Since this article was first published, a number of people have contacted me for additional help. Here are some of the questions. If you have a query that isn't answered here, just email me and I'll see what I can do.

Q. My Sky digibox switches itself off when it's not in use, causing me to lose recordings.
A. This is Sky's idiotic attempt to pass itself off as a 'green' company. It's called Auto Standby and claims to save energy by putting the box into standby when it's not in use. In reality, most Sky boxes don't actually save any significant power in standby mode so the idea is futile. Fortunately it's easy to cancel. Just press Services and select item 5. Change the ON to OFF and then tab down to save the new setting.

Q. I have a Sky Multiroom contract. Can I use my 2nd digibox in the caravan?
A. No. Multiroom means exactly that - multi room, not multi location. Both digiboxes must be connected permanently to the same phone line so that Sky can check that neighbours aren't colluding to get separate subscriptions on the cheap. If you ignore that condition Sky will, after giving you a written warning, simply increase your direct debit payments to double the single subscription rate (backdated to the date of their letter). And you can't get round it by just taking one of the viewing cards to use in a spare box and leaving the box plugged in at home. The card forms part of the multiroom equipment and its presence in (or absence from!) the digibox is detected by the monitoring process.

Q. Can I pick up Sky using the Status aerial on the roof of my caravan?
A. No. It's designed for terrestrial TV only. To pick up any satellite signal, you have to use a dish.

Q. What about a Freeview terrestrial receiver. Can I use that with the Status aerial?
A. Erm, maybe! It depends on how close you are to a transmitter. You'll almost certainly find you can get Freeview in some places but not others. Don't forget however that Freeview will not work outside the UK.

Q. There's a TV socket on the outside of my caravan. Can I plug my satellite dish into that?
A. Probably not but by all means give it a try. Again, it's designed for terrestrial TV and therefore the cable that goes through the wall to the inside socket will probably generate too much electronic 'noise' for the weaker satellite signal to cope with. It might work OK in this country where the satellite signals are reasonably strong but it would almost certainly fail in the more marginal areas of Europe. Maxview markets a twin socket which will take both satellite and terrestrial connections and you should either use one of those or feed the satellite cable straight through a window or other opening direct to the digibox.

Q. People keep telling me I need a large dish for southern Europe.
A. It depends on what you mean by southern Europe. A 60cm dish will just about work in southern France but once you cross the border into Spain or Italy, you'll quickly lose the 5 basic UK channels. However you'll still get Sky News and BBC News all the way down to southern Spain, together with the BBC national radio channels. In southern Spain and Italy, you won't get any of the basic channels with any dish you're capable of carrying (for example, a 2m dish would be needed in Alicante!)

Q. Will a Sky+ box work off just a single cable feed from the dish?
A. It will only have partial functionality but yes it can be done. However it has to be set up correctly to do it. There is an option in the menu for HD boxes, but for standard Sky+ boxes you have to adopt a work-around. Here is the routine for an HD digibox.
1. The cable must be connected to Dish input 1 on the back of the box.
2. Press Services on your remote control and then the right arrow key to get Settings on the top menu.
3. Press the down arrow to get the Picture tab on the middle menu, and then press 0, 1, Select in quick succession.
4. Press the down arrow 5 times to get to Single Feed Mode at the bottom of the screen.
5. Press the right arrow once to turn the Single Feed Mode to ON, then press the green button to save the settings.
6. You will now need to reboot the box by pressing Select. It will take a few minutes. Sky Anytime won't be available. If you need it, it can be enabled by going to www.sky.com/hdguide.
For a standard Sky+ box, you need to fool it into thinking Input 2 is already occupied. Input 2 is its preferred option for any first recording so if you simply set a recording in the planner, it will fail because Input 2 isn't available. So this is the trick:
Manually set a dummy recording from 00:01 to 23:59 and repeated daily. It will try to use Input 2 and fail, but it will fool the box into thinking that input is in use, so a second recording will then use Input 1. Remember you can only watch a live programme or record it; you can't do both at the same time.

Q. I'm in southern Spain and I've just lost all my channels!
A. I began to get messages like this around 7 April 2005. The situation was that Sky began downloading a major software upgrade about then. What then happened was that once the download was complete, the digibox rebooted itself and if your digibox was set to a south beam default transponder, it would have reverted to the regular north beam one. If a future upgrade has a similar effect, change the default transponder back to the south beam (as per the instructions in Section 5 of my main Sky page) and your digibox should pick itself up again.

