HD freesat - no aeriel. Can I connect to a sky dish?
Discussion
stargazer30 said:
You'll need 2x feeds from the dish to get HD channels. A single feed is SD only. The newer sky dishes have at least 4 feeds on the dish though.
Wrong!Only one connection to dish for HD.
johnfm said:
So, am I going to need a new sky dish or new LNB if I upgrade to Sky HD?
Two feeds to Sky+ box, SkyHD box or most Freesat recorders (I don't think you can get SkyHD without a recorder hence two feeds).Edited by FlossyThePig on Monday 10th October 19:17
stargazer30 said:
You'll need 2x feeds from the dish to get HD channels. A single feed is SD only. The newer sky dishes have at least 4 feeds on the dish though.
What a load of rubbish!1 feed per SD or HD channel
2 feeds to allow you to record a second channel
When you've seen 4 feeds, that's for multi-room with 1 or 2 feeds going to another Sky box
Just to clarify a few points here as you have had a few conflicting posts.
1) Yes, You can connect Freesat boxes to Sky Dishes - Both services are broadcast from the same satellite.
- If you are retiring the Sky+ box and just going with freesat you only need to move the Sat feed cables from the back of the Sky+ box to the back of the Sky box.
- If you are keeping Sky+ you will need to get an Additional feed run from the Dish to wherever the Freesat TV is going. An local Aerial rigger can do it for you doesn't have to be Sky!.
2) Don't get 2 extra feeds ran as advised above without checking your new TV actually needs two - It'll be a waste of money and a waste of cable. The amount of feeds ran != Image quality being displayed - The second feed on a Sky+/Sky+HD box just enables you to record two channels at once - If your TV doesn't do multi-channel recording it won't have a dual tuner. You can get a SkyHD box without the Sky+ feature which only has one tuner, Ergo HD down one cable!. http://www.sky.com/shop/boxes/sky-multiroom/skyhd-... - No idea what these boxes are like though - I stopped all my Satellite work before these came out.
3) You won't need an LNB upgrade for HD.
4) Ignoring all the above though, It sounds like you just want to take a look at the Freesat HD channels before deciding whether to get Sky HD or not - Your not actually going to be using the Freesat function day-in day-out - So the simplest answer is feel free to take the feed from the Sky+ box and plug it into the TV - It'll function perfectly fine. Remember to put it back in the Sky+ box before you want to record something, And be careful you don't bend over or Snap the Copper core.
1) Yes, You can connect Freesat boxes to Sky Dishes - Both services are broadcast from the same satellite.
- If you are retiring the Sky+ box and just going with freesat you only need to move the Sat feed cables from the back of the Sky+ box to the back of the Sky box.
- If you are keeping Sky+ you will need to get an Additional feed run from the Dish to wherever the Freesat TV is going. An local Aerial rigger can do it for you doesn't have to be Sky!.
2) Don't get 2 extra feeds ran as advised above without checking your new TV actually needs two - It'll be a waste of money and a waste of cable. The amount of feeds ran != Image quality being displayed - The second feed on a Sky+/Sky+HD box just enables you to record two channels at once - If your TV doesn't do multi-channel recording it won't have a dual tuner. You can get a SkyHD box without the Sky+ feature which only has one tuner, Ergo HD down one cable!. http://www.sky.com/shop/boxes/sky-multiroom/skyhd-... - No idea what these boxes are like though - I stopped all my Satellite work before these came out.
3) You won't need an LNB upgrade for HD.
4) Ignoring all the above though, It sounds like you just want to take a look at the Freesat HD channels before deciding whether to get Sky HD or not - Your not actually going to be using the Freesat function day-in day-out - So the simplest answer is feel free to take the feed from the Sky+ box and plug it into the TV - It'll function perfectly fine. Remember to put it back in the Sky+ box before you want to record something, And be careful you don't bend over or Snap the Copper core.
+1 what Mr AJ said.
I was in a similar situation, I had Sky and I wanted to stop my subscription. I wanted to move over to Freesat HD so I bought a Humax FOXSAT HDR and connected both feeds directly to the back. Without any changes to the existing setup the new box just tuned into all the Freesat channels, including the HD channels.
I suspect it's unlikely that any TV with Freesat will have inputs for two feeds as they're only really required to allow recording of another channel whilst your watching another.
I was in a similar situation, I had Sky and I wanted to stop my subscription. I wanted to move over to Freesat HD so I bought a Humax FOXSAT HDR and connected both feeds directly to the back. Without any changes to the existing setup the new box just tuned into all the Freesat channels, including the HD channels.
I suspect it's unlikely that any TV with Freesat will have inputs for two feeds as they're only really required to allow recording of another channel whilst your watching another.
cjs said:
johnfm said:
cheers - but I think I made an error.
I think it has HD freeVIEW NOT freeSAT.
Then you need a decent aerial and you have wasted everyone's time who posted above.I think it has HD freeVIEW NOT freeSAT.
cjs said:
Then you need a decent aerial and you have wasted everyone's time who posted above.
A bit harsh, he just confused two similar terms.Generally, you need a decent aerial to get a decent enough signal for HD. You may need to upgrade your existing aerial to achieve this.
Of course, if you're paying for an aerial then you may wish to consider either Freesat or Freeview
Blimey chaps the wonder of PH, here's me looking in that mag, scratching my chin in Best Buy and then wander into a PH forum I never usually visit and get loads of questions answered on the first page of threads. big thumbup.
Anyway similar position to johnfm, revising my TV from a CRT Panasonic that jut about manages to have a scart.
Current setup is sky+ with multiroom, not considering ditching sky but have just cancelled multiroom. Want to leave the cabling to the other room.
Am getting a non sky engineer to shift the dish due to neighbouring trees that cause problems in high winds, plus put some extra points in, and do it properly with wall socket plates, not just drill holes and leave cables dangling like the sky lot do.
So was intending also to get a aeriel but reading the thread realise I could get a Freesat HD TV instead saving the need for an aeriel. So the question is, will it be possible for the engineer to run a 4th cable from the LNB to a socket so that I can connect that to the TV?
Have noted the comment about temporarily shifting from the back of the sky+ but don't like messing about with connections too much as sooner or later somebody bends or cross threads something. Yes I'm being a nancy.
Anyway similar position to johnfm, revising my TV from a CRT Panasonic that jut about manages to have a scart.
Current setup is sky+ with multiroom, not considering ditching sky but have just cancelled multiroom. Want to leave the cabling to the other room.
Am getting a non sky engineer to shift the dish due to neighbouring trees that cause problems in high winds, plus put some extra points in, and do it properly with wall socket plates, not just drill holes and leave cables dangling like the sky lot do.
So was intending also to get a aeriel but reading the thread realise I could get a Freesat HD TV instead saving the need for an aeriel. So the question is, will it be possible for the engineer to run a 4th cable from the LNB to a socket so that I can connect that to the TV?
Have noted the comment about temporarily shifting from the back of the sky+ but don't like messing about with connections too much as sooner or later somebody bends or cross threads something. Yes I'm being a nancy.
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