New House Options

PoolDude

Folk's,

I am almost ready to move to my new house. I have decided to cancel my original sub and go with a complete new one using an independent installer. The goal is to have them connect the pre-wiring I have had done for 6 rooms (2 with 2 lines) to an Octo LNB (the installer is getting this for me). I am signing up for Sky + and multi room in 2 rooms (same as I previously had) and plan to use the old equipment with the FTV cards I have.

Couple of questions:

1. Could I use the Sky + box I already have in one of the rooms with 2 lines and it be fully functional (along with the new Sky + box in the other room with 2 lines)?

2. Is it worth getting Sky HD instead of the Sky + box - I guess the difference is 300 euros?

3. Are there any gotcha's I haven't spotted?



* For some reason the system won't show me the threads I started, so for those who remember my old thread from a while back apologies for starting this as a new thread.

watty

Ther are only really 4 decent HD channels.
You need a very biog good HD set for HD to be worth while
Yes you can have 2 x Sky+ or even a SkyHD, 2 x Sky+ and 2 x sky.

For more than 8 connections a 16 way multiswitch connected to quattro or in some caes Qaud or 34 of the octo will increas connections.

Sky+ and SkyHD use two lines each ordinary receivers use one.

TVDX

Watty, do you have any current HDTV recommendations?.
If you were getting one tomorrow, which would you go for?.

watty

A WQGA DLP projector or a back projection TV.

Not ANY of the PLASMAs nor any LCD, nor anything less than 48", ideally 60".

A 36" WS set is needed to give the hieght of picture I am happy with on SD.


You did ask.....

TVDX

I did ask and am happy to get an informed answer.
I too was thinking the projector route is probably the only(horribly expensive) route to go to avoid having a monster TV and I don't like Plasma or LCD.

PoolDude

watty wrote:

Ther are only really 4 decent HD channels.
You need a very biog good HD set for HD to be worth while
Yes you can have 2 x Sky+ or even a SkyHD, 2 x Sky+ and 2 x sky.

For more than 8 connections a 16 way multiswitch connected to quattro or in some caes Qaud or 34 of the octo will increas connections.

Sky+ and SkyHD use two lines each ordinary receivers use one.

Thanks Watty.

Folks, Any other gotcha's?

byte

DOn't see any Gotcha's now. Of course, make sure there are phone connections in each room a sky box is going into for the Sky Multiroom.

I'd just go for a new Sky+ box for now. It'll not be difficult to swap it for a SkyHD box in the future when prices come down a bit and maybe more HD channels to watch, as there is very little to watch in HD at the moment in my opinion.

PoolDude

Got the install done today - 600 euros.

Now have 6 rooms connected to dish using an Octo LNB (2 rooms with SKY Plus, 1 room on multiroom & the others on FTV cards).

I still have the old cards I used in Dublin, which I took out of the old boxes before SKY deactivated.

Q - are these going to work in any of my spare boxes?

Also, off topic, but I can't remember how I had the cinema system connected up so that the sky sound output thru it - should have taken a picture.

Q: Anyone know how this should be connected up?

byte

A1: if the cards are Irish ex-sub cards, they'll not give you much, except maybe Sky Three.

A2: If the cinema system is near a Sky+ box, get an optical cable to interconnect the devices. Just make sure your cinema system has an optical input (usually called a S/PDIF). I don't think the SKy+ has a coaxial audio output though admittedly I have never looked for one.

PoolDude

Thanks, I'll pick up an optical cable. I know that before I moved I had this working without an optical cable - I just can't remember how I had it connected, maybe it was Sky + to TV, TV to Cinema System to output it. I'll play with it when I get back home on Friday.

byte

Maybe you used a phono cable (red and white plugs on each end)?

PoolDude

I did - I remember them, can't remember what I plugged it into - any ideas?

BTW: I picked up an optical cable so I can try that aswell.

PoolDude

The second Sky plus box - the one I brought from the old house now has a new card based on the new set up here. Sky plus functions are working on the new box but on the second one it says call to upgrade. When I called Sky (twice) they said someone would call back in an hour that my profile says 1 sky plus box and 2 standard boxes (which is correct based on what I signed up for).

What is the likely outcome here, can they enable the functions on the second box and if they do are they likely to charge me more.

Are there any alternatives?

Thx.

byte

PoolDude wrote:

I did - I remember them, can't remember what I plugged it into - any ideas?

BTW: I picked up an optical cable so I can try that aswell.

Yes, the optical cable should work better than the phono cables, especially for 5.1 Dolby Digital.