TV Distribution and controlwjQgPPu3

henrythecat

Hi there
I 'm looking for some advise about greater flexibility with TV in my home. The current setup is as follows:

Standard old sky box in attic, sky disk with single LNB
Single co axial to all room with exception of sitting room (3 co axial)
Sky box controlled by magic eyes
Signal split with 4 way tv link distibrutiion amplifier

All works fine but have same thing on all TVs and am looking for more flexibility etc
i.e. watch Sky sports in one room, soaps in other, kids in other etc with some level of independent control

Anyone any idea what would work - approx 10 tv points in house but not all active

Perhaps all equipment in attic and split from there?

For Saorview I would need additional roof ariel and either TVs with built in tuner or set top box
LNB needs to be upgraded to quad at minimum
To record SKY channels I would need to upgrade to SKY + box
Some sort of combo box for free sat and digital

Many thanks

Randyleprechaun

You could add in more sky boxes(For FTA or subscription), put them with the existing one. They can then be fed(RF) to a combiner which in turn is fed to a distribution amp for distribution to your outlets, boxes controlled by sky eyes

Sky remotes can be programmed to operate specific boxes etc. Saorview or analogue can also be distributed along the same cabling.

Downfall is that pictures/sound won't be as good as if you had scart connection s to the TV from a receiver loctaed at the TV.

I use the above setup and find it very versatile, especially when you tend to use different rooms at different times of the day/week/year etc.

The Cush

henrythecat wrote: »

Hi there
I 'm looking for some advise about greater flexibility with TV in my home.

No flexibility with a single Sky box in the attic - single channel output only. Sky multiroom sub required with Sky receiver at each TV point that you wish to watch a different subscription channel. LNB to be upgraded to quad or octo depending on the number of Sky receivers you add and satellite grade cable to each receiver.

Same applies to Saorview, a Saorview approved TV or STB required at each TV point. If you place the STB in the attic you have the same problem - single channel output and you'll require a way to change the channel.

Combo free-to-air satellite and terrestrial receivers are available , see my post here

MBSnr

Something to consider if you fancy a spot of DIY.

I have one single cable into another room and have combined the DTT (saorview) and Sat feed down it. You can buy a sat diplexers to combine the DTT and Sat signal down the one cable and then a wall plate diplexer splitter (TV and aerial) to separate them at the other end. That way using a Combo box such as the ferguson Ariva 120 (approx 100 euro) gives you all the Irish channels and all the UK FTA Sat channels. Add a USB drive and you can also record.

You also need to have an aerial and replace the LNB with a quad one and run new cable for the second Sat feed....

The coxial cable in my house is not Sat grade (only TV) but although the signal is weak the quality is still over 50% meaning the picture is absolutely fine in all but the very heaviest rain.

henrythecat

Thanks for the replies

Never considered adding in additional sky boxes for FTA and was not aware of the combiner etc. Are additional sky boxes easy enought to pick up?

In this setup could I use a non sky free sat box, sky box, terresteral ariel and have all 3 at each location in the house with independent control

or perhaps sky box, combo box (for saorview and free sat) with combiner and have all 3 at each location in the house with independent control

Carter P Fly

You could go mental and setup a TV server in the attic that distributes tv to custom Mini ITX PC's in each room which hook up to the telly giving you not only distributed TV but distributed media and internet access to all TV's.

Using not to be discussed boxes on this forum you can even include sky channels as well as saorview in this setup.

Not cheap or straightforward to setup but could be a great solution.

Randyleprechaun

henrythecat wrote: »

Thanks for the replies

Never considered adding in additional sky boxes for FTA and was not aware of the combiner etc. Are additional sky boxes easy enought to pick up?

In this setup could I use a non sky free sat box, sky box, terresteral ariel and have all 3 at each location in the house with independent control

or perhaps sky box, combo box (for saorview and free sat) with combiner and have all 3 at each location in the house with independent control

Additional sky boxes can be got fairly readily. Price will depend on who/where you get them etc.

Non sky boxes could be used, but you're getting into a bit trickier of a setup then..not impossible though.

Rick_

I know what TV Distribution is, but what is "controlwjQgPPu3"?

henrythecat

Thanks for the replies ...... starting to get confused

Are my understanding correct based on these senarios ?

1 - Adding an external ariel and feeding it into the Ariel in on sky box located in attic would mean when used with TV link for distribution I would have the following on all TVs
- channel 1 - SKY channels
- Channel 2-5 RTE 1 RTE2 TV3 TG4
- SKY station would be same on all TV's at all times
- I can switch between channels 2 - 5 on other tvs and watch different things ?

2 - Same as above and if one of the TVs had a digital tuner or had a set top box at that TV am I able to have access to both the SKY channels and free sat on that same TV?

3 - Like the way I have SKy box in attic can I combine it with a another Freesat box in the attic and send both down one coaxial to each TV through TV LInk distribution
- meaning 2 options at each TV - SKY or Freesat (with same station on each throughout house )

Thanks for replies in asdvance

The Cush

henrythecat wrote: »

Are my understanding correct based on these senarios ?

