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Multi-room Freesat - how?
[Deleted User]
Posts: 2
Forum Member
Hi
Can someone help..!?
I have a normal SKY subscription and a very poor analogue signal (BBC1-ok, BBC2-terrible, ITV-ok. Thats it). Currently the various combined channels are all available on TVs in 3 other rooms in the house as a result of the SKY box being connected to a "digiamp" in the loft. This is normally very restricting because the main TV will be watched via SKY and so all that's left on the other 3 TVs is a choice of the very poor analogue signals.
So - an aerial guy came round after I asked him to try and improve the analogue reception and get us ready for the digital switchover in Oct 09 (according to the website). He reckoned the digital switchover would take a lot longer than that for our transmitter and convinced me that Freesat is the way to go. So a new LNB and extra cable later I bought a Humax Foxsat HD box from Comet thinking that I would be able to transmit Freesat to every room (via the digiamp) instead of the SKY signal.
Now I have the Humax box and there is no 9V output to connect to the digiamp. In fact the only outputs are two scart sockets, one to the TV and one to the DVD Recorder.
Does anyone know if it's possible to connect a Freesat box to a digiamp in this way? All help appreciated...!
Can someone help..!?
I have a normal SKY subscription and a very poor analogue signal (BBC1-ok, BBC2-terrible, ITV-ok. Thats it). Currently the various combined channels are all available on TVs in 3 other rooms in the house as a result of the SKY box being connected to a "digiamp" in the loft. This is normally very restricting because the main TV will be watched via SKY and so all that's left on the other 3 TVs is a choice of the very poor analogue signals.
So - an aerial guy came round after I asked him to try and improve the analogue reception and get us ready for the digital switchover in Oct 09 (according to the website). He reckoned the digital switchover would take a lot longer than that for our transmitter and convinced me that Freesat is the way to go. So a new LNB and extra cable later I bought a Humax Foxsat HD box from Comet thinking that I would be able to transmit Freesat to every room (via the digiamp) instead of the SKY signal.
Now I have the Humax box and there is no 9V output to connect to the digiamp. In fact the only outputs are two scart sockets, one to the TV and one to the DVD Recorder.
Does anyone know if it's possible to connect a Freesat box to a digiamp in this way? All help appreciated...!
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Comments
You have the quad LNB so that can feed 4 sat boxes in 4 rooms. If you need more replace the quad LNB with an Octo.
Buy second hand sky digiboxes from ebay for no more than £10 each plus postage. I wouldn't even bother with a viewing card for them as all the decent free channels except five are available without a card, and five will be FTA soon as well.
The aerial guy called the device in the loft a "digiamp". It is a distribution device that draws a 9V supply from the Sky box so I guess it is as you described.
Whilst I follow what you are saying, and in my naivety was hoping for a solution like this, I don't have any experience of modulators, RF or splitters. I do have a Pioneer DVD/HDD recorder (connected to the Sky box via Scart) and a Panasonic surround sound system (connected just to the TV via Scart) but I don't think I could use these to modulate the signal as their connections are fully utilised. Can you recommend what to look for in a modulator and how much I could be expected to pay? What kind of splitter are you referring to?
ProDaves solution is entirely possible but you know how it is when you get frustrated by something you thought was going to be easy but turns out to be a bit of a challenge..!
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/UNIVERSAL-VIDEO-TV-UHF-MODULATOR-SCART-TO-RF-CCTV-NEW_W0QQitemZ150269362562QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item150269362562&_trkparms=72%3A1090%7C39%3A1%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C240%3A1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14
To power the digibox you will need a power supply (mast head amplifier type) to replace the Sky digibox one. Alternatively you can connect the Humax box to the skybox vcr scart to vcr scart and then when the sky box is off (or source selected) the Humax box signal should be sent to loft allowing watching on your other TV's
Does this device not have a standard tv out connector then?
If it does, you just use that to distribute your satellite signal, just leave the recorder on whatever AV channel the satellite box is plugged into (AV1 or AV2), and it will send out the tv signal along it's rf output (plug it into your tv, turn the tv onto the rf channel for the recorder and see).
The only thing I would NOT recommend is an Octo LNB. They are not good. If you want to run more than 4 satellite boxes get yourself a quattro (instead of a quad) lnb and an appropriate multiswitch.
However, right now - I'd recommend to run one cable per TV from your Sat dish and get one box for every TV ... wheter you get a Digibox or a Freesat box is your choice. Since you have a Sky subscription Digiboxes might be better because you could put your card in every other Digibox and watch Sky channels there if you want to. On the other hand - a digibox without a viewing card is not AS easy to handle as a Freesat box.
Greets
Zodac