Unicable questions

Tango One

Couple of questions if anyone has the answers that would be great.

I'm wondering is it possible to tell if a TV is compatible with unicable. I have a fairly newish TV roughly 2017 Sony 49xe9005. It has two satellite tuners and dvb t tuner. I'm hoping to only run one cable from the satellite and combine with a terrestrial feed.

Is there anything i need to look out for when buying a unicable LNB.

I'm thinking of buying one of them list below

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Opticum-Red-Unicable-Receiver-Shielded-White/dp/B07L9BX5M4

https://www.hm-sat-shop.de/en/lnb/unicable/1291/inverto-black-unicable-quad-idlu-qudl42-uni2l-1pp

Cheers

Edit looks like (EN50494) is mention in the manual which is the unicable standard as far as I can tell

JDxtra

I'm not sure the TV would be able to use a Unicable LNB as you intend. It may work but only as a normal single LNB input.

JDxtra

Never had any issues with the Inverto Unicable LNB. Mine is connected to an Enigma2 receiver.

Tango One

When I looked at the satellite tuning menu it has two modes one was called single cable. I'm hoping that works.

ei9go

All you need is two of these:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Konig-SAT-UHF-VHF-Combiner/dp/B0013D9ZR2/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=sat+tv+combiner&qid=1580987441&s=electronics&sr=1-2

And use a normal lnb

Johnboy1951

Tango One wrote: »

When I looked at the satellite tuning menu it has two modes one was called single cable. I'm hoping that works.

That single cable option might allow you to choose the frequency band it uses so it does not clash with any other device using the Unicable LNB.
At least that is what I would be hoping for.

This is a 4 tuner selection page

dubrov

If the manual mentions EN50494 and has an option for single cable then it will support Unicable.
Note, there is also a separate Unicable II standard (EN50607) which is different.
The main difference is the number of feeds sent down a single line (4 for Unicable I and 32 for Unicable II I think).

So if you are splitting the single cable feed to multiple Unicable TVs/receivers, just be aware it will only handle a maximum of 4 feeds.

Another thing to be aware of is that Sky Q uses a different standard so won't work with Unicable I or II.

Tango One

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

That single cable option might allow you to choose the frequency band it uses so it does not clash with any other device using the Unicable LNB.
At least that is what I would be hoping for.

This is a 4 tuner selection page

Thanks John boy that makes sense.

I intend to run one drop from the dish combined with the terrestrial feed. Then a diplex outlet to split the terrestrial followed by a split on the satellite out feed to the two tuners
It really just for the sake of being tidy.

I only heard of unicable a couple of days ago. It's pretty cool you can run so many point by splitting the cable which only uses to exist in the catv world. The red opticum lnb seem fairly cheap too

dubrov

ei9go wrote: »

All you need is two of these:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Konig-SAT-UHF-VHF-Combiner/dp/B0013D9ZR2/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=sat+tv+combiner&qid=1580987441&s=electronics&sr=1-2

And use a normal lnb

Although that will combine satellite and terrestrial signals you would still need unicable if more than one satellite feed is to be sent down a single cable. The OP needs two

Johnboy1951

No real diff in price for Unicable II LNB it seems
https://www.hm-sat-shop.de/en/lnb/unicable/2860/inverto-unicable-ii-lnb-idlu-32ul40-unboo-opp-fuer-bis-zu-32-teilnehmer?c=

but the terrestrial aerial would have to be fed in on a separate cable..

dubrov

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

That single cable option might allow you to choose the frequency band it uses so it does not clash with any other device using the Unicable LNB.
At least that is what I would be hoping for.

This is a 4 tuner selection page

Yes. The Unicable I LNB will send 4 user bands down the cable. The receiving TV needs to be configured to select which user band(s) it will use.

dubrov

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

No real diff in price for Unicable II LNB it seems
https://www.hm-sat-shop.de/en/lnb/unicable/2860/inverto-unicable-ii-lnb-idlu-32ul40-unboo-opp-fuer-bis-zu-32-teilnehmer?c=

but the terrestrial aerial would have to be fed in on a separate cable..

There is no real price difference but I believe there is wider receiver compatibility with Unicable I.

I am pretty sure terrestrial and Unicable II can be combined down a single cable. Many Unicable II multiswitches have terrestrial input ports.

Tango One

I would of thought they could be combined taking all the frequencies of the terrestrial are well below the satellite frequencies. Unless there is some interference?

Johnboy1951

dubrov wrote: »

There is no real price difference but I believe there is wider receiver compatibility with Unicable I.

I am pretty sure terrestrial and Unicable II can be combined down a single cable. Many Unicable II multiswitches have terrestrial input ports.

Reports I read indicated there can be interference between the two, and the advisory was not to do so.
I have not seen a Unicable II LNB with Terrestrial input but that means nothing these days

Tango One

Are unicable lnbs usually backward compatible?

I search with no luck for unicable LNB with terrestrial input.

Johnboy1951

Tango One wrote: »

Are unicable lnbs usually backward compatible?

I search with no luck for unicable LNB with terrestrial input.

Not sure what you mean by 'backward compatible'.

