Will a sky box pick up free channels without subscr?

[Bagpuss]

Nice one, thanks!

[VectraMan]

It's not necessarily the same free channels that are free on Freeview though.

[MrRobin]

Interesting question

Q. What if I don't want to subscribe to Sky.

A. You can use your box without a card to view the BBC channels that you are used to. You would get quite a few extra channels free (like CNN, Sky, News, Travel, shopping and Asian channels). There are also many radio channels. Much of the output of the main broadcasters is in widescreen and all these are good reasons for getting a digibox even if you don't want to subscribe.
FTA (Free To Air) channels, all BBC, Sky News, QVC and some others, means that you can watch them without a card.
FTV (Free To View) include ITV, C4 and C5, meaning that you can watch these channels without subscription but you will still need a card for copyright reasons. If you want to receive these FTV channels without subscribing to Sky then you can contact them and request a card. At present, it costs £20.00 and will last for at least 3 years. All Sky cards will only work in Sky digiboxes. If you do call Sky for a card then you will need to know your digibox's serial number.

http://www.sjstv.co.uk/skyfault.html

[Flubster]

Yep, but you'll need to buy a FTV card for a one-off fee from Sky. £20 when I bought mine a couple of years ago.

[Bagpuss]

Reception where I live is poor, but there is a sky dish already installed from previous owner. Can I hook up and get free channels without subscribing?
(assuming I can locate a box)