Quote: Originally posted by AIRLIEBIRD1865 on 26/3/2008
we got a maplins leaflet with our caravanning and camping magazine and off we went into maplins yesterday but was told that the one on offer only recieved free to air channels but ive just had a look on their site and have seen this one and after looking at the questions left by people it looks like it can pick up sky channels
Sorry the sat receiver you highlighted will only pick up free to air channels of which there are hundreds to receive sky 1 etc you need a Sky box as they have a decoder built in, Sky is broadcast in code and only a Sky box can decode buy a s/h Sky box on ebay for under £20 and you then need a free to air card from Sky around £25 to get channels4/5 though these will be broadcast in clear later this year
have a look at the web site satellite for caravans for more info its a lot easier than it sounds.
Post last edited on 26/03/2008 19:28:21
------------- Cheers Jim.I Reserve The Right To Be Wrong.
Hi I take my skybox from home with me, i have a walk round the camp site looking for sky dishes and take a marker to where the dish is pointing,my dish is set on a small tripod which i point at the marker taking into consideration the angle of my pitch and usually within 10 minutes im pegging the tripod down and set up for the rest of the holiday.if at any time your picture goes black and white its most likley to be the angle of the dish slightly move the dish upwards or downwards giving the box time to receive the new signal and if colour returns lock it in position if it dosnt go the oppisite way. Hope this helps out
------------- malletsmallett
Cometh the hour
cometh the VAN
I set mine at home, then just tighten the bolts for elevation (up and down) - then just point it left and right until the picture comes when on site - easy.
you can take your sky box from home but if sky do a line check and its not connected they are entitled to charge you an extra months subscription (its in your contract). However you should get a phone call from them first. An easy way out of this is to tell them your phone line to the box got cut during some building work!!!!!! (well thats my excuse) Ive had my box away on numerous occasions and havent had any problems with sky. Also your settings should be ok when you get home
Quote: Originally posted by Sean P on 26/3/2008
You CAN take your box with you, BUT you run the risk of Sky finding out with a call to the box - it happens, not often but they can lock your box off.
Sorry being thick here, why would they lock your box off, we pay dd for all the channels each month, how can they tell we have moved the box,
we have had ours for years and years with them, have had the phone disconected for years have now looked throught internet and it seems that if its in the 1st year of contract if you cut the phone line, recently we changed box had to ring sky to have the card changed to the new sky box no problems,
so not too worried now
After a year sky will not touch you, even before they will send a warning letter 1st, i would not worry taking it on hol or weekend, we always take ours.
Its likely sky wont, but I wanted to give the warning anyway. Its sod's law you will be the one they shut off! I have a £20 freesat card and it's great, gets all freeview channels, but without the bloody messing around with freeview and with some channels that click on and off due to the weak signal from one of the transmitters. At least with the dish - once its in.. its in!
I mounted my dish on my old caravan (I have just bought a new one that and I will now use a tripod) with an extendable pole and adhesive clip set up. Here are some pics if anyone is interested...
I would certainly not use the portable dishes, as they are solid and are like kites in the wind - the triax standard sky dishes have holes so resist strong winds.
Hi Sean,I like your sky set up,is this easy to do? I use a spare sky box we normally use in the bedroom at home,but have just bought a pace mini box off ebay and would
like to mount it out of sight in bedbox/roof locker and use a magic eye
to change channels etc any advice of how easy/difficult this would be.any advice most welcome.
------------- Cheers Jim.I Reserve The Right To Be Wrong.
jjim its dead easy mate. The hard bit is to reroute the cables to it, so try and mount it somewhere near where the main aerial coming in/booster box/etc is.
You need to locate the booster output to caravan (going to the internal coax socket) cable - usually plugged into the TV out socket on the booster. Extend (mine was long enough) if necessary the cable and take it to the sky RF OUT 2 box. You MAY need to change the plug to female to connect. Now you see why I recommend you locate the box near to the booster/aerial in.
THEN run a cable FROM the booster to replace the one youve just took out, in other words plug it into the TV out plug on the booster. This cable then goes to the sky box aerial IN - again you MAY need to change the plug.
The simply plug a magic eye into your tv socket in the van, then a cable from that to the TV as normal. Regardless if the satellite dish is connected in - wiring it this way means that you can still tune in the TV as normal, as long as the box is powered on standby. Just like at home.
If the dish is connected, then all you need to do is tune in a channel on the TV to the sky output - we put ours on 0 - and away you go. You control the box via the magic eye, and there is no need to ever disconnect anything again as this works with or without the dish.
If you havent got a UFO aerial or booster box, then its the same principal.
As I have done by the pics, I put on an external cable in box so I just plugged in the dish outside.
As you can also see, I also put a switcher in to be able to easily switch from UFO dish to external.
Its a good system, I stuck the box with velcro to the floor to prevent it slipping around. Its secure cause your box isnt on view and there is no need to connect it all up every trip. No cables everywhere on show.
I paid £23 for the pace box, £14 for the dish and £6 for the magic eye - £43 for a full setup isnt bad.
Amazing family weekend with old steam engines, classic car displays, market stalls, and full catering and bar. And camping on site - Save £25 by booking in advance.
Topic: SKY/SATELITE
