sky box and freesat

[amd mad]

i understand i can use my sky dish with the bbc freesat new receiver but can i keep my old sky box to watch chanel 4/5

[BrianMc]

Originally Posted by amd mad

i understand i can use my sky dish with the bbc freesat new receiver but can i keep my old sky box to watch chanel 4/5

Yes! A Sky box will receive MORE channels than a freesat one as, with an expired contract or a FreesatFromSky £20 smartcard, it will receive C4 and Five.

[amd mad]

so i can keep both boxes connected to my tv, sky via scart bbc/sat via hdmi and just keep swaping the sat cable from box to box?

[fernandez]

Originally Posted by amd mad

so i can keep both boxes connected to my tv, sky via scart bbc/sat via hdmi and just keep swapping the sat cable from box to box?

Why would you want to? Constantly disconnecting/reconnecting cables isn't really a good idea.
In any event *exactly* the same programmes are available on both boxes with, as pointed out, the advantage of C4/Five etc on the Sky box.
Only the EPGs are different

[JulieBell]

Originally Posted by amd mad

so i can keep both boxes connected to my tv, sky via scart bbc/sat via hdmi and just keep swaping the sat cable from box to box?

Best to change your LNB to at least a quad type and bring separate feeds from it to each of your tuners. Will be useful for the future for when you may consider buying PVRs, multiroom set-ups, panels with built in free sat tuners etc.

[amd mad]

Originally Posted by fernandez

Why would you want to? Constantly disconnecting/reconnecting cables isn't really a good idea.
In any event *exactly* the same programmes are available on both boxes with, as pointed out, the advantage of C4/Five etc on the Sky box.
Only the EPGs are different

but on sky i dont get E4 or virgin but i get more music chanels on sky? Im not going to pay sky for the privilege of watching adverts?

[Starburst]

Originally Posted by amd mad

but on sky i dont get E4 or virgin but i get more music chanels on sky? Im not going to pay sky for the privilege of watching adverts?

E4 won't be on Freesat until it goes FTA then it will be on Freesat and SKY boxes. V1 is a PAY channel so won't be on SKY (unless you pay) or Freesat boxes but will be on Freeview.
Long term if a music channel is FTA on satellite it will appear on Freesat but the EPG is initially restricted but will expand over time and it may be possible to manually add the FTA channels.

No seen any Freesat hardware in the flesh yet so I don't know if they have a LNB passthrough, would be ideal for you but as fernandez says constantly refitting a LNB connection isn't ideal, very easy to forget to power off and short out a LNB or tuner. You could use a switching device if you don't want to add a second LNB feed, I would consider two feeds, a DVR twin tuner is a fantastic device for any TV service.

[Fred Smith]

Originally Posted by Starburst

No seen any Freesat hardware in the flesh yet so I don't know if they have a LNB passthrough, would be ideal for you but as fernandez says constantly refitting a LNB connection isn't ideal, very easy to forget to power off and short out a LNB or tuner. You could use a switching device if you don't want to add a second LNB feed, I would consider two feeds, a DVR twin tuner is a fantastic device for any TV service.

Looking at the pictures posted on another a well know digital spys website the Grundig has LNB passthrough.

[amd mad]

I thought the whole idea of freesat was if you can't receive freeview you could get freeview from a satellite? which should include all the freeview chanels

[Starburst]

Originally Posted by amd mad

I thought the whole idea of freesat was if you can't receive freeview you could get freeview from a satellite? which should include all the freeview chanels

The idea was that for the quarter of the country that could not get DTT they would be able to get digital TV from satellite without using proprietary hardware controlled by a private company.
There was never anything said about duplicating the channel lineup of Freeview on Freesat.

[amd mad]

Thanks guys getting a better understanding now.So where would be the best place to get a quad lnb and do all lnbs fit my sky dish "its the small one"

[BrianMc]

Originally Posted by amd mad

Thanks guys getting a better understanding now.So where would be the best place to get a quad lnb and do all lnbs fit my sky dish "its the small one"

Look for a quad-lnb to fit a Sky minidish - of which there are stacks on eBay at the minute! As well as being appropriate for the dish shape and size these LNBs also "plug-in" to the end of the LNB arm.

[davemurgatroyd2]

Originally Posted by amd mad

Thanks guys getting a better understanding now.So where would be the best place to get a quad lnb and do all lnbs fit my sky dish "its the small one"

All you need to know about fitting a quad (or octo) lnb to a Sky minidish.
http://www.satcure.co.uk/tech/page10.htm

There are two types of spigot adaptors to fit the lnbs to the dish arm, which usually come with the lnb or you can usually reuse the original, so make sure you use the right one for your dish - match the one coming off to the one being refitted.

[amd mad]

seen a quad lnb on ebay for £10 says will fit sky dish orderd that so waiting for 6th of may now? So will i need 4 holes in my wall for the coax cables ?

[BrianMc]

Originally Posted by amd mad

seen a quad lnb on ebay for £10 says will fit sky dish orderd that so waiting for 6th of may now? So will i need 4 holes in my wall for the coax cables ?

Current Freesat STBs only need 1 cable - PVRs need 2 (like Sky+). The Humax Freesat PVR is not out until July/August!

So even a PVR only needs 2 (of the 4) outlets on a Quad-LNB. Either run a second cable or replace the current cable with "shotgun" type (two thin coax cables joined) which fits through existing holes.