Old box channels not quite right...

[Radio59]

I came across an old Sky+ HD box a few days ago, including its own viewing card which has never been used in another box, and thought I'd put it into my home "office" as a free to view receiver.  

So, I ran another cable from the dish, booted it up and it seems to be working...well -ish. 

The only issue seems to be that Sky News, which should be on 501, is showing "501 Sky News HD" on the banner, and there's a "For Your Information" box across the screen basically saying there's a problem with the viewing card and to go to skyviewinghelp.com (which doesn't exist) for help. Same with Sky Arts (130) – there may be other channels but I haven’t looked as yet.  

I'm able to get these SD channels in the 800 range, but I'd prefer to have them on their proper SD channel numbers like my other 2 Sky receivers, which are also free to view.

Everything else seems to be ok apart from this issue with some channels.  I think I may have had an HD sub on this box at some point before going abroad for a year, and it seems to be remembering this with regard to only the channel numbers.

Can this be reset to SD channels only?

I’ve tried various things from this end, like removing the viewing card, powering down overnight and booting up again, but even without the viewing card Sky News HD is still on 501.

I have viewing cards in the other two receivers but really don’t want to try either of them in this box in case it screws them up.

Can Sky send a “cancel” signal over the air to sort this?

Any suggestions welcome.

Thanks

[GD1]

@Radio59  If it's just the FTA channels you want simply remove the card, any FTA channels that are still in SD will default to the correct channel number such as Sky News SD on 501

FTA channels don't need the viewing card present.

You may need to reboot the old box after you remove the card.

[Radio59]

Yes, it's just the FTA channels I want, but unfortunately removing the card doesn't work 😞

I had the card out of the box overnight and the box turned off at the mains, but when it was started up again this evening Sky News 501 was still showing as HD, as was Sky Arts....

Each channel showed the For Your Information box "Insert your viewing card".

The following pics are for Sky Arts:  Card not inserted

Card inserted

Ch 130 With card

Next, card in or out - no difference, just the channel number is wrong.

 

Ch 826 with/without card

[GD1]

@Radio59  It may take a few days to default to SD if a reboot doesn't do anything.

If I've missed any steps one of my fellow Super Users who have Sky+HD will be able to advise further.

[Radio59]

Ok @GD1 , thanks for your replies.

So what would you suggest?

a) Leaving the box on with card?

b) Leaving the box on without card?

c) Turning box off with card in and rebooting after a few days?

d) Turning box off without card in and rebooting after a few days?

I'm leaning towards opening the upstairs office window and dropping it onto the driveway 🙂

[GD1]

@Radio59  Option B should work.

[Radio59]

Ok, I'll give it a try. 

Thanks

[Radio59]

No, still showing Sky News HD on 501 after a couple of days.

It's also showing a black screen for maybe 3 or 4 seconds when I change channels between an HD and an SD channel, which is quite annoying...

Not sure anything's going to happen, so it might be a call to Sky, if it's even worth trying that.

[TimmyBGood]

---

@Radio59 wrote:

 so it might be a call to Sky, if it's even worth trying that.

---

If you are using the box as an FTA receiver without a subscription their incentive to assist is somewhat limited....