Sky TV to Freesat.

[Bob Williams]

I am about to end Sky TV Q Box services and buy a Humax HD-R 1100S 1TB Freesat box. I have read a lot of conflicting reports about this process. Some sources say that a new, different LNB is necessary, others that the 2 F-connectors will plug straight into the HD-R 1100 S and work. Two questions:

*Can I do this, without any professional help or adjustment, and expect it to work?

*If not, can I as a home user, buy and fit a new and Humax-specific LNB and also expect it to work? It does not look like a particularly challenging job and I do have a handy grandson who climbs like a monkey and is now a qualified leccy.

The professional help is available in the village, as I have said in a previous Thread: a mate with a business fitting TV/CCTV/IT services to commercial and social housing premises. Not enough of a mate to work for friendship though, don’t expect him to.

All advice appreciated, trying to save a bit of brass here!

EDIT: been quoted £100 for this by a Lincoln company, I asked them in curiosity. The LNB is < £5!

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[StevieP]

Bob, I have a Humax hdr-1100 connected to a very old sky dish with a single original lnb. It works fine and the f connections all connect as they should. By old I mean at least 15 years, the cabling as well. It is going to be replaced with a new dish, twin lnb’s and cabling in 10 days or so for £125. I have tried to change the lnb myself but can’t seem to get one “old” enough to fit the original dish. It isn’t a difficult job anyway, plenty of guides and advice on net. I am assuming that you have twin lnbs. If so you should be good to go, all I did was buy the humax, connect and tune, (restricted of course by the single lnb).

[Dave Rice]

News to me. I have had all sorts of DVB-S kit plugged into my quad LNB at the same time as my Sky box. Currently there’s two cables going to Sky HD and one to a Manhattan Plaza in the kitchen. In the past there’s been a USB TV receiver and all manner of Linux powered commercial boxes.

Just unplug the Sky box and plug in the Humax.

[blacklion1725]

I think it might need a new LNB. Sky Q uses a Wideband LNB which is not compatible with “normal” sky or freesat boxes. There  are LNBs which can accommodate old and new (Q) but as far as I know these re not what Sky use when installing Q,

A ton is very steep – a universal LNB is peanuts and to get someone else to swap it over (if you don’t fancy DIY) should be £30-£40 tops….

[Bob Williams]

Strange: I have posted replies already once, or thought I had. Here goes another:

Many thanks Stevie P and Dave, that advice will save me some brass!

EDIT: just saw BL’s post. These are the kind of conflicting stories I had from other sources. Think I will buy a Universal LNB, to be safe.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Dave Rice]

BL is quite correct (and so therefore is the shop guy), I missed the ‘Q’. Confirmed here https://www.freesat.co.uk/help/got-freesat/fix-a-problem/switch-from-sky

£100 is taking the pee. A standard LNB is all you need and you should be able to get a dual for £10 – £15. It should only take them 10 minutes to swap out. Say including travelling time it’s an hour. £80 an hour? nice work if you can get it.

[Bob Williams]

Thanks Dave, confirms what I thought. I’ll get the Dual LNB. The engineer in the village should be able to fit it, but I will get the stepladder out and take a look to see if I can do it myself. It’s on the bungalow side wall, about 15 feet up, so shouldn’t do much damage, should I fall off. Maybe get SWMBO to hold the ladder steady…. ?? You can’t be too careful with Elfin Safety.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Bob Williams]

After my last post, I picked this up from    http://community.screwfix.com/threads/satellite-dual-lnb.187940/

” Twin LNB
With the advent of digital satellite broadcasting and the launch of services such as Sky+ and Freesat in the UK, a new type of LNB was required. Twin LNBs receive and decode more than one signal from the same satellite at once. A twin LNB is easily identified by the twin coaxial output ports at the base of the device. Twin LNB devices enable the provision of key functionalities, such as watching one program whilst recording another, that modern digital satellite services offer.

Dual LNB
A dual LNB differs from a twin LNB in that it is designed to capture and downgrade signals from two satellites. The signals are transmitted to the decoder box across a single coaxial cable, and it is the decoder box that selects the particular signal that is being received at a given time. This type of device is designed to allow programming from two satellites to be viewed, but not at the same time. ”

I believe that I need a Twin LNB as opposed to a Dual: 2 simultaneous recordings is the most I will need, only from the Freesat Satellite. I am going to order a twin LNB and a Humax HDR 1100S, tomorrow. Off to watch a bit of telly now, instead of just waffling about it. ?

Guys, thank you all very much for the input. It’s been educational.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Dave Rice]

My bad again, it’s a twin LNB you need for 2 way. I’ve always known them as a dual, as a 4 way LNB is called a quad and an 8 way an octo!

It’s a bit like my mate who’s a Sky installer always calling everything he sees with multiple RJ45 ports a “hub” (I blame BT). That’s fine until we come to larger CCTV installations where we have multiple network devices, like the current one with 7 switches and 2 routers spread over 4 cabinets.

[Bob Williams]

Yes Dave, a Dual is apparently also called a Hybrid, just to confuse the issue even more! I guess the Quad and Octo are also Hybrids, but I am not giving myself a headache with that.

Anyhoo, I have ordered the 1TB Humax box for click & collect from Currys. I had an e-Gift card, which knocked £50 off the £219 cost and made shopping around irrelevant. Most other outlets are £209, but the Gift Card settled it. My mate in the village is going to sort out an LNB and make sure that the dish is aligned correctly, for less than half the £100 quoted by the Lincoln firm. I have taken a warning from someone in my son’s village, who tried to fit an LNB himself and must have nudged the dish, drove himself crackers trying to align it and had to call in an engineer.

I sorted out the whole purchase at Currys online, including the e-card voucher, just gave them the e- card numbers. “Interesting” that they would not accept PayPal or Credit card with an e-card purchase though. Everything will be go on the 26th and I will eventually give a report on results after some use. Incidentally, naming everything with RJ 45 ports a ‘Hub’ is a bone of contention between my 2 grandsons. (cousins) The Aspergers network engineer 23 yo is serious and offended by it, whilst the 18 yo Leccy knows this and winds him up with it. It’s entertaining (sort of) when this happens. ??

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

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