Sky through a freesat dish?

Bexm

We are moving house soon and are currently half way through our sky contract. (We didn't think we'd sell so quickly)
We don't particularly want to keep sky but have to see out our contract.
Our new house currently has a freesat dish.. is there anyway of using this for our sky box to save us sticking up and paying for a new sky dish?

flashg67

AFAIK the dishes are the same and are interchangeable - plug your Sky box in and it should work fine.

wongataa

There is no such thing as a Freesat only dish or a Sky only dish. The satellites Sky and Freesat use are in the same location so the same dish will work with either service without realignment. Just plug the box in and go.

macman

However you will need a twin feed in order to use the PVR functions (Sky+). Your Freesat install may or may not have this, in which case you need the extra feed installing.

Bexm

Ah.. it currently just has 1 feed and it's actually wired directly into the back of a normal aerial socket...
I'm not sure how its connected to the back of the freesat box?
Can this be done?

almillar

The dishes are the same and they point at the same satellite. Good.
It should not be plugged into an aerial socket. If the Freeview on the TV is working, I'd suggest that that lead is to an aerial. It could be in the roofspace. Can you see where the Sky cable(s) come into the house from the dish? Can you even see how many cables are coming from the LNB (middle bit)? If it's the roofspace can you see them coming in there and see where they go? You may have a bit of wiring to do, but do it before everything gets moved in properly! Or you may be happy with a Freeview/Youview recorder if you've got a working aerial (only 1 feed needed for 2 recording or watch/record).

Moneymaker

Note that anything bolted to the property (including a dish) is classed as "fixtures & fittings". In English law it is a breach of contract for the previous owner to remove such items - but that doesn't stop them!

So, if anything is missing when you take possession, inform your solicitor and ask for it to be reinstalled (unless it was listed as an exception in your contract).

macman

It's possibly not an aerial socket, but a satellite connector, in which case you just need to use a short flylead to connect the socket to the Freesat box.The connectors are different to standard aerial co-ax connectors.

Bexm

Thanks for all the replies.
I shall go and have a look at the connections.
I know they have freesat as they don't get normal tv signal as their aerial is pointing in the wrong direction.
The house we are moving to is my parents so I can have a good investigation.
I currently have no idea how they have the dish connected to the box but shall check as according to my dad it's through the rf socket on the wall..:undecided