How to get Channel 5 and BBC One HD on your Irish EPG and Recordable!!

muffler

Storm 10 wrote: »

Guys if I purchase the blue card to put the other channels into the main line up so I can record them where does it push the Irish channels, like what numbers do they go to at present RTE 1 is 101.

The only change you will find is that you will have two 103's and two 105's. Something like below.

101 = RTE1
102 = RTE2
103 = ITV (whatever region)
103 = TV3
104 = TG4
105 = Ch5
105 = 3E

106 and onwards will be the same except the empty slots in the "170's" will now have 5*, 5USA etc

It wont affect recordings as its the actual channel names you will be recording and not the channel numbers.

200motels

muffler wrote: »

The only change you will find is that you will have two 103's and two 105's. Something like below.

101 = RTE1
102 = RTE2
103 = ITV (whatever region)
103 = TV3
104 = TG4
105 = Ch5
105 = 3E

106 and onwards will be the same except the empty slots in the "170's" will now have 5*, 5USA etc

It wont affect recordings as its the actual channel names you will be recording and not the channel numbers.

Of course if you don't want BBC1 and 2, ITV, and channel 4 on the same numbers as the Irish channels just delete them from your other channels, because we already have BBC1 on 141 BBC2 on 142, ITVHD on 178 and CH4 on 135, that's what I've done.

eddiem10

Just wondering......Can the "card trick" be done in reverse? In other words, can someone in the UK use an Irish card to enable Irish channels on their EPG?

greendom

eddiem10 wrote: »

Just wondering......Can the "card trick" be done in reverse? In other words, can someone in the UK use an Irish card to enable Irish channels on their EPG?

The irish channels are subscription channels so I'd very much doubt it tbh..

gtg60

Ha ha, isn't it great though, for once (with the aid of the card trick) we actually have a larger channel line up than our UK counterparts :D

muffler

gtg60 wrote: »

Ha ha, isn't it great though, for once (with the aid of the card trick) we actually have a larger channel line up than our UK counterparts :D

Plus free ESPN for anyone who has the sports package

jca

galtee boy wrote: »

No, I tried it ! You must change the region in Sky+ app on your phone, to a UK region to get ITV on the phones epg and then when you select record, it tells you that your Sky ID is registered in Rep of Ireland.

On a side issue, I wonder is there anything that can be done, to stop the "card trick" being undone and the epg reverting to ROI epg only, every time there is a power cut, or you have to unplug the box for some reason ?

I use one of these on the sky box. http://www.amazon.co.uk/APC-Power-Saving-Outlet-700VA/dp/B002RXED6A/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1333054520&sr=1-1 I have an elcb that has a mind of its own. Most annoying when it trips for no reason.

galtee boy

jca wrote: »

I use one of these on the sky box. http://www.amazon.co.uk/APC-Power-Saving-Outlet-700VA/dp/B002RXED6A/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1333054520&sr=1-1 I have an elcb that has a mind of its own. Most annoying when it trips for no reason.

How does it work ? Is it mains powered itself and recharging internal batteries ? If there is a power cut, do the batteries kick in immediately, because the Sky box only needs to be off for a few seconds to lose the card trick, and when the batteries do kick in, how long will they last, before draining down ? Sorry for all the questions, but need to know these things, before thinking of buying one.

Soarer

Morning all.

I did the card trick last night, and didn't quite get everything I was expecting.

When I put in the UK card, I get everything inc. Ch4 HD, Channel 5 HD, and ITVHD. However, when I remove the card and put back in the Irish one, Channel 5 HD and ITVHD are gone, but hannel 4 HD remains.

I also don't get doubling up on certain numbers, eg. 101 is only RTE1, but that's probably a good thing.

Any ideas?

gtg60

You won't get channel 5 HD on the card trick, sounds like you have not tuned in the correct variations.

muffler

Soarer wrote: »

Morning all.

