Re getting FTV card in Northern Ireland

David Branigan

I read this on Digital Spy re itv and ch4 card

Anyone know if this works Does this work?


"Tell your friend to go into Argus ( or even Northern Ireland )and buy a Sky starter pack @ £40, activate it in a sky box and send it to you in Ireland.

You can do that now, they are available and have been since last Monday the 18th.

This is a subscription starter pack, iam talking about, however when the first 14 days are up the subscription channels will cease to work, leaving the remaining FTV channels etc... ( thats the theory ) No names or address's needed"

Jungle Boy

There are a number of Sky offers that I know of...

Name : Sky Starter Pack
Cost : £39.99 from high street retailers like Woolworths, Argos, etc. Free installation & equipment.
Benefits : basically a pre-paid offer. Either 2 months of the Family Pack OR a month of Sky World. Marketed as a Xmas present.
Conditions : The usual Sky conditions apply like a minimum 12 months subscription & connection to a phone line.

Name : Free-to-View card from Sky
Cost : £20 for card only. For £150, Sky will supply a FTV card, refurbished digibox and installation. Only available via dedicated phone number 0870 6061111
Benefits : Access to ITV1, Channel 4 & five on Sky without a subscription.
Conditions : Sky will only post the card to British address. I am uncertain if the card is married to the box that activates the card so maybe the answer that Irish & mainland Europe viewers are looking for . The equipment does not need to be connected to a phone line. If you take the £20 card option & Sky need to change their encryption in the next 3 years, Sky will replace the card free-of-charge (5 years with £150 equipment installation offer). Replacement cards will stay at £20 (Sky has no inflation )

Name : New subscriber offer
Cost : 1st month's sub @ half price (except Value Pack). Free installation & equipment. Available on-line or phone 08705 800 874
Benefits : you decide!
Conditions : The usual Sky conditions apply like a minimum 12 months subscription & connection to a phone line.

David Branigan

Can the card be authorised by a digibox in Dublin

HacksawEddie

i think the cards are indeed married to the digibox that activated it. thats the case with my FTV card anyway, my bro activated it in london and sent it (with the box) to me here. it wouldnt work with my old pace box.

Jungle Boy

David Branigan wrote:

Can the card be authorised by a digibox in Dublin

Reading the instructions on the other thread

Activating your viewing card
Once your box has been installed, you can insert your viewing card - with the arrow facing up - in the slot marked Sky Viewing Card and leave it there with the box turned on.

After around 20 minutes your card should be activated. Please check that it's working and that you can access all your chosen channels.

If this still hasn't happened after two hours, please contact Customer Services.

• don't have to phone Sky to activate card?
• don't have to use installation menu (& phone line) to activate card?

It sounds like the card will activate itself when inserted in your Dublin box. The only problem I can see is if the card does not activate itself.

SPAWKER

A FTV card will work in any digibox,they used to have to be married to the box before the BBC went free to air.Also never have a phone line connected to the box when your FTV card is in it.

Jungle boy according to the news item in digital spy you need to sign a one year contract for that starter pack.
Still possible I suppose with a credit card and a uk address, that is if Sky are still accepting DD's on credit cards...

dbran

How about this for a plan!!!

Go up north
Get a starter pack from Argus
Put it in the digibox

BUT!!!!!!

Dont ring Sky...... Dont give them you special authorisation code.... dont plug in your phone..... In which case you will just have ....a FTV card ...HAPPY DAYS!!!

This will mean that your NEW card will not decode any of the mtv, sky 1 discovery channel etc. which are scrambelled but you already have with your roi card

but will STILL DECODE UTV and CHANEl 4 and 5 as these are free to uk residents by law!!!!!!!

Anyone see anything wrong with this crazy plan...worth risking €50????

Jungle Boy

As far as I am aware, the Sky Starter Pack only includes an authorisation code (for free equipment & installation) & a remote control. It does not include a viewing card which you are trying to obtain. So for your €50 all you get is a spare remote control. Like I wrote above, I believe the only way to get a viewing card for access to UTV, Channel 4 & five is option 2 : Free-to-View card from Sky.