1 - Adding an external ariel and feeding it into the Ariel in on sky box located in attic would mean when used with TV link for distribution I would have the following on all TVs
- channel 1 - SKY channels
- Channel 2-5 RTE 1 RTE2 TV3 TG4
- SKY station would be same on all TV's at all times
- I can switch between channels 2 - 5 on other tvs and watch different things ?

Yes.

henrythecat wrote: »

2 - Same as above and if one of the TVs had a digital tuner or had a set top box at that TV am I able to have access to both the SKY channels and free sat on that same TV?

Yes to the Sky channels. Freesat requires a separate satellite receiver with a separate feed from the dish.

If you have a Saorview approved digital terrestrial iDTV or STB and you're within the Saorview coverage area and have the correct aerial you should have no problem receiving the Saorview digital channels.

henrythecat wrote: »

3 - Like the way I have SKy box in attic can I combine it with a another Freesat box in the attic and send both down one coaxial to each TV through TV LInk distribution
- meaning 2 options at each TV - SKY or Freesat (with same station on each throughout house )

I don't know of any freesat receiver that has an RF modulator to output the signal via co-ax. You could add a separate RF modulator after the scart I suppose. You will also require some means of changing the channel on the freesat receiver, they don't work with the Sky link.

excollier

Look up Triax Tri link should work with a Freesat box

Randyleprechaun

henrythecat wrote: »

Thanks for the replies ...... starting to get confused

Are my understanding correct based on these senarios ?

1 - Adding an external ariel and feeding it into the Ariel in on sky box located in attic would mean when used with TV link for distribution I would have the following on all TVs
- channel 1 - SKY channels
- Channel 2-5 RTE 1 RTE2 TV3 TG4
- SKY station would be same on all TV's at all times
- I can switch between channels 2 - 5 on other tvs and watch different things ?

2 - Same as above and if one of the TVs had a digital tuner or had a set top box at that TV am I able to have access to both the SKY channels and free sat on that same TV?

3 - Like the way I have SKy box in attic can I combine it with a another Freesat box in the attic and send both down one coaxial to each TV through TV LInk distribution
- meaning 2 options at each TV - SKY or Freesat (with same station on each throughout house )

Thanks for replies in asdvance

You are correct about point 1 and if you have a magic eye at each TV location, you will be able to control the sky box from each location.

On point 2, if the TV has a digital tuner, that means you will be able to receive Irish Terrestrial Digital TV channels aswell as the sky channels. A digital tuner does not equal freesat.

Point 3:To keep things easy, if you want to add more satellite receivers, use sky boxes(2nd hand oners for FReesat/FTA) as they have rf modulators and are the easiest easy to use magic eyes.

henrythecat

Again thank you all for prompt replies and apologies for further questions but I'm getting there

1 - This one is covered off perfectly thanks

2 'if the TV has a digital tuner, that means you will be able to receive Irish Terrestrial Digital TV channels aswell as the sky channel'

Just to confirm this is still the case if I have only one cable presented to the TV ?
Do the two signals (SKY and Saorview) need to be combined in the attic and split at TV ?
Or the same setup as in example 1 with Saorview aerial into sky box ?


2 - 'Digital tuner does not equal freesat' - thanks stupidly I was thinking of them as the same

3 - 'Triax Tri link' - seems like a nice solution for remote control of Free Sat box with no RF
Where is best to pick up old sky boxes?

The Cush

henrythecat wrote: »

2 'if the TV has a digital tuner, that means you will be able to receive Irish Terrestrial Digital TV channels aswell as the sky channel'

Just to confirm this is still the case if I have only one cable presented to the TV ?
Do the two signals (SKY and Saorview) need to be combined in the attic and split at TV ?
Or the same setup as in example 1 with Saorview aerial into sky box ?

All combined in the Sky receiver, the Sky channels are carried as a separate UHF channel on the co-ax in addition to the terrestrial analogue and digital channels. You may have to change the RF output channel to avoid conflict with an existing analogue/digital RF channel from the aerial.

You will require a STB or iDTV at the other end. If you are using a STB you will have to loop the signal out of the STB and back to TV or split the co-ax before it goes into the STB for the Sky channels. Connect the STB to the TV via scart. Not sure if any of the Saorview STBs have RF modulators.

Randyleprechaun

henrythecat wrote: »

Again thank you all for prompt replies and apologies for further questions but I'm getting there

1 - This one is covered off perfectly thanks

2 'if the TV has a digital tuner, that means you will be able to receive Irish Terrestrial Digital TV channels aswell as the sky channel'

Just to confirm this is still the case if I have only one cable presented to the TV ?
Do the two signals (SKY and Saorview) need to be combined in the attic and split at TV ?
Or the same setup as in example 1 with Saorview aerial into sky box ?


2 - 'Digital tuner does not equal freesat' - thanks stupidly I was thinking of them as the same

3 - 'Triax Tri link' - seems like a nice solution for remote control of Free Sat box with no RF
Where is best to pick up old sky boxes?

Point 2: Yes 1no cable can do the job. The signals are"mixed" by the sky box.

If you use sky boxes for additional receivers you will get rid of the need for the tri-link kit.

Sky boxes readily available of ebay/donedeal etc etc