Sky+ Information and Advice

How to get Sky+

• New and Existing Customers: Get a Sky+ HD box for free if you take out Sky's HD service (Otherwise £49). Order Sky+ online at www.sky.com.
  
  

Weekend appointments are available. There's no subscription charge to use the Sky+ box as long as you remain a Sky subscriber.

For more details about Sky+, and to order, go to the Sky+ site (or Sky Ireland).

Got a question?

Thinking of getting Sky+, and have a question? Contact us

Sky+ is available directly from Sky Digital and requires installation by a Sky installer. Your Sky dish will need to have two cable feeds run from the Sky dish to the Sky+ Digibox. Normal Sky installations only require one cable feed from the satellite dish LNB, but as the Sky+ box has two tuners (to allow simultaneous viewing and recording of different channels), then two feeds from the dish are required.

Like standard Sky boxes, the Sky+ box must also be connected to a UK phone line.

It is possible to buy a Sky+ box from sources other than Sky, and fit them yourself. This is not recommended by Sky - it means fitting an LNB to your dish (if the LNB doesn't have multiple outputs), then running satellite cabling from dish to box. Sky has to enable Sky+ on your set-top box (not always easy if you didn't get the box from them).

We also understand that Sky Technical Support won't support systems that they didn't install. For most people, it's a lot easier to get Sky's professional installers to do the work. More details on Sky+ installation at sky.com.

If you're already got a standard Sky digibox, you can upgrade to Sky+. Here's a few things you should know:

• A standard Sky box needs a single feed from the satellite dish. The Sky+ service uses two feeds. not one - this because the Sky+ service allows you to watch one channel while recording another. The Sky installer will connect an extra feed from the dish to your Sky+ set-top box. More on installation
• Sky+'s functionality is free as long as you subscribe to any Sky package, otherwise you'll need to pay £10 a month to use the Sky+ box to record and pause shows and films. More

For more, or to arrange Sky to visit and upgrade you to Sky+, go to sky.com/shop/boxes/sky-plus-box.

To check which version of software your Sky+ box is using, press the Services button, System Setup menu, option 5, 'System Details'.

You can force your Sky box to update to the latest software. The procedure can be found on the Satcure FAQ.

Please visit our Sky forum to discuss version numbers and updates.

You can connect a video or DVD recorder to your Sky+ box, to allow you to copy shows recorded on your Sky+ box... great for archiving series recorded using Sky's Series Link. Note that there is a restriction on copying Sky Box Office movies.

Connection to a recorder can be made in one of the following ways:

• Connect from one of the Sky+ box's two SCART sockets to the recorder, then set the recorder to record from its Line In or AUX input, and it should be able to see and record the output of your Sky box
• A lower quality option is to take the RF aerial output from the Sky box using a standard aerial cable and connect it to your recorder. You then need to tune the DVD recorder to the Sky box channel. More in our Modulator FAQ

For help with connecting to a recorder, see our Connection page. Also, see our How to record Sky TV page.

Exporting of recordings as data files from your Sky+ box is not supported - you can't copy off recorded programmes from Sky+ onto a USB stick, or stream off content as data to a PC. Here are your options:

1. Connect via SCART to a stand-alone DVD recorder - see our FAQ entry
   
   
2. Consider something like the Neuros OSD or the Pinnacle PVT Video Transfer, which lets you copy video content to a USB device.
   
   
3. Connect the output of your Sky+ box to a PC via a PC TV tuner, and record onto PC that way. See our TV on your PC page
   
   

If you're looking to get Sky+ in other rooms of your house, the options are as follows:

• You can connect the output of your Sky digibox to another TV set in the house by running an aerial cable from the Sky box RF output aerial socket to another TV telly. You can also use a Sky Link so you can change channels from the other room. More on this in our Sky in other rooms section.
• To save running cables, you may be able to use a wireless video sender.
• Consider getting a second Sky Digital box - Sky Multiroom

Using the Sky+ PVR features, such as recording, live pause and series link, is free as long as you subscribe to one or more Sky packages. Details of Sky's packages here.

