How can I get Sky+? [Not as easy a question as you think]

J-K

Established Member
Joined
Feb 25, 2005
Messages
141
Reaction score
4
Points
58
Age
43
Location
London
Hi,

I recently bought a new Barratt home, and i'm already facing the regular problems. One of these problems is that I desperately have wanted Sky+ for yonks, but I can't get it for the following reasons.

I live in a house, on the estate which also have a lot of flats. The Sky dish a communal one - and as such the dish resides on top of the flats. From there, wires are run to each individual house.

Now, they only gave each house one LNB when they fitted the house. As such - allegedly, I am not allowed to put up my own Sky dish [without council approval and management company approval], and don't know how else I can get a second LNB. I own the house - but i can't do a damn thing about it!!!

Does anyone please have any tips or tricks?!? Any suggestions? Been through something similar? Know of any clever gadgets and gizmo's? :lease:

Appreciate all your help and advice.

Thanks,
JK
 
Well, i've been told the wires all come through a box in the flats. I'm sure I could find a way to break in - but then it's figuring out which one is mine! Doh!
 
. . . If you were to put up your own dish would it be on the side of your building that is heavily overlooked, or relatively private (or as private as you get on Barratt estates).

If no one can see it, who can take action against you?
 
I could easily hide it away, but yes, its not amazingly private from most angles. But at the same time, would someone really complain? Is it worth the risk?
 
I have a similar problem caused by planning regulations deed restrictions and living in a conservation area.

I have resorted to placing a dish almost at ground level at the end of the garden amongst shrubs, carefully positioned to hide the dish all but from the satellite. Oh yes, and sprayed it green.

However, when I was exploing my options I came across a "gizmo" which connected to the inputs at the back of a Sky+ box and took the signal from one feed, effectively splitting it enabling the full use of the Sky+ features. It was not merely a two way splitter and as I recall it was a "Revolutionary Invention."

Now the sad bit, I can't remember where I saw it. If you bear with me I will try to retrace my steps of the last month and find the details unless of course this jogs someone's memory and they come to the rescue with details of what the hell it is I'm talking about. :confused:

As I said, bear with me and I'll try and find it.

Rick
 
There you go. In the time it took me to type my reply, you got the answer. A Stacker.

Good luck.
 
The Stacker unit still requires two independent outputs from the IF distributer which in turn is fed from the Quatro LNB on the communal dish.

If there was a spare feed you could use then you would I suspect have to pay a fee since the communal system will be owned and operated by an independent company.
 
JK, I used the same solution as rasb0...I hid the dish in the garden between a couple of bushes - worth considering if the stacker option doesn't work out.

Never thought of spraying it green, also a good idea.
 
OK - i don't think the stacker option is going to work, because I don't have access to the wiring box, and the inputs.

However - the hidden dish idea is REALLY growing on me!

How do I know if i'll get good enough reception for it? It'd be a bugger to do all that, and then find i get sucky reception. Is there a way to check?

Also - would the Sky man be happy to come out and install it in some dodgy place? Or would they insist I get an independant to do it then?!

Finally - I already have non-Sky + through the communal dish. Can I somehow swap over that contract into the new Sky+ once i get it set? I imagine i'm going to have to pay full whack for the installation and box right?! Atleast I can go for the new capacity Sky+ box if i do this! Yeay!

OK, please let me know! I can feel that excitement, where my fingers are itching to call the sky man and ask him to fit the dish to my side wooden fence! LOL! I don't have any bushes to hide it in mind you... I'll start growing some!
 
J-K said:
How do I know if i'll get good enough reception for it? It'd be a bugger to do all that, and then find i get sucky reception. Is there a way to check?

As long as there's no obstruction in the line of sight towards the horizon where the dish will point there's no reason why you would get poor reception.
I've had mine right down at ground level for sometime. I've just recently moved it off the fence post (which is about to collapse, probably during the next bout of windy weather) and mounted it on a pole a little higher because a neighbours tree has grown a few feet since first installation.

J-K said:
Also - would the Sky man be happy to come out and install it in some dodgy place? Or would they insist I get an independant to do it then?

I'm sure he'd rather fix your dish to a fence post than climb a ladder to fix to a chimney. Sky would never insist you go elsewhere if they can make money out of you.

