# Stupid question about digital satellite receivers



## madzone (Nov 25, 2011)

http://www.lidl.co.uk/cps/rde/xchg/lidl_uk/hs.xsl/index_26548.htm

How does that ^^ work? Do you need an aerial? Would it work somewhere with no analogue signal and no aerial?

Ok - that links to a satellite receiver for me


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## Ground Elder (Nov 25, 2011)

Here you go - it pointed to a page wher you had to put your postcode in





> *Digital Satellite Receiver* Increase your television viewing choice with a wide range of digital freeto- air satellite channels Features include: - HDMI connection - 5000 programme memory - 1800 pages of teletext memory - Electronic Programme Guide with multifunction timer - Child safety function - Sleep timer - Remote control with batteriesInput: SAT-ZF, 1 x VCR-SCART Output: 1 x HDMI with HDCP, 2 x SCART, S/PDIF (optical/coaxial), Audio (R/L), Video, S-Video


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## madzone (Nov 25, 2011)

Thank you


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## WouldBe (Nov 26, 2011)

You need a satellite dish for it to work.


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## spawnofsatan (Nov 26, 2011)

If you had sky, just use the old dish.


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## gentlegreen (Nov 26, 2011)

You'll probably need to learn German to get the full benefit.


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## claphamboy (Nov 26, 2011)

gentlegreen said:


> You'll probably need to learn German to get the full benefit.



You can't get the German porn channels on a standard UK digital satellite receiver without a lot of buggering about.


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## claphamboy (Nov 26, 2011)

madzone said:


> http://www.lidl.co.uk/cps/rde/xchg/lidl_uk/hs.xsl/index_26548.htm
> 
> How does that ^^ work? Do you need an aerial? Would it work somewhere with no analogue signal and no aerial?
> 
> Ok - that links to a satellite receiver for me



As others have said you need a satellite dish for it to work, it'll not work with an aerial, if you have a Sky dish already in theory it's just 'plug & play', or IRL 'plug & pray', unless you want it for a second room, in which case the LNB (the thing at the end of the sticky out arm thing) on the Sky dish is likely to need upgrading from a single feed to multi-feeds, as each satellite receiver, be it a Sky or Freesat or something else box, needs to have two-way communication with the LNB.

The LNB is actually the receiving end of a dish set-up, the dish itself just gathers enough signal from out in space and reflects it back at the LNB for it to work.

I've spent the last few hours around my mother's place trying to get her upgraded for digital switch-over under the BBC scheme for the over 75s, I had booked the basic £40 job for a new aerial & Freeview box for her bedroom (she has freesat from Sky in the living room), but he refused to go up on the roof on health & safely grounds due to a tree being in the way of where he would need to put his ladder. 

Anyway, he offered a free upgrade to Freesat instead, which would have cost her £68 otherwise, so she now has a new dish (the old one was a bit rusty), a 4-way feed LNB and a Freesat box installed in her bedroom all for £40, bargain. 

And I know more than I ever wanted to know about bloody satellite dishes & receivers.


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## claphamboy (Nov 26, 2011)

Of course, I am now going to have to sort out a Freesat box for her living room, as channel numbers are different (apart from 101-105) on the Freesat box compared to the [freesat from] Sky box, which will totally confuse mother. 

Also she needs a PVR to replace her video recorder, so she can watch one channel whilst recording a second channel, and that will need a second cable running from the living room to the LNB, so the Freesat PVR box can communicate it's need for two different channels from the LNB at the same time. 

Bloody nightmare all round, still at least the guy was good enough to install a 4-way feed LNB, whereas he could have got away with a 2-way feed one, so at least it'll handle the needs of the PVR, i.e. a 3rd feed over and above the 2 feeds required for two standard receivers only.


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## madzone (Nov 26, 2011)

spawnofsatan said:


> If you had sky, just use the old dish.


I still have Sky. I have multiroom up in my bedroom and my youngest takes a signal off that box. However, as my bedtimes get earlier and earlier we are battling over who gets to choose the channel


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## claphamboy (Nov 26, 2011)

It's all gone tits-up, the remote control range is so limited, it can't be operated from my mother's bed, and this scheme, or should I say scam, is designed to help the aged & disabled! 

See my post on the original [BBC] Digital TV Switchover Help Scheme thread, what a bunch of useless fuckwits.


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## claphamboy (Nov 26, 2011)

madzone said:


> I still have Sky. I have multiroom up in my bedroom and my youngest takes a signal off that box. However, as my bedtimes get earlier and earlier we are battling over who gets to choose the channel



If you want different channels on different TVs, you not only need separate satellite receivers, but separate cables to the dish/LBN and a LBN that can feed those separate cables.


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## madzone (Nov 26, 2011)

claphamboy said:


> If you want different channels on different TVs, you not only need separate satellite receivers, but separate cables to the dish/LBN and a LBN that can feed those separate cables.


That's why I'm thinking of buying that one from Lidls. The rest of your post may as well be in Greek


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## claphamboy (Nov 26, 2011)

madzone said:


> That's why I'm thinking of buying that one from Lidls. The rest of your post may as well be in Greek



I'll try again, I admit it is confusing.

The LNB is the thing at the end of the arm that sticks out from the satellite dish, the LNB is actually the 'receiving aerial', it's what the cable from the Sky box is attached too, the dish just collects enough signal from the satellite & reflects it at the LNB, for the LNB to work.

A standard Sky install will normally only have a single feed from the LNB, i.e. only one cable plugs into it, only one socket for a cable to be attached to it, and therefore only one receiver box can be plugged into the LNB.

