I have a Sky Dish from 1996?! Can I get freesat?

[Micah777]

Heres my situation,

I use to have the full Sky package. However the subscription ended a few years ago after I got it all in back in 1996. Took out the box and have since lost the box. However, my girlfriend has moved house and got Virgin and has given me her Skybox with the card in it as mine has gone. Her Skybox still has the card in it. She was watching freesat before she gave me the skybox?

So I connected my Sky Box up to the TV using a scart and plugged the ariel from the satalite into the back of my Sky Box and it searches for a few seconds and after a few seconds it says no satalite signal is found?

Does anyone know what the problem is here?

WOuld most apprecite any help?!

Thanks

Micah!

[NewsreadeR]

How big is the dish?

Is it the old big one or the newer smaller one?

Its possible that the LNB has been moved through wind etc - It maybe worth asking a local sat installer to have a look (although this would be chargeable) Unless of course you are prepared to have a go.

As for the freesat side of things, you would need a card, normally the card that expires would revert to the freesat version, however, as this is not yours, and Sky have rolled out a new type of card, you may need another (normally cost about £20)

[Micah777]

Thanks for your reply.

Well I just went to have a look at it on the side of the house and its 40 centimeters by 40 centimerters and Im pretty sure its this one...
https://clarahost.clara.net/www.mult...ish_Zone_1.jpg

So you think I may need to get a new card too? even though it worked fine for my girlfriend?

[NewsreadeR]

So you think I may need to get a new card too? even though it worked fine for my girlfriend?

It all depends if it is the new one. Sky are updating all the cards at the moment, for the newer ones and so it maybe a case of ringing Sky and asking them about that.

As for the dish, it should look like this:



Satellite Mini Dish & Quad LNB for SKY FREESAT Zone 1 on eBay (end time 01-Aug-09 12:54:20 BST) Although that image has a 4 way LNB and so that bit would be slightly different.

43cm Raven Minidish for Sky or Freesat

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Sky-BBC-ITV-43...3A1%7C294%3A50

[Smithy99]

The dish will be pointing at the wrong satellite if it's that old, you need to get it re-aligned, better still get a new one put up.

[taharris]

When did the satellite move (!) or presumably Sky started using another one? Our dish has been there since 2000 and seems to work.

[Proppinupthebar]

Sky originally launched as an analogue service using Astra 1 at 19degrees east. For digital they moved to the Astra2 position at 28.2E.

[Micah777]

So is there a part I could just have added to my satelite rather than buying a new satelite?

1) If theres a part I just need to buy to add to my satelite how much would that cost and how much would it cost to get someone out to fix it?

b) Where would I buy this new part for my satelite from?

2) If I need a new satelite altogether how much is one of them?

b) How much would it be to get someone out to instal the new satelite?

[Proppinupthebar]

A new satellite will cost millions. A new dish however.......
The fact you are asking questions suggests to me you should get a local installer to do the job. It is possible to re-pan the dish to pick up the required satellite but as the dish is 13 or so years old the nuts are likely corroded and if you don't know what you are doing it can be a pain.