Non-motoring > Freesat HD receiver box Miscellaneous
Thread Author: TheManWithNoName Replies: 25
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New Thu 13 Jan 11 17:41 
 Freesat HD receiver box - TheManWithNoName
When we bought our flat screen TV with inbuilt Freeview about 5 years ago we couldnt receive a decent Freeview signal via the aerial so instead went with the Sky Freesat SD option of paying a one off fee of £150 and got a Sky receiver box and a satellite dish.

If I want to upgrade the box to Freesat HD using say for example a Bush receiver will it still be compatible and receive a signal via my existing satellite dish?

I don't want to buy an HD Freesat receiver box if it turns out there is some kind of scrambler which only the current SD Sky box can decode from the dish.
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New Thu 13 Jan 11 17:44 
 Freesat HD receiver box - Zero
If your current dish receives sky ok, it will happily feed a freesat HD box with no changes.

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New Thu 13 Jan 11 17:51 
 Freesat HD receiver box - WillDeBeest
Nothing to worry about, Anon. The house I moved to last year has a fairly old dish that was previously used for Sky. I bought a Humax Foxsat HD and it's close to perfect.

Any scrambling is done before broadcast (Freesat isn't scrambled at all) and unscrambling is done in the receiver, so the dish merely converts radio waves to current in the downlead.
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New Thu 13 Jan 11 18:22 
 Freesat HD receiver box - spamcan61
It doesn't matter whether you use Freesat or Sky, you are receiving the same signal from the same satellite, the only difference is how you access them i.e. the EPG.
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New Thu 13 Jan 11 19:41 
 Freesat HD receiver box - Robin O'Reliant
Can I add a question to this thread please?

Is it possible to run Freesat and Sky from one dish with a split cable, or would they cancel each other out if on at the same time?
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New Thu 13 Jan 11 19:53 
 Freesat HD receiver box - rtj70
>> Is it possible to run Freesat and Sky from one dish with a split cable, or would they cancel
>> each other out if on at the same time?

Sort of yes. Each tuner needs it's own LNB on the satellite dish. A Sky+ type box with two tuners need two LNBs with a cable going to each LNB. You can have Quad LNBs to feed 4 tuners with a cable going to each.

What you don't do is split the cable. You need a cable from an LNB to a tuner. You will find two connectors for the two cables on the back of a Sky+ box for example.

If you need more flexibility you can go for a Quattro LNB with a switch to run a lot more than 4 tuners.
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New Thu 13 Jan 11 20:01 
 Freesat HD receiver box - Zero
you can split one LNB feed cable to more than one tuner, but it limits the channels you can tune into for both tuners.

You really need one LNB feed per tuner, and with quad LNBs being so cheap, its best to install one of those.

If you want complete flexibility for a multituner PVR for example you need a dual LNB minimum.
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New Thu 13 Jan 11 20:24 
 Freesat HD receiver box - hobby
We recently had Freesat installed with just one cable to the TV in the bedroom... Is it possible to get some sort of "amplifier/splitter" which could be installed where the cable comes into the house and then run a cable downstairs and one to the bedroom tv...

I asked at Maplins but they said that I needed to change something at the satalite dish and run cables from there, but I don't want to drill yet more holes in the walls than I need to.
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New Thu 13 Jan 11 20:27 
 Freesat HD receiver box - Iffy
A twin tuner Freeview PVR will work off a single aerial lead.

Not a direct answer to your question, but it would give you some 'watch one while recording another' functionality.

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New Thu 13 Jan 11 20:52 
 Freesat HD receiver box - Robin O'Reliant
>> A twin tuner Freeview PVR will work off a single aerial lead.
>>
Freeview is crap down hear, we get our signal from a relay rather than direct. Unless the weather is perfect it can get unwatchable sometimes.
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New Fri 14 Jan 11 17:50 
 Freesat HD receiver box - bottomlesspit
"Freeview is crap down hear, we get our signal from a relay rather than direct. Unless the weather is perfect it can get unwatchable sometimes."

Where are you located ? I set one up for my parent last year (direct at satellite) and no matter what the weather does, it is always perfect which rely surprises me as I remember when we first had sky, the first sign of heavy rain and it was bye bye sky !!!

It's better than Freeview for sure.
Last edited by: bottomlesspit on Fri 14 Jan 11 at 17:51
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New Fri 14 Jan 11 18:06 
 Freesat HD receiver box - Stuartli
>>"Freeview is crap down here, we get our signal from a relay rather than direct. Unless the weather is perfect it can get unwatchable sometimes.">>

>>Where are you located ? I set one up for my parent last year (direct at satellite) and no matter what the weather does, it is always perfect which rely surprises me as I remember when we first had sky, the first sign of heavy rain and it was bye bye sky !!!>>

Freeview is digital terrestrial broadcasting received through a standard wideband TV aerial - Freesat is the satellite equivalent.

