[M3-FAST]

As the title says, up until recently ITV HD was only available on FreeSAT.

If any of you have Sky HD and have had the EPG upgraded (so you have the viewing screen in the corner of the programnme guide) it is possible to receive ITV HD.

Adding ITV HD to your Sky HD box
Step One
Press TV Guide on your remote to enter the EPG. The default All Channels view will be the first thing you see and the middle menu bar will have focus. Anything that has focus is indicated by a light blue background.

Step Two
Press the Up Arrow on the remote to give the top menu bar focus. It defaults to TV Guide.

Step Three
Now use the Left or Right Arrow keys to move along through the options. You'll need to press it twice to the left, or eight times to the right, until you reach the Options menu.

Step Four
Use the Down Arrow key to move the focus back to the middle menu bar. Sky+ Setup is the default option.

Step Five
Use the Left or Right Arrow keys to move through the options. If you use the Left key it'll require four presses, whereas the right arrow key has to be pressed five times. Stop when you get to the Add Channels option.

Step Six
Press the Down Arrow key to give the main body of the menu focus. Here you need to enter the frequency, polarisation, symbol rate and forward error correction (FEC) values of the satellite transponder upon which ITV HD is broadcast. Use the remote control's numerical keys to add the frequency and the Left/Right Arrow keys to change the polarisation. The other two values are suitable in their default states. Enter the following:
Frequency (GHz): 11.427
Polarisation: H
Symbol Rate (Mbaud): 27.5
FEC: 2/3
When the values are correct, press the Yellow button on your remote to Find Channels.

Step Seven
The box will now take a few moments to scan all the channels available on that transponder. While it's doing so, you'll see the following notice and the mini-TV (if enabled) will temporarily go blank.

Step Eight
After a moment, the Sky HD box will display all the services it has found. ITV HD is cryptically labelled as “10510”. Use the Down Arrow on the remote to highlight that option, then press the Yellow button on the remote to Store Channel.

Step Nine
A small tick icon will appear next to “10510”, and you can now save your changes by pressing the Select button on the remote.

Step Ten
The Sky HD box will confirm the changes to the channel line-up, and you can press Select to continue

...and that's all there is to it. You can now view ITV HD on your Sky HD receiver.

Viewing ITV HD on your Sky HD box
Step One
From the sequence above, follow steps One through Four, which will take you to the Options menu. Ensure that the middle menu bar has focus, then press the Right Arrow button four times to select Other Channels. If you use the Left Arrow button, it takes five presses.

Step Two
Press the Down Arrow to give focus to the main area of the menu, then highlight the “10510” option and press Select once to show a preview in the mini-TV, or twice to go to view ITV HD itself.

The Quick Version
On the remote, press “Services” -> “9” -> “5” -> “Select” -> “Select”, which can be programed as a macro if you have a learning device.
What you're likely to see is the “This service is currently unavailable” message. That doesn't mean you have done something wrong, just that ITV HD isn't actually broadcasting at the time. Unlike Channel 4 HD or Sky 1 HD, ITV HD only shows native HD programming, and that can sometimes mean only one or two programmes during an entire week. The rest of the time the ~10.5Mbs bandwidth is totally wasted, which is a shame given how dire the ITV 1 SD picture is via satellite. There is a guide to upcoming ITV HD programmes on the ITV website.

Hope this is of use to somebody

[Carrera RSR]

Many thanks for that. Will give it a go later.

Just upgraded my Sky HD hard drive because I was getting fed up with running out of space with the measily 320gb (160gb apportioned to Sky Anytime) So popped in a 1TB disc and used this forum/software

[M3-FAST]

Originally Posted by carrerarsr

Many thanks for that. Will give it a go later.

Just upgraded my Sky HD hard drive because I was getting fed up with running out of space with the measily 320gb (160gb apportioned to Sky Anytime) So popped in a 1TB disc and used this forum/software

No probs, just watching 'Collision' in HD - seems to work great but you can't use the PVR functions or record the channel.

Did exactly the same a few months ago because my old HDD kept getting full and was getting a little noisy. I installed one of those Samsung super quiet drives (can't remember the exact name) but now I reckon it is noiser than it was before At least there is tons of storage space on there now Amazing how fast HD content can fill up the standard HDD

[rogerxp]

Originally Posted by M3-FAST

...and have had the EPG upgraded (so you have the viewing screen in the corner of the programnme guide)

What do you mean by the above?? I've had Sky+HD for a little over 6 months (not sure what make) but don't have a picture in the programme guide - is this a software or hardware upgrade (if software do I request an update)??

