Getting Sky in another room using an existing box in current location.

Jenniferlee79

I've got a Sky + box in my front room and an old Sky box in my kitchen. Although I know that opting for Sky multi room is a possibility if I can avoid paying an extra £10 a month then I'd like to. So I was wondering if there's a way of using my current Sky+ box in my front room and running a cable through to the kitchen? Is this possible? If it is will it affect the picture in the front room?

theyiddo

You should be fine. We used to do this years ago. Another option could be a wireless video sender....so you won't need to drill any holes:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=wireless%20av%20sender&sprefix=wireless+av+%2Caps&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Awireless%20av%20sender

StuC75

Yes that's what the extra aerial output is, and wireless senders always a possibility. I had one a few years ago but it suffered interference from wifi / microwave and cordless phone - so not sure if that's improved since...

Point to consider is What size tv are you hoping to use in the other room and are you accustomed to a HD picture? the reason being that the image will only be a Standard def output so can look a little grainy compared to what would have over HDMI... So you 'could' look for a some kind of HDMI splitter and run a longer cable through - though this would work out a bit more expensive but would give the better quality..

[Deleted User]

Jenniferlee79 wrote: »

Although I know that opting for Sky multi room is a possibility if I can avoid paying an extra £10 a month then I'd like to.

Is your second box in the kitchen already connected to the dish? If that is the case, have you considered watching just the free-to-air channels there? This won't involve any subscription and you'll be able to view independently of the box in your living room. In addition, the picture quality will not be compromised.

almillar

Go for a SCART one instead of using RF - RF is a terrible way to do it these days. Also - interference - the 2.4GHz senders would be susceptible to interfernce as StuC says - to avoid this, have a look for the newer 5.8GHz senders.

Jenniferlee79

Thanks for your replies. The box in the kitchen is already hooked up to sky so I have watched the free channels in there before. However I'd like to be able to watch things I've got recored on the main Sky box in the kitchen. I don't really want a wireless sender as I've read about the interferance. The TV I'll be using is 19" and is only a cheap one so not the best picture quality anyway. Plus I don't bother with HD channels, though my box is connected in the front room by a HDMI cable. I'll have a look for long scart cables, though they may not do them long enough.

superbigal36

You will get a 20m cable no problem.
If scart cable is too bulky then you can go for something like.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/20M-LONG-FLAT-SCART-LEAD-TO-3-RCA-PHONO-VIDEO-CABLE-KIT-/230338958060?pt=UK_Computing_Sound_Vision_Video_Cables_Adapters&hash=item35a14592ec

Moneymaker

You won't be able to control the Sky Digibox via a Scart cable. You'll still have to install a coaxial cable and a "magic eye". However, thin coaxial cable such as WF65-1 will be adequate.

almillar

Jennifer - read my post again about the 5.8GHz senders - these are meant to avoid the interference - microwaves, WiFi and home DECT phones are all in and around the 2.4GHz wavelength, which is where the older senders are, but these new 5.8GHz ones area meant to avoid this. What distance, and though how many walls or metal objects, are we talking about?
As above, you can't control the box through SCART, and at 20M I guess the picture might get worse.

Moneymaker

I have personally run 20m of cheap, thin, triple "phono" lead, using Scart-Phono adapter plugs and the picture (on a small screen) was fine. By 30m it was looking slightly "grainy". I used 3 x 10m leads for my tests.

If I needed to do it now, I would use two twin WF65 "shotgun" leads with phono plugs fitted. Three of these would carry the composite video and the fourth would be used for the "magic eye". This arrangement would probably be good to 40 metres.