Sky Freesat

[wolsty]

Hello again. As usual when I post, I need advice.

A friend has just moved house and has asked me to help him set up Freesat. He has a Freesat tv, which is connected to an external dish and he's pleased with the results. However, he wants Freesat in his bedroom and has a Sky+ box and tv available.

It's my understanding that if he replaces his LNB with a twin outlet unit, runs a second cable to his bedroom and buys a £25 Sky Freesat card for his Sky+ box, the setup will work. Am I correct in this assumption?

Wolsty

 

[timo_w2s]

Yep, pretty much. If he has a Sky dish he'll probably need a quad LNB as twins are hard to find now. A FreesatFromSky card (or an expired Sky card) will only get him a couple of extra channels these days, most of the stuff is FTA.

 

[Analoguesat]

As Timo says the ftv card doesnt get anything very exciting now - half a dozen fairly minor channels, although it does regionalise the box to the postcode allocated to the card

Before shelling out 25 quid see if the chap can get along without, or if you have an expired blue card lying around that will regionalise the box although it doesnt decrypt the channels any longer.

Tell him to be aware he wont be able to record on the Sky+ box.

 

[wolsty]

Thanks for that. He'd be happy with Freeview, but can't see the Redruth transmitter from his house. He can see the Helston transmitter, but it doesn't carry the full range of Freeview, so he's forced to look skywards.

I know most of the channels are fta, but will he particularly wants to get ITV 3 and 4 on the Sky+ box. My VU+ gets the whole range, but it's a Linux box and........

I do have an old blue card lying around, but that's because, much to my wife's despair, I never throw anything away. He's not bothered about recording, so no problem there.

I bought a twin for my Triax dish about twelve months ago; does the Sky dish have a different fitting?

Wolsty

 

[Analoguesat]

ITV 2 3 & 4 SD channels are fta. The HD versions of the channels are pay.

 

[timo_w2s]

I bought a twin for my Triax dish about twelve months ago; does the Sky dish have a different fitting?

Sky's minidishes are shaped the other way to normal offset dishes so work best with an LNB designed for Sky dishes, plus the minidish quads are rather cheap if you get them from a certain auction site.

The exact type of fitting depends on the type of Sky dish. Most new quads come with a universal bracket to fit most Sky dishes.

 

[wolsty]

He'll be a happy man! A local supplier had quoted well over £200 to supply and fit a Freesat box. He's a builder, so he can do the cable run himself and for the price of cable, connectors, LNB and my old blue card (for which I will charge him an exorbitant amount!) he and his wife will be able to watch tv in bed. Then perhaps he'll come back to our house and finish off the outstanding work.

 

[Channel Hopper]

Thanks for that. He'd be happy with Freeview, but can't see the Redruth transmitter from his house. He can see the Helston transmitter, but it doesn't carry the full range of Freeview, so he's forced to look skywards.

You should get Redruth from where you are

 

[wolsty]

I can. Very strong signal. Redruth is NNE of us and, on a clear day, I can see it from my roof. But D is on the other side of the valley, about half-way up, looking more or less SW, and Redruth is well below his horizon. The Helston repeater transmitter was built to give coverage to those in this shadow area.

Wolsty

 

[PaulR]

He's a builder, so he can do the cable run himself and for the price of cable, connectors, LNB and ...

Make sure he uses decent satellite cable. Builders have been known to use the cheapest possible; some have even used TV aerial cable.

 

[wolsty]

Thanks for the reminder, Paul. I'll be buying the kit and D will be doing the cable run, so I'll make sure he has good stuff to work with. Nanochickin ensured that I used the proper specification when I renewed my old cable in late 2011 and the system's never worked better, so it's a lesson well learned. And the VU+ has provided hours of pleasure.

Wolsty

 

[wolsty]

D just tried his old Sky+ box with my old card with the existing LNB. He's got the Freesat channels he wanted and is happy as Larry. Perhaps he'll now finish off the outstanding jobs at my house. I'll get him a quad LNB and good cable and help him install it when the better weather comes.