How to convert an old Sky Digital Box into a colour bar generator

[CapLeaker]

Re: How to convert an old Sky Digital Box into a colour bar generator

No. Too much wind at times and waiting for the dish to turn. I've got a huge switch where all the dishes go to then I can just channel flick in all my rooms, no waiting required, all at the same time.

[stj]

Re: How to convert an old Sky Digital Box into a colour bar generator

i'v set stuff up like that for people, but i put all the lnb's on one dish.

[tom66]

Re: How to convert an old Sky Digital Box into a colour bar generator

So I see the Skybox boxes are being used in Euro, is it something that people can buy and used by anyone or you have to pay the fees to Government or the broadcaster?
Since you can modify it so you actually own the box then?
i have no idea how the TV broadcast being regulated over there.
Nice works room and equipment.

The box is the property of Sky usually if you're on contract...but they never ask for them back in my experience. Sometimes, you buy extras from them and so they are your property.

You pay a TV licence fee to the BBC's TV licencing arm to pay for the BBC TV/radio/online as well as some parts of commercial channels (Channel 4 educational content, for example) and some of the infrastructure. You pay this even if you subscribe to Sky.

I'm not seeing the point of broadcast TV now I can stream full HD 1080(i) from BBC iPlayer on my Raspberry Pi. Unlike terrestrial or satellite TV it doesn't break up when there's a bit of wind or rain outside.

[stj]

Re: How to convert an old Sky Digital Box into a colour bar generator

my sat never breaks up unless it's a biblical storm,
you have a poor dish / lnb / cable / tuner or you need to re-align it.
if it's sky then it's a combination of the first 3.

[michael dranfield]

Re: How to convert an old Sky Digital Box into a colour bar generator

The box is the property of Sky usually if you're on contract...but they never ask for them back in my experience. Sometimes, you buy extras from them and so they are your property.

You pay a TV licence fee to the BBC's TV licencing arm to pay for the BBC TV/radio/online as well as some parts of commercial channels (Channel 4 educational content, for example) and some of the infrastructure. You pay this even if you subscribe to Sky.

I'm not seeing the point of broadcast TV now I can stream full HD 1080(i) from BBC iPlayer on my Raspberry Pi. Unlike terrestrial or satellite TV it doesn't break up when there's a bit of wind or rain outside.

Tom, is there not a loop hole in the law that the government are trying to closed down that says you dont need to buy a TV licence unless you watch live TV , and streaming programs on I player is not live TV ?

[diif]

Re: How to convert an old Sky Digital Box into a colour bar generator

Yes, i thought the license only applies if you watch live TV, including a stream. If you only watch iplayer on catchup you do not.
They are talking about bringing in some form of ID to watch iplayer so only those that pay the license can watch it.
This is the loophole they are trying to close.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-35708623

[michael dranfield]

Re: How to convert an old Sky Digital Box into a colour bar generator

Dont know how much a TV licence is , I have never had one for over 30 years !
you dont need one are in the TV repair business and my wife pays the home one !

[vinceroger69]

Re: How to convert an old Sky Digital Box into a colour bar generator

Dont know how much a TV licence is , I have never had one for over 30 years !
you dont need one are in the TV repair business and my wife pays the home one !

It costs £145.50 for a colour and £49.00 for a black and white TV Licence ive just had to pay mine again although i now pay monthly.

[michael dranfield]

Re: How to convert an old Sky Digital Box into a colour bar generator

It costs £145.50 for a colour and £49.00 for a black and white TV Licence ive just had to pay mine again although i now pay monthly.

£49 is a bit expensive for a black and white licence and I dont know of any one who uses black and white TV these days ,cant remember last time a customer brought a mono in for repair .

[vinceroger69]

Re: How to convert an old Sky Digital Box into a colour bar generator

yes im suprissed they still sell black and white licence i bet people buy them still as saves them buying a colour one i wonder if they can detect your using a colour tv as if you have a black and white licence and the tv licensing knocks your door i guess you havnt got too let them in legally as you have a licence covering your address?

