Sky+ free to air

Sorry if this is in the wrong place or has been done before.
A couple of years ago i cancelled my sky subscription and have been watching free to air UK channels on my old pace box. that box went wrong and a friend gave me a sky + box. the problem I am having is that the default channels are Irish RTE tv3 and tg4
Is there any way I can reprogram the box so the English BBC channels are default. I can get them by adding to other channels but there is no scheduling listed on the main menu
Thanks for any help available

I'm not sure if it will work, but I know to use an old Sky box in our bedroom without a subscription, we were told to remove the card, and reboot the box. Leaving the card out, when you turn it back on again, you should have all the English Free to View channels. The only thing is you will no longer have any of the Irish stations.

Jo1708 said:

I'm not sure if it will work, but I know to use an old Sky box in our bedroom without a subscription, we were told to remove the card, and reboot the box. Leaving the card out, when you turn it back on again, you should have all the English Free to View channels. The only thing is you will no longer have any of the Irish stations.

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That should work. It worked with mine , which is a HD box. Sky+ services won't work though.

Unfortunately this hasnt worked. I have tried it three or four times but the box has not had a card in or been plugged in for the last six months

Try forcing a firmware update on it, should do the trick.

SparkRite said:

Try forcing a firmware update on it, should do the trick.

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how do I do that??

Switch off the power from the mains.
Hold down the back up button on the box. Keep the back up button pressed & turn on the power. Do not release the button untill Updating Software message appears on the screen.

Thank you so much to everyone who replied. Problem sorted and the kids can watch telly again