The Unicable I standard (as far as I am aware but open to correction) can have a terrestrial input combined because it uses a limited set of frequencies.
The Unicable II LNB can use a much wider set of frequencies and can interfere with a terrestrial signal on the same cable.

I have not kept up with progress in this area so I could be wrong.

Unicable I can provide signal to up to 4 tuners.
Unicable II can provide signal to up to 32 tuners (there are some LNBs that are for up to 24 tuners)

dubrov

Saorview seems to broadcast in the frequency range 470 to 860MHz.
The satellite Unicable LNBs suggested by the OP seem to start at 1210 for Unicable I and 970MHz pfor Unicable II so I think they can be combined without any interference.

It might be worth doing a search to see if there are any old threads where someone has implemented the combination successfully.

Tango One

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

Not sure what you mean by 'backward compatible'.

The Unicable I standard (as far as I am aware but open to correction) can have a terrestrial input combined because it uses a limited set of frequencies.
The Unicable II LNB can use a much wider set of frequencies and can interfere with a terrestrial signal on the same cable.

I have not kept up with progress in this area so I could be wrong.

Unicable I can provide signal to up to 4 tuners.
Unicable II can provide signal to up to 32 tuners (there are some LNBs that are for up to 24 tuners)

If I buy a unicable II lnb and connect unicable I set top box will it work or could you even mix it. A couple of unicable I boxes mixed with unicable II. I'm guessing the first 4 frequencies are unicable I and they added additional frequencies for the unicable II

dubrov

Tango One wrote: »

If I buy a unicable II lnb and connect unicable I set top box will it work or could you even mix it. A couple of unicable I boxes mixed with unicable II. I'm guessing the first 4 frequencies are unicable I and they added additional frequencies for the unicable II

Unicable II is backwardly compatible.
E.g. This LNB can cover both Unicable I and Unicable II.

Pretty much all satellite boxes will handle both.
TVs are a little harder to work out from the specs but it sounds like your TV will definitely handle Unicable I.

Johnboy1951

Tango One wrote: »

If I buy a unicable II lnb and connect unicable I set top box will it work or could you even mix it. A couple of unicable I boxes mixed with unicable II. I'm guessing the first 4 frequencies are unicable I and they added additional frequencies for the unicable II

Unicable I uses 4 frequencies.
Those same four are used on Unicable II, and extended to 24 or 32 depending on LNBs I have seen.
So yes, if a device is Unicable I capable, then a Unicable II LNB will work also.

Any further devices attached to the LNB coax will have to be capable of selecting user bands other than used by the first device, unless the LNB is programmed in static mode I understand (although I have no experience of this).

There is some further info on this page
https://www.inverto.tv/lnb/192/programmable-lnb-with-32-ub

Tango One

Thanks everyone. It's a fresh install I have nothing other than the TV in places. I'm hoping to future proof it as much as I can. I have a couple of other TV with no usable tuner. The 16 output lnbs are pretty cheap on amazon might go with one of them.

dubrov

If you are looking to future proof it I would make sure to install good network cabling with an outlet near each TV. It is all moving to online streaming television at the moment. Check out some of Johnboy's previous threads on using sat2ip distribution.

Also, cables can fail so I would install a second coaxial even if you don't plan to use it straight away

Johnboy1951

Tango One wrote: »

Thanks everyone. It's a fresh install I have nothing other than the TV in places. I'm hoping to future proof it as much as I can. I have a couple of other TV with no usable tuner. The 16 output lnbs are pretty cheap on amazon might go with one of them.

I don't use any TV tuners these days.
I have no coax distribution in the house, just the coax coming in from LNB & aerial to centralised tuners and distributed via Cat5e/Cat6 to minimum 3 points in each room (bar bedrooms).
Bedrooms rarely change use, but other rooms get a 'make-over' now and again, with furniture being moved and different TV locations used.
The multiple ethernet sockets (I hope) will cover those eventualities.

In place of using the tuners at each TV I have a small cheap Android box running CoreELEC (Linux) and Kodi. So I can play and record to a central storage from all TV points (and PCs, Phones, laptops etc if they can run Kodi).
The same system can be used to distribute the channels and media stored outside the home, if I wish.

Sorry for cluttering up this thread, but if you are future proofing then all options could be looked at.

There are lots of posts on
https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=643
which might provide some ideas.

Good luck

Tango One

Appreciate the help guys and looks like a cool setup John boy

Cheers

NewClareman

dubrov wrote: »

Saorview seems to broadcast in the frequency range 470 to 860MHz.
The satellite Unicable LNBs suggested by the OP seem to start at 1210 for Unicable I and 970MHz pfor Unicable II so I think they can be combined without any interference.

It might be worth doing a search to see if there are any old threads where someone has implemented the combination successfully.

I have used a single cable with Unicable 1/SCR and Terrestrial TV, so I know that works.

As you say, there is no overlap between Unicable 2 and Irish DVB-T channels, so I don't see why it wouldn't work. (I originally thought there was overlap, meaning that some Unicable 2 channels would have had to be disabled.) I too would love to hear from someone who has actually done this.