Sky q lnb re-purposing

[UKenGB]

Having recently dropped Sky, I am left with a Sky Q dish and hybrid/Smart LNB with the 2 Sky outputs going nowhere (no more Q box) and the other 4 outlets still feeding other devices (like a FreeSat TV). The latter works fine, but I'm wondering if there's anything I can do with the Q outputs.

I understand that one is H and the other V, but is there any way to 'combine' these to provide a Unicable/dSCR source to suitable devices? Or are their frequencies shifted in a way that makes them incompatible with Unicable/dSCR?

As I understand it, the Q method uses some frequencies that overlap the TV bands and hence cannot be combined with them. Can the normal Unicable signal be multiplexed with TV, radio etc or does that also use frequencies that overlap TV?

Specifically, I want to provide full satellite feed to a multi-tuner Sat card in a PC. This card has 4 inputs that can be normal single LNB (narrowband?) feeds, or 4 outputs from a Quattro, or it can instead work from a single Unicable feed. For simplicity, I wondered if I could utilise those spare Q feeds as either a single Unicable feed to the PC card, or indeed whether they could be split into the equivalent of a Quattro LNB's outputs?

A further complication is that as far as I have been able to determine, there are 2 types of this Sky Q hybrid LNB. One of which has 2 outputs for Q and only Q, but the other in fact has 6 identical outputs and works out what to supply to the connecting equipment. I have no idea which I have.

So, any advice on the above would be much appreciated.

 

[rolfw]

Not fitted nor come across a hybrid with dedicated wideband outputs, all have had 6 switchable ports. Best way to test is try a standard receiver on the two ports you've had connected to the Q box.

 

[PaulR]

I'm curious. What is the process by which the correct output for the receiver is determined? Does a Q box send a certain signal to the LNB perhaps?

 

[rolfw]

Been trying to find out Paul, but nobody seems to know, it'll be some sort of tone command.

 

[UKenGB]

I'm curious. What is the process by which the correct output for the receiver is determined? Does a Q box send a certain signal to the LNB perhaps?

Since the normal polarisation control is done by the voltage supplied to the LNB and the Q box only supplies a lower 12v, is it perhaps this that is used to tell the Smart LNB what to send? So 12v means a Q box so send H and V down those outputs and if the voltage is higher, it sends H or V depending on the actual voltage, as per normal.

Seems feasible to me and in this way, no additional (otherwise unnecessary) tone generator would be required.

 

[Channel Hopper]

Having recently dropped Sky, I am left with a Sky Q dish and hybrid/Smart LNB with the 2 Sky outputs going nowhere (no more Q box) and the other 4 outlets still feeding other devices (like a FreeSat TV). The latter works fine, but I'm wondering if there's anything I can do with the Q outputs.

I understand that one is H and the other V, but is there any way to 'combine' these to provide a Unicable/dSCR source to suitable devices? Or are their frequencies shifted in a way that makes them incompatible with Unicable/dSCR?

Since each output of the Sky Q LNB covers just over 2GHz, to combine both as unicable your tuner would need to handle a 4GHz band span.

 

[UKenGB]

Since each output of the Sky Q LNB covers just over 2GHz, to combine both as unicable your tuner would need to handle a 4GHz band span.

I understand. But how does Unicable/[d]SCR manage to stuff everything down a single cable? Can that be multiplexed with TV/Radio signals?

 

[Channel Hopper]

Unicable used to be the fancy name for a stacking/destacking system, I don't think much has changed.

If you have a four port PCi card, does it have the ability for setting independent Local Oscillators on each port ?

 

[UKenGB]

Unicable used to be the fancy name for a stacking/destacking system, I don't think much has changed.

I didn't think that was the case. I was under the impression that Unicable/SCR/dSCR is now a standard (well, there's 2 in fact).

If you have a four port PCi card, does it have the ability for setting independent Local Oscillators on each port ?

Not sure about that. Will have to check.

 

[Channel Hopper]

It (actually they) is now standardised, though there are products out there that provide unique signal combinations into a building, due to the restrictions of running additional cabling.

Fibreoptic distribution of satellite signals is a natural competitor, with the advantage of long distance delivery without additional components.

 

[a33]

With Unicable/JESS, each tuner sends out a signal as to what frequency it wants to receive, and that frequency is then given on the assigned userband.
So basically a part of the 'receiver' is put at the dish/multiswitch side; whereas in legacy you get a full 'band' of frequencies.
Your splitter-setup must fit the unicable/JESS setup (the use of diodes!)

I don't know what the maximum of userbands per strang is these days: 24 or something?
There are some problems with some dCSS hardware reported on german forums; a²CSS from Jultec doesn't have these problems (but not cheap).

Greetz,
A33

 

[rolfw]

The current crop of dSCRs (Single Cable Router or Single Channel Router) offer 16 user channels and can be fed by a quattro LNB or a Wideband LNB (switchable), not a Hybrid, all channels are within the legacy IF band and so can be diplexed with terrestrial. Triax have just introduced a compact, wideband LNB fed converter offering two legacy satellite feeds with terrestrial, or two dSCR feeds also with terrestrial, so can be connected to a standard Sky plus wall module. cost under £100 and requires no power supply.

 

[jeallen01]

@rolfw
Any chance of a relevant link to that Triax converter?

 

[rolfw]

I do apologise, it's Johansson. WIDEBAND TO SKY Q TV DIPLEXER(JOH9725) and will probably retail at around £70.

 

[jeallen01]

And here's another one that I found after looking at the link in @rolfw's post and then searching for "satellite dSCC"

OTOH, the OP seems to be looking for a "box" which works the opposite way around (i.e. Sky Q LNB to "old fashioned" feeds to STBs)?

 

[Channel Hopper]

Unless they have changed tack in the past few months, Eurosat is a trade only outlet.

Johansson is a brand name of the Unitron Group, more or less the pioneers of every DiSEqC and SCR/dSCR module out there.

SFU dCSS Switch - Unitron Group

 

[rolfw]

And here's another one that I found after looking at the link in @rolfw's post and then searching for "satellite dSCC"

OTOH, the OP seems to be looking for a "box" which works the opposite way around (i.e. Sky Q LNB to "old fashioned" feeds to STBs)?

The 9725 dSCR does supply legacy feeds, so equally good for standard Sky or Freesat boxes, plus you could run two twin tuner Sky plus HD boxes with only two feeds using SCR and two splitters. The Global unit requires four feeds from a standard or Quattro LNB, plus from my experience, is unreliable.

PS. But the OP, has a Hybrid, so should provide legacy on all ports.

 

[a33]

I guess when googling for Unicable (or JESS) multiswitch and wideband LNB you'll find even more hits?

I'm assuming the Sky-Q protocol is in fact Unicable/JESS (-compatible). Is that in fact the case?

Greetz,
A33