Q. Is there any way round the need to keep the digibox connected to a phone line during its first 12 months?
A. If you received the equipment free, then strictly speaking, no. Your contract requires you keep the digibox connected for the whole 12 month duration. Having said that, Sky doesn't bother monitoring these connections and you wouldn't need to worry. The choice is yours; I'm not in the business of encouraging people to break contracts. There is an option when the equipment is ordered to pay a £25 fee to clear yourself of that contractual obligation, or you can buy the digibox privately.

Q. What about secondhand digiboxes to cut the cost a bit?
A. Yes, it's certainly possible to buy secondhand digiboxes. Check with the companies listed on my links page. You might also find reconditioned boxes at local independent dealers/installers. Check in Yellow Pages for your nearest contact. And of course eBay is always waiting for your custom.

Q. If I do get a second digibox just for use in the caravan, can I use the same viewing card that I use in the house?
A. Yes, up to a point. Your Sky card will work in any digibox for any of the standard pack channels (including the standard channels - BBC, ITV, etc), but not the premium Sky Sports and Movie channels.

Note that if you have more than 1 digibox, with a Sky contract for each, you can't take either of them away with you. That's because the second reduced subscription carries a condition that both boxes must be connected to the same phone line permanently, not just for the first 12 months, to prevent collusion between neighbours. The only way you can do it is to pay the full rate for both subscriptions. (And as discussed above, you can't get round it by just taking one of the viewing cards to use in a spare box.)

Q. I'm getting excellent Signal Strength but nothing else on the Signal Test screen. What am I doing wrong?
A. This is one of the most confusing aspects of a Sky digibox. The so-called Signal Strength reading is nothing of the sort and is of no use whatsoever for aligning the dish (try pointing the dish at the ground - you'll still get a reading!). The only thing that reading will tell you is that the dish is connected. So ignore it - the change you're looking for is the change from 0000/0000 to 0002/07d4 as set out in Section 3 of the main page. Once you have those digits, the Signal Quality bar will tell you how effective the signal is and you should aim to get the quality as high as possible. But I repeat, ignore the Signal Strength bar, it's irrelevant. (Technically, until the dish picks up a genuine satellite signal, it will pick up any stray electronic 'noise' from its surroundings and present that as a signal instead.)

Q. I'm getting severe interference on the television. Any ideas?
A. If you're using a standard co-ax lead to connect the digibox to the TV, the output channel from the digibox might be conflicting with one of the terrestrial channels. Either use a scart lead instead or change the RF-Out channel. You can do that by going to the Installer's setup screen (press Services, then 4, then 01, then Select), then navigate to RF-Output, press Select and key in another value. The value you choose needs to be at least 2 away from any of the terrestrial channels and from the one used by your video recorder if you have one. Note that as soon as you change the channel on the digibox, you'll lose the picture on the screen and you'll then need to retune the TV.

Q. Will the viewing card lose its settings if the digibox is left disconnected from the mains for a prolonged period?
A. Yes it will eventually. Sky transmits periodic 'stay-alive' signals and if your card misses one because the digibox wasn't powered up, the card will become dormant. It will wake up again, normally within 24 hours but occasionally as much as 72 hours, once the digibox is reconnected to a dish and power supply.

Q. I have cable TV at home so I only want satellite for the caravan. Is it true that a Sky digibox has to be connected to the power supply and a dish at all times?
A. The problem with Sky digiboxes is that they are wholly dependent on Sky for their operating software (not unreasonably from the point of view of Sky which after all invented the system!). That software is downloaded at irregular intervals for all sorts of different reasons. It might be because a channel has changed to another frequency, or has changed from encrypted to clear (or vice versa of course), or for a fundamental rewrite involving new functionality, etc. The software is downloaded from the satellite and therefore it is important that the digibox is always connected to a dish and a power supply (even when the box is in standby mode, it is still monitoring the satellite transmissions for just that purpose).
Furthermore the software won't be downloaded automatically next time you use the box, but it is possible to force a download and the instructions are detailed elsewhere on this page. There are risks associated with the routine, so you should be satisfied first that the digibox definitely isn't operating correctly before going ahead, and if you have any doubt whatsoever about the robustness of the signal, you should not go ahead (the Signal Quality bar on the Signal Test screen should be at least 40% and preferably higher).
It is possible to buy non-Sky digital satellite receivers that aren't constrained by the same limitations. However they aren't able to receive any encrypted channels.

Q. Salesmen in 2 separate 'well-known high street outlets' have told me the digibox won't work unless it's connected to a phone line because the phone line feeds a signal into the box to allow it to accept the information coming from the dish.
A. Codswallop!

