[tolmie]

Hi, just a question re sky HD, will you need to get a new satelite dish for it, also i read people on here saying that the engineers have been training on how to install HDTV so if thats the case then its not just about replacing your old sky box then.

[Chris Muriel]

It will use the same dish and other outside parts as the standard SD $ky uses.
I imagine the training is necessary because an HD installation is likely to be less tolerant of poorly aligned dishes and most users will have large screen displays which are more likely to show up continuity errors and similar.
There will also be more connection options with which the $ky installers need to be conversant - HDMI, DVI, component (at least in the initial phase).

Chris Muriel, Manchester

[Stephen Neal]

As the first Sky HD receiver will be a Sky+, if you are upgrading from an existing non-Sky+ installation, then you will need the LNB on your dish to be replaced with one with at least two outputs (Sky fit a 4 output Quad as standard), and an extra cable run for the second tuner.

The dish itself is fine, and if you already have a Sky+ installation, then it should just swap with the Sky+ SD receiver with no changes required - apart from a potential alignment tweak, as the DVB-S2 transmission system they are using for some HD may be a bit less tolerant of marginal dishes. (i.e. those that have a poor quality signal because they are off-pan from the satellite, but in good weather don't currently cause a problem. A poor signal in digital terms may still deliver a perfect picture...)

[razerindemix]

What about if like me you have only the basic sky dish which was installed about 3yrs ago and i no longer subscibe to sky ?

[AV Junky]

Three years ago it would have been a Minidish, wouldn't it? If so, then same install route as for a current regular Sky (not Sky+) customer, i.e. change LNB and route an extra length of cable for the second tuner in the Sky+ HD box.

[69COU]

This time i am hopinhg to get a Sky engineer who has a ladder. I live in a three story town house with loft box distribution. So guess where they put my Sky dish two years ago . 7ft from the ground result is that it always drops odd channels. Some have never really worked such as Sky Cinima 2.

Other sometimes fail in the middle of a recording. This time i want the dish mounted correctly high up so that other houses are not in its line of sight etc.

[AV Junky]

Originally Posted by 69COU

This time i am hopinhg to get a Sky engineer who has a ladder. I live in a three story town house with loft box distribution. So guess where they put my Sky dish two years ago . 7ft from the ground result is that it always drops odd channels. Some have never really worked such as Sky Cinima 2.

Other sometimes fail in the middle of a recording. This time i want the dish mounted correctly high up so that other houses are not in its line of sight etc.

Installation above "standard height" normally requires them to book a two-man "Special Heights Team". The regular Sky installer will quite likely make a phone call to Head Office and then make a speedy exit, when you tell him how high you would like it mounting. There is often a waiting list and much less flexibility over times when using the SHT, as well.