"I heard recently that the EU says I can use my Sky card in Spain?"

One of the most asked questions that I have been asked in the last few weeks is "Can I use my Sky card in Spain? I heard on the news the EU says I can!"

A lot of these questions have been asked since it was reported in the last few weeks, that a pub landlady in the UK in in court for using a non Sky card in the UK for watching live UK football in her pub,and that the EU has rules that you can use other pay tv viewignc ards in other Eu countries.

This is not the case and there has, as at February 19th, no offical or legal ruling on this case.

Some of this has been covered on our forum

Pub landlady vs Premier League and TV Broadcast rights across Europe

but still I get send emails and phonce calls saying "It is now OK to use a Sky crd in Spain!".

Well, firstly, nothing has changed at all with these recent reports.

It is still against the terms and conditions of your Sky contract to use a Sky card outside the UK and ROI. Sky will, if they know that the card is being used outside the UK, turn the card off. But many expats and holiday makers do bring their cards to Spain to use.

You can still bring and use your UK Sky card in another Sky receiver Spain. All Sky cards will work in ANY Sky receiver for the "6 mix" channels, however you will not be able to watch the Sky Sports and Sky Movie channels, as these are sky box specific and will only be available on the sky cards "home" box. This is one of the times you may see the on screen message "This is the wrong card for this set top box"

This is not really a problem if you dont have the sports or movie channels, although there are some non Sky boxes that do, at the moment, read and open the Sky Sports and Sky Movie channels.


The Sat and PC Guy - Digital Satellite and Terrestrial Installations and Maintenance for the Costa Blanca

or the forum

The Sat and PC Guy FORUM - Digital Satellite and Terrestrial Installations and Maintenance for the Costa Blanca

ITV1 +1 test frequencies for Sky and Freesat receivers

ITV1 +1 is back up and testing again.

Currently test are in the clear - ie with no sky card required, and are currently showing some ITV1 regions as part of the test.

But expect them to be encrypted and require a Sky card very soon.

ITV1+1 Frequency
11.973
V
27500
2/3

Tagged as 7450, 7455, 7560, 7565, and 7570

These are on a south beam frequency so reception with a sky card should be easily available in Spain on a small satellite dish when ITV1+1 is officailly launched.....assuming they do not change anything between onw and then.

ITV1+1 was originally scheduled for launch in October 2009, but was delayed.


EDIT / UPDATE:

The above information, posted in March 2010, is now out of date, as ITV1+1 launched on 11th January 2011 on Sky and Freesat. Click here to go to the post about ITV1+1 regions and frequencies and channel numbers for Sky and Freesat


For more information please visit:

The Sat and PC Guy - Digital Satellite and Terrestrial Installations and Maintenance for the Costa Blanca

or the forum

The Sat and PC Guy FORUM - Digital Satellite and Terrestrial Installations and Maintenance for the Costa Blanca

This is the wrong card for this set top box

Some people have been experiencing an on screen message on the television screen informing them that "This is the wrong card for this set top box" on their Sky digibox with the new white Sky card.

This problem is easily resolved.

The new white sky viewing card is in hibernation, after not getting the "keep alive" signal from the satellite.


Where as the old yellow house Sky cards displayed the "To subscribe to this channel call ....)" on all scrambled channels if they were hibernating, the new white sky viewing cards display "This is the wrong card for this set top box", irrespective of whether the card be in the right box or not.
 
As before, leaving in a sky box that is turned on and receiving channels shold wake them up over the next 24 hours.
 
The same message will also be displayed if you are using your Sky Subscription card in another sky box, and trying to watch the Sky premium channels, like Sky Sports or Sky Movies.


For more information please visit:


The Sat and PC Guy - Digital Satellite and Terrestrial Installations and Maintenance for the Costa Blanca

or the forum

The Sat and PC Guy FORUM - Digital Satellite and Terrestrial Installations and Maintenance for the Costa Blanca