Sky Digital Remote Control

The Sky Digital remote is actually manufactured by Philips, and uses the Philips RC6 protocol, an enhanced version of the popular RC5 protocol.

How to set your Sky Digital remote to work your TV.

The Sky Digibox remote control can be set to work many different types of TV's, to enable it to work your particular set you must first set the remote to use the correct ID Code.

Following recent changes at Sky, all the remote codes are now listed on the Interactive pages, simply press the 'Interactive' button, select 'Sky Enquiries', 'Technical Assistance', and follow the prompts.

Set-up Operation.

• Set-up can be performed either by using the Brand Set, Direct Set or Step and Set method described below.
  
• << >>: Press and Hold for 1.5 seconds.
  
• < >: Press and release key.
  
• [ ]: Pressing the key is optional.

1.1 Direct Set

1.  First Set the remote control to TV Mode, then turn on the TV that you want to operate.
   
2. Press and hold the <<Select>> and <<Red>> keys simultaneously on the remote control for a minimum of 1.5 seconds, until the LED blinks twice.
   
3. Enter the 3 digit code for the TV (from the direct set list) by pressing and releasing each digit key in sequence. If the code entered is a valid code the LED will blink twice. However, if the code entered does not exist in the library or was entered incorrectly the LED will have one long blink and the unit will exit the Set-up Mode. NB - on the later version of the handset you need to press <select> after the 3 digit code!!.
   
4. Aim the remote control at the TV and press the <On/Off> key. The TV should turn off (or go to standby).

If the TV does not turn off, repeat steps 2-4, trying each code listed for your TV.

1.2 Step and set

1. First Set the remote control to the TV Mode, then turn on the TV that you want to operate.
   
2. Press and hold the <<Select>> and <<Red>> keys simultaneously on the remote control for a minimum of 1.5 seconds, until the LED blinks twice. (This enables the "ID Code" programming function in the remote control.)
   
3. Press and release the <TV> key. (This enables the "step and set" feature.)
   
4. Aim the remote control at the TV and press the <On/Off> key. The TV should turn off (or go to standby).
   
5. If the TV does not turn off, press and release the <TV> key and repeat step 4. When the TV does turn off, got to step 6.
   
6. Press and release the <Select> key to lock in the ID code that operated your TV. The LED will blink twice after pressing Select to indicate that the code was programmed.

Once the unit goes through the entire memory of ID codes without selecting an ID, the LED blinks three times and the unit exits the Step and Set Mode.
(The next time this sequence of steps is initiated, the stepping will start from one ID above the ID used in step 6, allowing the user to cycle through the remaining codes in the device library.)

Note: Once the On/Off key is pressed right after the TV, the remote will not react to any other key presses but the TV and On/Off. However, if a digit key is pressed right after the TV key the unit will automatically enter the Brand Step and Set Mode.

1.3 Brand Step and Set

1. First Set the remote control to TV Mode, then turn on the TV that you want to operate.
   
2. Press and hold the <<Select>> and <<Red>> keys simultaneously on the remote control for a minimum of 1.5 seconds, until the LED blinks twice.
   
3. Press and release the <TV> key.
   
4. Press the 4 digit code for the brand that you want the step for, if the code exists the LED blinks twice, if not the LED blinks one long blink and exits the Set-up mode.
   
5. Press the <On/Off> key.
   
6. If the TV turns off press <Select> to set the remote control to the ID. The LED will blink twice to confirm setting.

If the TV does not react, press the <TV> key and repeat from step 5.

2.0 Setting the default channel for your TV.

You can set the Digibox remote control to automatically select the satellite channel on your TV when you press the TV Guide button (or the other three green buttons). This doesn't require doing if you watch via a SCART lead.

1. First Set the remote control to TV Mode, then turn on the TV that you want to operate.
   
2. Press and hold the <<Select>> and <<Green>> keys simultaneously on the remote control for a minimum of 1.5 seconds, until the LED blinks twice.
   
3. Key in the number of  the channel on your TV that you use for watching satellite TV.
   
4. Press <Select> on the remote control. The red light blinks twice, your correct TV channel will now be selected when you press the TV Guide button etc.
   
5. If you wish to cancel this function, simply repeat the above procedure, but ignore step 3, just press <Select> without entering a channel number.

3.0 Setting the HD remote to auto-switch to HDMI for your Sony TV.

You can set the Digibox remote control to automatically transmit a Macro to select the correct HDMI input on your TV when you press the TV Guide button (or the other three green buttons).

1. First set the remote control to TV Mode, then turn on the TV that you want to operate.
2. Press and hold the <<Select>> and <<Help>> keys simultaneously on the remote control for a minimum of 1.5 seconds, until the LED blinks twice.
3. Press the <<Help>> button on the HD handset until it selects the correct HDMI socket that you use for watching satellite TV. Make sure you don’t set it to ‘sequential’ (the first option) as it will step every time you press otherwise.
4. Press <<Select>> on the remote control. The red light blinks twice, your correct TV HDMI input will now be selected when you press the TV Guide button etc.
5. Use the normal <<Select>> and <<Green>> followed by <<Help>> (instead of the channel number) to make it use the Macro when you press any of the buttons.

Here are the codes for the sets supported by the Digibox handset.

You'll notice that many of the sets listed use the same codes, there are a few reasons for this, firstly many manufacturers use integrated circuits sourced from Philips Components (previously known as Mullard) and use the RC5 remote control system - hence a great many sets use the code 065 or 584.

Secondly, a great many of the obscure 'cheap' sets are just a brand name, not a manufacturer at all, often it's hard to find who actually manufactures the set - typical examples of these are the Saisho, Matsui, and Goodmans brands, used by Dixons, Curry's and Comet respectively. Other examples in this category are more 'reputable' names like Bush and Amstrad, which while having a fairly well known name don't actually manufacture the sets, just buy similar cheap units and have them badged.

Thirdly, manufacturers occasionally buy sets from other manufacturers and just badge them with their own name, Hitachi are one company who do this quite often! - sometimes buying sets from Salora.

Fourthly, many manufacturers actually use more than one name, for example Philips use Pye, Tatung use Decca, Grundig use Minerva, and in the older days Thorn used Ferguson, Marconi, HMV and Ultra (plus Baird for their rental outlets).

If the set you have isn't listed, it could well be worth trying codes for some of the other sets, the Philips RC5 (code 065 or 584) is well worth a try, failing that try the 'cheap' manufacturers codes, in particular Onwa, Funai, Orion, and Daewoo - they are often the actual manufacturer of many of the cheap badged TV's.

This is the complete list of codes provided to installers by Sky, occasionally the same code is repeated twice for a particular brand, this is so in the Sky listing, so I've included it here as well.