Saorview and Satellite help

beemer_devil

tried searchin the forum but came up with nothing.

i have a satellite dish installed from sky, with a single lnb connecting to the sitting room, all the other rooms are connected to the ntl service in the attic.

I had a guy in during the week, he said he would need to replace the dish with one the same size(unnecessary in my eyes), a quattro lnb a uhf ariel and cable to the attic connected to an 8 way switch for €380, he was then charging €20(per cable) for connecting the cables already in the attic into the switch, and a combiner in each room for 10euro each thats over 500 euro before even buying the combo boxes for each room which he was chargin €190 each for a box that is for sale elsewhere for €110euro.

i was wondering has anyone had this installed that would know if this guy is overcharging? he thought our satellite dish was new because it had no rust, but said they only last about 5years and he would need to replace it, although that dish has been on the wall since about 1998. its a mk3 sky dish and im sure i could buy an lnb adapter so the newer lnb would fit? would i need a quattro lnb or will a quad lnb work im not sure what the difference is to be honest.
does anyone know anywhere i could get the bits and do it myself?
i.e 8way switch, and the combiners would i need new ones or will the ones i have for cable tv and fm work?
any help would be greatly appreciated

Peter Rhea

How many rooms will be dependent on this setup? What combo box do you have in mind?

beemer_devil

5 rooms with boxes plus a magic eye to connect the kitchen up, I was looking at the Ferguson Ariva 250 HD which i found for around €110 each, the guy was selling me the ariva 120's for €180 each

winston_1

With up to 8 feeds you can use an octo LNB. Any more and you need a quatro LNB plus multiswitch as you were quoted. Compatible quatro LNB's are not made for Sky dishes so you would also need a new standard dish (taller than wide, rather the Sky wider than tall type).

Peter Rhea

beemer_devil wrote: »

5 rooms with boxes plus a magic eye to connect the kitchen up

The multiswitch would be the tidiest way of combining & distributing the satellite & terrestrial signals, although there are multiple input/output diplexers for satellite & terrestrial that could be used in conjunction with an octo lnb & distribution amp, but this is just a messier way of doing what the switch does. Some multiswitches can be set to work with the more widely available quad lnb, as well as a quattro.

Another possible option might be an lnb with a terrestrial input, which combines this signal with the satellite output, but I'm not aware of any octo versions, only quads (& not for Sky dishes).

The magic eye to the kitchen can be accommodated separately.

zg3409

For such a setup you would be better with a new dish, particularly if you are getting a 1 year guarantee.. are you?

You need to be aware with combo boxes you may need to install a new channel list on them a couple of times a year as channels will start dissapearing. The guy should only charge reasonable prices for the 120. 180 Euro is too steep. He should be charging for his labour not inflaiting the prices of the boxes.

Try use an installer that will give a vat receipt and a guarantee. Try use a registered installer with one of the trade bodies.

If recording is very important to you consider a genuine FreeSAT receiver as you will get series link, auto retuning etc. unlike the combo boxes.

beemer_devil

thanks for the info, the guy who gave me that price was a registered installer i wont give the name of the website, i see now why we need a new dish i was not aware that the sky ones cant take a quattro lnb

zg3409

beemer_devil wrote: »

i was not aware that the sky ones cant take a quattro lnb

Sorry my mistake. You are correct.

winston_1

zg3409 wrote: »

Sky ones can take a quattro. Even older types.

Please don't make misleading statements like this.

Sky dishes, due to their shape wider than tall, need special skyware LNBs with a feed horn matched to the non standard Sky dish shape. Using a standard LNB will give poor results and quatro LNBs, are not made in skyware. Yes you can fit a quatro to a Sky dish but it will give poor performance.

More info here.

http://www.satcure.co.uk/tech/lnb.htm#oval

elgordo

Not sure if this is the correct place to post this question but during a firmware update my Technomate 6900hd super froze and now shows no signs of life.Tried pressing menu button while switching on,connected null cable with latest loader but still nothing.Is this receiver done???

beemer_devil

winston_1 wrote: »

Please don't make misleading statements like this.

Sky dishes, due to their shape wider than tall, need special skyware LNBs with a feed horn matched to the non standard Sky dish shape. Using a standard LNB will give poor results and quatro LNBs, are not made in skyware. Yes you can fit a quatro to a Sky dish but it will give poor performance.

More info here.

http://www.satcure.co.uk/tech/lnb.htm#oval

thanks that link helped explain a lot to me about lnb's where would the best (cheapest) place to get the stuff? lnb dish switch etc?

zg3409

There is a link to all suppliers here:
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=155714

Generally we cannot recommend suppliers here but I would say try to go with a reputable large Irish supplier that has a history of support on boards.