Reuse Sky Q dish with my smart LG tv?

dhokes

I used to be a Sky Q customer and I’ve still got my Sky Q dish and the two cables coming into my house. I was wondering if I would still be able to use them to watch Freesat channels if I were to connect them directly to my LG smart tv (OLED55C8PLA)?

I’ve tried the programme tuning on the TV and it’s picked up channels however when I try to watch a channel, it’s just a black screen so is there anything else I’d need to do?

Neil_Jones

Need to try an FTA SD channel first as TVs won't show encrypted channels (such as Sky Sports/Cinema)  and may not be able to use HD either.

Look out for a PSB channel first, like the BBC, ITV or Channel 4, as these are FTA.  You may have quite a few variations as these are regionalised, but it'll prove the point.

dhokes

Neil_Jones said:

Need to try an FTA SD channel first as TVs won't show encrypted channels (such as Sky Sports/Cinema)  and may not be able to use HD either.

Look out for a PSB channel first, like the BBC, ITV or Channel 4, as these are FTA.  You may have quite a few variations as these are regionalised, but it'll prove the point.

Yeah, I’m trying BBC1 and BBC2

prowla

SkyQ has "broadband" LNBs, which allow recording &watching several programmes simultaneously.

Unfortunately only a few products support them, so it's possible that your TV is one that doesn't.

If that is the case then you can fit the older ones back or there are dual-mode ones to cover both options.

When I ditched Sky (because of their inflation+ price rises) I bought a current model FreeSat HD recording box and it just worked when I plugged it in.

TadleyBaggie

prowla said:

SkyQ has "broadband" LNBs, 

Wideband  

dhokes

Hmm, also if I were to purchase a Sky Q box off someone else, would that work to access the Freesat channels or are the boxes linked to accounts?

brewerdave

dhokes said:

Hmm, also if I were to purchase a Sky Q box off someone else, would that work to access the Freesat channels or are the boxes linked to accounts?

All Sky Q boxes remain the property of Sky and are supposed to be returned when the subscription ends. So any box you purchase will be "dodgy".
The old HD boxes worked for free to view channels without a card in - not sure what happens if there is no valid card in a Q box..

Scott_Chegg_

i'm in the same position as you OP as I have given notice to quit Sky. 
If you want to record TV (rather than stream) then one option you could look at is a freesat box.  Buy a Freesat Box to Get Free Satellite TV | Freesat
This is the route I will probably go down.

I don't know your TV model  so can't comment further, 

Peppa537

@dhokes The older Sky HD box won't work with the wideband lnb that Sky Q uses. The easiest thing to do is to change the lnb on your dish (a local independent tv engineer can do this) then you can watch the Freesat channels via your TV. I had a hybrid LNB on my dish because when we got Sky Q we already had freesat we were using on upstairs tvs. We switched the downstairs satellite cables from the wideband Q connectors on the lnb, to the others not being used (sorry, I can't remember what this is called) and now watch freesat channels on our Sony TV. Anything we used to record is available to stream on catch up apps so we haven't missed recording.