Does anyone have any experience or advice on portable Sky Plus Dishes. Our existing sky dish has packed up so we are looking to replace it and seeing as we have Sky Plus at home thought it would be the way to go.
Hi a Twin output or Quad output single LNB would be okay for Sky+ but you have to run two leads from the dish to the Sky+ box.
But if you don't need to use the record features then a single output LNB would be okay.
Friends run their sky+ box off a maplins dish with single lnb. They have recorded programmes as well, though obviously not while watching another channel.
Easy you just need a twin output LNB, but like an other said that also means either two cables, or better still shotgun cable, my solution although a slight compromise would be to use a single output LNB with a single cable to the Sky+ box, at the box end I would introduce a SP1 Priority switch, this little device allows you to use a Sky+ from a single cable, and still get all the recording features of the Sky+ box, the limitations are that you can only record either the program you are watching and other programs that are of the same Polarity and Band as the viewable channel, this is because the LNB 2 input becomes a Slave of the LNB 1 input via the SP1 Priority switch, this solution is often used in apartments were there is only one satellite feed available, instead of the two that Sky+ requires. SP1 priority switch are made by Global Comms and are around £10 from CPC at Preston.
If you use a single LMB and cable into input 1 then you can pause and record what you are watching and play while you record another channel. But if you wanted to record a program while you were out unless you put the box into standby (red light) or switch to the channel before going out then it won't record.
I have only one feed to a sky+ box (live in appartment) and our own dish is blocked by council trees at the moment. My other half is a sky engineer and he gets frustrated at the lack of feed and he has asked every engineer he knows for a solution we even have a zone 1 dish which is used mainly in scotland round the midlands uses zone 2.
Dee x x x x x x
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I worked for Sky for 7 years, but prior to that did 10 years independant satellite stuff, SMATV for domestic etc, anyway as your other half works for Sky he may not be aware of the SP1 Priority switch solution as I don't think it is Sky approved, having said that many very good satellite products products came my way whilst working at Sky, but as Sky are total control freaks many never got past R&D not even a superb flat panel antenna (no LNB arm), that I still use to-day for camping.
Anyway as you are in a apartment there is a solution to the single feed problem, apart from my cheapy SP1 Proirity switch, you can use a device called the "Johhansen Destaker" OK I have got the spelling wrong, what this box of tricks will do is give two feeds from one, you will be getting your feed from some sort of SMATV system, with the "Destacker" you can take two feeds from the MultiSwitch which will be located not far from the communual dish and feed them into a single cable, at your end in the apartment the single feed is kinda diplexed into the other half of the "Destaker" to replicate two separate feeds for your Sky+, so you ask why do Sky note promote this, well as your other half may know the contract for the SMATV system in your block is tied to the original instalation contractor, which is a whole can of worms in it self, not to mention that installation of a "Destaker" does not always work as original feeds may have two much noise on them, oops back to those contractors using cheap nasty kit etc. and lastly, the "Destaker" is around £150 a pop!.
WOW! Thanks everyone for all the great info. I will pass it all on to my other half - a new twin output LNB for our existing dish set up sounds like the way to go.
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Topic: Sat Dish for Sky Plus
