Hooking up a Sky+ box

I'm going away next week and want to be able to record more of the Babeshows than my current set-up (a VCR) will allow - a mere eight hours on LP.

My sister upgraded to HD a few months back and has a spare Sky+ box that she says I'm welcome to, so my question is this: If I take the Sky+ box home and simply swap it for my current (standard) Sky box, will it be ready to record any of the fta channels it receives? I fully appreciate that without a twin LNB I won't be able to record two channels at once, but will I be able to record to its hard drive by simply using it as a fta receiver, and without having to contact Sky to tell them I've switched boxes?
Note: I understand I won't receive the non-fta channels without getting my card switched over by Sky - I'm only concerned here with the fta channels.

I hope that makes sense.

Thanks in advance.

You've lost me

(17-11-2009 02:40 )D-BOI-92 Wrote:  You've lost me

Thanks. That's a great help.

Not sure what the answer is stan but l want to do the same thing with a sky+box so would be interested to know the answer.

For Sky plus to record ( including FTA channels ) you have to be a current subscriber to any Sky package. The exception to that is if you have a Pace 3100 Sky+ box.

You will have to call Sky when you switch boxes.

(17-11-2009 03:09 )vostok 1 Wrote:  For Sky plus to record ( including FTA channels ) you have to be a current subscriber to any Sky package. The exception to that is if you have a Pace 3100 Sky+ box.

You will have to call Sky when you switch boxes.

Thanks, vostok.

I am a current subscriber, so does the last part of your answer ('You will have to call Sky when you switch boxes') still apply, or is that only the case if you're not a subscriber?

(17-11-2009 03:22 )StanTheMan Wrote:  I am a current subscriber, so does the last part of your answer ('You will have to call Sky when you switch boxes') still apply, or is that only the case if you're not a subscriber?

To Fit Sky+ you will have to do a few things first. You will have to hav at least a dual LNB on you dish as you need to have two cables running from your dish to your Sky+ Box. This is because of the way the box works and enables you to be able to watch one channel and record another. When you`ve done this, then you have to contact Sky. This is for two reasons, one is so that they can match up your viewing card to the box. They just ask you to go to the menu page and read some details off that to them. The other is so that they can activate the Sky+ system. It won`t do it automatically. Even after you`ve given Sky the details to match your card, you still have to ask for Sky+ to be activated. It`s no problem and the few times I`ve done it, it takes less than 2 minutes for everything to be up and running, even though they`ll tell you it could be upto 24 hours.

(17-11-2009 08:15 )robby Wrote:  To Fit Sky+ you will have to do a few things first. You will have to hav at least a dual LNB on you dish as you need to have two cables running from your dish to your Sky+ Box. This is because of the way the box works and enables you to be able to watch one channel and record another.

But I've already explained that, for now, I'm not bothered about recording two channels at once. Are you saying you HAVE to have two cables, even if you only intend to record from the currently selected channel?

I just want to be able to record as much of Live960 as possible onto the hard drive, for the three days I'll be away.

(17-11-2009 03:22 )StanTheMan Wrote:  

(17-11-2009 03:09 )vostok 1 Wrote:  For Sky plus to record ( including FTA channels ) you have to be a current subscriber to any Sky package. The exception to that is if you have a Pace 3100 Sky+ box.

You will have to call Sky when you switch boxes.

Thanks, vostok.

I am a current subscriber, so does the last part of your answer ('You will have to call Sky when you switch boxes') still apply, or is that only the case if you're not a subscriber?

As Robby says above, yes you will do.

However Sky+ can still work with a single LNB/input.

You can only record 1 channel at a time and if you are recording a channel and switch to another channel you will get the "no satellite signal is being recieved" message.

However with a single LNB you may (not 100% sure) experience problems if you record different channels on different days. My best advice (if you connect Sky+) is to stick with one channel for the duration of your trip and leave the box switched to that channel before you leave. Otherwise you may return to a number of failed recordings.

With a conventional Sky box you can set a reminder and then press the "auto view" which switches channels for you. This facility isn't there with Sky+.

So to summarise:

If you want to record multiple channels, stick with your current VHS/Sky box.
If you want more than 8 hours recording on only one channel then connect the Sky+.

(17-11-2009 12:20 )vostok 1 Wrote:  However with a single LNB you may (not 100% sure) experience problems if you record different channels on different days. My best advice is to stick with one channel for the duration of your trip and leave the box switched to that channel before you leave.

Thanks, vostok. At least until I return and can spend more time getting it hooked up properly, this is exactly what I was planning on doing. As I say in the last post, I just want to try and avoid missing any of Dannie's shows and intend to leave the box switched to 960 the whole time. Do Sky+ boxes let you do manual recordings, or is that only a feature on the HD boxes?

Incidently, it's quite an old Sky+ box so I don't know what size hard drive it has, but from empty about how many hours would I get on?