Control two Sky boxes from one Magic Eye?

galwayguy85

Here my question… I hope I don't confuse too many people, myself included along the way!

Here's the setup…

SITTING ROOM - Sky box receiver, full range of channels. 2 RG6 cables feeding into the back of receiver from satellite dish (Quad LNB)
'Aerial In' socket from roof aerial occupied and going back out again through RF Out 1. AC-powered booster involved along the way too.


KITCHEN - Sky box receiver, Just Freesat channels, 1 RG6 input from dish. Also a Saorview receiver. When the pair of these are just sitting on standby, whatever is being shown on Sky in the sitting room is displayed by default.

RF socket hidden behind the TV set.

I think that the Saorview box is daiychained through the VCR scart port on the back of the kitchen's Sky box. It takes 'precedence' anyway when both are powered on at the same time.


CONSERVATORY - New 32 inch TV set too big to fit anywhere else in the house. Also a Walker Saorview box connected via RF socket on wall. When coaxial cable goes directly from wall to back of TV is possible to see whatever is being shown at the same in the sitting room on Sky.




I want to get Sky set up in the conservatory too. Considering my options. I think the mother would be opposed to more crawling up on roof, fiddling with Sky dish, drilling a hole in the side of the conservatory wall etc.

I've been giving some though instead of using a Sky Magic Eye. Would it be possible to set up the Sky Magic Eye in the conservatory and set it up so that it would be possible to choose between the Kitchen's or the Sitting Room's Sky box at will and change channels etc and not have the channel change signal (etc.) go to both boxes at the same time?

Sometimes, the main Sky box in the living room may already be tied up. The freesat box is nearly always idle.

I'm guessing I would probably have to drop the Saorview box in the kitchen to to achieve such a thing - thereby giving the coaxial cable over to the sky box's powered RF2 socket? One dedicated Saorview box in a house is plenty anyway.

Maybe use a 'Y-splitter' in the conservatory to keep the Walker saorview box happy?

The Cush

This may be what you're looking for - http://www.tvtrade.ie/global-spc4-super-plus-combiner.html, have a look at the video guide.

Peter Rhea

I don't think there's any need for an SPC4 if the Sky boxes are different types (say Sky+ & non-recording), as the remote signals won't clash. An ordinary combiner/splitter will do the job of combining the RF2 feeds & allowing full remote control of both boxes.

If you want Saorview in the kitchen, you will need to run an extra cable, unless the cable from the dish is conveniently routed to allow combining with the aerial feed.

Another way of doing things, not needing any kind of combiner on the Sky RF side, would be to use RF2 from the kitchen Sky box to feed the conservatory, as this would be carrying the output of both Sky boxes, along with the Saorview signal (hopefully all still in good shape) but you would only be able to change channels on the kitchen box (probably not a bad idea, if the main box is 'tied up'). This kind of 'daisy chaining' mightn't produce the best of results with the analogue RF outputs, though.

Also OP, is the Walker Saorview box in the conservatory for recording, or why do you need a box with a 'new' 32" tv?

galwayguy85

Well the 32 inch TV is newly acquired, per se. I think it might be 3 or 4 years old otherwise. I doubt it has a Saorview tuner built into it.

Yes, both existing Sky boxes are of different types.

I presume if this venture comes together, I would need just the one remote to point at the Magic Eye?

Peter Rhea

You would need the remote from each box, even in the case where they are the same model, as the SPC4 combiner is programmed to pair 1 remote with each connected Sky box.

Example here of someone who wanted similar setup, but originally without the aerial feed included. Worked out fine using a simple combiner.

Even with an aerial connected, it shouldn't be hard to find 2 clear channels for RF2 outputs, as switching off analogue broadcasts has left the UHF band a lot less cluttered.

galwayguy85

Thanks for enlightening me Peter. A great help.

What complicated lives we all lead!