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Thread ID: 124518 2012-04-30 11:58:00 Freeview & Noel Leeming Greven (91) PC World Chat
Post ID Timestamp Content User
1272990 2012-04-30 11:58:00 My parents are preparing to go digital & have a Noel Leeming store credit, so I thought I would go through the NL website with them to work out what they want. Problem is they seem to have removed half their stock from their website - even half the models from the latest junk mail are not on their website. I ended up looking up everything on manufacturer's websites & hoping that anything in the junk mail is available in store.

When they first told me they want a freeview recorder, I recommended a tivo because they are cheaper than an equivalent DishTV box & the limitations probably wouldn't worry Mum & Dad, but I incorrectly assumed that our local station (CUE TV) would be on Freeview HD since it is on analogue, Sky & Freeview Satellite. Luckily I borrowed my friends' Freeview HD box to test signal strength & noticed the missing channel.

How can I tell if the TV cable to the VHF aerial is RG6 & can be used for a second feed from the satellite dish? The cable was replaced about 5 or 6 years ago.

I haven't checked out their satellite dish yet. How difficult is it to upgrade the LNB if required?
Greven (91)
1272991 2012-05-02 05:28:00 Hi Greven, why do you think you may need to replace the lnb in your dish? I am only asking this because I moved into my new house (new to us) and found an existing satellite dish that had been there for donkeys years and connected the cheapo freeview receiver and works well. Unless of course you know that the lnb on your dish is somewhat damaged. Sanco (683)
1272992 2012-05-02 05:45:00 Unless the cable is Labelled I'm not sure how you'd tell, comparing it to the existing cable for diameter might work as a very rough guide as I think the other standards are a different thickness. Also you don't strictly HAVE to use RG6, if there is sufficient signal strength and the run isn't too long any TV coax will work, it just introduces a bit more loss.

I prefer the terrestrial service myself though, HD is much nicer on any reasonably large screen and less prone to rain fade etc.
dugimodo (138)
1272993 2012-05-02 06:51:00 My parents need a dual output LNB because they want to use the record 2 channels at once feature. The satellite channels are split between 3 frequencies & if you only have a single output LNB then you are limited to one frequency at a time. If you have a dual output LNB then you can view/record from 2 frequencies at once.

www.dishtv.co.nz

I don't intend to record TV & I don't have a UHF areial, so I bought myself a cheap satellite receiver & connected it to the sky dish the previous owners of my house kindly left behind.

Thanks for the info dugimodo. Freeview HD sure is nice, but my parents love CUE TV & I didn't think HD was worth the extra cost for me when I hardly ever watch TV.
Greven (91)
1272994 2012-05-02 07:05:00 Just my bit on aerial cable. I bought a std UHF aerial from
Dick Smith for my 40 freeview Sony. Then other sets came into the house.
I now have 3 digital freeview jobs on terrestial all fed from the one aerial thro
a splitter box. There must be about 50m of cable under the house feeding different rooms.
All the reception is perfect. I live in Papakura and can see the Waitakeres.
gradebdan (2186)
1272995 2012-05-02 07:28:00 If you can find a good bit of clear (not painted over) cable it should be marked (probably pretty faintly) with the manufacturer, type etc. The Error Guy (14052)
1272996 2012-05-02 08:25:00 RG6 has a copper coated, solid steel core and a braided outer conductor that is (usually) silver colored. RG59 will have a solid copper core and (usually) a copper braided outer conductor. So, if you can chop into the cable and re-fit the connector then you can see if it's RG6 or not. Also, RG6 has an outer diameter of ~7mm, and RG59 is ~5.5mm. RG6 will be stiffer than RG59, but if you have nothing to compare it with, this isn't going to help much. pine-o-cleen (2955)
1272997 2012-05-02 09:25:00 If your going to use over the air don't buy a Dish STB. A friend of mine had two over them fail over a period of 4 months. I got her a Sommet and she's had no problem since. It's been two months now. paulw (1826)
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