New Celebrity Sightings

ITV HD,  “exclusive to Freesat”, can now be added to all Sky+ HD receivers that have been updated to Sky’s new electronic programme guide (EPG) and operating system.  ITV HD programmes are few and far between, but they do consist of Champions League, FA Cup and England’s World Cup qualifying matches, so it’s well worth it if you like your football.  It also means that Sky HD customers can view all the HD channels currently available in the UK (without an extra subscription or hardware) and that Freesat no longer has any exclusivity.

So here’s our Step-by-Step guide to adding ITV HD to your Sky HD receiver.

Important: You must have the new EPG to add ITV HD.

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.

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 step 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:
Move focus back onto the middle menu bar by using the down arrow key.  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.When you get to the Add Channels option stop.

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”, 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.It Takes 5 presses if you use the left arrow key.

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.

Remember, you won’t find ITV HD anywhere within the normal Sky programme guide and you won’t be able to record it or use any of the PVR functions of the Sky+ HD box