Do I need a set top box…?

Asdfgh2020

A bit of background first. We are Doing up a former rented property in which the last tenant left behind a fairly new looking satellite dish 📡. It’s at the rear of the house and there are two cables coming from which go over the roof and then down the front wall and come through the wall close the the old NTL box.

A family member (mother in law) will be moving in next week and was told by sky that it will be 3 to 4 weeks before they can send out one of their technicians to do the necessary to transfer/connect her existing sky package to the new property. Like a lot of people her age She is a telly addict and will not be a happy camper with no tv for possibly 3 weeks. The house is in an urban area and there is definitely a fibre network in the estate. The last tenant had virgin media so there isn’t a fibre cable coming into the house. As an interim measure I’m trying to make use of the satellite dish which will at least give her Uk channels. Unfortunately im not that up to speed on tuning in etc. So I have the following questions ……

1. Yesterday, I brought over a smart tv (LG TV) to the house which has a satellite socket at the rear and plugged in one of the cables running from the satellite into the house. I selected ‘Input’ as satellite as opposed to ‘antenna’ and tried the ‘auto tune’ function but got nowhere/ no channels were picked up. Do I need a set top box….?
2. Is there anyway easy to tell what satellite the dish is pointed to/aimed at. I’m not 100% sure but the last 4 sets of tenants over the past ten years were Irish and one of them left the dish behind so it is most likely aimed/pointed at the Astra free to air satellite but how do I tell which one…?
   
3. is it possible to get the Irish terrestrial channels via any satellite ?

irishgeo

1. You don't need a box the TV should pick up the free channels.
2. No not without a satellite tuner device. It's more than likely out of alignment.
3. While Irish TV is available on satellite it's a complicated setup.

Best bet is get a local satellite installer to check the dish out. Sky will just send out an independent person anyway.

Asdfgh2020

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123200674#Comment_123200674

Many thanks for getting back to me…..one further question. Which of the Astra satellites is the one to go for…is it the Astra 28.2E……I have a phone app for helping to find satellites but today with the wind and rain is probably not the best day to be mounting a ladder to play around with a dish…?

The Cush

The dish is most likely pointed at Astra 28.

With 2 cables could it have been used with a SkyQ box most recently? SkyQ compatible wideband LNB with 2 outputs?

Wideband LNBs carry Horizontal and Vertical polarisations on separate cables.

It's also possible the dish has moved, LNB could be faulty or damaged cabling if it's just run over the house. All possible if the dish hasn't been used for a while.

Saorview only via an aerial, you might get away with an indoor aerial in the interim.

Asdfgh2020

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123200706#Comment_123200706

thanks for that. So does this mean that the cable/cables if plugged directly into a LG smart tv will not provide any de-codable signal…?

The Cush

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123200714#Comment_123200714

Yes.

In the case of a SkyQ LNB, only one cable can be attached to the TV so you be missing one of the polarised group of channels. (Another technicality wideband LNBs spread the frequency band wider across the cables. Standard satellite receivers cannot "see" this wideband range of frequencies and so cannot tune them in)

TVs use the older Universal LNB setup where both polarisations are carried on a single cable in a narrow frequency range.

If the dish setup was working correctly the TV should pickup a small range of channels even with a SkyQ LNB if tuning is done correctly.

Asdfgh2020

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123200734#Comment_123200734

last question. If I was to run a new single satellite cable from the dish to the tv would it possibly work….. or would the LNB need changing….?

The Cush

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123200739#Comment_123200739

Dish could be out of alignment, LNB could be the wrong type as above, LNB could be right type but faulty. Existing cabling could be ok.

Probably needs an aerial /satellite installer to check it out.

swoofer

say the model of the lg tv, it may require you to select the actual satellite even for an auto tune, Need model no. I use dish align with iphone and all you do is select 28east and then compass, and it will emit a loud beeb when aligned correctly and have a green pointer, lay on lnb arm to see if dish is pointing correctly.

freetv.ie shows pics of normal and wideband lnb's look on there and compare.

where are you located?

And if its a SKY HD box then sky wont come out unless you switch to sky q.

blackbox

If your MiL is elderly and is used to using Sky, she probably won't be happy faffing about with any other satellite setup - even if it is free.

If she's going to pay for it, get Sky and save yourself the grief.

swoofer

😲 read the first post!! That'☺️s why we are trying to help

Asdfgh2020

if the weather was a bit better I would definitely have a look at the LNB from the ground its hard to tell but using the sat finder app that I have the dish does appear to be pointing 28.2 deg east so at least that is something….😀 can’t determine type or condition of LNB if it clears up later I’ll try Mount a Ladder to have a goo. Many thanks for all contributions so far. As a further back up I have a Saorview aerial at home that I think I can put in attic and rout the cable to the old NTL / coaxial box 🤞

swoofer

can you give model of tv, you never know, might be a choice to select astra and then scan.

dxhound2005

If a TV has a satellite tuner, I would always say give it a month getting used to the menus. Only then if it is not satisfactory, get a set top box. I know that switching from some varieties of Sky can complicate things.

I have a LG OLED for a few years. Only recently have I bothered to figure out a lot of what it can do. Because my set top is starting to go wonky.

Asdfgh2020

couple of pictures is the dish here. Does this she’s any light.

IMG_8342.jpeg

IMG_8343.jpeg

IMG_8344.jpeg

The Cush

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123202517#Comment_123202517

It confirms it's a Sky universal quad LNB attached to a Sky dish. So Astra 28 E.

Provided it's all working correctly it should work with that TV. No way of knowing it's condition by just looking at it.

swoofer

at the back of the tv there is a nameplate and it will gave model number but take a pc and post on here.

Asdfgh2020

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123202773#Comment_123202773

I’ll do so later. Do both cables need to be connected to the tv…?

Asdfgh2020

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123202791#Comment_123202791

IMG_2946.jpeg

picture of tv spec here.

swoofer

Got the manual and TV only has one sat tuner, …. its not an easy read. The TV can be used with an ordinary LNB, one cable for one tuner, or it can be used with a diseq switch, or a motor or a unicable. You are only interested in one sat.

I would set country as UK, then in menu go to programme and set the steps for satellite and set astra 28e, it asks for transponder info as well but I would ignore that as only needed for scanning a single frequency. Ignore all the other stuff and get it to auto scan.

Tv has a aerial socket as well so should get saorview with an aerial and another cable.

See how you get on and if no joy, your last choice is try the actual sky box and then if thats no good dish has moved or LNB is kaput. I dont have LG tv so not a lot of hands on re menu etc.

The Cush

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123202791#Comment_123202791

No, 2 cables in your setup was for Sky+ boxes with twin turners, watching/recording. Most TVs only have a single satellite tuner, so only a single cable required.

If you move to SkyQ they will install a new wideband LNB (2 cables required), probably new dish and check the existing cabling.

There is a combined LNB available (wideband/universal) called a hybrid LNB for situations where there is SkyQ and standard satellite receivers in the same house.

Asdfgh2020

Great advice. Many thanks. I’ll give it another go tomorrow evening.