Using Spare Lnb Ports On Dish

[Leevis]

Hi All
Not too sure where to post this so i am trying in here first, not even too sure whether this is allowed but here is the problem.
I currently have Sky+HD which was upgraded from normal Sky+ quite a while ago (i still have the old sky box).
I have a quad lnb on my dish and was wondering whether i could use one of these and connect this up to the old sky box or a freeview box.
Anyone know if this would work? Would rather use the older sky box (still not sure about whether to use 1 or 2) because it would be free and all i would need to get would be some coax and 2 f-connectors.
Anyone ever done this?
Lee

[dog-man]

Freeview is through a television ariel and NOT a satellite dish!
Freesat is through a satellite dish and yes you could use these two spare outputs from the lnb.
If you use your old sky receiver, I believe you will need to purchase a card from sky to allow you to view the free channels. (someone will correct this if I am wrong).
Using a 'freesat' receiver, means you do not need a card to view free channels.



dog-man

[Leevis]

Yeah sounds like it can be done via the freesat route, not too sure which road to go down the freesat card looks like is £25 from Sky but i dont think that i will be able to get the HD channels because the box is an older one and was the one we have before we go HD. Saying that though i think that the Freesat boxes come in SD and HD flavours.
I think for now i will go and use the Sky box i already have as it seems to be cheaper. I will beed to get a new tv at some point so that might have freesat HD already built in. Not sure

[dog-man]

Yes, you can get Freesat HD boxes.

No idea about cost but I would have thought they are relatively cheap. If money is not a problem then you could get one with a built in pvr. (recorder).



dog-man

[dms05]

If you want a 'no cost' solution simply use your old Sky box attached to one of the spare LNB outlets. You DON'T need any form of card to receive the likes of BBC/ITV/C4 etc. The only slight oddity will be your box will default to the London region but as all the BBC regional variations are available from Channel 960 onwards you might simply have to enter, say. 962 to get BBC1. If you pull your Sky card from your Sky+ box it will act like your old Sky box without a card. The Sky Freesat Card will allow you access to some minor channels, only you can decide if it's worthwhile.

[Leevis]

That sounds like a right result then I just need to get a Y connector and i am good to go (plus a hole through the wall)
I dont mind getting the london channels because i am in london anyway (rock and roll)
Thanks

[Scubbie]

Depending on your short-term and long-term budget, you may wish to consider the Multi-room option.

This would provide you with a 2nd STB with all the same channels as on your main STB. Whilst the basic STB doesn't have a hard drive, it you were to connect it to your home network you could take advantage of the much rumoured facility that Sky could add later this year or early next year. This could mean that the multi-room STB could access the contents on your main STB if they are both on the same home network.

http://www.skyuser.co.uk/forum/sky/4...tionality.html

http://www.skyuser.co.uk/forum/sky-g...-anywhere.html

[Leevis]

Yeah multi room is a bit expensive for me to be honest, last time i looked it was like £10 per month which is a bit over the top for me. The main reaosn for this is I have another child who would want the same so it is easier to get freeview/freesat in each of these rooms, the first one already has freeview via the roof aerial.

[Scubbie]

It does depend on which channels they are likely to want to watch. What you could do would be to run the coaxial aerial from the outside aerial to a booster, which could be placed in the loft. From there you could feed the aerial to each bedroom and the lounge to get Freeview to each TV.

If you wanted, you could feed the outdoor aerial directly to the lounge TV, via the Sky STB. Take a feed from UHF2 Out on the Sky STB and feed that back up to the loft, where the booster can then split the signal and feed each bedroom. They would then be able to view what you are watching on the Sky+ HD STB. If you add a Magic-Eye (perhaps in your own bedroom) and purchase a 2nd Sky remote control, you can then watch the STB from the bedrooms and control it where the magic-eye is connected.

The satellite STB will require a direct feed to supply Freesat to the bedroom. If you get a cheaper Freesat STB, then you will only require one feed for it. A Freesat+ STB will require 2 feeds from the LNB.

List of digital terrestrial television channels (UK) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

List of channels on Freesat - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia