News & Information

Panasonic Problems

Many Panasonic digiboxes are showing a "Searching for Listings" message when the Electronic Program Guide is accessed. The problem is almost certainly due to the Panasonic reacting badly to new software updates which are happening behind the scenes. The only advice at present is to wait and see if Sky can fix the problem by sending out another software upgrade. Usually, channels can be accessed as normal by entering the 3 digit number directly from the keypad.

ITV is Free to Air

Despite some other web-sites still selling cards to enable you to watch ITV 1 and ITV 2, there is no need. All ITV channels have been free-to-air (meaning no sort of viewing card is required to watch them) since 1st November 2005. Check your Electronic Programme Guide on your SKY box, you'll see ITV1 on channel 103 and ITV2 on channel 118.
At present, if using a SKY digibox, the purchase of a 'freesat' card will allow you view to Channel 4 (channel 104), Channel 5 (105) and SKY 3 (108). These channels are not available at present to non-SKY digiboxes. However, all ITV channels are available to those with a non-SKY digibox. If you have trouble receiving these channels please contact us for free assistance.

Film 4 is now Free to Air

For those of you who like movies, Film 4 (and Film 4 + 1 which shows the same films but 1 hour later) is now Free to Air and can be received by any digital satellite receiver if your dish is aligned to Astra2. If you have a SKY Digibox then the channels can be found on 315 & 316 and no 'fiddling' will be required. For those of you without a SKY box, you will need to tune your FTA receiver with the following details :

Frequency : 10729
Polarity : Vertical
Symbol Rate : 22000

Pioneer Plasma TV's

Following the roll-out of SKY HD, there have been instances of non-compatibilty issues with certain Pioneer plasma TV's. Some customers have received a message advising that their display (the TV) does not support HDCP (the content protection facility). Please see the following statement from the SKY HD team :
Update from Sky on Pioneer/HDCP investigation
Sky has been made aware of reports of HDCP compatibility issues with some Pioneer plasma televisions when used in conjunction with a Sky HD box.
Sky and Pioneer have working together on a joint investigation with the aim of identifying the cause of the fault. This investigation found no evidence that any aspect of the Sky HD box was responsible for the issue.
Pioneer has continued to investigate the issue in collaboration with other relevant parties. Sky continues to provide support to Pioneer wherever possible but is no longer directly involved in the investigation. As a result, we don't have access to the information that the investigation provides and we regret that we're unable to provide customers with detailed updates.
Our advice to customers continues to be that they should use the component output to connect their Sky HD box to a Pioneer HD Ready screen. In addition, Pioneer has stated that once the investigation is over they will provide a free of charge repair to customers with a confirmed HDCP compatibility issue, following connection to a Sky HD Box.
Sky HD Team
Following this, a message has also been issued by Pioneer :
We are extremely pleased to announce that the counter measures for the HDCP Compatibility issue for affected customers owning G4, G5 or G6 models have been released to our Authorised Service Centres following successful testing.
Pioneer deems it unnecessary for the proposed counter measures to be implemented for unaffected customers.
All G4, G5 and G6 plasma owners can with immediate effect revert back to using HDMI when connected to a Sky HD box if they wish. However customers can, if they so prefer, continue to experience HD through the component connection.
If you are unsure how to do this Sky has provided the following as a precaution when changing the connections over, taken from the Sky HD User Guide.
Please disconnect your Pioneer equipment and Sky HD box from the mains supply before you disconnect the component cables from its rear panel. If you need to move your Sky HD box in order to do this then please ensure it is put in standby and wait at least 30 seconds after disconnecting from the mains supply before continuing.  Please do not reconnect the Sky HD box or Pioneer equipment to the mains supply until the HDMI lead has been properly connected. 
If you do reconnect via HDMI and in the unlikely event the HDCP compatibility issue does arise, w e suggest initially you press the ‘back up' button on the Sky remote, or change channels to see if the HDCP banner message disappears. Failing this please revert back to component so that you can continue watching Sky HD and contact Pioneer Customer Relations on 0870 600 1539, quoting your Pioneer reference number, if you have one or contact Sky.
Finally the satisfaction of our customers is paramount and we assure you that we continue to offer our full support.
Thanks
Pioneer HD Team

Please contact us for more information or to dicuss your requirements.