SPI on dsPIC33 and PPS problems

I've been trying to get SPI working on my dsPic33FJ64MC802 for a few days now so I'm desperately needing help because nothing seems to be coming out of SCK1 or SDO according to the o-scope.

This is what I'm trying to achieve:

• SPI in master mode
• don't care about sdi
• should be able to see sck or sdo on the oscope

What I noticed that may be wrong:

• reconfiguring the pins does not seem to work (I've tried unlocking them with no success)

I never found a full SPI example for the pic33 online, so this is what I have from several examples:

#include "SPIUtils.h"
#include<spi.h>

// this may not be needed, I'm not sure
_FOSC(IOL1WAY_OFF);

unsigned int datard ;
void __attribute__((__interrupt__,auto_psv)) _SPI1Interrupt(void)
{
    IFS0bits.SPI1IF = 0;
}

void __attribute__((__interrupt__,auto_psv)) _SPI2Interrupt(void)
{
     IFS2bits.SPI2IF = 0;
     SPI1STATbits.SPIROV = 0; /* Clear SPI1 receive overflow
     flag if set */
}

// For dsPic33FJ64MC802 on a pic microstick
void SPITransmit() {
    //__builtin_disi(20); // need to disable interupts first?
    // PPS needs to first unlock the pins before re-assignment
   __builtin_write_OSCCONL(0x46); // unlock sequence - step 1
   __builtin_write_OSCCONH(0x57); // unlock sequence - step 2
    _IOLOCK = 0;

    // Pins can now change - though, these don't change in the SFR debugger window... why?
    _RP0R = 8;              // configure sck1 as output on pin 4 /RB0/RP0
    _RP1R = 7;              // configure sdo as output on pin 5 /RB1/RP1
    RPINR20bits.SCK1R = 4;  //configure sck1 as input on pin 4
    RPINR20bits.SDI1R = 6;  // configure SDI for input on pin 6

    // these change as expected in the debugger
    TRISBbits.TRISB0 = 0; //sck pin 4 as output
    TRISBbits.TRISB1 = 0; //sdo pin 5 as output
    TRISBbits.TRISB2 = 1; //sdi pin 6 as input

    /* Holds the information about SPI configuartion */
    unsigned int SPICONValue = 0;
    /* Holds the information about SPI Enable/Disable */
    unsigned int SPISTATValue = 0;

    /* Turn off SPI modules */
    CloseSPI1();
    CloseSPI2();
    TMR1 = 0;

    /* Configure SPI1 interrupt */
    ConfigIntSPI1(SPI_INT_EN & SPI_INT_PRI_6);

    /* Configure SPI1 module to transmit 16 bit timer1 value in master mode */
    SPICONValue = FRAME_ENABLE_OFF & FRAME_SYNC_OUTPUT & ENABLE_SDO_PIN & SPI_MODE16_ON &
            SPI_SMP_OFF & SPI_CKE_OFF & SLAVE_ENABLE_OFF & CLK_POL_ACTIVE_HIGH &
            MASTER_ENABLE_ON & SEC_PRESCAL_7_1 & PRI_PRESCAL_64_1;
    SPISTATValue = SPI_ENABLE & SPI_IDLE_CON & SPI_RX_OVFLOW_CLR;

    // what is this third parameter..? the tools library does not mention it.
    // is this the problem? The two parameter OpenSPI1 is not available
    OpenSPI1(SPICONValue, SPISTATValue, 0);

    SPICONValue = FRAME_ENABLE_OFF & FRAME_SYNC_OUTPUT & ENABLE_SDO_PIN & SPI_MODE16_ON &
            SPI_SMP_OFF & SPI_CKE_OFF & SLAVE_ENABLE_OFF & CLK_POL_ACTIVE_HIGH &
            MASTER_ENABLE_OFF & SEC_PRESCAL_7_1 & PRI_PRESCAL_64_1;
    SPISTATValue = SPI_ENABLE & SPI_IDLE_CON & SPI_RX_OVFLOW_CLR;
    OpenSPI2(SPICONValue, SPISTATValue, 0);

    // for the moment, I only care about monitoring data out and the clk in the
    // o-scope
    while (1) {
        // repeadtedly send out 10101..
        WriteSPI1(0xAAAA);
        while (SPI1STATbits.SPITBF);
    }

    // don't care about the input
//    while (!DataRdySPI2());
//    datard = ReadSPI2();
//    if (datard <= 600) {
//        PORTBbits.RB0 = 1;
//    }

    /* Turn off SPI module and clear IF bit */
    CloseSPI1();
    CloseSPI2();

    __builtin_write_OSCCONL(0x46); // unlock sequence - step 1
    __builtin_write_OSCCONH(0x57); // unlock sequence - step 2
    _IOLOCK = 1; // re-lock the ports
}

and use it like so:

#include <p33FJ64MC802.h>
#include <stdint.h>
#include <xc.h>
#include "main.h"
#include "BlinkLed.h"
#include "SPIUtils.h"
int main()
{
    //BlinkLedOnPortB(2, 8);
    SPITransmit();
    return 0;
}

I can't tell what on earth I'm doing wrong. This is the pic microstick.