[mythtv-users] [UK Question] Fed up with Sky!

[Justin Hornsby]

You can certainly pick up a lot of free to air (FTA) channels with a
dvb-s card & regular dish pointed at Astra BUT - not all of the
channels available on Freeview (namely Channel4, Channel5, FiveUS &
FiveLife) are free to air.  What that means is, although 'freeview'
channels are available on satellite, not all of them are unencrypted.
The likes of Channel Four are encrypted and are only viewable with a
STB fitted with a Sky viewing card.  These are what is known as 'Free
To View' (FTV) channels. Such viewing cards are available from Sky
without a subscription for a one-off fee.

There is currently no 100% _legal_ way to decrypt such transmissions
in order to use them with a PC based PVR like MythTV because Sky do
not make a suitable CAM available, nor do they licence 3rd parties to
sell them.

Channel Four etc are aiming to switch to FTA 'ASAP' which means
they'll be usable with a DVB-S card & MythTV.  This is most likely to
happen when the providers' current 'Sky EPG' contract expires.

If you take a look at Freesat's website, or www.wickonline.com/fta.htm
you'll see that above what's already available on Freeview in the
clear (FTA) - there's nothing worth watching unless of course you love
shopping, constant-repeat musak or religious channels ;)  The 'extra'
channels you get aren't really worth having and you don't even get the
full complement of channels that Freeview carries.