[Ste0803]

okay ive been looking into this Freesat stuff and it gives 2 HD channels vs the 1 HD channel i get with virgin at the moment.

what i wanted to know is, can i ring up sky, get the dish and HD subscriptions and use this with a digital receiver card in the pc to get all the HD channels?

sorry if this has already been posted i couldnt find anything similar.

Thanks
Steve

[davemurgatroyd2]

Firstly Sky will not just install a dish and cabling and supply a card. They will only do complete install,

Secondly a Sky card although it will work in the right CAMs connected to your satellite does need to be placed overnight in a Sky digibox connected to a dish every 4 weeks or so to receive a "keep alive" signal = which no seperate CAM is capable of passing to the card.

Sky will supply a card only (they term this a "second hand contract") BUT it will need to be activated in a Sky HD box.

Finally although current Sky cards will work in Dragon, TRex and Diablo CAMs there is no guarantee the new Sky cards due to be issued in April will also work in these CAMs. There are already reports that the latest Sky Italia cards (also NDS as are the UK cards) will not work in these CAMs.

So basically if you already have the required equipment give it a try, BUT if not I would certainly not take the risk on it contibuing to work.

[Ste0803]

so if i were to get the full sky hd install and use a cam connected to the satalite then to a digital card in the pc i could receive the hd channels in theory but with the new cards coming out in april this may be stopped.

if anyone has tried this and failr or succeeded please let me know. i think i'll be going to sky anyway as they have alot more HD channels.

Steve

[davemurgatroyd2]

Originally Posted by Ste0803

so if i were to get the full sky hd install and use a cam connected to the satalite then to a digital card in the pc i could receive the hd channels in theory but with the new cards coming out in april this may be stopped.

if anyone has tried this and failr or succeeded please let me know. i think i'll be going to sky anyway as they have alot more HD channels.

Steve

The CAM is used connected to a satellite card in the PC.
But why do you want to have both an HD box and a satellite card with CAM set up to receive Sky HD? I have in the past used a pci satellite card with CI interface with a Dragon CAM plugged into the CI interface although only for SD broadcasts and it worked well with the right software for recording/viewing. I used it mainly for receivibg feeds which most other receivers at that tome had difficulty receiving.

But if you have a decent TV it does seem to be overkill to use a PC based satellite receiver as well as an HD box unless you have a specific requirement in recording programmes to BluRay etc.

[Ste0803]

i just wanted it all integrated into the same box really and i could upgrade harddrives as often as i needed and record anything from sky hd.

so from what i understand i need a S2 receiver card and a CAM to decrypt the channels would i need anything else to get this working.

i know id need to keep the skyhd box to keep the card alive every 4 weeks or so.

i think its going to work out more expensive than its worth doing it this way but i want to keep my options open.

Thanks
Steve