View Full Version : Sky being installed on Wednesday
poolking
10-01-2005, 18:21
Just a quick question.
I'm having Sky installed on Wednesday, what they put inside? Does the cable come in directly from the dish or is there some sort of box installed inside like NTLs white box which the external cable goes into?
ian@huth
10-01-2005, 18:23
No box, cable straight through the wall.
paulyoung666
10-01-2005, 18:23
they drill a hole thru the wall and run the cable , now if you wanted to be clever then you could put a coax point in and ask them to wire to that and then run a fly lead to your box :)
edit :- dammit you were quick :D :D
poolking
10-01-2005, 18:29
Thanks for that, I don't have a coax point. :D
Another question, do I have to have an aerial hooked up to receive BBC, or does it come through the dish and get unscrambled by the viewing card?
Sorry about the dumb sounding questions. :D
ian@huth
10-01-2005, 18:32
BBC comes through the dish and is not scrambled, works without having the viewing card inserted.
paulyoung666
10-01-2005, 18:32
Thanks for that, I don't have a coax point. :D
Another question, do I have to have an aerial hooked up to receive BBC, or does it come through the dish and get unscrambled by the viewing card?
Sorry about the dumb sounding questions. :D
all the channels come thru the dish , of course if you have an aerial as well then you can record from that as well as watch sky or vice versa :)
edit :- beaten again , i must up my typing speed :D :D :D
poolking
10-01-2005, 18:44
Fingers crossed I can get a signal from where I want the dish installed, then there will only be a short run of cable. :D
Can some one rep paulyoung666 for me please, I can't do it got to spread the karma to others first. :D
I've also green repped ianatruth as well. :D
paulyoung666
10-01-2005, 18:49
Fingers crossed I can get a signal from where I want the dish installed, then there will only be a short run of cable. :D
Can some one rep paulyoung666 for me please, I can't do it got to spread the karma to others first. :D
I've also green repped ianatruth as well. :D
you will have to put with where the installer wants to put the dish i am afraid , it has to be line of site to the satellite with no obstructions , you should be able to get an idea of where if you look at neighbours dihes , if there are any about of course :erm: :D :D
ian@huth
10-01-2005, 23:28
you will have to put with where the installer wants to put the dish i am afraid , it has to be line of site to the satellite with no obstructions , you should be able to get an idea of where if you look at neighbours dihes , if there are any about of course :erm: :D :D
I have always found Sky installers very good at putting the dish where you want it, providing it has line of sight of the satellite as Paul said. They have also always run the cable where I wanted it, usually having the dish near a downpipe and running the cable down behind the pipe. If you treat the installers in the right way and ask in the right way they will usually comply with your wishes.
paulyoung666
10-01-2005, 23:30
I have always found Sky installers very good at putting the dish where you want it, providing it has line of sight of the satellite as Paul said. They have also always run the cable where I wanted it, usually having the dish near a downpipe and running the cable down behind the pipe. If you treat the installers in the right way and ask in the right way they will usually comply with your wishes.
tea / coffee and choccie biccies helps ;) :D :D :D
tea / coffee and choccie biccies helps ;) :D :D :D
Helped me no end. :D :D :D :D
poolking
11-01-2005, 10:35
Crap got no biscuits. :D
Thanks for that, I don't have a coax point. :D
Another question, do I have to have an aerial hooked up to receive BBC, or does it come through the dish and get unscrambled by the viewing card?
Sorry about the dumb sounding questions. :D
We have a dish and no aerial (rotten analogue terrestrial reception in our area and no freeview). All was fine and dandy until last night when the Old Firm Scottish FA Cup derby was due to come on ... and the Beeb terminated the broadcast, with a testcard message saying this programme is not available on all digital services, and to view it we should switch to analogue BBC1. So much for the digital revolution. :( Just as well I wasn't particularly interested in watching the game!
Of course this is because the BBC only had the rights to broadcast the highlights in Scotland and satellite does not respect borders. It will not be a long term problem because the Beeb has already stated that it will take this into consideration when negotiating such rights in future. That said, they lost '24' to Sky principally because they are now broadcasting unscrambled and therefore beam their entire schedule for free across the whole of Europe - not necessarily a good thing from the point of view of American programme makers who may want to sell rights separately in each country.