Unlike a normal TV aerial, you can't just split the cable and have two cables running to two different receivers.

This is because satellite receivers have to have two-way communication with the LNB (aka satellite receiving aerial thingly), so each satellite receiver needs it own cable plugged into the LNB.

Two satellite receivers requires two cables plugged directly into the LNB, which will normally only have one socket, so the LNB has to be replaced with one that has the ability to have more than one cable plugged into it.

Does that make anymore sense or is it as clear as mud?


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## madzone (Nov 26, 2011)

I think my satellite dish has more than one feed because I have two boxes in the house. I'll get mr madz to have a look tomorrow.


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## claphamboy (Nov 26, 2011)

madzone said:


> I think my satellite dish has more than one feed because I have two boxes in the house. I'll get mr madz to have a look tomorrow.



Does that mean you have one box in the living room & one in your bedroom?

If, so, you are likely to have a dual-feed LNB, unless you have Sky+ and/or it's a fairly recent install.

If you are now looking to add a third receiver in another bedroom, you'll need a 4-feed LNB, they don't do a 3-way one as far as I know.

Basically every satellite receiver needs its own cable connection to the LNB, or if it's a box with a PVR (personal video recorder or in Sky world a Sky+ box) and via that box you want to be able to watch one channel whilst recording another, that box would need two cables to the LNB.

It's basically one cable per box and per channel you want to watch or record at the same time.

EG:

A PVR (Sky+ box or Freesat PVR) in the living room, allowing one channel to watch whilst recording another, requires two cables/connections from that box to the LNB, bedroom 1 receiver would need a another connection, and bedrom 2 another - 4 in total.

Without a PVR, you would need 3 cable connections, one each for the receivers in the living room & bedrooms 1 & 2.

If bedroom 2 is currently just taking a feed from the box in bedroom 1 and you want a separate receiver in bedroom 2, you'll need to run a new cable from that room directly to the dish & LNB, it'll not work on a shared cable - as every receiver box has to have two-way communication with the LNB.

Therefore, if you a have a dual-feed LNB, and you want to add a 3rd receiver, the chances are the LNB will need upgrading from a dual-feed to a 4-feed one.

Simples.


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## twentythreedom (Nov 26, 2011)

Sky dishes have 4 outputs as standard I think...? Well, that's what the man from Sky said when he installed mine. I'm sure Sky+ only requires one output off the dish, not two.

There must be Sky dishes on Freecycle, or ask on the Urban recycling thread.

The analogue signal at mine is shite - got 3 and a half channels in the bedroom  Need to get a freesat box.....


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## claphamboy (Nov 26, 2011)

twentythreedom said:


> Sky dishes have 4 outputs as standard I think...?



Only if it's a fairly recent installation, anything installed over a couple of years ago will only have a single or dual-feed at the most, unless you have both a Sky+ AND multi-room install, I know this as fact, as I've wasted 3 hours of my life today watching some muppet contractor from the BBC fucking things up at my mother's house.



> I'm sure Sky+ only requires one output off the dish, not two



That's not what I was told earlier, although TBH it now turns out he was more of a muppet than he appeared to be at the time, so you could be right, but you certainly need a separate LNB connection per box - that's something I knew before today.



> The analogue signal at mine is shite - got 3 and a half channels in the bedroom  Need to get a freesat box.....



Confused by this, analogue is about to be totally switched-off, do you mean the Freeview [aka digital] signal is shit at yours?


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## Bungle73 (Nov 26, 2011)

Sky+ requires two cables from the LNB, because it has two tuners.


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## claphamboy (Nov 26, 2011)

twentythreedom said:


> I'm sure Sky+ only requires one output off the dish, not two.



It seems the muppet I had to deal with earlier is correct, and TBH it makes sense, otherwise why would Sky+ installs have dual-feeds, or more recently 4-way feeds, LNBs as standard?



> *Quad-output" or "OCTO" LNB*
> This can feed up to four separate single-input receivers (eight with an OCTO) or two twin-input receivers or a combination. Each receiver has independent control of polarisation and band via 13/17 volt switching and 22 kHz on/off respectively.
> 
> This LNB is also used with the Sky+ or Freesat+ Digiboxes that have two LNB inputs and internal Hard Drives for recording a programme while you watch another. Two LNB outputs go to this "Plus" Digibox and the other two LNB outputs can go either to two standard Sky/Freesat Digiboxes or to one other "Plus" Digibox.
> ...


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## twentythreedom (Nov 27, 2011)

does that mean I was right?


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## Bungle73 (Nov 27, 2011)

twentythreedom said:


> does that mean I was right?


About what?


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## claphamboy (Nov 27, 2011)

twentythreedom said:


> does that mean I was right?



Nope, you were wrong - a Sky+ or Freesat+ box both require two connections to the LNB/dish, because all '+' boxes include two receivers (one to watch a channel, one so you can record a different channel) and each & every satellite receiver (unlike a Freeview recorder) requires it's own direct connection to the LNB/dish as each receiver needs two-way communication with the LNB/dish.

Because they installed Freesat instead of Freeview in my mother's bedroom, I'll now have to get a Freesat+ box for her living room & dump the freesat from Sky box and I'll have to run a second cable out of the living room wall, right along the back of the property & out of the conservatory wall, right along the side and around to the front where the bloody dish is. 

This was all supposed to have been so simple, but thanks to the 'helpful' BBC scheme for pensioners & the disabled, my mother has been left totally confused. 

And I've been left with extra work & further expense, not impressed at all. 

I think we should go back to good old 405-line VHF B&W telly, nice and simple.


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