Does a Sky Dish differ greatly from other dishes?

Basq

Hey lads,

Am moving into a new house that I'm renting. The house is semi-detached and at the end of a row and has 2 satellite dishes on the side.. 1 of the dishes has Cyfra branding (and is actually leading into our neighbours houses) and the other is a basic non-branded dish (and has a wire runnning into our house with a Coaxial looking connection on the end).

Asked the landlady and she has no idea what that's for.. but she wasn't sure and is unsure if the previous tenant had Sky.

And I'm getting Sky Digital and the earliest they can install it on a weekend is the end of September (:eek:) and on a weekday, it's the 6th. So I've basically 2 questions..

a) Would it be necessary that they install another dish, or could they use the existing dish?
b) If they could use the existing dish, would they be take to installing it sooner if I mentioned we already had a dish and all we need is the SkyBox and for it to be wired to the dish? As in I'd assume it's a quicker job that having to mount a dish etc.

I've a feeling I already know the answer to the above questions is 'no' but worth a shot!

Thanks in advance.

syboit

I've been through this, and when the installer came out he preferered to install a new dish/cabling (just in case there is any issue with the existing kit).

Not sure about telling them all you need is a box, they'd probably still insist on sending an engineer, plus is there was an issue with that dish/cable you'd have to still wait for an engineer then.

that cyfra dish is a polish setup I believe, so its probably pointing at 19' or 13' (cant remember which one)

Onikage

It's not strictly legal to have more than one dish on the house but if they've been there for 5 years and nobody has complained it won't be a problem. Not too uncommon but don't make any knowledgeable enemies

syboit is right. The installer will be a local lad, as sky pay "certified engineers" a fixed amount per job. Unless the cabling is very neat and you're sure there are no problems with it, the best option is just to let him install the new dish and take down the old one. If he's savvy he might be able to advise you about the other dish too because really it should be on the other house.

You're going to have the installer on your doorstep no matter what happens so feel free to float some suggestions but once he has a look he should be able to advise you what's best.

Basq

syboit wrote: »

I've been through this, and when the installer came out he preferered to install a new dish/cabling (just in case there is any issue with the existing kit).

OK.. that's make sense I suppose.

syboit wrote: »

Not sure about telling them all you need is a box, they'd probably still insist on sending an engineer, plus is there was an issue with that dish/cable you'd have to still wait for an engineer then.

Onikage wrote: »

syboit is right. The installer will be a local lad, as sky pay "certified engineers" a fixed amount per job. Unless the cabling is very neat and you're sure there are no problems with it, the best option is just to let him install the new dish and take down the old one. If he's savvy he might be able to advise you about the other dish too because really it should be on the other house.

You're going to have the installer on your doorstep no matter what happens so feel free to float some suggestions but once he has a look he should be able to advise you what's best.

Oh.. and I know I'm gonna have an installer on my doorstep.. I paid the €50 for installation - I'd expect it but what I was wonder was if there was no need to install the extra dish, would they willing to do the installation any sooner? Since all they'd need to know (I assume) is wire up the SkyBox to the dish (etc).

If he wants to take down the dish, he can as I don't know specifically what it's used for.

Onikage wrote: »

It's not strictly legal to have more than one dish on the house but if they've been there for 5 years and nobody has complained it won't be a problem. Not too uncommon but don't make any knowledgeable enemies

Believe me.. I wasn't too happy about the 2 dishes on the side of the house either. But I didn't put them up, and neither of them are specifically in use by us.. so it's not my responsibility. If they want them taken down.. they can take down all except my one Sky dish. I have rights to have the dish up on the home I'm renting (I've asked the landlady), but the neighbours are taking the piss by putting their dish on the side of our house.

Cheers lads.

sweetie

I got sky last week. took about ten minutes to put up the dish so I would say they won't come any sooner.

Regarding the other dish, if it was my house i would have it down on two secs and taken away. How can someone have the neck to put a dish on a neighbours house! What happens if they try to adjust the dish and hurt themelves. Your landlord could be liable.

Basq

sweetie wrote: »

I got sky last week. took about ten minutes to put up the dish so I would say they won't come any sooner.

Bah.. suppose not!

Worth a try anyways!

sweetie wrote: »

Regarding the other dish, if it was my house i would have it down on two secs and taken away. How can someone have the neck to put a dish on a neighbours house! What happens if they try to adjust the dish and hurt themelves. Your landlord could be liable.

I know.. don't get me started on it!

The neighbour's house is owned by our landlady's brother.. and he's renting that house to tenants. So they probably got permission first so that's why it was done!

sweetie

basquille wrote: »

The neighbour's house is owned by our landlady's brother.. and he's renting that house to tenants. So they probably got permission first so that's why it was done!

aaah, that explains it.

You could always use the other dish for the fta channels in your bedroom.
Itv1,2,3,4, bbc1,2,3,4, C4, e4, more4, film 4 and others for no sub, just buy a used sky box.

Basq

sweetie wrote: »

aaah, that explains it.

You could always use the other dish for the fta channels in your bedroom.
Itv1,2,3,4, bbc1,2,3,4, C4, e4, more4, film 4 and others for no sub, just buy a used sky box.

Just might do that sweetie. Cheers!

Onikage

Three dishes could attract unwanted attention. If you're getting sky plus you will get a quad lnb, this will let you feed a box in your bedroom too from a single dish. If the wiring is already in place, it's no big job for the installer. A biscuit bribe might do the trick.