The Sky's the limit......or is it?

[SterlingWhiteRose]

Anyone recommend a dish and accessories to get sky TV on sites?

Cam I just use my Sky viewing card from home?

Will it work in any sky TV box, or do I need to take only the one from my house/lounge?

How easy is it to set up?

Is a signal finder needed?

How much we talking?

What size dish?

Any additional technicalities?

Cheers

 

[Woodentop]

It depends if you want UK only or use in Europe. If UK only then a 'normal' Sky dish will do but they do tend to be a bit heavy. They also have a non-standard method of LNB fixture so should it become damage or fail you might be in difficulty. Personally I would get a 60cm ovoid dish (i.e. not a round one) which has a standard collar fitting for the LNB will work anywhere that you can reasonably get sat TV. For a tripod look for a Konig lightweight - I got mine on eBay for about £20.

In terms of a receiver do you want to watch just the free channels (free to air or FTA) or subscription? Once a card is activated it should work with any box provided you do not have premium channels - i.e. sport or cinema. If you have the latter the answer is you cannot take your home card. Your option is either a second subscription or Freesat-from-Sky or plain Freesat. If you go for this route then go to Cash Converters and get a used Sky box which will cost you about (usually less than) £20 with a remote and guarantee. If you are lucky it will have an expired viewing card still in it which will enable the FTA channels in their correct locations (i.e. 101 and 103) but if not then a Freesat-from-Sky card is a once off £25*. If you are not bothered about recording then look for a used multi-room box which is smaller and lighter as it has only one tuner and no hard disc. Freesat will require a suitable box with or without recording but the channels numbers are totally different to what you already know. [*Before anyone shouts, a Sky box will work without a card but you get BBC1 London and ITV Central West.]

When you get used to it settting up is quite quick, typically about 10 minutes to align. You will need some sort of sat finder which you can get for a fiver when they are on offer in Lidl or Aldi. A good optical compass is also useful or if you have an Android smartphone a free app called Satellite Director is very good. One tip: get wingnuts to replace the nuts on the U-bolts used to mount the dish - it makes life much easier.

Prices have dropped in recent years - you used to expect to pay about £30 for the dish and the same again for the LNB but they are nowadays a bit cheaper. If you are going to France a 60cm dish with LNB and 10m of cable will cost you about €35 all in. Take three pairs each of 4mm and 5mm wing nuts to cover all eventualities. A couple of 10mm ring spanners will make dish tilt adjustment easier. You can get a bag of 10 F-type plugs and a pack of 10 back-to-back adapters for about £2 apiece and a reel of 25mm of PF100 cable for about £12 from Screwfix - expect to use about 10m externally and maybe 5m internally. If you want to be able to record you will need 'Shotgun' cable at about £23 for 25m also from Sfx but the same connectors will work. To get the cable(s) into the caravan fit bulkhead adapter(s) into the inside side of your battery box so that you can leave the internal wiring permanently in place. Remember that you cannot watch anything you have recorded on a Sky box unless you are receiving a Sky signal, and for Freesat-from-Sky recording you have to pay £10/month. If you get a Freesat box there are no such limitations.

Once last point: don't use your Sky box for alignment as they are notoriously deaf and slow to respond. Freesat boxes (such as those by Humax) do tend to be better but are still generally relatively slow.

Good luck.

 

[SterlingWhiteRose]

Thanks Woodentop, very comprehensive.

Only thing is, I do want to pick up my premium channels, sport and movies.....but definitely don't want a second subscription.....is that not possible?

 

[Dustydog]

Hi Guys

A good explanation there Woodentop but may I just add a few points.
He doesn't need to pay a second subscription to receive all the premium channels he enjoys at home.
He can take his home Sky box complete with the card and pretty well use anywhere in the UK and parts of Europe where a Sky signal is obtainable . One of the links below will show him the availability.

If he chooses not to use his home box he can remove the card and place into a spare Sky box and take that. My own experience of doing this is varied. Sometimes it works perfectly other times I've had to ring Sky to get the temporary box and "master " card synchronised.
Over the years I found it far simpler just to take the complete home box. I've prewired the caravan and am slightly ashamed to say we have tv in the bedroom and lounge of our tourer. Disconnecting the box at home takes less than 60 seconds.
I'd suggest to anyone following your advice to consider buying a Sky + box from the places you mention. This will enable them to record and view already recorded stuff or other Sky channels like his football.
I agree about the dish. For 12 years now I have used a Maxview 66cm semi eliptic dish with a 4 outlet LNB. A 2 outlet will also suit the OP.
Tuning wise I have tried lots of things .
1. See if anyone else is using a dish.
2.Get a sat finder app for your mobile phone.
3. Buy a half decent sat finder which you quick release wire direct to the LNB. The search screen will usually give you the skew angle , azimuth ( angle of elevation ) and the compass direction in degs.
I use the Primesat SF500 with great success and thanks to my old mucker Sir Sproket
I hope some of this combined with Woodentops suggestions works for you

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.esys.satfinder&hl=en
http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/sis.html?_nkw=Maxview 66cm Omnisat Portable Satellite Kit Twin LNB AND SKY BOX
http://www.satellitesuperstore.com/install.htm
Primesat SF500 Mk2 low cost satellite meter. Identifies satellites
Order code PRISFM1
Only £64.95

 

[Woodentop]

I didn't put it in but the first TV we had in the caravan was a Goodmans 10" CRT which did not have a SCART socket so I had to get a STB with a modulator. I bought one at Leroy Merlin in France for about £30 preprogrammed with 5500 channels including Astra 28E (as lot of continental boxes don't.)

When we got a TV with SCART I found out to my amazement that when connected by SCART and in alignment mode it generates a tone on the sound connection that step changes with signal level, the higher pitch the better the signal. It means that once connected up I can stand outside the 'van and swing the dish until I hear a whistle, then trim the dish setting until I get the highest pitch - job done. I would note that this box (Visonic?) is much more sensitive and faster responding than any Sky box so it has paid for itself many times over.

OK I carry two boxes but it means (1) I can get multiple satellites should I ever wish to and (2) I always have a backup. My normal UK box is a Sky multi-room which is much smaller and lighter than the Sky+HD box so there is no weight penalty.