So, if you want to guarantee that you can see every single programme on the main five channels, get an aerial as well. Also useful if you want to video one programme and watch another, of course.
poolking
12-01-2005, 08:53
Got my installation time an hour ago, between 12 and 3. :D
poolking
12-01-2005, 17:33
They arrived soon after 12, installation went without a hitch about 20 minutes and they were done. :D
Now the fun of cancelling ntl tv tomorrow. :D
paulyoung666
12-01-2005, 19:08
did you manage to get the dish in stalled where you wanted it ????????? , and was it a neat job as well ?????????? :)
poolking
12-01-2005, 20:50
did you manage to get the dish in stalled where you wanted it ????????? , and was it a neat job as well ?????????? :)
Yes I did manage to get installed where I wanted, didn't even have to ask them. :D
Yes it was a neat job. :D
Yes I did manage to get installed where I wanted, didn't even have to ask them. :D
Yes it was a neat job. :D
Welcome to the world of proper DTV. :p:
Wake up that red button finger & tell him he's not redundant after all! :D
poolking
13-01-2005, 19:36
Welcome to the world of proper DTV. :p:
Wake up that red button finger & tell him he's not redundant after all! :D
Had a look at the interactive, I'll probably use it when "24" premiers at the end of the month. :D
poolking
19-01-2005, 20:48
Do the mute and volume buttons actually work on the sky remote?
Janusian
19-01-2005, 21:11
I switched to Sky Digital from ntl about 8 months ago, there is no comparison.
For Sky
Red Button works quickly
Better picture quality
Has never gone offline
Excellent TV guide that works quickly
One remote does pretty much everything
For ntl
No dish
I also have Sky+ now, which is quite simply fantastic. If you are going for Sky get this when you have the first install as it is relatively expensive later on. Still worth every penny though. Pause live TV, rewind Live TV. Record two premium channels at the same time.
We still have BB and phone with ntl, and the overall cost was little different.
paulyoung666
19-01-2005, 21:43
Do the mute and volume buttons actually work on the sky remote?
do you mean to work your tv ?????????? , if you do then you need to look here (http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/satellite/remote/) , this should get you set up for your sky remote to control your tv , albeit in a basic form :erm: :D :D
poolking
20-01-2005, 07:50
Ok, but the code for my TV isn't listed its a LODOS X28, is there a compatible code on that list?
paulyoung666
20-01-2005, 17:34
Ok, but the code for my TV isn't listed its a LODOS X28, is there a compatible code on that list?
i might be wrong but hitachi springs to mind :)
Ok, but the code for my TV isn't listed its a LODOS X28, is there a compatible code on that list?
Its worth checking the manual that came with your TV, you might find the code in there, as they are industry standard codes.
paulyoung666
20-01-2005, 18:06
Its worth checking the manual that came with your TV, you might find the code in there, as they are industry standard codes.
dont think so , you need the code that works the tv using the sky remote , it is a bit of a guessing game unless you do a bit of googling , for instance my pacific from asda uses phillips codes :)
poolking
20-01-2005, 22:48
Ok I'll have a play tomorrow. :)
Counting LEDs sounds fun. :D
Had to do this too - luckily I was pleasantly surprised as there's a code for our Blue Sky TV we bought in France several years ago.
Installing Sky took about 5 minutes (we'd already got a dish on the wall... a leftover from previous owner :D ) - haven't looked back since.
TheBlueRaja
02-02-2005, 16:43
Hi all,
Getting my Sky+ installed 2 weeks today, just a couple of questions, firstly - how big is the hole they drill in the wall? That sounds - well - nasty.... (I have thick sandstone walls.)
Do you think they could instead drill right through the very bottom of the window or something?
Also mentioned was a coax point, is that instead off the Analogue ariel, as in disconnect that - connect the sky instead?
Hi all,
Getting my Sky+ installed 2 weeks today, just a couple of questions, firstly - how big is the hole they drill in the wall? That sounds - well - nasty.... (I have thick sandstone walls.)
Do you think they could instead drill right through the very bottom of the window or something?
Also mentioned was a coax point, is that instead off the Analogue ariel, as in disconnect that - connect the sky instead?
The installer put our cable through an existing hole in the wooden window frame, which I assume was there from a previous aerial (there was nothing at all on the roof when we moved in). This was good because we have a wooden house, so drilling the walls for any reason should not be undertaken lightly for fear of letting damp in, but not so good because we will eventually want the window frames replaced for double glazing ... d'oh!