J-K said:
Finally - I already have non-Sky + through the communal dish. Can I somehow swap over that contract into the new Sky+ once i get it set? I imagine i'm going to have to pay full whack for the installation and box right?! Atleast I can go for the new capacity Sky+ box if i do this! Yeay!

Normally when you switch to Sky+ from standard Sky, installation is free (depending on the level of subscription) and you get the Sky+ box at a subsidised price I think it's currently £149, take a look at there website for the prices. This however would not include a dish, because ordinarily you would already have a dish. However I would ring them up and point at that when you first signed up you didn't have a dish installed and you should still be entitled to this either free or at a subsidised price. It's worth a try. If that doesn't work get a price for them doing the full install including the dish. The dual LNB and wiring should be in the subsidised part of the price and they will probably charge extra for the dish and mounting it.
What I did, was bought a dish off a well known auction site for £8 (+ P&P), Sky will probably want about £40 - £60, and erected it myself (it's really not hard). Sky are coming tomorrow to connect the cables, install the new Sky+ box and multi-room (X2) and will properly align the dish (I hope!).

Where there's a will, there's a way. :thumbsup:

Good luck
 
shaithis said:
If you can get access to the communial dish and figure out which cable is yours, i guess you could use: http://www.satcure.co.uk/accs/page1b.htm

Johansson stacker-destacker type 9639KIT

Its what I am planning to use soon.

Dont think this will work for Sky +. Shy + requires two simulteneous feeds, both with vertical and Horizontal polarities. This destacker will allow you to switch between vertical or horizontal, or one full band lnb and another, but does not feed two lnb inputs at same time.
 
Well, between me and you guys - I have just ordered my own Sky dish, and new box with the multi-room! Fingers crossed, they'll help me hide the dish and still get a good line to the satellite - and the council man will never find out!

It's coming this Friday! I'm expecting several hiccups, but here's hoping!

Yippee!! :D

:clap:
 
The "Sky man" arrived this morning, nice and early(8.45) expecting a mamouth task as his order manifest was to fit Sky+ and 2 exrtra multiroom boxes. He was made up with the position of the dish in the garden (no work there for him) and all the cable ready for his f-connectors (next to no work there either). He was in and out in about 20 minutes. I too was expecting hiccups, but no, it went like clock work.................almost!

The Sky+ box......................a dreaded Amstrad :eek:

However, have hooked it up to the Tosh 46WM48 (RGB scart) and I can't see any of the problems regularly discussed on these forums.

I am about to start a new thread, "what to expect next from my amstrad receiver?"

Good luck for Friday :thumbsup:
 
Haha, thanks rasbo! I can't wait! I'm just expecting the installer to say he will not install it where i want, and that he can only put it high up on the wall! I won't be sleeping on Thursday night!
 
cinesom said:
Dont think this will work for Sky +. Shy + requires two simulteneous feeds, both with vertical and Horizontal polarities. This destacker will allow you to switch between vertical or horizontal, or one full band lnb and another, but does not feed two lnb inputs at same time.




The stacker does allow two independent LNB feeds to be fed down a single cable and then split to feed two tuners.
The problem in this case is getting access to two feeds from the IF distributer which is part of the communal system which can then enter the stacker at one end and be split again at the other. There may be either no spare outputs at the distributer or if there is the owners of the communal system will require an additional payment/contract to allow the stacker to be used or perhaps only offer it if they supply and install.
 
I've already had this battle with the building company, and the management company! Both blame each other, and thats pretty much it. I was told I could get it done myself, at a cost of about £800 for someone to supply and install the necessary equipment. Also, allegedly, they said the equipment they'd need would mean 4 other people could get Sky+, as it's not a "single unit".

Allegedly - Barratt's laid all the wires, such that 2 LNB's service each house - HOWEVER, to activate the second LNB, someone would need to install this box, and wire up the cabling inside the house to my existing tv aerial bit. Bit of a joke really.

I have now been forced to get my own dish. Not my preferred solution - but what am I to do?! I will remember next time I buy a new house, to make sure it is atleast up-to-date, let alone future proof!!!
 
It all started when the Sky Engineer failed to call at 8am. He eventually rang at 10am, and turned up at 11am. Great, I thought...

