We have virgin cable down stairs but the sky dish is still on the house I was wondering hat I need to do to connect the sky box up as we have never
had it connected and the mrs wants me to put that in the bedroom so she can get the free channels.
The cable to the dish has been chopped, is it as simple as sticking a new plug on the wire joining it to the back of the sky box?
Pretty much, although the satellite connectors are a little more difficult than standard TV UHF connectors. Not beyond a competent DIY'er though.
You can get them from Maplin.
The only 'rule' I believe is that the cables can't be joined or extended, as the signals are too small. But if the cable is too short,
you just run another one from the dish itself, it's not expensive stuff.
You can connect/extend cables just need all connections to be tight as i had to do it when i had scaffolding up last year to put dish on the scafolding.
quote:
Originally posted by Slimy38
The only 'rule' I believe is that the cables can't be joined or extended, as the signals are too small.
quote:
Originally posted by mookaloid
quote:
Originally posted by Slimy38
The only 'rule' I believe is that the cables can't be joined or extended, as the signals are too small.
I think that's just a rumour spread by sky satellite dish fitters who don't want to bother fitting neat and tidy wall sockets for dish installations
It is worth getting good quality cable and connectors and using silicone grease to prevent water ingress.
The cable and connectors from B&Q aren't the best, they grip the cable poorly and because of poor plating quickly rust.
If you do hunt on the internet you will find specialist aerial shops that have the right stuff.
If you have half-way decent internet speed consider a Now TV box instead, they only cost £10 and you most of the catch-up tv services and the
option of Sky subcription channels.
Very easy to do, prepare the end of the cable (google is your friend) and the connector just screws on to the end. Unless you have a super long run,
the losses are not that bad assuming the signal level is fine to start with. If your signal levels are a bit low at the dish then joining cables will
cause losses which may make it unusable but I've never had any issues so far. They are called 'f-type' connectors
Try this
HTH
Forgot to say:
Another thing to remember is to use self-vulcanising tape on the finished connector as far up to the end as you can to help keep out moisture, then
whack a bit of vaseline or simlar over the exposed metal outer to help reduce water ingress.
[Edited on 26/1/14 by Daddylonglegs]
I wired a quad lnb in on Monday for a mate who has bought a new vu+ duo linux box. Get some shotgun cable from Screwfix and run it from the lnb back, joints are not a great idea they are a weak point and the cable is not too expensive. F connectors are dirt cheap and a bit of care fitting them so you don't cut all the braiding when you skin the cable and keep some insulation round the centre core so it doesn't short circuit. A bit of silicone grease to help fitting is good but not essential as they are covered anyway.
quote:
Originally posted by mookaloid
quote:
Originally posted by Slimy38
The only 'rule' I believe is that the cables can't be joined or extended, as the signals are too small.
I think that's just a rumour spread by sky satellite dish fitters who don't want to bother fitting neat and tidy wall sockets for dish installations