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Thread ID: 79992	2007-06-08 02:40:00	DVB Distribution	Tucker (12383)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
557073	2007-06-08 02:40:00	Hi All, I need help in how to distribute Digital Satellite throughout my home, (what I have to buy etc). I currently have the following: A Sky digital decoder with dual LNB dish and an analogue terrestrial antenna What I want to do: Distribute the sky dish signal to five locations in my house with the knowledge that I'll have to buy FTA Freeview set top boxes in four rooms and have Sky Digital in the other. I don't care about the analogue antenna. Issues: I am aware of the Horizontal and Vertical polarisation issue that means I cannot run Sky and Freeview concurrently but hopefully this will be resolved by July so don't worry about that. This will be an August/September project anyway. Questions I have: - What do I need, what are these DiSEqc switches, combiners etc? Do I need amplifiers at any stage? - If I were to replace the Analogue Antenna with a Digital one (when Freeview starts broadcasting on DVB-T), can I combine the DVB-S and DVB-T signals before distribution throughout the house. Does this matter? - I know my Sky decoder does not currently have a F-type connection for decoded output but how can I get decoded signals distributed throughout my house in addition to the DVB-S signals. Is this worth it? Ultimately, i want to buy F-type connector terminals (that match my powerpoints etc so it looks nice) that carry the Satellite and i don't want to have RF terminals as well just for the Sky distribution. Is it possible to keep things clean and tidy? Cheers.	Tucker (12383)
557074	2007-06-08 22:30:00	Not sure if this helps at all but I was looking into doing the same or similar. My Sky already goes to all rooms in the house, the Sky dude did that when he set up sky for me. As far as Freeview goes we will get better decoders in about 12 months time than those available now. Decoders more like MySky (which I have here). Alternatively Check out TiVo which I have also looked into that is like MySky but will use Sky and Freeview. www.nztivo.net http://www.tivo.com.au/ These sites may answer your questions as it works in a similar way. One advantage I see with TiVo over the current Freeview set top boxes is that you can put in what ever size HDD you want to record on, or more than one HDD. Also TV sets are available with Decoders thus eliminating set top boxes. If you compare likes of Philips NZ and Aussie site with those on the Philips UK site you will see what I mean.	Bantu (52)
557075	2007-06-09 06:30:00	If you want to have multiple satellite decoders on a single dish, you will need a "MultiSwitch" Something like this www.smarthome.com Note the price, in $US... To distribute the actual LNB output is not a trivial or cheap thing to do. Usually you distribute the decoded output from a single satellite box, but then you get the issues of one channel at a time. I have a centrally setup Sky system that combines a terrestrial analogue signal to 6 outlets. But the limitation is that only a single sky channel can be viewed at a time. Its almost cheaper to have a separate dish per decoder than a multiswitch?	godfather (25)
557076	2007-06-10 01:15:00	Thanks Godfather, I'm a complete amateur when it comes to this, but can you answer me this. Can I simply get the Optus D1 feed from my sky dish and split this into 5 feeds throughout my home? Is it not that simple? I was thinking of using the 30141 product at www.hillssignalmaster.co.nz The reason i ask is that my exisitng dish has two outputs from the dish: one into my lounge and one into my bedroom (there was two decoders in the house at one stage) and that just uses what appears to be a simple two-way splitter. So I was planning on just taking out the two-way splitter and putting in a splitter to handle five feeds. Also, anyone using a Hauppauge Nova-S-Plus card and Mediaportal or MCE to view freeview channels?	Tucker (12383)
557077	2007-06-12 20:26:00	My Sky decoder has Sky in, TV in and Sky out cables. The sky out funs back up the inside of the wall to the ceiling where it is split and goes off to 5 other rooms. I get sky in all rooms but only what the decoder is showing at the time. It means walking from Bedroom back to lounge to change channels. In the UK they have remotes that allow you to change the channel from another room even though the decoder might be in the lounge. My sister in law uses one of those and saves the walk through the house. Keep in mind that Freeview is new to NZ and the decoders are basic ones to begin with. We will get more advanced ones in a year or so. I use a Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-350 on my PC. I have cables from Office to Lounge for Video and Audio. I can feed what ever is showing on Sky through to that and record or playback to Lounge. Or i can switch the cables over with a small switch from Dick Smith and record or playback from a DVD or Tape.	Bantu (52)
557078	2007-06-12 20:56:00	You can buy Infra-Red transmitters that will allow you to change sky channels from another room. They convert the signal and send it back up the coax cable to the decoder where it is converted back to IR. Not cheap though at about $400.	CYaBro (73)
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