Sky distribution in other rooms

[Non-Driver]

We have a Sky+ box in our lounge hooked up to a plasma TV via coax and SCART. The TV has integrated Freeview so we can get analogue & Freeview by alternating the "TV" button on the remote, Sky on AV1 and a DVD on AV2. In our playroom we have a similar Freeview TV with its own aerial. I'd like to be able to run Sky channels on this one without forking out for multiroom. I have seen distribution/amplifier set ups with magic eyes which can change channel in the "non-Sky" room and this is one such:

ASDA direct | Sky Compatible 4 Room TV Distribution Kit | Cables & Sockets (http://direct.asda.com/Sky-Compatible-4-Room-TV-Distribution-Kit/000575006,default,pd.html)

My question is thus:

These appear to run off a coax connection rather than SCART (presumably because of length). If I hook this up to the Sky+ box from the single coax Line in socket on the TV, does that mean I lose the ability to view Freeview on the 2nd TV ? I thought the Sky channels output on the Sky+ box would have only fed through the SCART and that the coax connections were simply a feed-through for analogue & Freeview.

[spannersatcx]

you run the co-ax from rf 2 out from the sky+ box, you also need to make sure you turn the 5v for RF2 on as well, to power the magic eye.

[Cornish Jack]

Looking for advice on similar lines. I have a main TV which is fed from a second LNB output (i.e. secondary to the main SKY output) to receive Freesat. In the next room I have a second set which, at the moment, receives its input from the main set via a wireless link. I have a separate Freesat receiver which I would like to be able to connect to the LNB output via some sort of switchable selector so the output could go to either main OR secondary (NOT both at the same time), Search, so far, has produced a mass of confusion.:sad: I would have thought that a simple cable splitter would have done the job but, apparently, not so.:{ What does 'do the job' has , so far , escaped me.:ugh:
Any clues, please?
TIA

[spannersatcx]

I'm not 100% sure what you have or are trying to do!:confused:

It sounds like you have a sky dish with 2 outputs, and actually need more than 2 outputs?

You are correct in that you can not split a satellite cable, I don't know why, but apparently you can't.

The easiest solution from what I can see is to change the dual LNB to a Quad one, that way you can feed all 3 directly and have one spare for another tv if needed.

Quad LNB's cost about £10 and easy enough to change.

[green granite]

You are correct in that you can not split a satellite cable, I don't know why, but apparently you can't.

Because the set top box sends a signal to the LNB to change the polarization, if you had 2 set top boxes on the same LNB there would be a conflict.

As spannersatcx says, change to a quad LNB.

[Cornish Jack]

Thank you Spanners and GG. I have a quad LNB - two outputs for Sky and am using one of the 'spares for Freesat.
I understand that the cable for satellite feed is, apparently, bi-directional but I just cannot get my head around why it cannot be split. I would have supposed that a single feed into a switchable dual output would be no different in concept than having two totally separate cables. I accept that it isn't available but it doesn't make sense - inadequate brain cells I suspect:confused::confused::(

[green granite]

You could try one of these, they're cheap enough: 2 Way Sattellite Splitter with DC power pass: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics & Photo (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Way-Sattellite-Splitter-power-pass/dp/B000NHBNII/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1282056183&sr=1-1)

[groundbum]

you can't split the signals/wires that come from the satellite dish/lnb as the box at the end sends polarization signals up the wire to the LNB. So if there were two boxes on the wire they would be fighting each other.

You can buy distributors for satellite signals, we have an 18 bedroom B&B and each guest room has it's own Sky box. We bring the SKY signal in from a quad LNB via a normal size dish to a distributor. This feeds two more, and we have cupboards full of SKY boxes, that then use TV cable and magic eye to link to the television in the guest bedroom. Works well.

These same distributors can also feed FREESAT, as two bedrooms now have FREESAT rather than SKY.




G

[Cornish Jack]

GG - Thank you again.
That's EXACTLY what I'm after and it looks very similar to a three-way splitter which I have already bought and which didn't do the job!!:(
Will give this one a whirl and see what happens.

[green granite]

They are also available with switches I believe, should be ok if you only have one of the set top boxes on at a time.