Looking at upgrading to HD and connecting both of these up to the same TV.

Can they share the LNB feeds or do they both need separate sets of feeds from the LNB?

I currently have 2 feeds from the LNB for SKY + and wondered whether these can be looped through either box or am I better off going for separate feeds from the LNB for each unit.

Scanning the net found octo LNB's with 4 LNB cable,

http://www.satellitesuperstore.com/octolnb.htm

This would enable me to run this without trying to squeeze 4 cables through the small hole in the wall!

Has anyone any experience of a similar setup?

You need four cables for two PVR's, doesn't matter if they are Sky or Freesat.

I have exactly that setup. I installed my new HD tv and Foxsat HDR at the weekend. I can get a signal on Sky+ and have used two splitters on the two cables to share with the Foxsat. There is no signal on the Foxsat. It works fine when not sharing with the Sky+ box but I want to be able to switch from one to the other. I have read about smart splitters such as this : http://www.globalinvacom.com/products/scr.php
But don't want to buy one unless I know it will work.

Thanks for response, the smart splitter looks a bit complex and maybe pricey!

I may go for the fancy cable option with the octo LNB, it would neaten things up a bit and could be a lot cheaper and simpler to do.

Can I ask why you want to connect them both to the same TV. Seems an awful lot of expense just to get ITVHD! As thats the only channel that FreesatHD will get that the SkyHD won't.

Unless your not subscribing to Sky and therefore don't have the recording facility on the SkyHD box, then I possibly could see why you would do it.

The reason is that I am quite happy to watch BBC HD and ITV HD but my wife is a fan of 24 but likes to record and watch later.
I did not want to give Mr Murdoch any more money so I elected to go for the Foxsat HDR.

I understand it more in your case, because you only have Sky+, so no HD content. My question was more aimed at the OP who does have SkyHD (and presumably subscribing to at least one mix so has recording facility, hence the only differences being ITVHD on freesat and CH4HD on Sky).

I fancy your small hole in the wall will need to be a tad larger as each inner cable is 7mm giving a combined cross section of at least 15mm inclusive of the sheath. A neat looking option, however, you may also find it difficult to source cable clips other than screw to the wall types, unless they sell those too.

I cannot answer why the OP wanted to connect to the same tv, but I have the same setup and the reason why is because just 2 tuners in the Sky+ HD box is not enough for me. Certainly didn't buy it just to get ITV HD!
I sometimes work in the evenings and often want two recordings simultaneously, but then the rest of the family cannot watch what they want to.
As many of the programmes I record are from BBC and Channel 4, I can set my hdr to record and keep the Sky HD box free for the family to watch what they like.
If Sky brought out a box with 3/4 tuners I would take the HDR out of my setup.

Similar reasons, along with it being an easy way to massively increase the disk space available for recordings.

I also believe that the HDR has the ability to transfer recordings through USB port to external drive. Presumably from there they can be manipulated on PC for archiving on DVD / Blue rays to free up space.

Not sure though whether that is just SD recordings as presumably the HD are copy protected somehow?

Mulling over the best way to approach a SKY HD install.

I would like to have the ability to run (if needed) a SKY HD box and my Freesat HD box/PVR upstairs and downstairs.
To accommodate this I will require 4 LNB feeds to each room and an OCTO LNB.

I already have SKY + downstairs, so I could opt for the £49 box offer keeping the SKY + box on multiroom, installing it upstairs.

To keep the number of cables down I would like to utilise a 4 LNB cable to replace the existing cables. Tto counter any possible signal degradation from this cable possibly increase the size of dish from 45cm to 60cm.

My question is, would the SKY Installer install to my requirements, if when he arrives he is met by a reel of 4 LNB cable with a new dish and New LNB?
Or would he just do his own thing?
Would I get a phone call to agree what the Installation will entail?

When I had SKY+ installed, the installer made a hash of it and I ended up having to get an Independent out to rectify.

Just wondering whether I would be better off getting a standard install then getting someone out to upgrade to my requirements.

If you want something complicated, probably better to get it done properly in the first place. Why don't you get a quote?

There's another way of doing what you want which you might like to consider. That is to get a quatro LNB (not a quad) and run its four outputs to the first room where it feeds an eight output multiswitch. Four outputs from the multiswitch are used in that room and the other go to the second room. With this you should never need to make any changes to the dish or LNB in the future if you want to extend or change the distribution within you house. You might even think of getting a 12 or 16 way multiswitch to start with to make that easier.

Thanks

Trying to cut down on the cabling, so the multiswitch option doesn't sound that appealing.
I would have 2 x 4 sets of coax entering and leaving the room.
I think the Octo LNB would be neater for me as the feeds need to go to different sides of the house, the dish would be the best place to do this.