Can I use spare cable from sky+ dish for Freeview setup.

jimmy_f

Hi,
We have a sky+ dish that is not being used for sky anymore. We have a Freesat box that only has one connection and therefore only one of the two sky cables is being used on it and it works perfectly for that. As a result there is a spare sky cable( that runs alongside the other one not being used. That spare one is hanging loose behind TV etc at the other end.
I want to setup a Freeview aerial away from the sky dish and my question is can I disconnect the unused cable from the LNB on dish and connect the Freeview aerial to it ( with an extension )and then connect that spare one to TV as it is literally there. Will two cables running alongside each other for a length outside interfere signal wise with each other?
Hope that makes sense.
Thanks 

Neil_Jones

Freeview (as in freeview.co.uk) does not come through your satellite dish, it comes through your aerial.

While you may be able to use two satellite receivers in this fashion its not recommended as they'll just fight with each other - because of what is called polarization which is basically a way of doubling up the available bandwidth for satellite channels.  . Basically if both receives wanted channels that were both horizontally polarized, you're fine.  If one channel you want to watch was horizontally and another channel was vertically polarized on the other box, the latter request would knock out the first one.

oldernonethewiser

The OP appears to want to attach the cable to an aerial then connect directly to the TV which would allow them to access Freeview.  No seconday satellite connection involved.

Some background reading for the OP

https://blinksandbuttons.net/is-satellite-cable-the-same-as-coaxial/

Ayr_Rage

Yes, in theory the plan will work, the only issue I can see is that the type of plug that goes into your TV set is not designed for satellite cable which is thinner than normal TV coax.

Edit : You'll also have to have the correct antenna and work out if you can easily point that antenna at your local transmitter, which could be a problem depending on where the dish is fitted and available cable length.

Rodders53

No FreeVIEW needs a UHF TV aerial.

A TV with  FreeSAT tuner built in {screw socket} or a second FreeSAT box connected to the other TV via an extension coax cable would work with that Sky+ spare LNB output.

There would be no issue with it, no 'fighting' as described by someone earlier.

Alternatively a streaming TV device might suffice for some channels, at least... BBC iPlayer etc.,.

Ayr_Rage

Rodders53 said:

No FreeVIEW needs a UHF TV aerial.

A TV with  FreeSAT tuner built in {screw socket} or a second FreeSAT box connected to the other TV via an extension coax cable would work with that Sky+ spare LNB output.

There would be no issue with it, no 'fighting' as described by someone earlier.

Alternatively a streaming TV device might suffice for some channels, at least... BBC iPlayer etc.,.

A few people seem to be getting confused here.

The OP just wants to use the redundant second cable of the Sky feed and attach a UHF antenna to one end and the other to their TV for council telly, not Freesat.

35har1old

Rodders53 said:

No FreeVIEW needs a UHF TV aerial.

A TV with  FreeSAT tuner built in {screw socket} or a second FreeSAT box connected to the other TV via an extension coax cable would work with that Sky+ spare LNB output.

There would be no issue with it, no 'fighting' as described by someone earlier.

Alternatively a streaming TV device might suffice for some channels, at least... BBC iPlayer etc.,.

OP did say he wanted to setup a free view aerial but use the spare cable on the sky dish to connect to aerial and tv

outtatune

I think the OP is saying they don't currently have any kind of freeview ariel at all, and no rf connection to where their TV is, so rather than drilling an additional run for a new rf ariel they want to install the ariel, and then use the second freesat cable to passively pass the rf signal into their lounge.

I think that's what they're saying, anyhow.

And if that is the question, then the answer is: not a clue.

spile

Yes you can use sat cable to carry rf/tv as both are 75 ohm.