Sky HD in a communal apartment block - single HD feed HELP!

Stebbil

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Hi

I have just bought a 42" panasonic plasma tv which has freesat built in. I am now looking into upgrading from standard sky to Sky HD. Speaking to the concierge of our apartment block he has told me that Sky HD is braodcast to each apartment through the communal dish. Now, I only have one line coming into my apartment that says "sky" on it, and this is what i have been using for years to pick up standard sky tv. Speaking to other residents, I have been told that Sky+ does work, however as there is only one line it means that you can only record one thing at a time/cannot record one thing and watch a different channel etc. Whilst annoying, I can live with it. Right, down to my original question - if I get Sky HD, will i simply be able to plug the feed from the wall into the Sky HD box? This is great, however if the signal is going into the Sky HD box, does this now mean that I wont be able to use the Freesat built into the TV as I only have the one source? So, can I split the source, or receive the signal through the Sky HD box then into the TV with a HDMI cable?

Pretty much, am I screwed simply as I only have the one signal coming in?

Any help would be really really appreciated.

Cheers
John
 
Yes, plug the feed into an HD box and subscribe to HD via Sky. Will work perfectly.

Don't think you can split the signal to service both the Freesat and the Sky+HD box. You could swap the cable between the two when you need Freesat.

Sky+ functions will only allow you to record a channel as you watch (or you can record it and watch something you have recorded before), you won't be able to record two channels or record one and watch another.
 
Cheers

Its annoying that it cannot be split. Equally (and from looking at forums I am not the only one) annoying is the obvious amount of people living in apartments that are missing out on the benefits of Sky+ simply due to these communal dishes!

Is there definately no way of splitting the incoming signal?
 
Cheers

Its annoying that it cannot be split. Equally (and from looking at forums I am not the only one) annoying is the obvious amount of people living in apartments that are missing out on the benefits of Sky+ simply due to these communal dishes!

Is there definately no way of splitting the incoming signal?

You can't split the signal but with a suitable box (not a sky box) you can pass on the channels in the same band and polarisation to another tuner. A twin tuner freesat Foxsat-hdr can feed it's second tuner this way to give two channel recording capability.
 
If its a relatively new block of flats say 5 years old it is very likely the installers will have installed 2 sky feeds and left the other one hidden behind the faceplate where it comes out of the wall. Everyone said my flat had only one feed including the original installers!! the original engineers had moved on by then. I found the lead and got it all to work. If you can see the dish and it has 4 cables coming out of the LNB (the bit at the end) then chances are you are ok get an installer to check it for you. Otherwise it will still work but dual channel recording won't etc
 
If its a relatively new block of flats say 5 years old it is very likely the installers will have installed 2 sky feeds and left the other one hidden behind the faceplate where it comes out of the wall. Everyone said my flat had only one feed including the original installers!! the original engineers had moved on by then. I found the lead and got it all to work. If you can see the dish and it has 4 cables coming out of the LNB (the bit at the end) then chances are you are ok get an installer to check it for you. Otherwise it will still work but dual channel recording won't etc

Absolute rubbish - all communal distribution systems must have 4 feeds (into what is called a multiswitch) regardless of the number of outputs.
 
you could try to get a scr installed giving you up to 4 feeds from your one , but you ll need access to the multiswitch where your connected to , and an installer to fit it for you

Global Invacom - Product
 
you could try to get a scr installed giving you up to 4 feeds from your one , but you ll need access to the multiswitch where your connected to , and an installer to fit it for you

Global Invacom - Product

Need to check the sky box is scr capable. Not all of them are
 
Need to check the sky box is scr capable. Not all of them are

Well, the Global Invacom website says that the device has been developed in conjunction with Sky, specifically to allow Sky+ where there's a single input - so if the OP is upgrading to Sky+, then surely he can ask Sky to ensure that his box is compatible
 
Well, the Global Invacom website says that the device has been developed in conjunction with Sky, specifically to allow Sky+ where there's a single input - so if the OP is upgrading to Sky+, then surely he can ask Sky to ensure that his box is compatible

May be he can but without my post would he have known he had to ?
 
dont think some one would install the scr without checking that first anyway , but thats the only way round the problem without wiring more feeds to the flat
 
Absolute rubbish - all communal distribution systems must have 4 feeds (into what is called a multiswitch) regardless of the number of outputs.

Charming you seem to relish being impolite as on another of my posts. I'm just trying to pass on my little knowledge of a similar situation. :nono:
 
dont think some one would install the scr without checking that first anyway , but thats the only way round the problem without wiring more feeds to the flat

With a spare outlet available on the multiswitch a stacker/destacker arrangement is an alternative to scr.
 
true but it wont get you 3 feeds , 2 for sky plus/ hd and one for a freesat tv

Neither will scr, the chances of a Freesat TV supporting scr must be next to zero. AFAIK none support diseqc/usals either
 

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