Best free to air TV - options

ArrBee wrote: »

Yeah, I'm probably getting a bit confused.

It = the current dish that I have which was installed 7 years ago by sky.


The product link you posted showed 4 cable from dish to SAT->IP box (which also has 4 inputs.

My confusion is around you saying 1 cable can feed 4 tuners, vs the pic on the link.
Are you saying that with an upgraded LNB, then only 1 cable would be required?
Apologies if thats a basic question. I wouldn't be that familiar with what does on at the dish.

I'll do some more googling on this too.

Yes that is correct.
Seek out info on Unicable LNB on line.
That Digibit can be set in software to use one cable to feed all four tuners.

Unicable LNBs are capable of feeding up to 32 tuners.
8; 24; & 32 tuner models are available last I checked.
https://www.satworld.ie/inverto-unicable-ii-programmable-lnb-with-32ub-en.html
If those tuners are in more than one device then a simple splitter can be applied to the single cable to provide a feed to other boxes.
The tuners in all boxes must be capable of using a Unicable LNB feed.

The Zgemma H.2S device I referred to earlier is also capable of using a Unicable LNB. I expect a lot of devices have tuners capable of this, but do not assume it is so.

You can also get LNBs which combine standard outputs with Unicable output
https://www.dipol.ie/tv-sat/lnbs/unicable/unicable-quad-twin-lnb-inverto-black-unicable.html

Here is a quick summary of what I know regarding LNBs that may help.
Be aware it may not be 100% accurate but should give a basic understanding.

Satellite signals are generally broken up into 4
1) Horizontal High
2) Horizontal low
3) Vertical High
4) Vertical Low

Historically there were two types of LNB setups
1) Quad LNB (Also twin and Octo available for different number of feeds)
These would have four feeds from the Satellite dish with each feed capable of delivering all four signals but not at the same time.
Depending on the channel selected, the receiver would tell the LNB which of the four signals it needs

2) Quattro LNB
This would also have four feeds from the Satellite dish, with each feed containing one of the four signals only.
These would normally feed a multiswitch, the output of which could feed as many receivers as needed (similar to a Quad LNB output).
Again the receiver would tell the multiswitch which signal it needed from the multiswitch.

The problem with both of the above was that the cabling could not be split (like you can do for terrestrial/cable signals). You had to run a direct feed to the receiver from the dish(for Quad) or from the switch (Quattro).

Unicable I and later Unicable II (aka JESS which is backwardly compatible) were created to address this issue.
With this technology, multiple signals are frequency shifted to allow them all run down the same cable.
The receiver is then configured to pick one of these frequencies (user bands) and can communicate directly with the dish to specify which signal it needs (similar to a Quad LNB).

Unicable can be delivered with a Unicable LNB or Quattro LNB on the dish feeding a Unicable multiswtich.
Unicable is also compatible with all satellite boxes and pretty much all modern TVs (check the specs to be sure).

In addition to the above, some satellite boxes have FBC tuners. These are basically virtual tuners (usually 8).
They work particularly well with Unicable as a single feed can provide a signal for all virtual tuners (i.e. you could watch and record up to 8 things at the same time).
You don't need an FBC tuner to use a Unicable signal. Physical tuners will work find but obviously handle less feeds.

If you have Sky HD, you will likely have a Quad LNB installed already. The same cabling will work with all satellite receivers without change.
Sky Q uses a proprietary technology (similar to Unicable) but will generally not work with most satellite receivers.
As mentioned above, some of the newer FreeSat receivers can handle it (check the specs).
If requested during Sky Q installation, I believe the installer will install a hybrid LNB which has outputs for Sky Q and also for legacy signals (i.e. like the Quad LNB). If you didn't request it, it is unlikely you have it so would need to change the LNB if switching to free-to-air.