HD Signal cable length from dish to box - query

[catcher]

Hi guys,

I recently got back from a business trip to find that I had lost my Sky signal. It seems the problem was a tree (on public ground not my garden) was blocking the signal. I called Sky and they said I could not get an engineer until July 5th. With the world cup on, I got it fixed the next day privately, with an engineer moving the dish about 5-6 metres, and extending the cable.

I'm wondering if this could potentially cause a loss in signal, my tv settings have been slight messed up, and I'm currently trying to re-calibrate, but can't help wondering whether an extension of the satellite cable to the box may have caused a slight reduction in clarity.

Any views, for the record, I still have the July 5th engineer booked (which I can cancel at any time), but have kept it open in case I need to get better cabling installed etc...

Any known issues with cable length from the dish that I should be aware about?

Any help will be gratefully received.

 

[mattclarkie]

The signal from the dish is digital so you either get a signal or you don't. An unbroken cable of less than 30m will be fine from experience, an extension cable will reduce the total length possible, but as you get a signal you wont be receiving a degradation in the image.

Personally I'd want a single unbroken cable as a join will always be susceptible to corrosion.

 

[grahamlthompson]

HD is no different to SD cable wise, the only difference is you get less channels within the bandwidth of a single transponder. A proper f to f joint is only equivalent to around an extra 1M of cable whether it's SD or HD. If it works then no need to worry.

 

[logiciel]

my tv settings have been slight messed up, and I'm currently trying to re-calibrate

What settings and calibrations are affected?

 

[catcher]

Thanks guys, much appreciated.

I did suspect that as a digital signal there wouldn't be any degradation (i.e. you either have signal or not), but needed reassuring because of the extension coinciding with a loss to my picture settings.

The picture settings / calibration were not affected by the loss of the signal in a direct way. The signal was lost whilst I was on a business trip, and 'her indoors, tried to "fix it" by basically fiddling around until she screwed up all the picture and sound settings….Grrr

I eventually managed to get the picture back to its best last night by spending time tweaking the settings.