Sky+ with one dish connection

Sky+ uses 2 connections to the dish so you can record something while watching something else. The flat i live in has a shared sky system and it is only wired up for 1 connection per flat.

Is it possible to use Sky+ with only one connection? or does the digibox dictate one input is for viewing and one is for recording?

Martin

 

SKY+ can be used with a single LNB connection however it will only act as a normal digibox with none of the recording features accessible.
Live viewing is done from LNB input 1 and the hard drive records from LNB input 2.

 

might be a stupid question, but is there any way to use a signal booster or some such device to turn the one feed into 2?

I also live in a block of flats with a shared dish, but my supplier said he could enable sky+ with some extra equipment costing c. £100. With his installation charge, the total cost, including the box, was £525!!! So I gave it a miss, but have always wondered if i could do it myself as it's not as though they're going to be changing the wiring from the communal dish to my flat!

 

Satellite channels to maximise the capacity of the broadcast system are sent in a combination of Vertical or Horizontal polarity and High or Low band frequencies.
When you select a channel the tuner tells the LNB via an electrical signal/tone which polarity and band to switch to and then the tuner sends the appropriate channel to the decoder.

SKY+ requires TWO independent signal sources so that it can access for example one channel on Horizontal while on the second
LNB input a Vertical channel. If you connect both inputs to a single LNB then both tuners will be sending switching signals at the same time and at any given momment over 50% of all the channels will be missing.

I would be interested to know how the installer intended to solve this problem.

 

Interesting comments Starburst. Out of interest, do you know how the return signal path problem is handled on a communal dish system?

 

No idea, that's why I was interested in the installers solution which would allow SKY+ to have access to two independent inputs at the same time from a single cable.

 

What I was meaning was that, from what you have said, the signal return path should also be a problem for any communal dish system (i.e. one cable outlet per residence). I'm stuck with such an arrangement myself, and have always had a number of channels that I cannot receive. A Sky engineer's been out to check that the Digibox is functioning correctly, so it must be the communal dish install that's at fault. Have already identified the various satellites/beams that the missing channels are carried by (they fit nicely into groups, such as all the ITV regions ). Your comments about the polarity switching signal to the LNB would fit quite nicely with the difficulties on my system.

 

From what little I understand a modern communal system would have a Quatro LNB which has four outputs, Horizontal Lowband, Horizontal Highband, Vertical Lowband and Vertical Highband.
They are fed into a distribution/switching device which can then feed as many independent digital receivers as it's designed for.

If you can not get the ITV channels then it sounds like either the distribution box is not sending the lowband signals to your digibox or the LNB is not a Universal model and can not access the lowband signals to begin with.

 

OK, thanks Starburst. Have always thought it was because the install was done to a low standard, and from what you've said I think that's probably the case.

 

FYI, the company that said they could do a sky + installation from one communal feed was Satelite Services....

Tel : 01787 473 687
Contact : Malcolm Knight
Sky + Decoder - £325
Installation - £75
Additional Hardware - £125
Total = £525.

If anyone wants to contact them and flesh out the details a bit more, I;m sure all those living with communal dishes would be interested in the outcome.

 

Don't know if this helps but thought I would describe how my system is set up.

Communual Tv, radio and antenna dish (with quad lnb)

The TV and radio feeds are fed into a combiner that has 13 outputs. 12 go to the bedrooms of the 12 flats the 13 goes in to a digital mux as well as the four LNB feeds (high, low, vert, horiz). This digital mux has 12 outputs which feed the 12 flats front rooms.

So with out any changes each flat has one fully functional socket in the lounge (TV, FM, Sat) and one TV/FM only socket in the bedroom.

What I have done is made a slight change. I have made an agreement with a neighbour who does not want Sky at all. By using two cross over wires I am know feeding their lounge with my bedroom feed from the combiner, and their lounge feed from the mux now feeds by bedroom socket. All I did then was pull my bedroom feed up into the roof put an extension on it, run it down the side of the flat and came in through the wall to give me 2 TV,FM SAT feeds in the lounge. Thus allowing the 2 sky feeds for Sky +.

If any one wants I can attach a wiring diag for the whole system, I think

 

Thanks for that Ridcully

I had thought of a similar arrangement myself. I know that there is a spare Sat output on my floor, since the installers wired for one too many. However, apart from the hassle of getting permission to do the job (and actually doing it), I am put off by the problem with my current Sat feed (as described earlier). Chances are that the second feed would also have channels missing.

I'm looking forward to my next move into a house, where I can have Sky+ with two fully functional signal feeds!