Does this faceplate have a SKY connector?

[lamanetu]

I dont get it. I live in a building where other people have sky through a communal dish (nobody can install its own dish) so Im thinking that means every apartment has a faceplate with a normal tv aerial entry and a satellite entry. But mine (see the picture attached) seems to have 2 aerial entries. The wire that you see is plugged into an aerial entry and it looks like the one next to it is also an aerial entry but I cant plug my sky wire into it (back at my old place the satellite entry looked different, it was coming out of the wall a bit). Now im thinking that my wall faceplate must have a satellite entry since other people in the building can get sky through a communal dish right? It cant be that im the only one that does not have this. I read somewhere that both aerial and satellite signal come down from top of the building through 1 wire and the faceplate just splits the signal into 2, hence the 2 entries. So is it the case that I just need to call an electrician and ask him to replace the current faceplate (which seems to be twin aerial) with one that has a sat/aerial entry? That should be easy to do if the satellite signal comes down through just 1 wire. He just needs to split the signals right? Alternatively is there a way of connecting my sky box to that empty entry to you see in the picture? Appreciate your help. Thanks.

Untitled

• lamanetu
• 21 Nov 2012
• 1

 

[ilikewatchingtv]

The screw on connection usually used for sky is called an "f connector" if you already have a lead with an f connector at each end then you need an f to male coaxial adapter, if you don't have a lead then you need one with an f connector on one end and a male coaxial plug on the other. Both are available cheaply on ebay.

 

[rjm2k]

do communal setups like this not use a different kind of receiver? I remember a large block of flats I used to live in there was the option for sky but you had to hire a receiver from the association / have something switched on to feed your face plate. what happens if you plug your normal aerial into that other socket, do you get normal tv reception still?

 

[kjacko]

'Multi dwelling units' afaik only really differ in that they distribute and boost the signal to multiple lodgings.

Are the two ports definitely different or do they both offer sky? Could it be that its a dual feed straight from the MDU for sky plus? (not sure it's possible tbh)

 

[plugwash]

Basically there are two main types of communal sattelite system, sky reffer to them as a "shared dish system" and an "integrated reception system".

A "shared dish system" only distributes sattelite signals and is completely independent from any TV or radio aerial system, the dish is fitted with a quattro LNB and connected to a multiswitch and then feeds from the multiswitch go directly to the sattelite boxes.

An "integrated reception system" provides sattelite, TV and radio services. All of the signals are fed into a suitable multiswitch and then feeds from the multiswitch are taken to the flats. In the flats the signal is split using a triplexer built into the faceplate. Depending on the age of the system there may also be a second cable connected to a second F connector on the faceplate to support twin tuner boxes.

It's possible you have an "integrated reception system" and that some doofus has replaced the correct faceplate with a two outlet TV plate. It's also possible that the plate you see has no relation to the sattelite system at all either because your sattelite system is a "shared dish system" or because it's an old plate from before the current integrated reception system was installed.

Can you see where the wiring goes? or is it hidden internally? Have you tried asking one of the other people in your block who has sky how things are connected and in particular whether their terrestrial and sattelite connections come from the same faceplate?

It might be worth giving sky a call, if the system was sky approved then they should have a record of who installed it and be able to put you in contact with them.

I read somewhere that both aerial and satellite signal come down from top of the building through 1 wire and the faceplate just splits the signal into 2

While you can get faceplates that split a sky signal from a terrestrial signal the one in your picture isn't one.

The screw on connection usually used for sky is called an "f connector" if you already have a lead with an f connector at each end then you need an f to male coaxial adapter, if you don't have a lead then you need one with an f connector on one end and a male coaxial plug on the other. Both are available cheaply on ebay.

Since sky boxes send DC up the coaxial cable i would NOT do this without knowing what is on the other end of the cables.

do communal setups like this not use a different kind of receiver?

The receiver is the same.

However from what I can gather if you order sky on an "integrated reception system" (not sure if the same applies to a "shared dish system" or not) sky will normally subcontract the work to the company who installed the system because normal sky installers are not able to troubleshoot such systems.