If you want to use the box's PVR features, but you don't want to subscribe to a Sky channel package, you can use the Sky+ features with the Free to Air channels on Sky, however it'll cost you £10 a month to use Sky+. You can set up the Sky+ subscription by contacting Sky Customer Services.

From Sky's T&C's: "Sky+ subscription required to use Personal Video Recorder features of Sky+ (free for Sky TV subscribers while you subscribe to any Sky digital package, otherwise £10 a month). "

The technically-minded out there may be interested in the hidden "installer" menu, that can be accessed by pressing 'Services 4 0 1 Select':

There are different versions of Sky+ boxes, from different manufacturers. If you know the dimensions of a box we're missing, please contact us. Here are the box dimensions that we've managed to find so far :

• Pace Sky+ Box v1: 422 x 355 x 74 mm
• Pace Sky+ Box v2: 380 x 243 x 72 mm
• Sky 160 Box: 360 x 242 x 68.5 mm
• Thomson Sky+ HD Box: 380 x 245 x 80 mm
  
  

Sky Digital customers get subsidised installation and digibox provided that the box has a connection to your phone line.

More on this subject in our Sky FAQ

Yes - if you wish, you can buy your own Sky+ or Sky+ HD box, rather than having to go through Sky. Note that you will only be able to use Sky+ if you have two separate feeds from the satellite dish, and if your dish has an LNB with multiple outputs - as Sky+ uses two tuners, not one.

Once connected, you'll need to call Sky Customer Services to get them to "marry" the serial number of your new Sky+ box to your Sky viewing card, and then to activate the Sky+ subscription.

Obviously Sky won't activate a box unless they're happy that it's legitimate, and you're not misusing your account by swapping cards between boxes on a regular basis.

If you're brave, you can pick up a Sky+ box cheaply on Ebay, but you'll not have much comeback if your second-hand Sky+ is damaged, the disk drive or power supply don't work, or Sky refuse to activate it for use on your card.

The Sky+ box supports 'padding' or recording offset, which is a setting that allows you to add a number of minutes of recording time to the scheduled start and end times of programmes. This means that the box will record a few extra minutes in case a program doesn't start quite when it should, for occasions where the Sky+ EPG isn't aware of overruns. To edit the settings, press Services, and select Sky+ setup.

We've been asked what the Sky Plus cabling (running from dish to box) looks like. Here's a photo of our Sky+ cabling. Click the image for a larger photo.

Other problems: If your remote is working, but isn't controlling the Sky box, you may have pressed the TV button, so press Sky and try again. The only thing that can wrong with a remote control, is if it's left without batteries for more than ten minutes - if this happens, it may lose it's ability to control the TV. It should still be fine with Sky / Sky+ though. To get the remote to work with your TV, you need to enter a four digit number that matches your TV manufacturer. Refer to your Sky / Sky+ manual for these codes.

Replacement: Spare remote controls for Sky and Sky+ are available from Partmaster.

You could also consider a universal controller, that can handle multiple remote control devices. Our favourite is the Kameleon, a stylish multi-device controller that can learn commands from an existing handset, or use one of a number of special codes for situations where you don't have the original. Also, take a look at the range from Argos or

To earn their green credentials, Sky's set-top boxes have Auto Standby, and switch off to conserve energy. This happens when the box has not been used for two hours after 11pm. Before going to Standby, you'll see the message "Sky+ is about to go to standby - press backup to continue".

Recordings will still record when in standby. If you want to turn this feature off, press Services, go to 'Sky+ Setup' and set 'Auto Standby' to 'Off'

There's a hidden feature to allow the (advanced) user to perform a tidy on the Sky+ hard disk, which is a little bit like a PC defragment. Many users have found that this has recovered valuable disk space.
If you want to give it a try, you need to go into the Installer menu (see above, and select the "Sky+ Planner rebuild" option).

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