DIY instalation of satalite receiver - advice please

m1ntie

Hi

I am a SKY customer and have SKY HD plus a multiroom subscription, so one spare terminal on the satalite dish. I want to conect another box to use in another bedroom and just receive the free channels. Is this an easy DIY job?

I do not have a box at the present but was thinking of buying a second hand one of a company on ebay. presumably I would also need to buy a viewing card from somewhere. Where would I get one and how much would it cost.

Any advice greatly appreciated.

Regards

Heinz

You don't need a card of any sort to get FTA channels - just a cable from the spare port on the LNB.

A £25 FSFS card would just 'regionalise' 101 and 103, give you Sky 3, VIVA, Fiver and Five USA and put Channel 5 onto the EPG (you could add Channel 5 to your Other Channels otherwise).

XtraPound

Heinz wrote: »

You don't need a card of any sort to get FTA channels - just a cable from the spare port on the LNB.

A £25 FSFS card would just 'regionalise' 101 and 103, give you Sky 3, VIVA, Fiver and Five USA and put Channel 5 onto the EG.

A FSFS Card is only required for a Sky Box, they are not required for Freesat boxes.

Heinz

XtraPound wrote: »

A FSFS Card is only required for a Sky Box, they are not required for Freesat boxes.

The OP didn't mention which type of box he was going to buy but, as he has 2 Sky boxes already, it's reasonable to assume a Sky box off ebay is what he has in mind.

desperado2

If your dish has a quad LNB and you have the spare output, all you need is a length of cable and 2 female push on connectors. and a few tools!

I just instaalled a dish from scratch which was simple enough.

On the LNB (the bit that points at the dish!) you will find the connector - some dishes have a rubber sleeve which protects the connectors from rain etc, some have a pull down plastic box cover, and some just use bonding tape which sets. depending on the installer, of course you may just have bare connectors..

If you have the pull down plastic box cover, just ease it back up to expose the wires and connectors it should slide easily. If you have tape or a rubber sleeve be careful, as you cannot put too much pressure on the dish in case you knock it out of alignment.

Strip one end of your cable leaving just the inner core wire exposed. Feed this end in from the back of the dish under the arm leading to the lnb. - a few cable ties might be needed to keep it tidy, but you may find theres room in the existing ones.

When you have the bare end by the lnb, push the connector on the wire (NOT BEFORE!!) and then ease it on the 4th connector and tighten up the nut to hold it in place. I would advise packing it with grease or a good spray of WD40 in case you ever need to remove a connector. Make sure whatever you use is safe with plastic - or rubber if you have a rubber sleeve protector.

Now all you have to do is pin your cable to the wall, drill a hole in to the house and feed the other end inside - you can buy a silicone grommet to make a waterproof fit, or just use some exterior sealant squeezed in the hole.

Inside you can either fit a surface box and a satellite connector or drill out a box and have a flush panel - alternatively, you can just connect your box to the end of the cable - strip the end as before, push on the connector and bobs your uncle.

You can use either another sky box, or a freesat box - Freesat boxes start about £50 new (SD only) up to £80 -£100 for a full HD one. So far I have not seen any going cheap on ebay.. they tend to sell for close to retail prices.. so you might be better off buying one from argos or comet and getting a warranty for a few £ more.

NB: If you do knock your dish out of alignment, you can get an inline signal detector with a gauge and a buzzer which you connect at the dish end, makes it easier than running up and down ladders to see if the telly is ok! they cost £10 -£15 on ebay and include the patch lead.

m1ntie

Thanks for all the replies.

Kurtis_Blue

desperado2 wrote: »

I just instaalled a dish from scratch which was simple enough.


Strip one end of your cable leaving just the inner core wire exposed. Feed this end in from the back of the dish under the arm leading to the lnb. - a few cable ties might be needed to keep it tidy, but you may find theres room in the existing ones.

When you have the bare end by the lnb, push the connector on the wire (NOT BEFORE!!)

This is not the correct way of fitting F connectors, you need the sheilding in contact as well.

http://www.aerialsandtv.com/wiringup.html#FconnectorWiringUp