Satellite installation questions

aosaigh

Hey, I've been doing a bit of reading here about getting rid of Virgin Media's TV package and installing my own Satellite + 1 or 2 set top boxes.

In the house at the moment:

- There is a x3 coaxial junction box (not sure what this is called) on the top front corner of the house (roof awning) where the existing VM internet/TV comes in. These go to three different rooms in the house and are already wired.
- I want to keep one of these for the VM internet (after cancelling the TV package)
- I want to have the other two coming in from the Satellite to the two living rooms
- We used to have an old Sky satellite dish on the back of the house but it's long gone (but means I have a rough idea of where the satellites are facing)
- We have very thick (maybe 30cm) external insulation on the entire house so we can't affix the satellite to the exterior walls.

so a couple of questions:

- I have assumed that the coaxial coming in for the Virgin Media/UPC points is the same connection that can support the satellite signal?
- what other mounting options do I have for the satellite? Chimney? Roof awning? Do satellite installers install onto Chimneys or is this a no-go?
- to what degree will the distance between the satellite dish and the set top box matter? If I was to mount it around the back of the house I could see the distance being around 50m all-in-all.

Having typed this out I get the feeling that I should be calling someone out to have a proper look but any information in the meantime would be great.

Gerry Wicklow

Enter your address here to see which way the dish should point. Select 28.2E Astra as the satellite. Use the obstacle facility to avoid trees, neighbours etc. Unlike a normal aerial, a satellite dish does not need to be up high as long as it has a clear view of the spot in the sky where the satellite is located. If you can't mount on the house, a shed or garden wall may also work. If you are worried about long distances from the dish, use a slightly larger version, 80cm or more, rather than the basic 60cm "Sky" type.
EDIT: If you want to be able to record while watching another channel, you will need two cables from the dish to each receiver.

winston_1

You can't use any of VM wiring for a satellite TV installation. It is their (VMs) property and must not be touched. Anyway you need to keep it for the internet.

You can mount a dish (not a satellite) on the chimney but I don't recommend it as it makes it difficult to access when things go wrong or you want to modify it.

Long distances are not too much of a problem as the LNB is also an amplifier and signal levels are very high. Use decent cable though, such as WF100.

icdg

Look winston_1, while I really don't want to ban someone for what is an extremely trivial offence, the fact that you keep on with the pendantry isn't helpful.

Take a warning and if you keep it up I will have to ban you