Convert Sky aerial to normal aerial?

[emailrob]

OK, the scenario.

Old Sky dish and cable routed into the house I've just bought.
Freeview box has not as good signal as previous house desipte powered tv top aerial.

If I get a roof aerial and put it where the Sky dish is (which I don't want), can I use the same sky lead that is already installed? Conscious I'll need some different connectors, but it would obviously save me lots of time as the sky wire is wired through the facia boards!

Any help would be great, thanks

 

[andy]

providing the sky cable isnt used, you can change the connectors

 

[mrscalex]

Are you sure you don't already have an aerial and therefore probably other cabling runs? Sounds like a stupid question to ask but it could be in the roof space somewhere you haven't looked yet rather than outside.

That said the Sky cable should in theory be superior quality to regular coax and therefore of potential benefit for your Freeview signal.

 

[emailrob]

Great news thanks. No there is no aerial there on the roof or in the roof.

I'll get some new connectors and see how it goes.

Any have any experience of using the Sky dish AS an aerial ?

 

[nstreet]

If I get a roof aerial and put it where the Sky dish is (which I don't want), can I use the same sky lead that is already installed?

Will this allow the TV aerial to point in the right direction for the transmitter?

 

[felix]

Any have any experience of using the Sky dish AS an aerial ?

Forget it! The sky dish itself is just a reflector. The aerial is in that LNB gadget stuck out in front. It is completely useless for terrestrial TV.

 

[emailrob]

If I get a roof aerial and put it where the Sky dish is (which I don't want), can I use the same sky lead that is already installed?

Will this allow the TV aerial to point in the right direction for the transmitter?

Thanks, I'll certainly check out the positioning of other aerials in my neighbourhood. I could always extend the cable if needs be - just means i'm not starting from scratch.

thanks for the above advice re the dish! I'll get a new aerial

 

[mrscalex]

Don't forget that every connector added to the run degrades the signal. In fact the ideal cabling run doesn't even have a wall plate near the TV, it is just 1 single run of cable from receptor to back of receiver. That said I'd try connectors first.

Without a special meter I guess you'll just have to rotate it until you get max signal (shown on your Freeview box). Lot's of running back and forth or up and down a ladder to check so might be worth getting a mate to help by relaying the strength indicator. Direction/position of neighbours' aerials are obviously the starting point.

When I had my set-up replaced a new wideband aerial, mast-head amplifier and 8-way distribution unit and fitting was £125. £50-£75 of that was parts anyway. So if you find the right company to do it for you it's hardly worth the risk of falling off a ladder. I only read up on all this stuff recently so I could do my sat dish myself. I would have had the guys back to fit that but I wanted to try different combinations of kit out over a period of time and it would have got expensive then.

Don't forget that sat dishes can sit lower on a property than a TV aerial can. Only a 30 odd degree line of sight is required. I guess for a TV aerial you might need a better (higher) line.

Just a few thoughts from a complete amateur.

 

[emailrob]

Thanks for the reply. Yes, the dish is actually about 2/3 of the way up the house, roughly level with the bedroom ceiling (it has access from a flat roof on a new extension so is relatively safe)

I am aware it may not be high enough, now pointing the right way. It's 10 mins work to find out, otherwise I may pay over 100 squid to find this out!

Cheers

 

[big-all]

 

[wedge69]

Here is an alternative for you....

We jsut moved house and the analogue signal is terrible.

The previous owners of the house had Sky and left the dish and cable.

We didn't want to pay subscription for Sky so got hold of a Freeview box. Unfortunately the existing aerial was not good enough, and we would have had to get hold of a wideband aerial.

Then I found out about Freesat from Sky. It's their version of Freeview. You can either pay a one off fee of £150 for a dish, box, installation and viewing card, or just pay £20 for the card.

I paid £20 for the card and got a Sky box off a mate from work (I think you can pick them up on eBay for around £40).

So we got crystal clear digital tele for a one off fee of £20.

Am I allowed to post weblinks on here? If so someone give me a shout and I will post a link to the freesat site.....Sky make it quite hard to find.

 

[emailrob]

hmm interesting alternative. We do have a sky box from our old house which still works (I think).

Freesat doesn't (I believe) have E4, which is a fave of the wife's. However it's certainly a cheap option I might consider as well.

Thanks!!

 

[wedge69]

That's right, no E4 yet, though it does have the Wresteling Channel

Here's the link just incase:

http://www.freesatfromsky.com/

 

[emailrob]

Thanks. Not sure if the wife will be that impressed!!