I have cancelled subscription to sky, so I am only receiving normal free-to-air channels. However I have bought the sky+ box with integral hard drive so why can I not use this for the recording of normal channels which I pay my TV licence for ? It comes up as not available. Is there a way of unlocking record, live pause or schedualed recording on these boxes ???

Dazzer, March 2007

Hi Again,

The reason no one has ever chalenged the SKY for preventing the SKY Box to record the Free To Air Chennels is very simple: Murdoc owns the justice.

Siamak, September 2017

Hi All,

I have been reading tis for a while and I am wondering why use SKY Box at all, I have Humax Youview with 500Gb HD in one place and Humax Freesat with 500 Gb External HD in another and both with no contract what so ever, and can record what ever you want and when ever you want it so why even bother with SKY?

Cheers
Siamak

Siamak, July 2017

i hate sky

dangerfluff, March 2013

Can any1 please help me i aint no phone line how do u it and can u stil do it

peter, March 2013

will i onley get box office or will it activate all chanels ie discovery etc and witch side ov the battery dose the red and black go on ?? is it the plus side and do the wires emain connected to the battery ?? thanx anthony .

ant pen, June 2011

I know this is an old thread but it is still a relevant topic: Just to make things clear - when you pay for a Sky+ subscription, you are paying for the functionality of Sky+. Once cancelled, they take that functionality away. However, the gripe that people have is that the BOX is designed to be able to record, pause, rewind, etc. People are not asking to receive anything illegally, or to receive extra Sky+ options for free. They simply want the box to do what it is designed to do as a piece of hardware. Let's play devil's advocate here and so that okay, since Sky are providing the front end for the EPG (which they, incidentally, don't own) then they can reserve the right to restrict the functions of said front end. Fair enough, but once you cancel your subscription you can't even MANUALLY record on your box, basically rendering any and all recording functions useless. To manually record on the box that you own and have paid for is absolutely nothing to do with Sky and they have no right to restrict you from doing so. It's just a pity that no-one has tested this in court yet, as this would seem to be in clear violation of the law

Meme, April 2011

the phone line trick works ok but beware sky have a limit on your box office purchases and once that limit is reach it will stop working and if you in the future upgrade or have to have a new box you will be charged once the viewing card is re-registered

jimbo, February 2011

Please read these instructions very carefully before trying anything.
Remember, I am only showing you how this method works. It is then entirely up to you if you wish to use it for your benefit.

Please note that Sky are fully aware of this loophole but they also can't fix
it, at least not for the foreseeable future anyway.

Here are the step-by-step instructions:

1.) Locate the phone line that goes into the back of your Sky box.

2.) Cut through this phone line anywhere (3/4 the length down would be ideal).

3.) Strip the casing from the phone line, and you will see 4 wires. Keep the black and the red on one side and the green and the yellow on the other side.

4.) Discard the other bit of the phone line that goes into the wall. You
can keep it if you want but you will not need it again.

5.) Now you need a 9V oblong battery.

6.) Put the red and black wires on one side of the battery and the green and yellow wires on the other side of the battery.

7.) Hold them in place and go to your Sky Box Office film channel or any Pay Per View channel that you are wishing to view. Put in your pin as usual, and you will find that you are not charged. If you get a "please connect telephone" message - you haven't stripped the wires enough or the battery is dead.

8.) After the screen clears you need to disconnect the wires from the battery. You will never need to reconnect your phone line back to your TV. Sky updates through the satellite on your house and not through the phone line like some people think.

free man, July 2010

Is it possibe to unlock my old (unregistered) sky+ box with a different sky card that is registered with a new account.

Chris, November 2009

I have been able to record for a couple of years without subscription. I did dissconnect my phone line.
The box now says unable to record live tv.
Any ideas?

Tel290766, September 2009

there is a way to unlock all sky+ channels for free, but theres on 50/50 chance you can be caught by cops!! (police)

darren, September 2008

I also have this problem. This is a disreputable commercial policy from sky and surely will lead to many thousands of sky boxes ending up in land fill or having drastically shortened useful lives. What an environmental disaster from Sky!

Roger Crawford, June 2008

This may sound a little pedantic but Sky does not supply free-to-air programmes via its satellite signal. They come via the Astra satellite system which is nothing to do with Sky. Sky rent space on it for their programming (Sky One, Movies, Sport) just like everyone else (BBC, ITV Ch4, Ch5, etc.). Sky only supply the EPG (Electronic Programme Guide) which most (not all) programme suppliers pay to have an entry in. The EPG entry is linked to the Sky+ system.

To answer the OP's question the reason that you have to pay Sky ten pounds per month in order to use the Sky+ system to record Free to Air programmes is because Mr Murdoch tends to do what ever he can get away with in order to make money.

t, March 2007

The Sky+ box was recording from the satellite signal, whereas you now want it to record from the aerial antenna which it just wasn't designed to do.

There is a Sky+ subscription fee that needs to be paid if you don't get a certain amount of premium channels, which according to the link below will allow you to record the free-to-air programmes Sky supplies via its satellite signal, without having to pay for anything else.

http://www.satcure.co.uk/tech/page18.htm

Stephen Horwood, March 2007