The Sony Movie Channel has replaced MoviesforMen2 from this week and will be showing a range of movies from the huge Sony back catalogue.

However, the Sony Movie channel is only available on a Sky box, and with a viewing card, either a “free to view” card or a subscription card. The Sony Movie channel not available on Freesat boxes, so in effect Freesat users have lost two chanenls, (Moviesformen2 and Moviesformen2+1)

As the Sony Movie encrypted, users of “non Sky” and “non freesat” boxes who usd to watch “MoviesforMen” will now be getting a “scrambled” or “encrypted” message on the screen.

So, if you have missed the first broadcast on Channel 4, and again on Channel 4+1, and missed the usual repeat on either E4 or More4, and have not the ability to watch it on Channel Fours download service, 4OD, then you have another chance to watch it with this catch up channel.

I suppose it is a channel that allows you to see a programme that you may have missed when people talk about it the following day, rather than it being just another repeats channel. I wonder if the Daily Mail will include this channel in it annual “More repeats on TV” article that it usually does around Christmas time…

Previously, the Anytime+ service was only available to Sky Broadband customers.

This week it has been made available to all Broadband users, irrespective of who their broadband supplier is.

Sky Anytime+ is a feature for Sky+HD boxes, and available to Sky subscribers for free.

Sky Anytime+ needs to be activated on your Sky account, which you can do by either calling Sky Customer services, or via your My Sky online account.

The Sky Anytime+ service contains programmes from a range of channels available on Sky, including ITV, with BBC programmes due to be made available later this year.

So, if you have missed a programme when it went out “live”, and did not Sky+ it, and you have missed it on a “+1” timeshift channel, or missed it again when it has been repeated later in the week, then there is yet another way to watch a programme you may have missed.

Click here for details about Sky+HD and Sky Anytime packages .

However, as with most technology they can fail, and stop recording or pausing.

In some cases i is simply a case of putting the box into standby and unplugging the box from the power for 30 seconds and then rebooting the box.

If this fails then the next stage is to perform a system clean.
In the “secret” installers set up menu there is an option from Sky+ Planner rebuild.
This is similar to a disk defrag on a Windows PC, and will basically tidy up the hard drive, and get rid of any unwanted or left over files. This option should not affect any recorded programmes on the hard drive.

If that fails then the next stage is a full system reset, again accessed by the “secret” installers set up menu.
This option will perform a format of the hard disk drive, and means you will lose any recordings on the drive.

Note that all of these are done at your own risk and “uksatellitehelp” cannot be responsible for any subsequent problems caused if you perform these actions.

Last week two were mentioned in the newspapers, with one being more prominent than the other.

The first natural phenomenon, according to reports (http://www.space.com/14818-solar-flare-magnetic-storm-satellites.html) , is that the sun is having a very active period, and it is emitting more energy than usual. Apparently this energy can cause problems for telecommunications and just about anything electrical on earth. And it could cause damage to satellites or even play havoc with the signal; being sent from the satellites. Which all coincided with a BBC2 Horizon documentary this week about solar flares (see it on the bbc Iplayer if you missed it)

But after hearing about this, many people think that any reception issues with their satellite reception is all due to the sun. So they leave it and hope it will go away. But you would have thought that many other people would also be experiencing problems at the same time. But they don’t. This leaves people in a state of confusion and thinking “Why is solar energy affecting my satellite system and not my neighbours?” The answer is as simple as it is not solar flares causing the problem, but probably another issue with your satellite system, such as dish alignment or LNB failure.

The second phenomenon mentioned this week (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2110396/Asteroid-2012-DA14-NOT-hit-Earth-year-says-astronomer.html) is that there is yet another asteroid that is expected to pass very close to earth in the next few years. So close that it is predicted to pass between the earth and the satellites. If unlucky it could make contact with some satellites.

Many people often call me and ask “if there is there a problem with the satellite as I have no signal?” Normally 99.9% of the time there are no problems with the signals from the satellite and any issues tend to be with the persons individual system.

However, if a satellite does fail, then there are backups available, such as moving critical channels over to other satellites. UK TV comes from 4 satellites, and so if just one fails then channels can be moved to one of the other three in an emergency.

Which could be a problem is an asteroid happens to wipe out all the satellites in that location in one go! It could take a few days or weeks to get another satellite into that location to help.

It makes you wonder what would happen in the UK if there was no Sky TV for a few days. Riots like in 2011…..?