Q. I've noticed that if I watch BBC1 or ITV1 on satellite, I actually get my own regional programme. Does that mean that Sky does know where my digibox is and could this therefore land me trouble if I take it abroad?
A. No, Sky doesn't know where your box is at any one time, though it does know where your home address is. In simple terms (as always the detail is more complicated!) the satellite transmits all the regional variations on different frequencies and your viewing card, registered to your home address, picks out and decodes the relevant one for your area. It does mean of course that if you holiday in the UK with a dish rather than an aerial, you'll still receive your own regional BBC1 or ITV1 channel - could be useful if you want to keep up to date with local news back home.

Q. Is a caravan a stable enough platform for a satellite dish? Don't they move a bit as you walk about in them, or as the wind catches them? And would a jockey wheel mast be rigid enough?
A. You shouldn't have any problem with stability. The corner steadies are quite sufficient to stabilise the vehicle, and motorvans don't seem to have a problem either. It's possible that in extremely windy weather, the picture might break up temporarily, but it will settle down again as soon as the weather quietens down. I've been in conditions where the caravan was rocking but we still had a watchable picture on the TV! (I've even heard of canal boat owners using satellite when moored up. If the wash from a passing vessel disturbs the signal, it always comes back when the boat settles down again.)
As for a jockey wheel mast, I have no personal experience of them. However, a year or so back I saw one in use on a site in Norfolk and asked the owner about it. He said he'd never had any problems with stability and had been using it to mount his dish (a 44cm domestic minidish) for several years. The dish was roughly 5 ft off the ground and the mast was aluminium, about 40-50mm diameter. He had simply removed the jockey wheel and inserted the mast into the clamp. Ed Cairns also contacted me to say it's better to use scaffold clamps to fasten the mast directly to the jockey wheel - saves having to remove it.
Another method of mounting a dish, obviously not suitable for hard-standings, is to use a length of 40mm domestic waste water pipe and simply hammer it into the ground. I saw that done on the same Norfolk site. Obviously it will remove a plug of earth when it's taken out again but that will soon fill in (and it will help to aerate the soil till it does!). Might be worth checking with the site owner before doing it though!

Q. I tend not to use sites with mains hook-ups. Is it possible to obtain a Sky Digibox that will run off a 12 volt DC supply?
A. Possibly. Pace manufactured just such a machine, the Pace Javelin Minibox, though only for a short period. It ran on either 240v AC or 12v DC and cost around £140. Although it's no longer made, you might still be able to find one secondhand. Check eBay or Loot or the suppliers on my links page. Failing that, your only option is to buy a DC to AC inverter. Satcure now stocks a 120w inverter for £31 (ex VAT) which is plenty powerful enough to drive a Sky digibox. Go to the catalogue section of the Satcure website.

Q. Is it possible for a Scottish or Welsh ex-pat living in England to receive BBC Scotland/BBC Wales instead of English BBC? And of course, vice versa.
A. Yes, all the regional variations of BBC1 and BBC2 are available in the EPG slots 971 - 992.

Q. What about ITV1. Can I get the other ITV1 regions?
A. Yes, but it's not as straightforward as selecting the BBC regions. At present, you can only do it by adding the regions individually into Other Channels. See this page for the details.

Q. I live in Ireland and I can't get ITV, Channel 4 or Five. Please can you give me the settings to tune them in?
A. For ITV see the previous question. As for Channel 4 and Five, it can be done in the same way but I don't have a page giving the frequencies. You'll find them at www.lyngsat.com.

Q. I can't get the BBC and ITV in southern Spain. If I take out a Sky contract, will that make a difference?
A. No, taking out a Sky contract will have no effect whatsoever. The BBC and ITV use the Astra 2D satellite which has a beam closely focused on the British Isles. You won't change that by taking out a Sky subscription. This page has the full details.

Q. I have a box that I use to watch Hotbird digital transmissions. Can I get a FTV card for it and get the UK free to view channels?
A. You can use it to get free-to-air (FTA) if you turn your dish to Astra 2 but certainly not free-to-view(FTV) which is encrypted. The FTA channels on Astra 2 can be picked up by any digital satellite receiver but for the encrypted channels you have to have a Sky Digibox. Other digital receivers won't work because they don't have the proprietary conditional access circuitry required to process Sky viewing cards.

