No more Prime installs

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GerryAttrick

55 posts

Master Geek

Topic # 40990 8-Sep-2009 17:40
I wanted to install a Sky decoder at our beach bach. To save having to trek backwards and forwards with my Decoder ( and because I wanted to get better reception on Prime and TV3) the local installer told me to ask for a "Prime Install" but to be prepared for the runaround as Sky hate these installs. Well it turns out SKY has now handed this install off to Freeview who want over $400 for it - presumably with a Freeview decoder. I am not interested in Freeview so I declined their "kind" offer and just got the Satellite Dish installed. Now I need to get a 2nd Decoder but it seems they are not that easy to get. Just in case one does come up on TM is there any model that I should steer clear of? Oh and if anyone has one they want to offload then think of me

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Biddle Corp

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Reply # 254120 8-Sep-2009 17:45
Are you wanyting a decoder for Sky or Freeview? If you're after a Sky decoder your odds of tracking one down aren't high. Trademe won't list Sky decoders since they are all owned by Sky and not the end user. As for a Freeview decoder there are plenty of options, there are plenty of options well under $100 on Trademe. If you hunt around you'll get one for ~$50 2nd hand. *Need help configuring your Linksys ATA or IP Phones for New Zealand? Check my blog post

boby55

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Reply # 254128 8-Sep-2009 18:43
Like Sbiddle said, you won't easily find a sky decoder as they are SKY owned.... a quick search on TM and a new freeview sat stb is $80ish http://www.trademe.co.nz/Electronics-photography/TVs/Satellite-receivers/auction-240215942.htm Professional IT Solutions at an Affordable Price.

GerryAttrick

55 posts

Master Geek

Reply # 254137 8-Sep-2009 19:36
Thanks for the info. I never thought of that being the reason there are none listed. I'm not interested in Freeview - I just want the Sky decoder so that I can get better reception and the odd Sky programme thats worth watching without having to dismantle my decoder and pack it off to the beach every time I go down. Originally I was told that I could get the Prime install for around $150 but it seems Sky has woken up to that. Now they expect me to pay $400 to Freeview for a decoder & install....dream on! Before I go that way I'll get an LCD TV with Digital Tuner like I have at home as I am sick of all the various boxes. If I want SKY itself I could go the Multi Room option but as I would only use it about once every 6 weeks thats not cost effective. I got the Sky dish installed and I'll just keep waiting for a decoder. Someone off to Oz will probably be happy to get some $$ for their old decoder. I was bit slow as my neighbour cancelled his Sky sub and I could have had the decoder for free. Now I am looking for one he has decided to reinstate his Sky subscription..sigh thems the breaks.

sbiddle

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Reply # 254147 8-Sep-2009 19:50
GerryAttrick: Thanks for the info. I never thought of that being the reason there are none listed. I'm not interested in Freeview - I just want the Sky decoder so that I can get better reception and the odd Sky programme thats worth watching without having to dismantle my decoder and pack it off to the beach every time I go down. Originally I was told that I could get the Prime install for around $150 but it seems Sky has woken up to that. Now they expect me to pay $400 to Freeview for a decoder & install....dream on! Before I go that way I'll get an LCD TV with Digital Tuner like I have at home as I am sick of all the various boxes. If I want SKY itself I could go the Multi Room option but as I would only use it about once every 6 weeks thats not cost effective. I got the Sky dish installed and I'll just keep waiting for a decoder. Someone off to Oz will probably be happy to get some $$ for their old decoder. I was bit slow as my neighbour cancelled his Sky sub and I could have had the decoder for free. Now I am looking for one he has decided to reinstate his Sky subscription..sigh thems the breaks. The reason there are no decoders around is the fact Sky will hunt you down to get the box back. If you don't return it you'll find the debt collectors onto you very quickly. That's not to say there aren't decoders around but to be honest over the past couple of years Sky have tightened their procedures and as a result there would be vey few, if any, that are now not accounted for. If you neighbour cancelled and didn't return his decoder would have found Sky hounding him for it and expecting him to front up with the decoder. You don't own a Sky decoder, Sky do. The $150 installation was also a subsidised price but $400 is also a lot more than you'll pay anywhere to get a dish install. *Need help configuring your Linksys ATA or IP Phones for New Zealand? Check my blog post

