Sky - 2 leads?

[rocker]

On a rewire and the sky dish has 2 leads.... the sky box has inputs for dish 1 and dish 2 as well. I'm guessing this is something to do with the sky+ recording function (I have no idea about sky, we have freeview and we're lucky to have that; as far as I'm concerned there's nothing but rubbish on tele anymore), so I guess both leads are needed....

previously, the guy just had 2 leads running from the dish, through the house, into the sky box. I've now chased in the leads and want to terminate them in a flush plate, but I have a few questions if anyone has any ideas.

- Can anyone let me know definitively what the second coax lead is for?

- Does anyone know where I can get a double satellite (screw on) type flush plate. I only seem to be able to get hold of ones with one satellite and one standard coax fitting on it, and

- Could I use the double-plate with 1 satellite and 1 normal coax for satellite? I'll probably be making up some leads for going between the plate and the sky+ box anyway.

Any help would be appreciated. Cheers!

 

[Guest123]

Yes, the second lead is for the pausing, rewinding and recording function of Sky+ whilst the other keeps the real time signal going.

Dual outlet 'F' plug plates are available or you can build what ever type of combination you need if you use grid type modules, MK for example.


K3525 D1 WHI

 

[telectrix]

or try cpc for twin sky socket. taht's cpc of preston, not protective conductor, lol!

 

[Andyfm]

If you cut the sky downleads and terminate them into a socket , any guarantee on the system becomes void as it degrades the signal quite a bit, so the sky engineers will not repair it if the signal is poor or lost, if its not under guarantee then its up to your customer, but it can affect reception

 

[oldtimer]

SKY+ is basically a 2 channel receiver hence why it needs 2 cables to the dish and it may have (if it is older) a twin LNB but it may have a quad LNB fitted if more recent Sky now only fit a single or quad LNBs.
I have a quad for SKY+ & Sky multiroom plus I have utilised the 4th output for my Freesat connection.

Also unlike normal tv you cannot fit a splitter to feed say 2 Sat boxes off 1 cable

 

[davelerave]

If you cut the sky downleads and terminate them into a socket , any guarantee on the system becomes void as it degrades the signal quite a bit, so the sky engineers will not repair it if the signal is poor or lost, if its not under guarantee then its up to your customer, but it can affect reception

i usually leave them long enough to connect into sky box etc.

it was always my understanding a connection caused signals to degrade or lose a few db

 

[Spudnik]

I agree with the chaos above, although i think if the cable run is as short as poss, and the plates are of good quality, then it should be ok.

After all, its how blocks of flats are wired

 

[Sintra]

I tidied mine up at home as the installation was a tad rough and used one of these plates.

 

[Guest123]

What a good idea they are.

 

[Hundleton1]

always run in extra cables down to main tv at least 4 i recommend, also if you can put them in conduit as they can be replaced if necessary, as for termination at the end, i dont recommend using any faceplates as these always cause problems, what i try to do is have the two feeds coming straight out of a brushed faceplate to the box if you can get the customer to agree.

Coax is a fickle animal, ANY kinks or sharp bends will heavily attenuate the signal and reduce the cables bandwidth causing lost channels, normal satellite coax has a minimum bend radius of 10cm, there is no way you will do this in a faceplate.

 

[rshaw125]

A few years ago I worked directly for Sky and I would not recommend you use a face plate, the face plate will reduce the signal to the box. Also, Sky engineers are told to replace any cabling that has been jointed / damaged and they would not reconnect to a face plate but directly to the Sky+ box for the best possible signal.

The reason that you have a pair of cables is that both carry a signal from the LNB of the dish. One for your normal viewing and the other for your recording, that's how you can watch and record programmes at the same time.

Even if you do install a face plate you will still need to run 2 cables from it to your Sky+ box, so I think it's pretty pointless.