Dishes banned, good alternatives to Sky-Q ?

mcbert

Hey,

moving to a new A-rated home soon hopefully, and was hoping to bring my Sky subscription with me, but two problems have occurred to me.

1. How to install a dish on a new a-rated wall without introducing leaks, damaging insulation etc. I've opened a thread in 'construction and planning' on this issue.

2. Just got sight of the 'house rules' with the estate management company and it includes a ban on aerials & satellite dishes etc. And not just at the front of the house either - anywhere.

So I could just ignore the ban, as the back of the house faces south east, so if I install it relatively low, it would only be visible to one neighbor at most.

Or, I find an alternative to Sky.

I hear Virgin Media boxes are awful compared to the Sky Q box we are used to. Although the estate is wired for both Virgin and Eir I believe.

What else is there? Eir and their Apple-TV ?

Any suggestions appreciated? I want an easy to use and reliable box to get all the usual channels, recording, EPG etc.

I'm not convinced the FTA boxes will suit, and I dont want to spend hours trying to set one up only to have the family complaining it doesnt work or do something they wanted...

Thanks!

spaceHopper

It's a new house so why was it not wired for satellite, or have you coax runs in the house, if you are in Dublin an antenna in the attic will probably get saor view. Then you will need some kind of satellite dish or hidden unit like this http://www.sqish.co.uk/ google hidden satellite dish. That would give you now and next EPG, I think if you set the location to the UK you get a full EPG but don't hold me to that.

If you have internal coax cables then run the external cable into the eaves. If you have to go through the wall just make good after and seal it up with silicone and cable cover after.

mcbert

spaceHopper wrote: »

It's a new house so why was it not wired for satellite,

Because they (developer/management company) dont want satellite dishes up at all. Perhaps they think it 'lowers the tone' or some other nonesense.

It is wired for Virgin and Eir I believe, but the Virgin box at least is not good I hear compared to Sky Q box. I dont know what Eir are offering now although I see it involves AppleTv somehow. I suppose I need to research that.

Nah, we're west coast. Cool yeah, ill google those hidden dishes. Thanks.

Johnboy1951

Would the Sat dish gets clear line of sight from the back of the house on the ground.
The dish does not need to be high up except for line of sight and interference reasons.

mcbert

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

Would the Sat dish gets clear line of sight from the back of the house on the ground.
The dish does not need to be high up except for line of sight and interference reasons.

Hmmm. I didnt think of the ground. That might work, but would not be ideal - likely to be knocked out of alignment by the kids, or at least take up space in a relatively small garden.

TheBoyConor

mcbert wrote: »

Because they (developer/management company) dont want satellite dishes up at all. Perhaps they think it 'lowers the tone' or some other nonesense.

And if you do break the rule? What are the management company going to do? Send you a letter with mean words on it?
To paraphrase McGregor, the can do fúckin' nuttin'. Management companies are toothless with no authority to do anything bar request that you do x, y or z. They have no power to compel you to do so much as scratch your arse.

mcbert

Hey,

what about one of these flat planel 'dishes' ? They are more discrete than the usual dishes. This one says equivalent to 80cm. I'm in Galway city by the way.

https://www.satworld.ie/selfsat-h50d2.html

Thanks.

Former Former

These rules exist for very good reasons.

But if it's in your back garden it's very hard to see them bothering their arse doing anything about it.

mcbert

Former Former wrote: »

These rules exist for very good reasons.

Ok, but it is not clear to me what those very good reasons might be.

What I can think of:

1. some houses facing the other way might need dishes facing the front - fine, make a rule saying dishes must not be visible, or must be at rear etc

2. attaching a dish might damage the outside of the house e.g. introducing leaks or holes - yeah ok, but that is the hoe owners responsibility, not the developer

3. 'lowering the tone' of the development - I think that is daft, especially if they are all at the rear

Vic_08

Former Former wrote: »

These rules exist for very good reasons.

What very good reason is there for banning DTH satellite reception?

It is just petty tyrants and good old snobbery.

The European courts have already ruled that this sort of restriction is illegal.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/satellite-dish-a-human-right-9620x2t9k9b

OP if you are willing to stand up for yourself then go ahead and stick one up, otherwise there are alternatives such as disguised dishes or flat panel antennas, these will cost more but work the same.

mcbert

Vic_08 wrote: »

What very good reason is there for banning DTH satellite reception?

It is just petty tyrants and good old snobbery.

The European courts have already ruled that this sort of restriction is illegal.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/satellite-dish-a-human-right-9620x2t9k9b

OP if you are willing to stand up for yourself then go ahead and stick one up, otherwise there are alternatives such as disguised dishes or flat panel antennas, these will cost more but work the same.

Yeah, thanks, saw that. Im now trying to find a flat panel 'dish' that is compatible with Sky-Q (they use different LNB?) and is large enough to work in the west (galway city).


Any suggestions?


I wonder about this one, I posted earlier here, but now I wonder if it is Sky-Q compatible: https://www.satworld.ie/selfsat-h50d2.html


Thanks!

Ten Pin

Unless it states it's compatible with SkyQ with wideband support then it probably won't work.