[Carrera RSR]

Originally Posted by rogerxp

What do you mean by the above?? I've had Sky+HD for a little over 6 months (not sure what make) but don't have a picture in the programme guide - is this a software or hardware upgrade (if software do I request an update)??

Its a software upgrade instigated by Sky. Mine was upgraded earlier this year. Not everyone is being upgraded at the same time. My parents was upgraded two months before mine just two months after they bought it. I have had mine for over 3 years. A friend of mine has had his box for six months and hasn't had an upgrade yet.

[marlie]

Hi Guys, I would love to get a bigger Hard Drive in my Sky HD box.. is it easy to do? where can i buy one from?

[Carrera RSR]

Originally Posted by marlie

Hi Guys, I would love to get a bigger Hard Drive in my Sky HD box.. is it easy to do? where can i buy one from?

There's a link in my previous post to Copy+ site. This site has all the info you need. To some people it's a step to far. If you don't mind getting your fingers inside stuff then it was fairly easy and quick. I paid £60 delivered for a Samsung Spinpoint F1 3.5'' 1TB drive. The Copy+ is freeware. You will also need a SATA caddy to copy the drives, £30 from Maplin. You could put a 500gb hard drive straight in and perform a system reset. A 1TB drive needs to have the Sky root file copied on before putting into the Sky box as the box will only recognise it as a 500GB drive. All the DIY guides on the the site and really easy to follow.

[M3-FAST]

Originally Posted by rogerxp

What do you mean by the above?? I've had Sky+HD for a little over 6 months (not sure what make) but don't have a picture in the programme guide - is this a software or hardware upgrade (if software do I request an update)??

http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/2331...ut-contines-uk

Have you had a new viewing card yet?

[rogerxp]

Yes, got the new card a good few months ago, but no upgrade yet. Sit and wait I suppose (then revisit this thread to get ITV HD!!)

[KadeSdad]

Originally Posted by marlie

Hi Guys, I would love to get a bigger Hard Drive in my Sky HD box.. is it easy to do? where can i buy one from?

Your sky hd box already has a bigger drive, sky limit the storage or at least they used to. I was lucky enough to have sky hd installed on the day they came out found out later that the drive capacity was restricted by at least 80gb!

Might be different on new machines however?

Marc

[M3-FAST]

Originally Posted by KadeSdad

Your sky hd box already has a bigger drive, sky limit the storage or at least they used to. I was lucky enough to have sky hd installed on the day they came out found out later that the drive capacity was restricted by at least 80gb!

Might be different on new machines however?

Marc

Marc, the HD boxes have a 300GB HDD fitted but only 160GB is available to use as 140GB is reserved for sky use ('on demand' I think?)

Fitting say a 500GB drive gives you 360GB free space to use. If you record a few movies or similar in HD then it soon fills up the standard drive. Fitting a bigger drive helps out a little. Saves having to constantly go in and decide what to delete and brilliant if you are going on hols and have a load of stuff recording on series-link.

[MB London]

Originally Posted by M3-FAST

As the title says, up until recently ITV HD was only available on FreeSAT.

If any of you have Sky HD and have had the EPG upgraded (so you have the viewing screen in the corner of the programnme guide) it is possible to receive ITV HD.

Adding ITV HD to your Sky HD box
Step One
Press TV Guide on your remote to enter the EPG. The default All Channels view will be the first thing you see and the middle menu bar will have focus. Anything that has focus is indicated by a light blue background.

Step Two
Press the Up Arrow on the remote to give the top menu bar focus. It defaults to TV Guide.

Step Three
Now use the Left or Right Arrow keys to move along through the options. You'll need to press it twice to the left, or eight times to the right, until you reach the Options menu.

Step Four
Use the Down Arrow key to move the focus back to the middle menu bar. Sky+ Setup is the default option.

Step Five
Use the Left or Right Arrow keys to move through the options. If you use the Left key it'll require four presses, whereas the right arrow key has to be pressed five times. Stop when you get to the Add Channels option.

Step Six
Press the Down Arrow key to give the main body of the menu focus. Here you need to enter the frequency, polarisation, symbol rate and forward error correction (FEC) values of the satellite transponder upon which ITV HD is broadcast. Use the remote control's numerical keys to add the frequency and the Left/Right Arrow keys to change the polarisation. The other two values are suitable in their default states. Enter the following:
Frequency (GHz): 11.427
Polarisation: H
Symbol Rate (Mbaud): 27.5
FEC: 2/3
When the values are correct, press the Yellow button on your remote to Find Channels.

Step Seven
The box will now take a few moments to scan all the channels available on that transponder. While it's doing so, you'll see the following notice and the mini-TV (if enabled) will temporarily go blank.