Both feature the main five channels and radio stations, plus other TV and radio programmes of which some are unique to each.
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New Fri 14 Jan 11 19:04 
 Freesat HD receiver box - bottomlesspit
Me = Plonker, I miss read the post !!!!!!

Yes freeview can be patchy.
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New Thu 13 Jan 11 20:57 
 Freesat HD receiver box - Zero
>> A twin tuner Freeview PVR will work off a single aerial lead.
>>
>> Not a direct answer to your question, but it would give you some 'watch one
>> while recording another' functionality.

Not the same at all Iffy.

If you use one lead for two Tuners on satelite, you will be limited to what channels both can see at the same time. There is a polarisation issue with satelite.
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New Thu 13 Jan 11 21:05 
 Freesat HD receiver box - Iffy
...Not the same at all Iffy...

Not trying to suggest it is.

Even I noticed my Sky+ box has two dish cables coming into it.

But I do think twin tuner PVRs are under-rated.

I reckon many viewers only want to watch and record the five main channels, with perhaps the occasional foray into the extra channels offered by those broadcasters.

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New Thu 13 Jan 11 20:58 
 Freesat HD receiver box - Zero

>> I asked at Maplins but they said that I needed to change something at the
>> satalite dish and run cables from there, but I don't want to drill yet more
>> holes in the walls than I need to.

yes you need a multi feed LNB. Just enlarge the hole you have.
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New Thu 13 Jan 11 21:01 
 Freesat HD receiver box - spamcan61
The fundamental difference between old skool terrestrial TV and satellite, when it comes to feeding multiple TVs, is that in a satellite system the Digibox/decoder box communicates back up the cable to the dish (well LNB to be more accurate) Basically the LNB can be set to four different modes of operation depending on what channel is being watched.*

This makes it jolly tricky when the signal is split to two boxes, they might well try and set the LNB to different modes.

Hence the most cost effective solution these days is to fit a quad LNB to the dish (these are less than 20 quid these days), this can feed up to four boxes, each of which can then select any channel they like.

* For the technically minded there's high and low bands, and vertical and horizontal polarisation.

Last edited by: spamcan61 on Thu 13 Jan 11 at 21:02
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New Fri 14 Jan 11 01:12 
 Freesat HD receiver box - Stuartli
When I bought a TV with Freesat HD and Freeview HD capability, I specified a quad LNB for the new satellite dish to ensure future upgradability with Sky if I ever decided to add it to Freesat and Freeview.

Cost very little extra for the LNB upgrade, although my reluctance (thank goodness) to hand over hard earned dosh to Murdoch is greater than my need for Sky channels.
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New Fri 14 Jan 11 07:54 
 Freesat HD receiver box - hobby
Thanks chaps... The quad LNB (I assume this is that thing at the dish end!) was about £40 last time I looked!
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New Fri 14 Jan 11 08:10 
 Freesat HD receiver box - Zero
>> Thanks chaps... The quad LNB (I assume this is that thing at the dish end!)
>> was about £40 last time I looked!

Get out of it, I paid less than that for a complete dish kit.


www.amazon.co.uk/Zinwell-SX719QS-S-Sky-Quad/dp/B000NNO88E/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1294992554&sr=8-1
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New Fri 14 Jan 11 11:46 
 Freesat HD receiver box - Stuartli
>>Get out of it, I paid less than that for a complete dish kit.>>

Very useful link. Many thanks Zero.
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New Fri 14 Jan 11 18:03 
 Freesat HD receiver box - hobby
Yes, thanks Zero!
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New Fri 14 Jan 11 18:36 
 Freesat HD receiver box - Iffy
...Yes, thanks Zero!...

I was doing a tiny URL link to a retailer the other day when a message popped up.

It was something about the tiny site getting a commission if someone bought something when they visited the retailer's site using the tiny link.

All helps to keep the tiny site free, apparently.

tinyurl.com/

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New Fri 14 Jan 11 19:41 
 Freesat HD receiver box - hobby
Is that a gentle and subtle hint to an earlier poster, iffy?! ;-)
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New Fri 14 Jan 11 19:44 
 Freesat HD receiver box - Iffy
...Is that a gentle and subtle hint to an earlier poster, iffy?! ;-)...

Nope, I just thought it was interesting how these things can be made to work.

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New Fri 14 Jan 11 19:53 
 Freesat HD receiver box - AnotherJohnH
LNB's aren't quite "one size fits all".

Here's a bit of light reading:


www.satcure.co.uk/tech/lnb.htm


Then consider its fitting - spigot or 40 mm collar?

Also consider dish shape - round or oval minidish?
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