Sky +, Only one cable.

antkeane1980

Hi all

Quick question. Now that you don’t need a subscription for sky plus any more, if I get a sky plus box off eBay will it still work with one input cable from the dish, even though it would have limited functionality?

Would I still be able to view and record etc, but only record the channel I’m watching?

Thanks
Anthony

mustang68

Yes you can record, but as you say, only your current channel. You can trick it into automatic recording: schedule a programme to record before the one you want, the first recording will fail (as it seems to use the secondry tuner first) and yous will work. However its well worth getting the second cable hooked up, quite cheap and only a few hours at the very worst.

center15

Does anyone know somebody in Cork who will install a second cable cheap enough. Most places quote 120eur. Its just a cable run from the chimney down the side wall and drill a hole.

antkeane1980

you might need a new LNB too, In galway the guy charged me €50 for it, you can get them on eBay in the UK for about €10.

mustang68

center15 wrote:

Its just a cable run from the chimney down the side wall and drill a hole.

If price is an issue, do it yourself, its just a cable and the LNB clips off and a new one clips on.

center15

mustang68 wrote:

If price is an issue, do it yourself, its just a cable and the LNB clips off and a new one clips on.

I have a 2 story house and dont have a ladder suitable for the job, i just think 120eur is a bit much for a 20 min job dont even need a LNB already have a quad one we just got sky HD and moved the sky+ box into where the old standard digibox used to be.

Tony

center15 wrote:

I have a 2 story house and dont have a ladder suitable for the job, i just think 120eur is a bit much for a 20 min job.

Is the guy parked outside your house?

A. he will have to supply a quad lnb (around 35 euro)

b. supply cable, cable clips, cable ties

C. Have public liability insurance

d. travel to and from your house which will probably take more than 20 mins

E. If hes any good he will have a good quality meter to check your dish alignment.

center15

Tony wrote:

Is the guy parked outside your house?

A. he will have to supply a quad lnb (around 35 euro)

b. supply cable, cable clips, cable ties

C. Have public liability insurance

d. travel to and from your house which will probably take more than 20 mins

E. If hes any good he will have a good quality meter to check your dish alignment.

I do realise he is clearly not parked outside my house around 60-70eur I consider reasonable. I just edited my last post to state I already had a LNB so apologies should have said that originally and dish alignment is perfect.

mustang68

center15 wrote:

I have a 2 story house and dont have a ladder suitable for the job, i just think 120eur is a bit much for a 20 min job dont even need a LNB already have a quad one we just got sky HD and moved the sky+ box into where the old standard digibox used to be.

You seem to be not willing/unable to do it, so probably best to pay for it. Its quite simple here is the maths

You do it: rent/buy ladder, buy cable, rent/buy drill, climb up install cable, secure cable, drill hole, run cable inside, spend two to three hours.

Someone else does it: "hello here is 120".... time passes..... "thank you for doing that, bye"

would you rather the installer took longer to make it feel like you're getting better value for money?!!

center15

I do get the point that you are paying for a service that you are unable/unwilling to do and I understand that callouts are expensive but there's still a huge margin of profit made on a 120eur callout and no installer would probably bothering coming out for less than 100eur as it would they would prob be losing money not doing a more expensive job. I'm just saying that 120eur is expensive for the job required.

Tony

I would say that having your own lnb maybe 90 to 95 would be more reasonable but there may be other factors such as traveling time etc and I don't agree there is a huge margin of profit to be made, by what comparison do you base this on? Your dish may be perfectly aligned now but it needs to be re checked after fitting the lnb hence the need for a good quality meter.

center15 wrote:

I do get the point that you are paying for a service that you are unable/unwilling to do and I understand that callouts are expensive but there's still a huge margin of profit made on a 120eur callout and no installer would probably bothering coming out for less than 100eur as it would they would prob be losing money not doing a more expensive job. I'm just saying that 120eur is expensive for the job required.

watty

center15 wrote:

I do get the point that you are paying for a service that you are unable/unwilling to do and I understand that callouts are expensive but there's still a huge margin of profit made on a 120eur callout and no installer would probably bothering coming out for less than 100eur as it would they would prob be losing money not doing a more expensive job. I'm just saying that 120eur is expensive for the job required.

It's not expensive. Not for a reasonably skilled job that requires cost of van.

You want some that does this to be worse off than a shop assistant in a nice safe warm shop? My mother had a professional installer move her dish and 2 days later he fell of a neighbour's roof. Amazingly he was just in hospital a while, no serious injury, but he could have been killed or paralysed.

Some installs go easy and some more awkward. A quote for the job, at least compared with time & materials you know what it is going to cost.

I have to pay the Doctor €50 to be in his surgery for 5 minutes or 20 minutes.

Doing a job like that where the dish is on Chimney is nearly as much time and effort as an install.

Unless you have had basic training in roof safety and experience aligning dishes and running cable, you really don't want to do this even if someone offers you a ladder.

Personally I think any roof job / ladder job and most installs should be a 2 man thing from safety reasons.

wil

I have to second where Watty and Mustang are coming from. You are paying a specialist to come to your house to do a particular job. I am sure insurance for satellite installers is considerably higher than plumbers due to working at a height. You may moan but you still promptly pay their not insubstantial call out fees even if only to tighten a valve.
HSE statistics show that falling is the biggest cause of workplace fatalities.
Irish stats are difficult to come by but in the UK, in 2004/05, ladder use caused 10 fatalities and 1180 major injuries, such as broken bones
Working at a height with long ladders in order to reach the chimney on your 2 storey house should not be considered lightly, as this unfortunately too common attitude costs lives. People risk their health and their livelihood to get a job done quickly. For this reason it is now covered quite correctly by specific legislation.

The Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Work at Heights) Regulations 2006 (SI 318/06) were signed into law on 21/06/2006.
http://hsa.ie/files/file_20060802044003SI%20318%202006%20Work%20at%20Height.pdf

http://www.niso.ie/documents/GuideWAHRegs06.pdf (guidelines) a great 50 page read if you have time to spare.

You have to consider a professional doing this job should have training, expertise and experience to assess and address the situation safely whatever the conditions (fragile roof, loose fixtures, awkward access, uneven ground etc) in order to carry out the work required. Thats before they even carry out the neat laying and fitting of cable etc which would be the only thing you would complain about if it didnt look right. Bet you wouldnt complain if he took chances with his or others safety. I personally would prefer not to have a dead risk taker lying in my yard. The 20 mins is just your estimate. What if it took that long to get ladders set up and secured properly?

Even notwithstanding safety, I wanted to hire a van and driver for 3 hours a few weeks ago, driving only, no lifting. The minimum price I got was €120. What you consider margin of profit may just cover insurance, storage, training, transport, tools, time and risk.

So all things considered, would you do it for much less?

pma

does anyone know if the sky+ record function would work on a uk fta card?

Aquos76

pma wrote:

does anyone know if the sky+ record function would work on a uk fta card?

unfortunately not.

Tony

pma wrote:

does anyone know if the sky+ record function would work on a uk fta card?

Sky+ only works on subscription cards

watty

In UK you can get a Sky+ only sub with no pay tv sub. But not here?

wil

There may be something similar available here. In the small print on the latest Sky mag it appears that non Sky subscribers can utilise Sky+ for €15 per month (ironic - I guess they want a hand in your pocket whoever you are).
I dont know how this will work, AFAIK the recording facility is enabled solely via the card, I doubt they can affect the box on its own, so I presume* they have the ability to enable the function on whatever card you have.
(*Speculation on my behalf until someone clarifies or contacts Sky about it.)