Thanks Lucid. Do we get lnb's with multiple outputs? I was doing a Google search and it came up with results of Octo lnb's which would feed up to 8 tv's. Is my understanding right? If I get that going, my areal and amplifier will be redundant I guess and I will get a free view via skysat.
The thing on the end of the arm of a satellite dish isn't really the LNB. It's simply the housing. What's inside the housing is the important thing. It can have one, two, four or eight LNBs inside it. That's possibly the simplest and lowest cost way to feed multiple satellite receivers,
so yes, get an octo.
Before you splash the cash though, do look into what happens with the signal level from the dish.
The dish is focussing the signal from the satellite onto the point where the LNB sits. A single output LNB gets all of that signal. A dual means that the signal is halved. A quad = 1/4. An octo = 1/8th for each output. The size of the dish determines how much signal is collected from the satellite, and so how strong the signal is to start with.
Since most people with a dish got one because they had Sky at some point, and the Sky installer put up an appropriately sized dish for the location across the UK and the number of outputs required, then the average homeowner hasn't had to think about dish size vs output strength. It's not too complicated though. Sky has two zones, and so two dish sizes. This graphic (
LINK) shows the info. Anyone in Zone 1 would get away with a smaller dish and a quad LNB. Further north needs a larger dish. Someone living in Z1 going up to an octo might want to look at either a Z2 dish or check out the LNB specs for one with lower noise rather than simply getting the cheapest octo.
Just to add, use good cable. It makes a difference to how much signal makes it through from the LNB to the TV/receiver. A good quality all-copper coax. Webro WF100, Labgear PF100, and Triax TX100 are all solid choices.
