Upcoming Sky Q Installation - Query RE: Cabling etc

BrentMused

Hello all,

I have recently signed up for Sky Q at my new house and have the installation due in the next few days.

We currently are using an old Sky dish which was already at the property and connected to my old Sky HD box which gives us the usual set of free channels, connected from the dish by a cable that the previous owners had ran from the attic down to the living room so is nice and neat.

I'm aware that Sky Q needs a different type of LNB and cabling (with 2 inputs into the box), and also that the engineers are not permitted to go on roofs or in lofts. For accessibility reasons, it's not possible for me to get in there either to get them to feed the cable to me so that potential option is out.

The dish is pretty rusty now so we'll get that replaced but my concern mainly revolves around the cabling. Due to the need for the dish to face SE it needs be at the back right hand side of the property and the living room is on the front left of the property, so it's essentially a complete diagonal over a very high stepped roof as the quickest route from dish to box.

My question is what is generally the best practice/method from the engineers when tackling such a setup? I'm sure they see it every day and I'm worrying unnecessarily, but without loft access I'm just concerned that a cable will be lobbed diagonally across the roof and then down the front wall, which will look very unsightly at best?

Will the engineer potentially go in a straight line over the roof with the cable and run it neatly say down along the drain pipe, clipping to bottom of the wall along the way and drill into the living room externally?

The above suggested method would involve about 3 or 4 bends in the cable, so perhaps this is not even an option due to signal loss?

I appreciate it's not a straightforward or easy job and I know I'm inevitably going to have some cable on show on the front of the house, but is it pretty much a case of take what you're given if you want Sky Q, or will the engineers generally propose a few different solutions?

Thank you for any help or advice.

The Cush

Would it be possible to run the cables around the house at soffit level and then drop down to the entry point?

Bends are ok in cables provided they're not too sharp.

What is the route of the existing cable to the TV point?

BrentMused

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121865021#Comment_121865021

I don't think so, as the soffit at the side of the house is extremely high up, so I don't think any engineer is going to go near it.

At present, the cable from the dish goes directly into a vent type thing in the soffit, I assume this runs to the loft, and then drops down from the loft to the living room TV faceplate and then into the Sky box.

Sorry if I'm picking you up wrong on the soffit suggestion. As you can tell, my knowledge is not the best despite my best efforts in terms of research! 🙈

Mundo7976

There should already be 2 cables for the HD box, if so the engineer will test them & use them if sound, no need for extra wiring

BrentMused

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121865688#Comment_121865688

Unfortunately it's the old DRX-style Sky Box that has just one input and there's only one cable at the faceplate by the TV.

BrentMused

Just to update this as I hate when threads are incomplete:

Engineer arrived today as scheduled. He had a look at a few different options, in the end after some consultation he put a new dish up in a more convenient location and did a lovely neat and tidy job with a white cable well clipped initially down the back of a white drain pipe, clipped along the bottom of the wall and into the external wall.

My house is painted a light colour so unless you were looking for the cable, you wouldn't even see it.

He really went above and beyond and took great pride in his work.

I'm currently watching the rugby live with the F1 on record to watch afterwards so very pleased. :)

The Cush

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121871082#Comment_121871082

Did he remove the old dish?