Sky Cable

[brizospark]

I am working on an extension and client has asked for an additional 2 sky outlets to be installed.

At present, there is one outlet in the existing part of the house

I was wondering if I can take a supply from the existing point to the first new point and then onto the second new point? Or do I need to run cables individually from dish?

Also what cable do I need to install, and lastly can I get a faceplate that has 1 x sky outlet and 1 x co-ax outlet on a singe gang box

Thanks in advance for any help

 

[gavin.sibley]

Hello,

I would suggest taking a new feed from the dish for every point, that way you would be better off for things like watching different program's in different rooms, quality would also likely to be alot better.

Yes you can get single gang outlets with both sky and coax outputs, your best bet for things like this is all trade, they have counters all over the country, cheap and really helpful.

 

[brizospark]

ok thanks, so what type of cable do i need to run from dish?

 

[gavin.sibley]

Depends on how much money the client is looking to spend, you can get coax at £16/100m if you want cheap basic stuff, you can expect to pay anything up to £70-80 if you want CAI approved coax. I use predominantly the cheaper stuff for domestics, as the home owner doesn't want to pay more and it tends to work without a problem, large commercial projects with massive cable runs and distribution I would definately be using the better quality.

As far as the faceplates go, I would suggest staying away from the budget ones, work fine for most things but should the client ever need boosters or more distribution around the house, they can be a bit of a nightmare to get them to pass power for things like masthead amps etc. better quality, non-insulated is the way I would be tempted too go

 

[brizospark]

I have already run 2 x co-ax points from locations they want tv's into the loft. I can get to skydish from loft - can I use these existing co-ax cables to supply sky points? Would be really handy if I could

I thought I needed shotgun cable (two cables joined together)

 

[gavin.sibley]

Sorry I forgot you said about dual output plates, yes you would need a cable for each output, so 1 for sky and 1 for coax. As far as current cables go, with standard tv outputs a splitter in the attic coming from an aerial would be fine, possibly a masthead amp depending on signal strength and quality.

With sky, although it can be split, I usually tend to run seperate cables straight from the LNB on the sky dish, although I do believe you can split it, I've never done it that way.

 

[AdieB]

The head on the dish has up to 4 connections the earlier ones may only have two. You need to check if the head has additional points that your new cables can be terminated onto, other wise you are looking at getting a TV guy out to change the head last time I had one changed was about £75.

 

[brizospark]

Can I use the co-ax cables I have already installed for the Sky signal. It would save me running new ones in. As far as I know the co-ax is medium grade, not the cheap stuff but not the expensive stuff either, just middle of the road co-ax

 

[DPG]

You can't just split a sky cable from the dish as it uses a switched voltage level from the receiver to change polarity. Also best to run shotgun (ie. double) cable rather than single, even if it's not needed at that time. Saves mucho hassle in the future. DPG

 

[Tridentsystems]

Would have thought tv coax already installed is wrong impedance for your sky. Could be wrong but I think ones 50 ohm and tother 75