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Thread: sky+/HD modding idea/legalitys?

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    Yer Da Sells Avon! keef247's Avatar
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    Question sky+/HD modding idea/legalitys?

    basically I have sky with sky bb and I wanted to upgrade to skyHD but I don't really want the pointless "10" channels or whatever you get as I think it’s a bit of a rip off considering the price and fact that they aren’t streaming all the channels in HD which imo would make it worth it...

    so what I was thinking was.... can I buy a sky+ or HD box (preferable for looks and style and the fact that it comes with a bigger hdd and surely a newer more up to date interface) and just plug it in and away I go with recording and scheduling my TV recordings (which is what I want it for as I hate having to conform to when something’s on etc I just want to setup a week or a day at a time of recordings and come back and it’s all done and watch it at my leisure)

    now I know that that skyHD needs apparently another cable or so the guy said when he setup my standard sky dish/box but seeing as I won't be wanting/using/subscribing to the HD channels surely I won't need it as I take it one have one cable for HD channels and 1 for SD channels right?

    so is this legal to go out and buy a sky+/HD box and use it myself surely as long as I'm not setting it up to illegally receive the extra HD channels or ones I haven't subscribed to then I'm not breaking the contract/law?

    also... as I won't be buying the box direct from sky what hdd's work in upgrading them and is it easy to format/upgrade the box yourself or would I be better off buying a guaranteed kit off eBay? - people seem to think that you can have it upgraded in minutes so surely there's not much in it from upgraded a pc hdd so that would be a pointless rip off over buying the right hdd and doing it myself?

    What is the max size hdd that I can put in a sky+ or a skyHD box? I'll probably end up going for a sky+ box as their cheaper but if I can't put say 750 GB in then I'll probably go skyHD... I'd like a terabyte so I can store stuff that I want to watch again....

    seeing as I've never had a + or HD box I take it you can keep your content for ever and endlessly re-watch it or does it delete itself after 24/48 hours of watching it for rental reasons or whatever?

    Sorry this sounds so confusing and longwinded I'm ill and was trying to get it on paper so I can check back on it later.
    If I've totally confused you I'll try and some it up again in short...

    I want a sky+ OR HD box off eBay to upgrade to a big hdd to record all my sky TV onto... is it legal and do I need any special formatting tools? Will I be able to hook it up to my laptop to do this or will I need to plug it into a pc's ide/sata on the mobo to format it? (This isn't a problem if so)

    OH and WILL sky know and ban/cancel my subscription if they find out? as I know you can't use a different router because they send tests and stuff up your line etc to check and I've only just had sky installed for barely a month so it's still plugged into the phoneline (why and does it matter and could/should I unplug it and why?)

    Cheers guys again sorry for confusion...

    oh and if this is in the wrong place please move it admin (sorry)
    Last edited by keef247; 18-04-2008 at 07:09 PM.
    Quote Originally Posted by Fraz regarding the Apple Mighty Mouse
    I just got so fed up with this thing for it's crappy erratically working scroll ball and poor right-click detection that I just threw it against a wall and it exploded.

    Good riddance. Wish I'd done it about a year ago.

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    Senior Member JimmyBoy's Avatar
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    Re: sky+/HD modding idea/legalitys?

    the mac address of ur sky box might be registered with sky and only that might work, im not sure if thats true but im sure sky have measures in place to stop this, as with everything though im sure its possible to get around this, it proberly goes against something in your contract though

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    Re: sky+/HD modding idea/legalitys?

    I don't have Sky myself, but from what I've picked up from friends who do :

    Quote Originally Posted by keef247 View Post
    now I know that that skyHD needs apparently another cable or so the guy said when he setup my standard sky dish/box but seeing as I won't be wanting/using/subscribing to the HD channels surely I won't need it as I take it one have one cable for HD channels and 1 for SD channels right?
    I'm fairly sure even the SD Sky+ boxes use 2 cables - one per tuner - so unless you fit the other cable you will only have one active tuner (meaning you can't record one program and watch another live)

    Quote Originally Posted by keef247 View Post
    so is this legal to go out and buy a sky+/HD box and use it myself surely as long as I'm not setting it up to illegally receive the extra HD channels or ones I haven't subscribed to then I'm not breaking the contract/law?
    If you get a Sky+ box through the normal channels, you will pay a higher subscription to acount for the fact that you have multiple tuners. I would have thought that unless you only use one tuner (which would ruin half the point of the box) then you would definitely be in breach of contract...