[michael dranfield]

Re: How to convert an old Sky Digital Box into a colour bar generator

Not sure how they detect these days but in CRT days they could pick up the 4.433619 Mhz subcarrier radiation , years ago when I use to sell new TV sets we had to fill in a book with customers names and addresses effectively shopping the customer who purchased a new TV and every so often we would have a visit from a licencing officer to make sure we were doing everything correctly and he said exatcley what you just said, they have no legal power of entry and if they knocked on a door and the door was not answered there was nothing they could do.

[CapLeaker]

Re: How to convert an old Sky Digital Box into a colour bar generator

on cable tv they can figure it out with a TDA and if one has cable internet, they figure it out by looking at the sent signal level and the return from the modem.

[vinceroger69]

Re: How to convert an old Sky Digital Box into a colour bar generator

just saw this from 2 years ago about 11.500 people still use black and white tvs i can remember them too as a child i was excited when we switched to a colour set.

Is it almost the end for black and white televisions? Just 11,500 households still have a licence for one - and it's a third the price of colour

Figures from the TV Licensing authority reveal a hard core who still use sets
It is a 12 per cent decrease on last year, suggesting they are on the way out
The price of a black and white licence is frozen at £49 until 2016

By Chris Brooke for the Daily Mail

Published: 18:37, 5 January 2014 | Updated: 08:32, 6 January 2014

[stj]

Re: How to convert an old Sky Digital Box into a colour bar generator

the blind have to own a b/w license - because the gov are money grubbing scum.

as for detecting the signal - they dont bother.
if you dont have a license registered to your address they just arogantly assume you watch tv
i knew someone with no tv who had them at the door a couple of times - he told them to gtfo.
no warrant - no way they are coming in.
they even sent him a summons in the end - he went to court and won with costs.

[CapLeaker]

Re: How to convert an old Sky Digital Box into a colour bar generator

No tv license here in Canada, but I do remember paying it in Europe before I moved here.

[stj]

Re: How to convert an old Sky Digital Box into a colour bar generator

germany has / had one.

[michael dranfield]

Re: How to convert an old Sky Digital Box into a colour bar generator

the blind have to own a b/w license - because the gov are money grubbing scum.

as for detecting the signal - they dont bother.
if you dont have a license registered to your address they just arogantly assume you watch tv
i knew someone with no tv who had them at the door a couple of times - he told them to gtfo.
no warrant - no way they are coming in.
they even sent him a summons in the end - he went to court and won with costs.

Correct, they dropped filling in a form a couple of years ago and now just issue a nasty letter to every address who does not have a TV licence based on the assumption everyone in the country must have a TV set,I have another house I rent out and it stood empty for a while and in that time they sent 14 letters, each one more nasty and threatening than the last one .In the end I asked them if they would like to take to court over the matter but unfortunately I never heard anything from them .

[tom66]

Tom, is there not a loop hole in the law that the government are trying to closed down that says you dont need to buy a TV licence unless you watch live TV , and streaming programs on I player is not live TV ?

I have a TV licence (the landlord pays for it as part of the rental agreement.)

There's no external antenna connected on this property so I use an indoor antenna, which works, but streaming is more reliable. Plus, I can pause and rewind the stream, it gets written (live as MPEG4 compressed data) to the SD card

yes im suprissed they still sell black and white licence i bet people buy them still as saves them buying a colour one i wonder if they can detect your using a colour tv as if you have a black and white licence and the tv licensing knocks your door i guess you havnt got too let them in legally as you have a licence covering your address?

You don't have to let them in regardless. There's no law requiring you do so.

the blind have to own a b/w license - because the gov are money grubbing scum.

as for detecting the signal - they dont bother.
if you dont have a license registered to your address they just arogantly assume you watch tv
i knew someone with no tv who had them at the door a couple of times - he told them to gtfo.
no warrant - no way they are coming in.
they even sent him a summons in the end - he went to court and won with costs.

No they don't. The BBC subsidises their licences (formerly subsidised by the government.)

And you're correct in that they can't get in without a court order or a police officer present (with a warrant or reasonable suspicion) and the police/courts have much better things to do.

[vinceroger69]

Re: How to convert an old Sky Digital Box into a colour bar generator

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-Fn4BiHekk