He fitted the dish, almost as requested, and installed the Sky+ box. Just as he was about to leave, I asked him why he hadn't done the multi-room box yet. Well, it wasn't on his docket! So, called Sky - they admitted they had made a mistake and he could finish the job know it was rectified.

Turns out he didn't have a quad LNB. So, he was going to go and "source" one, and call me back within the hour. Three passed before I rang Sky to enquire about my missing Engineer! He was still sourcing, and would call me back they assured me. In the mean time, I played around with the Sky+ box and set some things to record while watching something else.

Another few hours later, called Sky again. He was still missing. I also pointed out my Sky card hadn't arrived, adding another problem to the list. They said to give it til Monday.

Called them again at 8pm. He's still gone awol. They assured me he WOULD ring and come back tonight - but just incase, booked in a job for Sunday to get it done, and be double safe. Also, I mentioned I had recorded some stuff on Sky+, and the planner was showing it as "FAILED". He explained this was because he didn't fit the quad LNB. They onyl do single or quad LNB's.

So it appears, he didn't fit my Sky+ box correctly to start with. What's the point of Sky+ on a single LNB??? This is exactly why I opted for my own secret dish, and now this happens!!! I am in exactly the same position as I was this morning, with regular Sky, but now I just have a Sky+ box! So on top of not leaving the house at all today, I also have to stand by the phone until Sunday now! :mad: :suicide:

I knew it! I told you so! :eek:(

P.S. Although the engineer seemed OK enough - there was a VERY strong smell of alcohol on him. Guess that explained why he rang me 1.5 hours late. :eek:( If I didn't want Sky+ so badly, I'd have told them where to go!
 
I recently returned from Canada, the Toronto area, there the dishes are about 2 metres across, and in some cases installed in the front garden. Remember we can also buy larger dishes than those supplied by SKY, if I was going for a garden installation, I would be tempted to get one, though not 2 metres across.
 
Barry.NI said:
I recently returned from Canada, the Toronto area, there the dishes are about 2 metres across, and in some cases installed in the front garden. Remember we can also buy larger dishes than those supplied by SKY, if I was going for a garden installation, I would be tempted to get one, though not 2 metres across.
Yeah but no but yeah but the whole point of the original query was a discreet installation, i.e. not a 2 metre dish!
 
J-K said:
I am not allowed to put up my own Sky dish [without council approval and management company approval], and don't know how else I can get a second LNB. I own the house - but i can't do a damn thing about it!!!
JK

A 2M dish!

Discreet!!

:rotfl:

Sorry, I'm going to bed! :boring:
 
surprised feed horns havent popped up they are like a large very sensitive LNB so no dish needed just point horn direct at sat (no one other than the trained would know it was a sky receiver..... if they ask tell them you are into metreology and and it is mini weather station......;)
 
So, on Sunday - the second Sky Engineer came round! And thank God he did. As Sky had booked the job wrongly to start with, this chap started again from scratch.

He gave me a new, SECOND, Sky+ box, and wired that up into my bedroom! So I know have Sky+ in the living room, AND bedroom! Yippee! And I only paid for the one box!

Serves them bloody right! Mongrels! I'm sure Sky will somehow find out, and charge me!

Also - reason I haven't got my card is that Sky have been sending my mail, cards, and sky guides to some address in Brighton! I live in London!!! They can be SO incompetent sometimes.

Only extra thing this engineer charged me for was £20 for 4o extra metres of cable. He said, they are only allowed to supply 20 metres of cable free per installation - even though he was fitting 4 LNB's, it didn't matter. But considering the free Sky+ box - I was happy to comply. But has anyone else ever had to pay for cabling?

Now, I just need to figure out how to run a line to the second bedroom! Hhhmmm...
 
But has anyone else ever had to pay for cabling?

I didn't but it is in the T&C of installation. Extra cable is charged at 50p per metre for all lengths over 20 metres. However, I would expect this to be per cable run and not total though. I probably have more than 20 metres of cable in total (probably 15 metres of twin feed and 15 metres of single feed) but since my dish is less than 20 metres from my boxes no extra charge.

Wackojacko32
 

The latest video from AVForums

TV Buying Guide - Which TV Is Best For You?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom