Sunday 23 September 2012

Single Feed Sky+ Get Around when away.

Since moving into my flat, I have had an issue with my Sky+, the built in satellite system has only one feed. Why new builds have built in single satellite feed? I dunno, maybe coz they know we need a 2nd feed & justified to charge £100 to add a 2nd feed which is a RIP off in my books.

Now if you have a Sky+ system you know this is a big issue, no longer can you record one channel whilst watching another or more importantly record different channels when out or not watching TV.

Well after many searches to find a ways round this, I found none & it is a pain. But I found a way to get around the issue of recording more than one channel whilst away. So I will try to explain it & show how easy it is to use.

Firstly, you need to understand why you cant record 2 separate channels one after the other. Simply put, what ever channel you are on you are locked into that feed & will stay like that until you change it manually. So the 2nd feed that has no signal due to the single feed & the Sky+ cant record a separate channel.


So to record different channels, the following method will lock 2nd feed to nothing & keep the 1st feed free to record any channel as long as you are recording one show after the other.

To start with you need to set up your recordings to follow one after another. Here's an example:


Now you need to start a recording, now it could be something you want that's just started or something you can just delete later. As long as it doesn't clash with your later recordings, you be okay.


Then whilst the recording is going on, change to another channel that isn't going to be used for recording. I chose channel 999 as I find this is the best one to use as you don't need this channel for recording. You will get 'No satellite signal is being received' on the screen, this is fine. It is what you want, you have now gone to the 2nd feed & is locked onto this channel, so when the current recording has finished, the 1st signal feed is free to change channel to record the next programme on another channel that's on the schedule.


Later when you go back to the Sky+, you will still get the ' No satellite signal is being received' on channel 999 & recordings have been done.


To get the signal back so you can watch the channels again, just go to the channel that's recording if it still is. If not, go to menu & select the channel you want to watch & use it as normal.

You still can't record another channel whilst watching another, I wish I could work out how to sort that one. But this method helps if you want to record whilst out for the day or even a week if you got enough room on hard drive. Hope it helps, it does work as I have been using this method for some weeks now to be sure & no failed recordings.