Sony digibox

[daveyjay]

My mum has got an ancient Sony Sky digibox (VTX S750-U). The thing has been on the blink for yonks and now does`nt come on at all. I think there is a problem with the part of the circuitry that actually switches the thing on (I don`t really have a clue about these things - can you tell?). When you plug it in, there is a really high pitched noise coming from it, as though it`s trying to power up. The last time I got it to come on, the high pitched noise disappeared, which makes me think that this is something to do with the problem. Anyway, does anyone know anything about this particular unit? I spotted a second hand, more up to date Skybox in a local shop the other day - would my mum`s Sky card work in a different box, or would she need to get a new card? Lastly, are there any other Satellite boxes that I can buy that can receive everything that a Sky box can? I`ve tried the Humax Freesat box on my mum`s existing dish but it does`nt receive everything that the old Sony unit can (when it`s working).

 

[Big Aura]

get a cheapo second-hand one on fleabay. If your mum is a sky subscriber (and not just watching free-to-air channels via a sky box) also call sky and see if they'll do a box upgrade deal...

 

[daveh75]

The sony STB's were very good,but quite scarce in their day. But it isn't really worth the hassle or the expense of being repaired so as BigAura suggest's just seek out a second hand one on ebay or the like, or see if sky will do a deal for a new one if your mum's still a subscriber. She wont need a new viewing card if you get a new box,but you will need to phone Sky to get them to pair the old viewing card to the new box.

 

[daveyjay]

Thanks for the replies, chaps. Thing is, my mum no longer subscribes to Sky, this is the problem, she just watches the free to air stuff, but there seems to be more free to air stuff using the Sky dish and Sony unit than there is using a Freesat box, for instance. So, if I get her a second hand receiver, we`ll have to contact Sky to get her old card paired with it? I`m thinking Sky won`t want to know because she`s not a subscriber.

 

[daveh75]

daveyjay:So, if I get her a second hand receiver, we`ll have to contact Sky to get her old card paired with it? I`m thinking Sky won`t want to know because she`s not a subscriber. Yeah your right Sky wont pair the old card if she no longer subscribes and just watches the FTA stuff. So if you get another Sky box you'd have to contact Sky and get them to supply a FTA card about £20 IIRC.

Though tbh, I'd stick with the Freesat box, if you use it in both Freesat and non-Freesat modes you'll get most of what's available on sky.

 

[daveyjay]

Yeh, I know what you`re saying, DaveH, but it`s the stuff that you can`t get on the other boxes that my mum wants to watch i.e. the religious stuff. I`ve tried to get her to use a Humax Freesat box - 'look mum, if you get yourself a nice new flat screen tv, you can watch alot of your favourite programmes in HD'. 'Yes, but what number is Billy Graham on?' etc etc...In all fairness, if that`s what she likes, that`s what she likes and I could only find one religious channel using the Humax, and it was`nt the one that my mum likes watching. Doh! Are there any other satellite boxes out there? Something that really draws in the channels.

 

[daveh75]

There are lots of FTA receiver's available but i think you'll have the same problem as it sound's like the particular channel you're after is platform specific i.e only available on sky, otherwise the Freesat box would receive it in non-freesat mode as it is basically an FTA receiver when in non freesat mode.

 

[daveyjay]

Oh right, my options are rather limited, then. It would appear that it`s just the good people at Sky who want spread the word , I wonder why that is. There has to be a sociological/political answer there somewhere, but we won`t get into all of that. Don`t know how I`m going to break the news to me mam, though...

 

[daveyjay]

Just to let you know, it`s working again now. Very odd. I brought the unit to work the other day with the intention of dumping it, thought I`d give it one more go - plugged it in and, whadda you know, it came on. So I thought, if it comes on when there are no leads plugged into the back, then maybe it`s a problem with the leads that are plugged in when it`s in situ. Took the thing back to my mum`s, plugged it in, pressed the on button, and on it came! I then plugged in the sat dish cable and the machine/tv scart - everything fine, and it`s worked perfectly ever since. Maybe someone can explain what the problem was, but I think that, sometimes, these things have a mind of their own.