Replacing Sky multiscreen box with Sky+ box?

BB84

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Just this morning I've had a new installation of Sky+HD in the living room and a multiscreen box for the bedroom so I can watch the sport in peace! I enquired about a Sky+HD box upstairs as well but felt it wasn't worth the £150 they wanted to have a second one.

I noticed the installation guys used the same cable upstairs as down; the double connection cable (sorry I don't know the technical name!) and the upstairs box just has one of the connectors not plugged in.

Am I correct in thinking I can get a Sky+HD box cheap off eBay or somewhere and that if I pair it up with my account (I think I can just phone Sky to get this done?) Then I will have the full Sky+HD functionally in the bedroom as well? Or is it more complicated than that?

Thanks.
 
Yep, assuming all four connectors are wired up the dish, it should just be a case of plugging it in to your new box and phoning Sky to get it paired.
 
Yep, aim to get a DRX890 if you can they are the best boxes, make sure you don't buy a thomson one, that aren't supported.
 
Cheers guys, bought a DRX890 on ebay earlier, and presuming that works fine I'll get one of the wifi dongles later (guessing it won't be the wifi built in version we have downstairs for the price I got it for!)

Thanks for the info.
 
When you call Sky to get the multiroom card paired with the new box, make sure you get them to activate Sky+ functionality on the second card at the same time. By default, they don't.
 
When you call Sky to get the multiroom card paired with the new box, make sure you get them to activate Sky+ functionality on the second card at the same time. By default, they don't.

Thanks, I think this has happened as I got the box and they paired it up, TV is working but now Sky+ functionality. Do they do this for free or do I need to buy a 2nd + Subscription?
 
They'll do it for free, Sky+ features are free as long as you have some form of channel subscription.
 
They'll do it for free, Sky+ features are free as long as you have some form of channel subscription.

Hi again guys, thanks for the help once again. I can confirm I got it paired up but I now have more problems.

While it is the double type cable they've used, I don't think the 2nd part can be attached to the dish. I can pause, rewind and record the channel I'm watching, but changing channels or trying to record something while the box is in standby doesn't work, and there is no signal for input 2 in the settings.

So thats a blow. I'll have a look tomorrow morning in daylight to see if I can see it disconnected. Anyone with experience of either if this is something you can attach yourself, or how much roughly it would cost to get a TV guy to attach it?

Cheers.
 
It should be able to be connected to the dish, although the engineer might not have connected it.

First thing to do is swap the cables over then check the signal strength. If input 1 then doesn't have signal you know it's the cable at fault.

The ends of the cable are terminated with screw on f connectors easy to get hold of and fit.

One end is screwed into the LNB the other into the back of the box, simple.

Just make sure the braiding isn't shorting out on the inner wire at the end within the f connector.
 
It should be able to be connected to the dish, although the engineer might not have connected it.

First thing to do is swap the cables over then check the signal strength. If input 1 then doesn't have signal you know it's the cable at fault.

Sorry I should have explained better, I swapped boxes with the one downstairs to test and it recorded 2 shows at once fine and had signal on Input 2 down there, also then swapped cables up here and with the 2nd part in Input 1 I got no signal at all, so I'm sure it's the cable now.

And just as you posted I was then reading online that it's only F connectors into the dish, I thought it would be more technical! So as long as I can get up there then I should be able to do it.

Cheers.
 
In the meantime you could set your box to single feed mode so that your box works properly with one feed.

http://www1.sky.com/HDGuide/pdf/HD_EPG_MICROSITE.pdf

Hi nsewell (or anyone else that wants to join in!) sorry to keep hassling you, but I've just taken this photo from ground level (main problem being I don't currently have a ladder here) and to me that would suggest all 4 cables (2 downstairs, 2 bedroom) are plugged in and should be working, just wondering if you agreed with that as you know much more about this than me, or if it could be a problem elsewhere I haven't noticed.

Thanks.
 

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Clearly all four cables are plugged in but the more important question is how on earth the whole thing stays up there!
 
Just to follow up I phoned Sky to see what they said on the matter and they are happy to send a Technician out even though I didn't buy the 2nd Sky+ box via them, so for once someone has something nice to say about Sky customer service on the internet! :eek: Shocking.
 

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