# Sky TV on my Macintosh



## The Doctor (Nov 12, 2006)

I have a Intel Duo Mac. I currently have a Miglia TV mini which is great, but for christmas my dad is getting me Sky . So my Question is what hardware will I need to watch Sky. So I will have the Sky Box and then what will it need to be plugged into?

Thanks for any help! 

*The Doctor*

Latest part is on Page 4


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## SatCure (Nov 15, 2006)

You'll need a video input box such as the EyeTV200 (Firewire). This box is obsolescent but some stores might still have one left. Try Computers Unlimited in London.

Warning! It's not cheap.


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## fryke (Nov 15, 2006)

Doesn't the Miglia TV card already cover what you'd buy the EyeTV200 for?


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## SatCure (Nov 15, 2006)

The Miglia TV mini is a USB Freeview (digital terrestrial) receiver. He needs an analogue tuner or, preferably, a video input box as I suggested. The EyeTV200 has RCA (phono) inputs that can be connected to the Sky Digibox Scart socket with a suitable lead or adapter. It also has an S-Video input socket which can be used with any SKY+ Digibox and some Grundig models.

Although you'd think there'd be a cheaper alternative, I don't know of one!


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## SatCure (Nov 15, 2006)

No, I'm wrong, the Elgato EyeTV EZ USB 2.0 Analog TV Receiver appears to do the job at just over £100. However this is just an analogue tuner. It does NOT have S-Video or AV inputs. So it will give somewhat indifferent picture quality and the audio will be mono (because that's what comes from the Sky Digibox RF output).


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## The Doctor (Nov 15, 2006)

Thanks, and I thought no one will reply 

hmmm, not easy is it? lol I really want full Sky Quailty on my Mac to show off to mates and because my iMac is bigger then my TV lol 

If you have any more ideas please tell me thanks

*The Doctor*


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## SatCure (Nov 15, 2006)

I'm out of ideas. If you want good quality the EyeTV200 is my only suggestion. Keep a look on eBay. You might find one going cheap. ElGato USA are offering them (refurbished) for $200 (£105) which is a bargain.


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## The Doctor (Nov 15, 2006)

By the sounds of it, it is old I look on the Elgato website and I use the drop down boxes and select UK and then bskyb sub. and it comes up with http://www.elgato.com/index.php?file=products_eyetv250 and http://www.elgato.com/index.php?file=products_eyetvhybrid ... Could they help do you wonder?

Thank you

*The Doctor*


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## sinclair_tm (Nov 16, 2006)

if you want to go with elgato, get the eyetv250.  its a usb2 hardware encoder, that comes with a breakout cable with s-video and rca connecors on it.  also the 250 is a current product and works great.  i have one and love it.


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## The Doctor (Nov 18, 2006)

sinclair_tm said:


> if you want to go with elgato, get the eyetv250.  its a usb2 hardware encoder, that comes with a breakout cable with s-video and rca connecors on it.  also the 250 is a current product and works great.  i have one and love it.



Thanks for the advice .. but do you watch Sky on it? 

*The Doctor*


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## The Doctor (Nov 18, 2006)

Sorry, can't edit my post ... Still would like to know what typeof TV you watch... But looks great and sounds like it would work on the Sky Box, however ... what cables would connect to what? i'm used to scarts and haven't been at the back of a Sky Box in ages. 

*The Doctor*


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## SatCure (Nov 18, 2006)

Ah, yes, that looks ideal. I found more info:
http://www.allmacshop.co.uk/?page=proddetail&prod=19953

For best quality, use a Scart to Phono adapter and run (thin) phono cables to it.


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## The Doctor (Nov 18, 2006)

So if i get this right ... scart at the back of sky box and then phono cables plug into the adpater and then the other end goes into the SVideo?

I got it right? And thanks everyone for all your help, I Love this site! 

*The Doctor*


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## sinclair_tm (Nov 18, 2006)

well, i don't even know what sky box is (nor has it been defined yet in this thread).  i have my psone plugged into my eyetv250 so i can play it on my lcd, and i have an antenna attached to the eyetv250 too because it has a built-in tv tuner.  so i get the free aired tv stations.  as long as this sky box has an atenna out, rca video/audio out, or s-video out, it will plug into the eyetv250 to allow you to see the shows on your mac.  and the software that comes with it lets you record stuff to your hard drive for later viewing, or to burn to dvd, or editing in imovie.


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## The Doctor (Nov 18, 2006)

If you don't know what Sky is or live in the UK you won't know .. .But I can check what the connections are, however Satcure will be able to help further due to he lives in the UK. Thank you for your help anyway and I will keep in mind what you said

*The Doctor*


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## patrickl (Nov 19, 2006)

It was a real hassle sorting this problem out. I use the EyeTv 200 Firewire box hooked-up to a 2.66 Mac Pro, linked to my PACE SKY box via the second RF output, and get pretty good results (re. the post above, the sound seems to be in stereo). I use a simple 'magic eye' device to change channels (you obviously don't get the TIVO functions of EyeTv with this set-up). I don't get a good terrestial digital signal where I live, so this was the only real option.

The EyeTV 200 box seemed the best choice as it has more powerful hardware than the other Mac options. It will also link to a VHS recorder via an S-Video or Composite to SCART connector. 

A warning on getting the EyeTv 200 if you decide to go that way. The early ones had waking from sleep problems, so look out for one with Hardware version 3. Also don't buy from America as it will be NTSC rather than PAL.

But if you're getting a separate SKY box I suppose you could look for one that has S-Video out. Or possibly you could look for a SKY box with digital out and wait for someone to produce a Mac connector that has USB or Firewire digital in.


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## The Doctor (Nov 19, 2006)

Hi, thanks ... From what I know Sky have changed from Pace, unless to go into my personal life a sec, me or my brother can have the OLD sky box (perfectly fine) and then me or my bro have a new one and my dad has Sky + downstairs. So ... I will choose the Pace one ... But, I need in plain English all the hadware I will need for good quailty please. 

Thank You SO much for everyones help

*The Doctor*


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## patrickl (Nov 19, 2006)

Which bit didn't you understand? 

You either buy one of the cheaper EyeTv (or similar) devices, the EyeTv 250 (USB) being probably the best bet for you as it is in production and has a 'break-out' cable to connect to the SKY box via S-Video / RCA. 

Or you could try to get hold of the more expensive and better (but recently discontinued) EyeTV 200. This connects to your computer via Firewire and is a much better piece of hardware (it will compress video to more formats and uses less of your computer's processing power). If you decide to go this way see my previous post about getting the latest model, and it being PAL (the European television standard) rather than the inferior NTSC (the American television standard).

Both will connect via a coaxial cable (the easy and 'normal' tv cable connection). If the SKY box is close enough to your computer you could use SCART to S-Video and RCA (for sound) cables for a slightly better video and audio connection than you'd get from the coaxial. You can buy these leads from PC World, ebay, etc.  

Either way you won't get a true digital connection with the SKY box.

Or, lastly, you can wait for someone to introduce a better solution (i.e. digital / high definition).

I'm afraid a bit of technical jargon is necessary for this type of question!


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## The Doctor (Nov 19, 2006)

It wasn't mainly the techincal jargon, it was so many people have said diffrent stuff in diffrent ways lol. 

The Sky Box would be v. close to my Mac and will be better then watching on my TV (due to size and it being far away)

Thanks guys for ya help

*The Doctor*

Oh! p.s so if they discontuined it ... shouldn't there be something in it's place?


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## patrickl (Nov 19, 2006)

Possibly, but not yet. In fact, things seem to be moving away from Firewire (which I prefer to USB). New video cameras are mostly USB and even the new iPods are USB only for music management.