Q. [This question gets asked for a variety of reasons]. Should I do a manual software download to my Sky digibox?
A. Generally not! Manual software downloads seem to have become the latest flavour of the month, partly as a result of ill-judged advice on online forums. Occasionally, it might be necessary but you shouldn't do it just for the hell of it. Sky digiboxes are designed to be left powered up continuously and will automatically download any software upgrade as and when it comes available. However if the digibox has been without power for some time (either because it's kept in a caravan and only gets connected to a power supply occasionally, or even because it's a new one and has been standing on a shelf for months!) you can force a manual download as follows (but don't do it during bad weather when the signal might be disrupted):

1. Go to the Signal Test screen and check that the signal quality is at least 40%.
2. Switch the box off at the wall.
3. Press the Backup button on the front panel of the box (not the remote) and keep it pressed.
4. Switch the power back on and continue to keep the Backup button pressed.
5. After a few seconds all the fascia lights will come on and a download message will appear on the TV. You can now release the button.
6. The download will normally take about 10 minutes. If it hasn't completed within 20 minutes, restart the procedure from scratch.
7. When the download is complete, the message will disappear and the box will go into standby.
8. Leave it for 1 minute and then power it up by pressing the Sky button in the normal way.

Q. I've heard a Sky+ box won't work without a Sky subscription. Is that true?
A. Yes-ish. Although it's possible to buy a Sky+ box privately, it will only work as a conventional free-to-air receiver and the recording functions won't operate. To get those, you have to pay a £10 a month supplement (waived if you have any level of Sky subscription).

Q. I have an old analogue dish. Can I use it to get Sky Digital?
A. Possibly. It depends on two things - whether it has a universal LNB and, if it's installed at home, whether it's pointing in the right direction (an old analogue dish might still be pointing at the Astra 1 satellite system and will need to be realigned). For the LNB, check the casing - if it says 'Universal', you should be OK. Otherwise budget for a new dish. You might be able to replace just the LNB, it depends on its fixing. However new Sky domestic minidishes are so cheap, why not just treat yourself - you should be able to buy one via mail order for around £30.

Q. Can I run more than 1 digibox off a single dish? (In different rooms, for example)
A. Yes, but the answer's not that simple. A single LNB will only drive 1 digibox and in fact if you try to connect a signal splitter you could end up damaging the LNB or the digibox or both. If you're happy to have the same channel in both rooms at the same time, you can get a TV link that simply sends the digibox output to another room. These gadgets often come supplied with a second Sky remote so that you can control the digibox remotely. Expect to pay around £30 if you buy from say Currys or £18-20 online, and you'll also have to run a length of co-ax cable from the digibox to the remote link. If you want to be able to have different channels going at the same time, you have to fit a multi-output LNB with cables running to a digibox in each room. For either of these options, see http://sam-radford.me.uk for details. It's outside the scope of this website!

Q. Is there any way I can get Sky Movies without having to pay, because I haven't got the money to keep going to the video shop?
A. Amazingly, someone did ask me that! So for any other like-minded person, don't bother asking, it's fraud. If you can't afford it, do without. You'll also sometimes see items on eBay telling you how to do it on payment of a fee. It's a scam (Sky isn't stupid!) so if anyone falls for it, it'll serve them right.

Q. I live in Spain and I lose the satellite signal each evening. Why does that happen and what can I do about it?
A. The reason is complex and outside the scope of this website. It's also probable that no-one outside the industry really knows the true explanation! However if you want a plausible technical explanation, go to Sam Radford's website and look at the FAQ page. As for what to do about it, all you can do is install a larger dish; you're in a marginal area and your existing dish isn't powerful enough.

Q. Can I watch Five without a Sky viewing card?
A. Five is currently transmitted in several regional variations. The programme content is the same and only the local advertising varies. Most of the variations are encrypted, but one is not. This is the non-regional version used by Freesat (and by generic free-to-air boxes) but it can be picked up by a Sky digibox by adding it to Other Channels. The tuning details are 10773, H, 22, 5/6. However the other members of the Five family, Fiver and Five USA, are both encrypted and therefore cannot be received except by a Sky box with a valid viewing card. Note that this manual addition will make Five available to anyone with a Sky box without the need for a viewing card but it won't be accessible through the EPG, only by going to Other Channels.

Q. What do you get out of this site? Ever considered carrying advertisements?
A. Financially, the answer is nothing, zilch, not a sausage. As a pastime, quite a lot. As for sponsorship or advertising, the answer is an emphatic no. Never have, never will. It's not worth selling my soul for! If I accept advertising there's an implicit endorsement of the products and/or services that company is supplying. People trust my website precisely because I'm independent and beholden to no-one. Crikey, that sounds pretentious - I'll have to rewrite it sometime!