    Quote Originally Posted by keef247 View Post
    seeing as I've never had a + or HD box I take it you can keep your content for ever and endlessly re-watch it or does it delete itself after 24/48 hours of watching it for rental reasons or whatever?
    Depends. Most programming I don't think is time limited, but I think some of the premium sport and movies needs to be watched within a time limit.

    Quote Originally Posted by keef247 View Post
    OH and WILL sky know and ban/cancel my subscription if they find out? as I know you can't use a different router because they send tests and stuff up your line etc to check and I've only just had sky installed for barely a month so it's still plugged into the phoneline (why and does it matter and could/should I unplug it and why?)
    It's part of the contract that you need to have the box connected to your phoneline. As well as some of the interactive stuff, it allows them to gather stats on your viewing habits.

    So to sum up, you may be able to get away with it, but to use the box in anything resembling the way it is intended will mean explicitly breaking the terms of your agreement. Whether they would find out I don't know, but if they did I would be very surprised if they didn't take some form of action.

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    Yer Da Sells Avon! keef247's Avatar
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    Re: sky+/HD modding idea/legalitys?

    cheers that provides quite an insight...
    anyone who's done this on here?
    Quote Originally Posted by Fraz regarding the Apple Mighty Mouse
    I just got so fed up with this thing for it's crappy erratically working scroll ball and poor right-click detection that I just threw it against a wall and it exploded.

    Good riddance. Wish I'd done it about a year ago.

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    Re: sky+/HD modding idea/legalitys?

    Yes, just use a splitter

    If you just want a Sky+ box then get one and see if they will give you it for free also you can mod it and up the hard drive space quite easily.

    If you have a HD TV I would just swollow the prie and get Sky HD. Its fantastic.
    □ΞVΞ□

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    Re: sky+/HD modding idea/legalitys?

    i'll have a look for the HDD upgrade page i was looking at yesterday, tomorrow (im too knackered to do it now). send me a PM and it'll remind me to have a look for you. IIRC the upper limit is now 1TB but it's still uncharted terratory. i'll find the list of known compatible HDDs and non compat HDDs aswell tomorrow

    edit: i'm not writing loads ATM but i'll put the links up so you can have a peruse

    common q's

    tested HDD's

    if you decide to go for an upgrade kit

    a little bit more

    even more

    and IIRC the pace sky+ pvr3 boxes are the best of the bunch (avoid amstrad like the plague!!!)

    identifying the digiboxes

    more suggested HDD's

    if you've already got sky+ you can keep you're recordings when upgrading

    and thats all the ones in my history that are any good.
    morlocks is good for any info sky wise

    and thats it for now. i'll have another search in the morning
    Last edited by TAKTAK; 20-04-2008 at 01:43 AM.
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    Yer Da Sells Avon! keef247's Avatar
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    Re: sky+/HD modding idea/legalitys?

    cheers taktak your a legend... as for skyhd its not really amazing... amazing would be having all channels broadcasted in HD... 10 channels doesn't really cut it for an extra 10quid a month considering their mostly boring channels... I mean bbc 1 in HD wow:O ... :| boring... music videos in HD would be cool etc and movies but you have to pay for them aswell so yeah... The box itself though is very nice i aggree but I want optimum storage...
    Last edited by keef247; 20-04-2008 at 06:40 PM.
    Quote Originally Posted by Fraz regarding the Apple Mighty Mouse
    I just got so fed up with this thing for it's crappy erratically working scroll ball and poor right-click detection that I just threw it against a wall and it exploded.

    Good riddance. Wish I'd done it about a year ago.

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    Agent of the System ikonia's Avatar
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    Re: sky+/HD modding idea/legalitys?

    just change the hardisk in your current record for a bigger on, there is no sense in paying £200 for a box when you can't use any of the features ?

    There is no skyHD interface update, and the software releases for the HD box are HD box / service ONLY.
    It is Inevitable.....


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    Re: sky+/HD modding idea/legalitys?

    You can get a sky+ box for free now anyway, and it does't cost any extra per month if you have any of the premium packs... since it'll cost nowt might as well just do it the proper way.

    On a side note, there is nothing stopping you installing it all yourself, but if you dont tell sky that you are going to use the sky+ functions, then you are breaking the contract and are liable to get cut off.

    You can use an HD box without the HD functions and still be within the contract.

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    Re: sky+/HD modding idea/legalitys?

    AFAIK, Sky have to enable Sky+ features on your account, the box will not automatically give you the features.

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