For Sky compatability see the EyeTv site and do a search - you'll see three solutions:

http://www.elgato.com/index.php?file=products_eyetvmain2&countrytogo=36&signal=all


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## The Doctor (Nov 19, 2006)

see, if you look at earlier I did that and I chose one and then lots of people said all sorts lol

*The Doctor*


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## patrickl (Nov 19, 2006)

I know, I too got really confused when I was planning my set-up. 

Good luck in choosing.

btw. To really confuse things you could look at the EyeTv 310 which acts as a satellite receiver as well, though it won't get SKY so you'd have to have another dish aimed at a non SKY satellite. I thought about this solution, but of course there are fewer channels available.


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## The Doctor (Nov 19, 2006)

Thanks for the confusion lol 

Your set up, do you use sky?

*The Doctor*


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## patrickl (Nov 19, 2006)

Yes. Pretty good picture on the computer via a coaxial cable to a Sky Box situated far away in another part of the house. The EyeTv software is excellent, btw.


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## The Doctor (Nov 19, 2006)

I know the EyeTV software is good, i currently watch Freeview on it using TVMini. What hardware do you use?

*The Doctor*


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## patrickl (Nov 19, 2006)

I use the EyeTv 200 with a Mac Pro 2.66 2 Dual Core Intel (4 GB RAM, 2 x 500 GB HD, NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT, 2 x superdrive, Powerwave soundcard), 23' Apple Cinema display.


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## The Doctor (Nov 19, 2006)

ooo and i presume the 250 is the newer one ... So i can use a convertor along the way to work with the S-Video right?


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## sinclair_tm (Nov 19, 2006)

correct.  have you by chance downloaded the manual for the 250 and read it?  it may answer several of your questions, and clear things up for you.  thats what i did, and thats what sold me on the 250.


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## The Doctor (Nov 23, 2006)

Sorry took so long to reply, Was doing things.

Ok, I really need plain clear instructions What do I need to watch Sky on my Macintosh in a good Quailty? Thanks 

*The Doctor*


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## SatCure (Nov 23, 2006)

I refer you back to the beginning of this thread. Read it all again. You'll need an EyeTV 200 or EyeTV250 plus the necessary cables to connect it to your Sky Digibox. Scart to phono or S-Video cable.


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## sinclair_tm (Nov 23, 2006)

it would help if you could either link to a site that lists all the output ports and/or interfaces on the skybox, or take a picture and post it.  then i could give you links to the kinds of things you need.  but if it has s-video, rca yellow-red-white, or antenna out, then it can be plugged into the eyetv 250, and the software that comes with the 250 will display it on your screen.  

*****the 250 has all the same inputs on it as a tv does, so basically, how ever you plug the thing into your tv is how you will plug it into the 250, and the 250 plugs into your mac via usb2.*****


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## The Doctor (Nov 24, 2006)

Thanks so much! I will get a list or a picture for you very soon..

*The Doctor*


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## The Doctor (Nov 24, 2006)

Ok the Actal Sky Box isn't the same as mine but the connections are. (sorry you mind need to make bigger)

Here is a Link to a picture of the back of the box

Thanks for your help

*The Doctor*


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## SatCure (Nov 25, 2006)

Scart output provides PAL composite video, RGB and stereo audio. RCA outputs are L+R audio.


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## sinclair_tm (Nov 25, 2006)

well, the red/white rcas are the audio, and can be plugged into the breakout cable.  now, is that s-video next to the tv scart?  its too little for me to tell.  if so, that that goes to the breakout cable as well.  if not, then if that is an antenna out port to the left of the red/white rcas, then that is the only thing you need to connect to the 250.


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## The Doctor (Nov 26, 2006)

Thank You SO much for your help guys, but I recently got a cheap Deal on a BIG TV and thought, that would show off more  Also I know the Quality will be high as well.

*The Doctor*


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