Sky digiboxes) [copy of Grundig codes]
Sky                   = 20057 (for Sky Radio - sends extra leading zero for Radio channels)
Sky                   = 20058 (for Sky Radio with a Sky+/HD box - sends extra leading zero for Radio channels)



So for the main lineup, you should normally use either 20016 or 20017.