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Freesat box, sky TV box & sky dish

Hi all,
I just bought a Recordable Freesat (foxsat) box for £60 . I was lucky cos they can be quite expensive.
I did have sky plus, but i stopped that . i wasnt paying £15 a month just to pause and record etc. So i have 2 coaxial cables going into that as it was recordable.
From what i understand i would need to put the 2 cables in the freesat when it comes for me to use it as a recorder. 
But i would like to use the sky box as well still just for the extra free music channels etc, clubland, kerrang and so on, that you dont get on freeview. or are these on the freesat as well? 
If not, am i looking at to get one extra bit of coaxial cable and a splitter and when i need to use box i will have to switch the other box off and vice versa?
 or will i actually need more cable coming from the sky dish?  I have done google search etc, its just all confusing. 
Thank you for reading. 

Comments

  • pphillips
    pphillips Posts: 1,631 Forumite
    Eighth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    edited 11 June 2020 am30 11:47AM
    Someone please correct me if I'm wrong but logically, an extra satellite box should require an extra cable to the dish. 
  • Mister_G
    Mister_G Posts: 1,941 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    edited 11 June 2020 pm30 1:14PM
    OP - You will need at least one new cable from the dish (LNB) to carry on using your Sky box.  If your LNB only supports two cables, then you will need to replace it with a quad one.

    However, it appears that both Kerrang and Clubland are available on your Foxsat box.  See here for their respective channel numbers.

    https://www.freesat.co.uk/whats/full-channel-list/

    Edit:  Just checked and it appears that Kerrang and Clubland are no longer on Freesat.
    It appears that Clubland is available through channel 271 on Freeview on a smart TV with internet connection.

  • Kinzey
    Kinzey Posts: 92 Forumite
    10 Posts First Anniversary
    Mister_G said:
    OP - You will need at least one new cable from the dish (LNB) to carry on using your Sky box.  If your LNB only supports two cables, then you will need to replace it with a quad one.

    However, it appears that both Kerrang and Clubland are available on your Foxsat box.  See here for their respective channel numbers.

    https://www.freesat.co.uk/whats/full-channel-list/

    Edit:  Just checked and it appears that Kerrang and Clubland are no longer on Freesat.
    It appears that Clubland is available through channel 271 on Freeview on a smart TV with internet connection.

    Thank you for your replies. oh wow and a few other channels on 271 thank you for that i didn't know. 
    I think i might get one of those android boxes one day anyway, they look quite handy. 
    So what is the splitter for if it doesn't split a connection as they do say sky splitter? 
    thanks again :)
  • Mister_G
    Mister_G Posts: 1,941 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    I'm not sure what "Sky Splitter" you are referring to.
    It is not possible to split the signal from the dish, as the receiver sends different voltages to the dish, depending on which band/channel you are tuned to.  There are more complex splitting systems as are used in blocks of flats etc, but these are not cheap.

    If you post a link to it perhaps we can advise further.
  • Kinzey
    Kinzey Posts: 92 Forumite
    10 Posts First Anniversary
    Mister_G said:
    I'm not sure what "Sky Splitter" you are referring to.
    It is not possible to split the signal from the dish, as the receiver sends different voltages to the dish, depending on which band/channel you are tuned to.  There are more complex splitting systems as are used in blocks of flats etc, but these are not cheap.

    If you post a link to it perhaps we can advise further.
    Hi Mister_G These are what they look like:
    https://www.amazon.co.uk/Satellites-Satellite-Splitter-Freesat-Freeview-2-WAY/dp/B077DR1CPY/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=sky+and+freesat+splitter&qid=1591889396&sr=8-3
  • Mister_G
    Mister_G Posts: 1,941 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    No, this will not work to feed two receivers for the reason I mentioned.  The LNB relies on receiving a voltage from the receiver.  Connecting two receivers to the same LNB using this device will not work as the LNB will not know which one to use.
  • almillar
    almillar Posts: 8,621 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    The above comments MIGHT be wrong (that it can't be done, they're right that you can't split). OP, if you want a real answer, you would need to tell us what model of Freesat box you bought. My Freesat box would allow you do do this. It had 2x inputs, just like Sky, but it also had 1 satellite OUTPUT - take a cable from there into one of the Sky box inputs, and you'd get what you want, passing the signal through. The limitation is that you can't use both at the same time. So if you're recording 2 things on the Freesat (or watching one, recording one), both feeds are in use, and either you'll get nothing on Sky, or be limited to certain channels.
    My box was a Humax Foxsat HDR.
  • Kinzey
    Kinzey Posts: 92 Forumite
    10 Posts First Anniversary
    almillar said:
    The above comments MIGHT be wrong (that it can't be done, they're right that you can't split). OP, if you want a real answer, you would need to tell us what model of Freesat box you bought. My Freesat box would allow you do do this. It had 2x inputs, just like Sky, but it also had 1 satellite OUTPUT - take a cable from there into one of the Sky box inputs, and you'd get what you want, passing the signal through. The limitation is that you can't use both at the same time. So if you're recording 2 things on the Freesat (or watching one, recording one), both feeds are in use, and either you'll get nothing on Sky, or be limited to certain channels.
    My box was a Humax Foxsat HDR.
    Almillar,
    Mine is coming today it will also be a Humax Foxsat HDR . Ooh i must check that when it comes. Do you know what cable i would need for the output?  yeah i wouldnt really need to use both at the same time. Thats why i thought the splitter would be used like that as well. but had to turn one off to give the other signal and vice versa.  
    thank you for you reply :)
  • almillar
    almillar Posts: 8,621 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    The cable between the two boxes will just be satellite coax cable, just like what comes from your dish. Hopefully you might have some spare from installation. You'll need to put an 'F-connector' at each end. A bit fiddly, and be very sure that the core and the shielding aren't connected.
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