Here's one that is SkyQ compatible...
https://www.satshop.co.uk/sqish-skyq/p/1883

mcbert

Ten Pin wrote: »

Unless it states it's compatible with SkyQ with wideband support then it probably won't work.

Here's one that is SkyQ compatible...
https://www.satshop.co.uk/sqish-skyq/p/1883

Thanks. I wonder how well they work on west coast, they look a bit small, was hoping for one that's a bit bigger.

wersal gummage

Just to confirm that virgin box is an awful thing. It makes me angry every time I watch TV, coming up on 12 months now and it doesn't get any easier with time....

I'm weighing up a sat dish at the moment, I've some complications too, pretty sure sky won't install so will need to get it done myself and then get onto sky for a box... Will be expensive, and then I'm wondering how long before sky will provide IPTV here? Could put up with virgin for another year at a push, as we mostly watch Internet type TV anyway these days

Ronney

Are you in the first batch of people to move in? if not see if many others have already put in dishes.

In practice management company are likely to do little about it unless they receive a lot of complaints from your neighbors.


The second thing to watch is the route from dish to inside for cable. I've seen installers run them in all sorts of ways across houses to the easiest point

mcbert

Yep, we will be the first batch in.

Ive been warned about the route those cables can take, but when we got them installed in our rental house a year ago I talked to installer about where i wanted cables to go, gave him some biscuits, he did exactly what i asked, nice clean tidy job.

I wonder could I put in a solid 2m ground mount patio pole into the concrete that is already there, will a sky engineer install dish onto that if I ask, instead of the wall?

I want to limit holes in the wall and it it will mean dish is only visible to a single neighbour, on one side. Even at head height I dont think there'll be any problem with trees or walls etc

Gerry Wicklow

Using this site enter your address and select 28.2E Astra 2E as the satellite. You will see the exact direction the dish must have a clear view of. Use local landmarks, trees or other buildings to help guide you.

caff

You could try nowtv from sky instead.

padjocollins

am i allowed to say iptv ?

mfceiling

For your sanity DO NOT go near that virgin horizon box. It will break your heart how useless it is.

Our management company also had issues with no satellite dishes. A few neighbours on the WhatsApp group were bemoaning how bad virgin tv was and just disregarded the ban and went with sky. I also ignored it and went with sky. I'd say 70 - 80% of the houses now have sky dishes (just noticed this morning my neighbour directly in front has a dish now).
Haven't heard a peep from the management company.

Again...I'd do without tv rather than put that virgin horizon box anywhere near my house.

techdiver

Is this a house of apartment?

If it's a house the management company have absolutely no power to compel you to do anything regarding satellite dishes. Once you own the exterior of the house you can attach anything you want as long as it doesn't breach planning permission.

Taken from planning permission guidelines:

Generally, you will not need planning permission for:

A satellite dish (up to 1 metre in diameter, and no higher than the top of the roof) at the back or side of the house (a dish on the front needs planning permission). Only one dish may be erected on a house.

Stick to that and you have no worries.

mcbert

Yeah, Ive come around to this line of thinking at this stage. Its a new A2 rated house, so I'd like to limit the holes drilled in the wall, thinking about installing into a pole instead of the wall...

Former Former

mcbert wrote: »

Ok, but it is not clear to me what those very good reasons might be.

What I can think of:

1. some houses facing the other way might need dishes facing the front - fine, make a rule saying dishes must not be visible, or must be at rear etc

2. attaching a dish might damage the outside of the house e.g. introducing leaks or holes - yeah ok, but that is the hoe owners responsibility, not the developer

3. 'lowering the tone' of the development - I think that is daft, especially if they are all at the rear

As I said, they won't care if it's in your back garden but having one on the front of your house means your neighbours have to look at it. And they look awful.

As time wears on, especially if there are a lot of rentals, what you'll find is people need new dishes. Unfortunately taking a dish down isn't always easy, so the old one gets left up.

Xertz

If it's a house and you own it, the management company can't really do much. You're not leasing the housed of your house from someone. Apartment buildings are more complicated as you normally do not own the exterior surfaces of the building.

Take care installing on a very heavily insulated building, and ensure that you get proper advice on doing so, as you can screw up the insulation, but beyond that I think a lot of this stuff is really turning into people bending to the will of someone who's fixated on one particular aspect of a house.

If you look at a typical house, there are a lot more objects around that are far more obtrusive than a satellite dish. I mean, take for example the choice of window blinds, their garden plants, their car. There's a whole load of far more objectionable looking items than a neatly installed satellite dish. You don't really see people getting freaked out about toilet vent stacks or gas boiler nozzles. I mean you could argue that chimneys are an abomination.

For your own sake, if you are installing it, just get it done by a good, independent installer and not the Sky Q free installation as they will just do it as cheaply as possible. Generally speaking, getting dish professionally installed is worth it as the installer can take their time and get it right.

Most of the bad reputation that dishes have is caused by cheap installations.

I'd actually much rather see houses built with proper provision for mounting of dishes i.e. ducts and, a pole in good roof top location and so on. Then we wouldn't have all these issues.