I did the card trick last night, and didn't quite get everything I was expecting.

When I put in the UK card, I get everything inc. Ch4 HD, Channel 5 HD, and ITVHD. However, when I remove the card and put back in the Irish one, Channel 5 HD and ITVHD are gone, but hannel 4 HD remains.

I also don't get doubling up on certain numbers, eg. 101 is only RTE1, but that's probably a good thing.

Any ideas?

See my post above (652). You will have RTE on 101 but do you have an ITV region on 103 and Channel5 on 105?

Check 178 for ITV HD and look up in the region of channel no's 970 - 990 to see if you have ITV1 there somewhere. Sorry, cant recall the exact channel number.

greendom

Soarer wrote: »

Morning all.

I did the card trick last night, and didn't quite get everything I was expecting.

When I put in the UK card, I get everything inc. Ch4 HD, Channel 5 HD, and ITVHD. However, when I remove the card and put back in the Irish one, Channel 5 HD and ITVHD are gone, but hannel 4 HD remains.

I also don't get doubling up on certain numbers, eg. 101 is only RTE1, but that's probably a good thing.

Any ideas?

It depends on what line-up you have in Other channels - if you have BBC1 & 2 in other channels (a good idea if you choose a region other than NI) they will be on 101 & 102 along with RTE 1 &2 when you do the card trick.

jca

galtee boy wrote: »

How does it work ? Is it mains powered itself and recharging internal batteries ? If there is a power cut, do the batteries kick in immediately, because the Sky box only needs to be off for a few seconds to lose the card trick, and when the batteries do kick in, how long will they last, before draining down ? Sorry for all the questions, but need to know these things, before thinking of buying one.

Its mains powered with an internal batery similar in size to a motorbike battery. When the mains is on the battery is kept fully charged. It kicks in immediately the power is turned off. I've never tried to switch off the power to see how long it lasts so can't answer that question.A sky box in standby would consume very little I'd imagine it would last for a few hours.

gtg60

I've been using the card trick for over 6 months now, I've had to redo it TWICE, first time was a software update, second was a power failure. Redoing the trick takes 2 whole minutes, hardly a big deal.

jca

Does anyone know what's actually happening in the sky box while doing the trick? Even more important, can sky prevent it with a simple software update?

JDxtra

jca wrote: »

Does anyone know what's actually happening in the sky box while doing the trick? Even more important, can sky prevent it with a simple software update?

It's just a software bug they haven't spotted. Yes, it can be easily fixed with an update. I can't imagine it being a high priority for them to fix though.

jca

I've noticed the sound out of synch on my itv1 hd. Am I using the wrong frequency for my London region card.

MBSnr

jca wrote: »

I've noticed the sound out of synch on my itv1 hd. Am I using the wrong frequency for my London region card.

It's a known ITV HD thing....
You could try adding the other Granada ITV & STV HD into other channels and then switch to viewing them, if you notice an issue with the ITV HD London one, to see if it makes any difference.

galtee boy

jca wrote: »

Its mains powered with an internal batery similar in size to a motorbike battery. When the mains is on the battery is kept fully charged. It kicks in immediately the power is turned off. I've never tried to switch off the power to see how long it lasts so can't answer that question.A sky box in standby would consume very little I'd imagine it would last for a few hours.

Thanks for that info, certainly a useful bit of kit.

I've been using the card trick for over 6 months now, I've had to redo it TWICE, first time was a software update, second was a power failure. Redoing the trick takes 2 whole minutes, hardly a big deal.

gtg60, I'm like you, probably two or three times in six months, I've lost the card trick due to power cuts etc, I was just thinking if it happened while on hols and had something important set to record from ITV etc, but I suppose its only tv and life would still go on ! Its just that you know in the back of your mind, you cant really trust the card trick 100%.

twinklerunner

jca wrote: »

I've noticed the sound out of synch on my itv1 hd. Am I using the wrong frequency for my London region card.