GerryAttrick

55 posts

Master Geek

Reply # 254250 9-Sep-2009 06:58
I agree - $400 is way OTT. especially as I am not interested in the Freeview box. We got the Sky installer to do the install at way less. I can understand Sky position - they want all the income they can get. I'd be happy to buy a decoder from them if the price was right but I am not interested in paying a monthly sub when the decoder would be laying idle for 40 weeks of the year. It might be a different story if the SKY programming was brilliant but to me its a bit Ho Hum and most of the time I use it at home to watch the Free to Air channels with the odd PPV stuff when it appears. I could go the PC & software route but thats illegal. At least I do pay for a Sky sub at home and would be just using the card in another location. Its not like I am trying to use it in 2 places at the same time. Never mind I'll find one in the end. Thanks for your input though

old3eyes

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Reply # 254261 9-Sep-2009 08:27
GerryAttrick: Thanks for the info. I never thought of that being the reason there are none listed. I'm not interested in Freeview - I just want the Sky decoder so that I can get better reception and the odd Sky programme thats worth watching without having to dismantle my decoder and pack it off to the beach every time I go down. Originally I was told that I could get the Prime install for around $150 but it seems Sky has woken up to that. Now they expect me to pay $400 to Freeview for a decoder & install....dream on! But you said in your original post "I wanted to install a Sky decoder at our beach bach. To save having to trek backwards and forwards with my Decoder ( and because I wanted to get better reception on Prime and TV3) the local installer told me to ask for a "Prime Install" but to be prepared for the runaround as Sky hate these installs." so that tells me you want Freeview not Sky. So as others have said What's wrong with a FV sat system?? Regards, Old3eyes

clevedon

607 posts

Ultimate Geek

Reply # 254262 9-Sep-2009 08:32
Why not just get multiroom, you could / would use it 52 weeks of the the year then, and very convenient in the bedroom I must say. For 83 cents a day - cheap as chips.

tstone

223 posts

Master Geek

Reply # 254264 9-Sep-2009 08:41
I'm not sure I understand the 'problem' here. If you want TV3 and Prime then you need to get Freeview. If you want Sky then you need a Sky decoder, which you can never 'own'. There is no (legal) shortcut to getting Sky. Edit: Clevedon's idea above is probably the cheapest option to get Sky.

wellygary

1247 posts

Uber Geek

Reply # 254292 9-Sep-2009 10:41
+1 on the confusion of what you really want here. If you want better reception of FTA channels (1,2,3, prime etc,) then freeview is your solution If you want to watch Sky at the beach, the best options are to get multiroom, or take your decoder withyou, ( it is not a great hassle to do. Also to use a "LCD with Digital decoder" will rewire being within freeview HD UHF reception, and a resonable UHF aerial (a dish wont do it) The "prime install" seen by people as a way to get a dish they could get freeview off at a cheaper price, now with prime on freeview, Sky understandably have no incentive in subsidising these installs.

