Freesat in more than one room

[ntm1275]

I have never had satelite before so I know next to nothing about it, so I would like some information to future proof the installation

I intend to eventually get a 2 x freesat PVR's (one for the lounge and one for the bedroom) 2 x SD freesat boxes and also a freesat TV card for my PC (when they become available)

What dish would I need to hook eveything up

Do I need a dish with 7 LNB's ??? (4 for PVR's, 2 for SD boxes and 1 for PC), or am I getting the wrong end of the stick

If this is correct, does that mean 7 seperate runs of coax, or can I use one run and a distribution amplifier

I will want to be able for each device to access different channels at the same time

Any help will be much appreciated

[Stephen Neal]

This is where it gets complicated...

There are two answers to your question.

An LNB can output 4 different frequency/polarisation bands - HiV, HiH, LoV, LoH. Each tuner needs to be able to independently select one of these 4 bands. It does this by feeding signals back up the LNB cable to the LNB to switch between the 4 bands.

Option One is an Octo LNB (i.e. an LNB with 8 independently switchable outputs) and 2 feeds to each dual tuner PVR, 1 feed to each single tuner receiver, and 1 feed to your PC (though a "Freesat" PC card will only differ from any other DVB-S2 card in software terms)

Option Two is a Quatro LNB (an LNB with 4 outputs - HiV, HiH, LoV, LoH are all permanently output) AND a multiswitch, which switches the output feeds between one of the 4 input feeds under tuner control. You feed the 4 Quatro LNB outputs to the inputs of the multiswitch, and then run feeds from the multiswitch outputs to your receivers. The multiswitch switches each tuner feed between one of the four LNB bands, rather than requiring the LNB to switch.

The advantage of Option Two is that you can get multiswitches with more than 8 outputs, and you may have to run less cable (depending on the relative distances between dish, multiswitch and receivers).

The advantage of Option One is that you don't need the multiswitch.

[SamRadford]

And option one is obviously cheaper and simpler to wire up - if that matters to you.

[ntm1275]

It's been a couple of weeks since my last post on this subject, and I have been trying to find out more information

I'm leaning towards the multiswitch option with five inputs (1 from the aerial, 4 from the Quad LNB), and eight outputs

Currently I have a single coax from the aerial on the roof which feeds in to my attic
This then joins into an distribution amp that feeds eight rooms in the house
So I have eight runs of coax cable running through to each room

From what I've read about multiswitches, it says it's possible to substitute the current distribution amp with the multiswitch, and then feed the extra 4 runs of coax from the quad LNB

The multiswitch will then control the distribution of terrestrial and satellite TV

I've also found out that certain multiswitch's will allow each single run of coax to each room to supply signals for both terrestrial and satellite, so saving me having to have two runs of coax to each room

Now my question is, if the above is correct, from the single socket in each room what do I need to have both terestrial and satellite?
Do I just need a single splitter (one in ,two out), or three out for a freesat PVR

Can this single run of coax feed signals to my Freeview receiver and a Freesat PVR, or am I going to need an extra run of cable to use a Freesat PVR

I've only just finished doing up the house, and have hidden all the Freeview coax cables underneath floorboards and behind skirting boards etc, so if the above is correct it will save me having to lift floorboards and rip off skirting boards to lay extra cables for Freesat

Last point is that the coax I originally laid, was Sky approved satellite coax

Any help and further details are gratefully appreciated

Perhaps someone could use their extensive knowledge on this matter and could write a 'sticky' covering all aspects of what is needed for TV distribution in a house for Freeview and Freesat/Sky, so saving all the duplicated post asking the same thing