Pay for new freesat card

[Sneal36]

I signed up with sky for 1 year & cancelled when the year was up,I was told I'd get to keep the box & get to enjoy freesat then I lost itv1 so phoned sky which they told me I need to phone freesat when I phoned freesat I was told I'd need a new card but would have to pay £20.maybe I'm being a bit over the top with this but doesn't free mean you pay nothing plus I pay a tv licence so why am I having to pay extra charges
can anyone tell if they have had the same problem & what the answer would be as still have no itv1

[Buenchico]

I'm confused!

At one time there were two types of 'free' TV from the Astra satellites which Sky use. There were 'free to air' (FTA) channels, which were unencrypted and could be picked up through any satellite receiver. There were also 'free to view' (FTV) channels, which were encrypted, so (although you didn't need to pay a subscription) you had to have a valid viewing card to receive them. Gradually all FTV channels have changed over to FTA. (The only doubt seems to be regarding the 'Five' group. They've issued press releases stating that their signals are now unencrypted but one contributor to AB still states otherwise). So you shouldn't need to buy a £20 'Freesat from Sky' card to view any channels (with the possible exception of the 'Five' group). Your old Sky card should still work.

My confusion comes about because ITV1 is definitely not 'FTV'. It's 'FTA'. Paying £20 for a card isn't going to solve your problem. Go into the menu of your satellite receiver and look for a 'retune' option (or something with a similar name, such as 'rescan'). With a bit of luck that should be all that you need to do.

Chris

[Sneal36]

Thank you chris I'm just as confuesed as you are but I will try to retune the channel an. See what happens

[AlBags]

Yes ... I state otherwise .. and it is correct.
If you are watching "Sky's" satellite broadcast to watch certain channels, for the moment, one still needs a viewing card to see those few channels.
Never mind if the channel is "terrestrially free" If Sky relay it, they can do all sorts of thing .. like soft-encrypt it.

Most sky boxes used as Freesat will not even display ch5 and a few others in the channel line up until a card is installed.
Best one is the old blue one .. This one ...

http://www.satandpcgu...esources/skycard3.jpg