Help needed with wiring sky+ system

dgbr

I need some advice on connecting the following,(I've got this far from previous advice given on this site but need some further help. Keep it simple as I'm not up to speed on sat systems.)

Old Sky box with FTV card
New Sky+ box
Aerial.

I have 4 cables running from dish to attic. 2 for sky+, 1 for old skybox, 1 spare.
1 cable running to attic from aerial.
(I'm assuming that there is some sort of spliter/amp/loftbox I can use to distribute this around tyhe house)

The sky boxes are located in same cabinet.
I have 3-4 TV points around house to be connected.

How do I connect them up. And what parts will I need.

And also this may be a silly question but will I be able to watch different channels on different tv's at the same time?
How many TV's can i use at the same time?
Will I be able to switch what tv I watch the sky subsciption programmes on?
(i.e on the main tv downstairs and next day on a bedroom tv)
How does this system work without changing leads.

Thanks for any help you can give..

ffocused

You need to bring 3 of the sat cables directly to your sky/sky+ boxes. For your aeriel, if you have 4 tv points around the house you should find wires leading to them from either the attic or a cable connection box outside your house. If you locate this,use a 4 way splitter available in the likes of woodies/argos/atlantic etc. connect your aeriel to this and connect the 4 outputs to your existing tv points.

pH

Put your main TV next to the 2 digiboxes. The best picture available is RGB over SCART, but many TVs don't have 2 RGB enabled SCARTs. So you may need a multi input scart adapter sacrifice pic quality on one box.

Your other TVs are realisticly going to have to get the RF picture, so you'll bring the coax from the aerial into one of the sky boxes, daisy chain to the next, then into a splitter/DA and then onto the other TVs. You will probably have to change the RF channel on one of the boxes (not sure if Sky+ and a normal box have the same default RF channel)

You will need a Distribution Amp that allows the remote control passthrough, and number of TV Links (one for each other TV)

This definitely works for a single Digibox, and as the sky and Sky+ use different remote codes it probably will work, but I've never seen 2 boxes controled like this, so it might not work.

Also, the RF picture is rubbish compared to RGB and you lose WS switching, but it's a lot simpler than trying to take separate video/audio feeds around the house.

Each digibox can only output one station at a time.

Tony

pH wrote:

This definitely works for a single Digibox, and as the sky and Sky+ use different remote codes it probably will work, but I've never seen 2 boxes controled like this, so it might not work.

Global do an adapter for this

stephene

Indeed they do - the Plus Combiner.

For those that don't already know, it allows you to remotely control both a Sky+ box and a normal Digibox from other rooms in the house via a standard tvlinks. Both of the RF2 outputs from the digboxes go into the Plus Combiner and the single ouput from the Plus Combiner becomes the single return feed that goes back to your loftbox/distribution amp. Then when someone uses either Sky remote via a tvlink the remote command gets intercepted by the Plus Combiner, it detects which remote the commands came from and forwards it to the appropriate digibox.

I've been using one for a while now....don't know what I'd do without it .

A picture speaks a thousand words....

dgbr

Thanks for your replies.

I'm still unsure about a couple of things.

1, I have all cables run terminating in the attic.
(i.e. 4 cables from dish, 1 cable from aerial down to the attic, and I have 5 cables running from digi boxes up to attic (2 for sky+, 1 for old sky box, 1 for aerial, 1 return). I also have a cable from each of the other tv points running up to the attic.

What I need to know is, are all these cables joint in the 1 loft box and if so how and what type of box. Or will I need to make a number of joins and if so how and using what.

2, The diagram was very helpfull but it only show 1 cable for sky+ is ther not 2 cables for sky+.

Thanks again and sorry if the questions are basic.

Tony

I'm wondering why the cables from the dish were not run to the digibox locations, did someone advise you you to run to the attic? Ayway you can use F double female and two F males to correct this assuming you are using CT100 or better cable.

dgbr wrote:

Thanks for your replies.

I'm still unsure about a couple of things.

1, I have all cables run terminating in the attic.
(i.e. 4 cables from dish, 1 cable from aerial down to the attic, and I have 5 cables running from digi boxes up to attic (2 for sky+, 1 for old sky box, 1 for aerial, 1 return). I also have a cable from each of the other tv points running up to the attic.

What I need to know is, are all these cables joint in the 1 loft box and if so how and what type of box. Or will I need to make a number of joins and if so how and using what.

2, The diagram was very helpfull but it only show 1 cable for sky+ is ther not 2 cables for sky+.

Thanks again and sorry if the questions are basic.

dgbr

Yes, I was advised to run everything back to the attic were they could be joined. I didn't use ct100 but I bought the cable in a well known satelite store and was told it was the type used by all there installers. It would be possible to pull in new cable to the dish if totally necessary but I could do without the extra expense and hassle.

What connectors on the digiboxes do the cables coming from the dish go to.

Tony

dgbr wrote:

Yes, I was advised to run everything back to the attic were they could be joined. I didn't use ct100 but I bought the cable in a well known satelite store and was told it was the type used by all there installers.

In my opinion you were badly advised, satellite cable should not be joined unless its unavoidable as at high frequencies losses occur, hopefully you will get away with it. CT100 is the industry standard low loss cable as recommended by the CAI amongst others, for the sake of a few pence per metre this is false economy. Was it H109 cable by any chance which is also excellent. I am also wondering why they did not give you all the equipment at the time since they gave you the initial advice to "join" in the attic?

The cable connects via F connectors to the only threaded ports on your digibox.

dgbr

I wasn't supplied with all the materials because at the time I wired the house I wasn't 100% sure what I needed. I had an idea on how many cables I'd need and coupled with some advice I received I ran all the cables with a couple of extra cables in case I forgot something. I asked for ct100 cable but was told by the guy in the shop that they didn't stock it. He recommended a different type (not sure of the brand but it was more expensive that the other type he stocked). I now have all the cables run and I'm ready to connect up but as I mentioned in my original post I'm not sure on exact connections and what equipment I actually need. The replies I've received have helped.

Could anyone recommend a loftbox (whats the difference between a loftbox and an amp and a splitter)

thx, d

stephene

From what I can gather you are going to need something along the lines of this....

In the loft you will need....


1 x TVLink friendly 4 way Amp/Distribution box (Global F140)
(pic courtesy of satellite.ie )


13 x F-type connectors and 4 x F-type barrel joiners
(eBay probably the cheapest for these)

Put F-connectors on the 3 cables coming from the LNB, F-connectors on the 5 cables coming from the living room, F-connectors on the 4 cables going to your 4 other rooms and an F-connector on the cable coming from the aerial - basically F-connectors on all cables coming into the loft (if you don't know how click here)

Take 3 F-joiners and connect the 3 cables coming from the LNB to the 3 sat cables going to the living room.

Take the remaining F-joiner and connect the cable coming from the aerial to the aerial cable going to the living room.

Take the return cable coming from the living room and connect it to the TV-IN on the F140.

Take the 4 cables going to your other rooms and connect them to the F140.


The living room should be straight forward enough - 3 more F-connectors for the sat cables, 1 standard male TV coax connector for the aerial in, 1 standard female TV coax connector for the return feed....and hopefully you've labelled the cables otherwise you will have fun figuring out which of the 5 cables in the living room does what :eek: . The diagram posted earlier should give you an idea about how to connect up the Plus Combiner.

Setting up your tvlinks and providing power to the F140 see here

If you're still in the dark , you might be better off calling in a professional .

dgbr

Thanks again folks for time and effort replying.
It's been a great help.
I should have enough information to get cracking.

D