Freesat Questions

[Michael]

Hello all,

 

I thought I'd post Freesat questions here as my question is to do with data cabling installation.

 

I'm exploring the possibility of having Freesat, but I have a few questions. The council recently sent a letter to my mother explaining that Freesat is to be installed and that one Freesat, one Freeview and one DAB port will be installed. She'll then just need to purchase a Freesat box to receive the 80 channels (200 at the end of the year).

 

What happens if you want Freesat in more than one room? I know that she'd need to buy a second Freesat box, but what about the cabling? Would it be split similar to a coaxial aerial, or would it require a seperate cable altogether from the dish?

 

Hauppauge do a satellite HD-TV compatible card. I am presuming that Sky satellite and BBC Freesat are based on the same technology, so this card should be compatible with both systems?

[Edu-IT]

To watch the same channel or a different channel?

[Michael]

To watch different channels.

[R.M.B]

Think of FreeSat as being Sky without having to pay monthly - same technology, same requirements (just a different selection of channels).

Sky+ needs two cables back to a Dual-LNB so that it can receive two channels at once, so would a FreeSat PVR ( or two Sky / FreeSat boxes)

 

If (like me) you want two PVRs you need a Quad-LNB and four cables (two for each box)

[Michael]

So if each television has its own Freesat box and the viewers want to watch different channels then one cable per box is required?

 

Is there a limit as to how many cables a single dish can handle?

[cooper]

you would need to replace the single lnb for a quad then run a new cable to the second room.

 

If you wanted to watch the same channel in each room the box should have a rf out from this run of a booster around your house.

 

Cooper

 

Oh and make sure you put a ethernet port next to each box as this will be used for on demand.

[Michael]

A quick google and I found this:

 

LNB (Low Noise Blocker)

The LNB is the component located at the end of the arm projecting from the satellite dish. It receives the signals sent by the satellite ("Ku-band") and converts them to a lower frequency (3.7-4.2GHz) that can be accepted by a compatible satellite receiver. LNBs send this converted signal to the satellite receiver via RG-6 coaxial cable. Satellite TV providers have multiple satellites in various orbital positions, and a separate LNB is needed to access each satellite position.

 

So basically replacing a single LNB for a quad then allows upto four seperate boxes, unless you're using Sky Plus which requires two per receiver. Is that correct? And each receiver requires its own seperate cable, similar to Ethernet really. One cable per computer.

 

What happens if you live in a very large house and require more than 4? Which is possible!

 

Edit: I have offered my thanks, but it doesn't appear to be working. Sorry guys!

[Polski]

If I remember from the very early days of the technology, you need two LNB's if you want to watch two channels that have different polarization.

 

That is one is vertically polarized and the other horizontally polarized.

 

But looking at.. All About Satellite it now appears there are four types.

 

So four LNB's would be require to cover all the bases.

 

If Sky+ uses two, I would assume it's because it just uses vertical and horizontal. See also...

 

I have sky via a communial dish.I want sky+ but need extra cable from dish.Can u loop a cable to the 2nd input

 

I hope this helps.

[cooper]

A quick google and I found this:

 

 

 

So basically replacing a single LNB for a quad then allows upto four seperate boxes, unless you're using Sky Plus which requires two per receiver. Is that correct? And each receiver requires its own seperate cable, similar to Ethernet really. One cable per computer.

 

What happens if you live in a very large house and require more than 4? Which is possible!

 

Edit: I have offered my thanks, but it doesn't appear to be working. Sorry guys!

 

Thats correct mate

[BaccyNet]

If you want more than four boxes (or more than two Sky+) there is an 'octo' LNB. I currently have one on the end of my dish:D

[Michael]

Thanks BaccyNet! A quick search on ebay and there are loads. 8 should be enough!