Sky Sports are launching a new channel on the 9th March 2012. It will be Sky Sports first channel dedicated to a single sport. I am surprise that there has not been a “football” channel launched, as other satellite providers offer a dedicated football channel.

Sky Sports F1 HD will launch on Sky channel 408. In fact, if you go to Sky channel 408 now you can see a preview of what this channel will be offering for the 2012 Formula One season.

Sky Sports F1 HD will be the only place to see all races LIVE, and in HD, and with Dolby 5.1 digital sound. The BBC will only be showing 10 races live, with extended highlights of the races the are not showing live. This is all due to the cost cutting measures at the BBC.

Sky Sports F1 will be included in any Sky TV package with Sky Sports 1 & 2 or the HD Pack.

And, for expats, the channel is available on the “south beam”, for easy reception, and maybe to help gain some more expat subscribers in areas where BBC coverage is no longer available due to recent movement of BBC channels to Astra 1N…..(am I that cynical..?)

If you want to subscribe to Sky Sports or Sky HD to receive Sky Sports F1 channels, then please click here.

The final phase of this transfer is the migration of all BBC channels on their transponders. This will take place in the early hours of tomorrow morning (Friday 24th Feb).

It will mean that Astra 2D is free of channels. SES Astra can be either repositioned to another location as a back up or possibly decommissioned. It was launched in 2000 with a 12 year mission, so it is coming to the end of its mission.

No changes will be required of Sky or Freesat receivers, as, like the previous changes to ITV and Channel 4, the BBC channels will remain on the same frequencies they are currently using. They will only be “swapping satellites”.

There should be no impact on viewers in the UK as a result of this change of BBC channels from Astra 2D to Astra 1N.

However, viewers in the southern areas of Europe, may notice some changes. Some areas of southern Europe may find that they are no longer able to receive BBC channels with their existing satellite dishes, due to the signal footprint of Astra 1N being different to Astra 2D. In other areas of southern Europe, it may mean channels that were previously unavailable unless you have a huge satellite dish, may now be able to be received on smaller satellites dishes.

How long all of this will last is really unknown. Presumably it will only last until the next batch of Astra 2 satellites are launched, with the first in late 2012.

In the last week, most of the other ITV1 regions, ITV2, ITV3, ITV4 channels aslo moved from Astra 2D to Asta 1N. As did channels operated by Channel 4: E4, More4, Film4.

As Astra 1N has a tigher footprint than Astra 2D, this has meant that many people in fringe reception areas like Greece and Cyprus have been unable to receive these channels.

Some alternatives are to used C4HD, which is free to air, or subscribe to SkyHD and receive ITV2HD, ITV3HD, and ITV4HD.

In other areas of Europe, such as Spain, this has mean that channels that were usually only available on large 2.4m satelite dishes, are now available on much smaller 80cm to 1m satellite dishes. This is due to Astra 1Ns signal footprint being more generous in these areas.

However, with the launches of three new satellites, Astra 2e, 2f, and 2g in the next few years, it is pretty certain than there will be some more reception changes affecting these fringe recpeiton areas.

Free to air.
Free to air channels are those that are broadcast “in the clear” without any encryption, without the need for a viewing card or a subscription. Examples of some free to air channels on UK satellite TV are BBC 1 and BBC2.

Free to view
Free to view channels are encrypted and require a viewing card to view. They do not require a monthly subscription. Examples of free to view channels on UK satellite TV are (as at Feb 2012) Channel Five HD, Sony TV and Motors TV.

Freeview
A digital TV service offered in the UK. Freeview is a terrestrial system that uses land based masts for transmission and a TV Aerial for reception. Some channels that are available for free on Freeview require a subscription on satellite.

Freesatfromsky
A service offered by Sky, using a non subscription viewing card, that allows the viewing of the free to view satellite TV channels.

Freesat
A satellite service that offers a selection of free to air satellite TV channels. Not all free to air UK TV satellite channels are available on Freesat, but they can be added to Freesat receivers by using “Non Freesat Mode”. A Sky digibox with no viewing card will be able to receive the same channels as a Freesat receiver.

Sky TV
The UKs main pay TV provider with a wide rage of channels available for a monthly subscription, and with some channels available on a pay per view basis.

You cannot receive Freeview via satellite, as they are based on two different transmission systems: satellite and terrestrial.

You cannot receive Freesat on Sky digiboxes. Freesat software is only for use on Freesat receivers, in the same way that the software used on Sky boxes is not available on Freesat boxes.