Step Eight
After a moment, the Sky HD box will display all the services it has found. ITV HD is cryptically labelled as “10510”. Use the Down Arrow on the remote to highlight that option, then press the Yellow button on the remote to Store Channel.

Step Nine
A small tick icon will appear next to “10510”, and you can now save your changes by pressing the Select button on the remote.

Step Ten
The Sky HD box will confirm the changes to the channel line-up, and you can press Select to continue

...and that's all there is to it. You can now view ITV HD on your Sky HD receiver.

Viewing ITV HD on your Sky HD box
Step One
From the sequence above, follow steps One through Four, which will take you to the Options menu. Ensure that the middle menu bar has focus, then press the Right Arrow button four times to select Other Channels. If you use the Left Arrow button, it takes five presses.

Step Two
Press the Down Arrow to give focus to the main area of the menu, then highlight the “10510” option and press Select once to show a preview in the mini-TV, or twice to go to view ITV HD itself.

The Quick Version
On the remote, press “Services” -> “9” -> “5” -> “Select” -> “Select”, which can be programed as a macro if you have a learning device.
What you're likely to see is the “This service is currently unavailable” message. That doesn't mean you have done something wrong, just that ITV HD isn't actually broadcasting at the time. Unlike Channel 4 HD or Sky 1 HD, ITV HD only shows native HD programming, and that can sometimes mean only one or two programmes during an entire week. The rest of the time the ~10.5Mbs bandwidth is totally wasted, which is a shame given how dire the ITV 1 SD picture is via satellite. There is a guide to upcoming ITV HD programmes on the ITV website.

Hope this is of use to somebody

Excellent information, thank you very much

[RockIt]

Did this last night. Thanks a lot for the heads up.

[KadeSdad]

Originally Posted by M3-FAST

Marc, the HD boxes have a 300GB HDD fitted but only 160GB is available to use as 140GB is reserved for sky use ('on demand' I think?)

Fitting say a 500GB drive gives you 360GB free space to use. If you record a few movies or similar in HD then it soon fills up the standard drive. Fitting a bigger drive helps out a little. Saves having to constantly go in and decide what to delete and brilliant if you are going on hols and have a load of stuff recording on series-link.

Mines full of frickin Peppa Pig & Fireman Sam.....no not for me..

Marc

[mdataworks]

This is old old news. I've had ITV HD through my SkyHD box for 6months using the above method. Having said that, it's obvious from the above that people still aren't aware of this 'feature', so it's good that M3-FAST posted it.

I've programmed the various steps onto a single key on my Harmony remote control... otherwise it's a lot to remember each time.

It's not 'official' in the sense that Sky are not advertising the fact that ITV HD is available, and not supporting it in the TV guide, but you can be sure they don't mind people stumbling across it if it prevents people deserting to FreeSat.

As stated above, you need to have received the new Sky interface update for this to work.

For info, from next year (hopefully), you'll be able to receive BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and possibly Channel 5 HD offerings via a suitable FreeView receiver, ie: via an aerial.

[Mr.N]

Originally Posted by rogerxp

Yes, got the new card a good few months ago, but no upgrade yet. Sit and wait I suppose (then revisit this thread to get ITV HD!!)

Mine switched over to the new system last Friday Roger so you may be next!

[rogerxp]

Originally Posted by Mr.N

Mine switched over to the new system last Friday Roger so you may be next!

I suppose the signal only has another couple of miles to travel before it reaches me

[Mr.N]

ha, fingers crossed!

to be honest I dont like it much really, it is taking some getting used to!
The best bit about it is that you can still watch your programme whilst browsing the planner etc.

[MB London]

Originally Posted by Mr.N

ha, fingers crossed!

to be honest I dont like it much really, it is taking some getting used to!
The best bit about it is that you can still watch your programme whilst browsing the planner etc.

No, the best bit is when you select a programme to record it gives you a one touch option to series link it

[Kal]

Originally Posted by rogerxp

I suppose the signal only has another couple of miles to travel before it reaches me

Im from Cheadle so hopefully they will do mine soon.

How is the upgrade sent? I dont have my box connected to a phone line.

[Carrera RSR]

I believe the upgrade is via satellite signal and not relative to the viewing card. I was upgraded several months before the new card arrived. My understanding you only need the phone line attached for some 'interactive' services and for Sky to track your viewing trends and do diagnostics if you have box problems. I don't believe you need the phone line connected for any other reason.

[330cdsport]

You can force an upgrade via satellite.

With the box switched off and power cable unplugged, hold down the backup button on the front and then plug in/switch it on. Keep holding the backup button down for about 10 secs and then all lights should come on on the front of the box. The update will take a few minutes to complete.