Dusky Control - Take control of your Sky digibox

Dusky Control Ltd has ceased trading

31st January 2021: Due to a sharp decline in orders since the start of the coronavirus crisis, Dusky Control Ltd has ceased trading. Some remaining stock is available to purchase, please email joseph@heenan.me.uk for details.

As of April 2021, we have 7 of the 2 output RF2 controllers, and a small number of 2 output IOPORT controllers. There are also plenty of spare I/O port cables available to replace lost/damaged cables, £15 each.

Introduction

Dusky Control are the leading suppliers of controllers to allow Sky digiboxes to be controlled from PCs and home automation systems.

Our standard controllers allow you to control:

• standard Sky digibox
• Sky+
• Sky HD / Sky+ HD
• Foxtel iQ models DC460 and DS460 (but not model 480 and not Foxtel iQ2)
• Foxtel Pace 420

The units that can be controlled a serial/RS232 connections. Controllers are available that can control almost any number of satellite receivers.

The controllers all attach to the RF2 port on the satellite receiver and send commands to it using the same protocol that the sky 'magic eye' / tvlink devices use. This means there is no infra-red communication, making our controllers very easy to install, fast and 100% reliable.

Sky boxes with no RF2 port

Sky have now released several boxes where the RF2 connectors have been replied with a 10 pin mini-din I/O port connector:

• Amstrad DRX-595. Sky refer to this as a 'multiroom' Sky HD box - it has no harddisc and no RF2 connector.
• Amstrad DRX-890W, the 2014 Sky+HD box with built in wifi
• Amstrad DRX-895W, the 2014 2TB Sky+HD box with built in wifi
• Amstrad DRX-890WL and DRX-895WL, new 2015 versions with some analogue ports removed.

We have a controller for all of these that connects to the I/O Port (a 10 pin mini din) on the rear panel and provides control via an RS232 connector using the same protocol as all our other controllers.

What can I do with it?

Your imagination is the limit.

The most popular use is integrating a number of sky boxes into a home automation solution. Our serial controllers have been installed in hundreds of sites around the world and fully integrated with control systems from Crestron, Cui ipCue, Control4, AMX, Visiomatic, Dianemo, RTI and many others.

You can also use our controllers to control a Sky+HD box directly from your PC (or remotely), using the interactive Windows application.

The two other main uses are controlling a Sky, Sky+ or Sky HD box over the internet, or integrating a Sky, Sky+ or Sky HD box into a PVR (personal video recorder) solution.