GerryAttrick

55 posts

Master Geek

Reply # 254413 9-Sep-2009 16:55
tstone: I'm not sure I understand the 'problem' here. If you want TV3 and Prime then you need to get Freeview. If you want Sky then you need a Sky decoder, which you can never 'own'. There is no (legal) shortcut to getting Sky. Edit: Clevedon's idea above is probably the cheapest option to get Sky. Simple really I have a TV that picks up TV1 & TV2 fine. TV3 is not so good and Prime reception is terrible. Sometimes when I am at the beach there may be a Rugby Game on that I'd like to watch on SKY. I can get by with TV1 & 2 but it would be nice to get better TV3 reception and Prime and to also watch SKY Sport. However I can't be bothered wheeling my TV cabinet out, unplugging the decoder, loading it in the car and then plugging it in at the beach for the little use it would get. Its fine for the 2/3 weeks I spend there on holiday but its a pain for just a couple of days If I had another decoder then I could simply take my Sky card, use it in at the beach. The Sky card is paid for, its not being used at home if I have it at the beach and I'd be happy to pay for another decoder from Sky provided the price was not exhorbitant It might only be 83 cents a day for multiroom- cheap when you say it that way but I can't see Sky giving me 83 cents a day for the days I don't use it :-) In any event I already have my existing decoder cabled to other rooms and with only 2 of us in the house there does not seem to be any arguments about which channel to watch. I'm resigned to the fact there is no legal way to do what I want

clevedon

607 posts

Ultimate Geek

Reply # 254429 9-Sep-2009 17:17
GerryAttrick: It might only be 83 cents a day for multiroom- cheap when you say it that way but I can't see Sky giving me 83 cents a day for the days I don't use it :-) In any event I already have my existing decoder cabled to other rooms and with only 2 of us in the house there does not seem to be any arguments about which channel to watch. Our mulitroom is not so much about arguments on what channels to watch but being able to go to bed and have another decoder there to use without having IR repeaters / extenders etc to control Sky at the other end of the house, and takes all of five minutes to disconnect it and chuck it in the car when we go away as well. But mighty handy even if you want to watch something the other person doesn't. Don't dismiss it till you try - you can always give it back, as said above - you haven't had to buy it in the first place.

CYaBro

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Reply # 254431 9-Sep-2009 17:18
I was out at a customers place a few weeks ago replacing a TV at their beach house. They are doing exactly what you want to do so don't know why Sky won't play ball?? My customer has two Sky decoders at their home in Auckland (multi-room subscription) and they also have two Sky decoders at their beach house (no subscription). When they head up to the beach house they just take one or both Sky cards out of the decoders at home and put them into the decoders when they arrive at the beach house. Computer Repairs Whangarei Remote Support

GerryAttrick

55 posts

Master Geek

Reply # 254566 9-Sep-2009 22:03
CYaBro: I was out at a customers place a few weeks ago replacing a TV at their beach house. They are doing exactly what you want to do so don't know why Sky won't play ball?? My customer has two Sky decoders at their home in Auckland (multi-room subscription) and they also have two Sky decoders at their beach house (no subscription). When they head up to the beach house they just take one or both Sky cards out of the decoders at home and put them into the decoders when they arrive at the beach house. Thats EXACTLY what I wanted to do and what the installer told me was available. However it now seems that SKY have discontinued the option and if you want a Prime install they refer you to Freeview so that you can get it via a Freeview box. OK as far as it goes but it does not give me the option to access the odd Sky channel. Must have only recently been discontinued as the installer was not up with the play himself

freitasm

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Reply # 254572 9-Sep-2009 22:08
I understand you want TV3 and Freeview reception - which are both on Freeview. I also understand you want the occasional Sky program, therefore you want Sky. But you say: GerryAttrick: Now they expect me to pay $400 to Freeview for a decoder & install....dream on! Who are "they?" The installers? Because Sky doesn't sell Freeview. Also a Freeview decoder can be very cheap - as pointed out under $100 on Trade Me. So it seems the installers are trying to make the money out of it? Anyway, back to the topic... Mauricio Freitas (Geekzone Admin, Devil's Advocate, my blog, technology disclosure, my tweets, Web Performance Optimization) Geekzone Price comparison \| Amazon Kindle order page \| How to get the best out of Geekzone \| New Zealand IT Jobs \| Geekzone News \| Jinglebugs

singingbird

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Reply # 255076 11-Sep-2009 20:08
this mite fit the bill, it does, both SKY TV(nds) and freeview http://jayx.co.nz/receivers.html Ferguson with NDS (sky) - Iredeto CAM and Freeview $190, i dont know what the quality of the unit would be, but for 190 its a idea, to help out with your sky at bach idea.

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