It's been like that for ages .. and has been discussed at length over on Digital Spy, http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1629990

gtg60

galtee boy wrote: »

I was just thinking if it happened while on hols and had something important set to record from ITV etc, but I suppose its only tv and life would still go on !

Apparently this happened to somebody already and as the program was already in the planner it still recorded, you could test it out yourself and let us all know

jca

MBSnr wrote: »

It's a known ITV HD thing....
You could try adding the other Granada ITV & STV HD into other channels and then switch to viewing them, if you notice an issue with the ITV HD London one, to see if it makes any difference.

I tuned in the Granada and STV into other channels. No problems with lip sync on both these channels. I deleted the bad Itv HD but no ITV HD on the epg after doing the card trick. Tis hard to win:rolleyes:

MBSnr

jca wrote: »

I tuned in the Granada and STV into other channels. No problems with lip sync on both these channels. I deleted the bad Itv HD but no ITV HD on the epg after doing the card trick. Tis hard to win:rolleyes:

Yeap no EPG entries as your London card ignores the other two... Best add all 3 in other channels and then if you can't watch it live on STV/ITV Granada you can always chance recording ITV HD London with it's lip sync issues.

jca

It's a small price to pay tbh. I'm happy to have all the itv's c5 and the others on the epg. I mind that uk card like gold dust. !!!

jca

gtg60 wrote: »

Apparently this happened to somebody already and as the program was already in the planner it still recorded, you could test it out yourself and let us all know

I tried it today. I set the box to record something on CH5+1 at 14:55 I can't remember what it was. I then reboted the box using the Irish Sky card and left it to see what happened. No joy, recording failed. Keep on learning eh?

gtg60

Ah, that's a pity, I'm sure somebody had posted that it had worked before. You live and learn...

jca

Any programs that are set to record on the extra channels stay in the planner and will be recorded if the extra channels are put back in time. In other words they don't have to rescheduled.

MartyM

200motels wrote: »

Of course if you don't want BBC1 and 2, ITV, and channel 4 on the same numbers as the Irish channels just delete them from your other channels, because we already have BBC1 on 141 BBC2 on 142, ITVHD on 178 and CH4 on 135, that's what I've done.

Am I reading this correctly? You receive ITVHD on 178 of the Irish EPG without any card trick?

The other channels listed, I do have on my Irish sub EPG but not ITVHD.

jca

MartyM wrote: »

200motels wrote: »

Of course if you don't want BBC1 and 2, ITV, and channel 4 on the same numbers as the Irish channels just delete them from your other channels, because we already have BBC1 on 141 BBC2 on 142, ITVHD on 178 and CH4 on 135, that's what I've done.

Am I reading this correctly? You receive ITVHD on 178 of the Irish EPG without any card trick?

The other channels listed, I do have on my Irish sub EPG but not ITVHD.

No itv hd is not on the Irish epg,bbc1 hd and bbc hd are on it.

200motels

MartyM wrote: »

Am I reading this correctly? You receive ITVHD on 178 of the Irish EPG without any card trick?

The other channels listed, I do have on my Irish sub EPG but not ITVHD.

With the card trick.

jca

Anyone getting problems with boxes locking up and blue screening while using "tricked" epg? A friends box I've done the trick on has locked up a few times (not immediately but a few days later). It can only be sorted by unplugging from the mains.

twinklerunner

jca wrote: »

Anyone getting problems with boxes locking up and blue screening while using "tricked" epg? A friends box I've done the trick on has locked up a few times (not immediately but a few days later). It can only be sorted by unplugging from the mains.

It's working fine here

LifeBeginsAt40

twinklerunner wrote: »

It's working fine here

Same here, no problems with the 'trick'. Fingers crossed.

jca

LifeBeginsAt40 wrote: »

twinklerunner wrote: »

It's working fine here

Same here, no problems with the 'trick'. Fingers crossed.

