Sky re-installation - should I insist on the cabling to be changed?

AMO

Hi all,

When I last re-installed Sky at my house, the engineer insisted that the cabling did not need to be changed and that it was guaranteed for 50 years or something.

However, my parent's Sky installation is about as old as it gets (much older than mine) at least 10-15 years I think.

Anyway, I may be ording Freesat From Sky with the HD box. I will insist on the LNB, satellite dish and of course box being changed, but if the engineer insists on the cabling being okay, should I stand my ground and tell him to change it, or is it not that big a deal?

Thanks,

AMO

Kurtis_Blue

You haven't said how old any of yours is, but there is no need to change the dish and lnb they seem to last for eternity, maybe change the cabling if its looking a little rough, 50 years is nonsense.

But... if its going to get done for free then why not...

rip it all out before they arrival or put a small pin through the cable somewhere so the outer shielding contacts the inner core.

AMO

Kurtis_Blue wrote: »

You haven't said how old any of yours is, but there is no need to change the dish and lnb they seem to last for eternity, maybe change the cabling if its looking a little rough, 50 years is nonsense.

But... if its going to get done for free then why not...

rip it all out before they arrival or put a small pin through the cable somewhere so the outer shielding contacts the inner core.

I think the LNB can go rusty or cause reception to disappear on some of the channels when it goes faulty. Certainly, one reason why we renewed our box with a new LNB also.

spike7451

I'd say it depends on the route of the cable,type of cable & length of the run.Certainly if it goes over the roofline then yes,defiantly get it replaced.When I did my HD course with Sky,the instructor told us to replace the cable on all HD jobs,especially if the cable has been cut & spliced.

AMO

Thanks for that. It's going to be a HD job, so I want it changed. The cabling is at least 15 years old. I was going to ask whether the type of cabling would have improved over that kind of time span. I would have assumed so.

spike7451

AMO wrote: »

Thanks for that. It's going to be a HD job, so I want it changed. The cabling is at least 15 years old. I was going to ask whether the type of cabling would have improved over that kind of time span. I would have assumed so.

It's sort of stayed stagnent.Sky used to use CT-100 but now use WB-100(? can't remember the name)
You still get cowboy's who use cheap as chips rubbish stuff & others who use the correct stuff.

Moneymaker

Originally RG6 (using aluminium foil) was used. This proved to be very unreliable outdoors in British weather so Sky switched to copper foil cable. Nowadays they use WF100 or equivalent.
Typical life of unprotected cable outdoors is 5 years before signal loss becomes measurable.
See http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=904492

Niv

What sort of box do you currently have? If its not a Sky+ box they will renew the cabling anyway as the sky HD boxes are actually Sky + HD so they run a duel cable into the house through the origional cable hole.

When I recently had my box changed the installer volenteered to change the dish as he said it looked like an old one and the LMB bracket had changed so as he wanted to instal a new LMB I needed a new dish.

Be nice to the installer and they will be nice back (thats how I have found it anyway).

Niv

davemurgatroyd

Niv wrote: »

What sort of box do you currently have? If its not a Sky+ box they will renew the cabling anyway as the sky HD boxes are actually Sky + HD so they run a duel cable into the house through the origional cable hole.

When I recently had my box changed the installer volenteered to change the dish as he said it looked like an old one and the LMB bracket had changed so as he wanted to instal a new LMB I needed a new dish.

Be nice to the installer and they will be nice back (thats how I have found it anyway).

Niv

The OP from his other thread appears to be going for FreesatFromSky which now is a non PVR HD box running from a single cable so will probably only have a single cable and single output lnb fitted.