My own two boxes are fine too. It just seems to be with this particular box.

christo82

Does anyone know if a software update will prevent doing the card trick in future? I need to do an update to try and fix a problem with Anytime.

JDxtra

Possibly in the future, yes. Not now though. You also can't prevent updates from installing in the future. That's the beauty of OTA (over the air) upgrades!

jca

You should be ok with the latest software. One of my boxes is running the latest software and the card trick is working fine.;)

greendom

I suppose Sky don't mind. it will only become an issue if the Irish tv companies make a fuss about it.

gtg60

greendom wrote: »

I suppose Sky don't mind. it will only become an issue if the Irish tv companies make a fuss about it.

I'd say (hope) it never will be an issue, I mean it's not like we're getting any channels that we can't tune into 'Other Channels' anyway, in fact I'd say it has proven a bit of a Holy Grail for Irish Sky customers, we've always cried out for all the FTA channels on our EPG and with the recent (surprise) addition of Channel 4 HD what more could we want?

I'd say, if it's ever to be knobbled, then it will be the same way it came about in the first place, a software/ programming error!

Long live the card trick!

energy1942

jca wrote: »

You should be ok with the latest software. One of my boxes is running the latest software and the card trick is working fine.;)

Do you mean the card trick is working on the new beta epg software update?

gtg60

jca wrote: »

You should be ok with the latest software. One of my boxes is running the latest software and the card trick is working fine.;)

Oh yeah, I never noticed this post, can you confirm everything is working, recording etc, thanks!

warlikedave

Heres some details in regards to the beta and the card trick...

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056604763&page=3

http://www.irishupandcomingmusicscene.tk/wordpressgaming/?p=201

blackius

Will a wales region new sky free sat from sky work with this trick?
Can you remind where to get one new locally in the uk again and the cost?
If not wales, can you confirm which regions do work.
As this is a long thread,could someone link to the latest valid instructions if anything has changed or confirm that the link in the last post is the position for the old HD epg aswell
Thanks

gtg60

Welsh card will work, first post of the thread contains the instructions, just remember to find and store the correct channel variations in 'Other Channels'

Dr. Nick

Due to power cut I lost the channels (as happened plenty of times before) but this time it didn't work, when I put in my regular sky card I only got the UK channels, as if the UK card was still in......am I doing something wrong?

I'm always careful to follow the instructions carefully, not sure why this has happened now after all this time?

gtg60

Dr. Nick wrote: »

Due to power cut I lost the channels (as happened plenty of times before) but this time it didn't work, when I put in my regular sky card I only got the UK channels, as if the UK card was still in......am I doing something wrong?

I'm always careful to follow the instructions carefully, not sure why this has happened now after all this time?

This has happened to me a few times while testing cards, re-insert the Irish card and start changing channels, it'll freeze at some stage and when it comes back it'll be on channel 999 and you'll have the UK/Irish EPG mix.

dogtoffee

Dr. Nick wrote: »

Due to power cut I lost the channels (as happened plenty of times before) but this time it didn't work, when I put in my regular sky card I only got the UK channels, as if the UK card was still in......am I doing something wrong?

I'm always careful to follow the instructions carefully, not sure why this has happened now after all this time?

give the chip on your Irish card a wipe and try again I had same fault last time I cut the power

Dr. Nick

Worked a treat, thanks lads.

jca

Sorry everyone. I did the forced update about six weeks ago. The box is running the standard epg + trick not the beta epg. Not looking good for the trick with the new epg I fear. It's our own fault for putting it on a public forum. We aren't breaking any laws as the channels are fta but the paddys getting more channels than our uk counterparts will not do at all.

Cantona's Collars

Tried this earlier and got no Ch5 or ITV on 105 & 103,got ITV HD though but found that the box wouldn't scroll through favourites and then refused to scroll through the EPG.
Ended up resetting the box back to the Irish EPG.

Any thoughts on what might be causing the problem?