The installer should come through the wall wherever you ask him, within reason. Unlike NTL they don't put a box on the inner wall, it's just straight through the wall and into the STB. If you have a coax point on the wall already you might get them to wire the cable from the dish to it but they would have to disconnect your roof aerial from that at the same time. If you really want to have a box on the wall, you had better install one yourself before he arrives. Won't be difficult to do as you won't have to wire anything up to it, just fix it to the wall ... but check to make sure he is happy to wire up to it before you go to the trouble of installing it!
TheBlueRaja
02-02-2005, 17:46
Hmm,
Well i dont mind him using the existing Coax, that would be a brilliant solution in fact, problem is that im in a block of flats and im not sure if there is one Ariel for each flat - or - each flat has its own ariel.
Other than that, i have double glazing, with a wooden Frame so i think i will get him to go through that, rather than a 30cm deep Sandstone block.
paulyoung666
02-02-2005, 17:50
Hi all,
Getting my Sky+ installed 2 weeks today, just a couple of questions, firstly - how big is the hole they drill in the wall? That sounds - well - nasty.... (I have thick sandstone walls.)
the hole will be no bigger than 3/8" of an inch , i dont see why they wouldnt go through the frame if you want them to :)
TheBlueRaja
02-02-2005, 17:55
I had to check the ruler to see what 3/8" was :D
Sounds like a plan though - BT did it round the back with the phone line so, should be OK round the front.
Ta
paulyoung666
02-02-2005, 18:01
I had to check the ruler to see what 3/8" was :D
Sounds like a plan though - BT did it round the back with the phone line so, should be OK round the front.
Ta
old school baby :D :D :D :D
about 8-9 mm if you must go metric :disturbd: :D
TheBlueRaja
02-02-2005, 18:02
Im surprised you can remember at that age :D
paulyoung666
02-02-2005, 18:16
Im surprised you can remember at that age :D
:redcard: :fit: :knock: :PP: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:
poolking
10-02-2005, 12:34
Just an update nearly one month, all I can say is that Sky is bloody brilliant, interactive top notch, great picture, only once or twice I've a pixellation and the picture break up, but that was only on the adverts so no great loss there. :D
Hopefully my Sky installation today goes a bit better than yesterday.
Guys came had a look at where the cables were to go and a nice clear pathway the upstairs was prepared for them. They took one look and said they couldn't do it. The only way they would run it was externally (black cable on a white painted house...)
So after a bit of umming and awwing they agreed to come back today if we had arranged draw cables for them. All they need to do now is mount the dish and drop off the Sky boxes.
Oh well that was one of the most torturous afternoons I've experienced in a long time. :(
After the crew appeared they thought all the wiring had been done and all they had to do was drop off the boxes. When they found out that they still had to do the wiring and dish install they weren't happy and tried to get a new date to do it. :td:
Eventually they agreed to do it and I ran in the cables from the outside to the house while they mounted the dish in the wrong place... After spending a couple of hours yesterday trimming back trees so the dish could be mounted further back from the front of the house and confirming this with them they go ahead and put it where they wanted to in the first place.
Finally after that they left the Sky+ box showing BBC1 england and missing most of the other channels. The guy shrugged and said it shouldn't do that so phone Sky. :mad:
On the plus side Sky answered the phone very quickly and diagnosed the problem within a few seconds. A couple of minutes later and BBC1 Scotland is showing in all its glory :tu:
Now to continue playing with the Sky+ box. It does have a nasty habit to appear as if it isn't responding to the remote and then do 5-6 commands at the same time :(
Still that seems to be a known issue with the Amstrad boxes and the majority of the time its V. fast going through the menus. :)
Now just to learn the channel numbers again :erm:
TheBlueRaja
10-02-2005, 18:10
I am going to beg for a Pace box, given what i've heard about the Amstrads its worth the humiliation.
If you sign up there is a 50/50 chance you'll get a pace.
The first lot of people yesterday had all paces in their van and said thats all they have been getting for the last few weeks. Todays installers had only amstrads.
They did say it looked as though Pace were going to be getting more of the installs from now on.
TheBlueRaja
10-02-2005, 19:31
YAY!
Im gonna refuse it if its an Amstrad, tell them i'll wait until they have one in if necessary (and i mean it).
poolking
11-02-2005, 12:37
Later in the year I'm going to upgrade to Sky+, so Amstrads are best avoided then? It was the same when Sky Digital was launched the amstrad boxes were crap then, I was one of the fist to sign up for Sky Digital, but cancelled because there was a 5 week delay.
TheBlueRaja
15-02-2005, 11:42
Well, first screw up by Sky - they haven't sent me my card, I phoned up yesterday thinking, i'm sure they said something about a card, to check and they said that they would send me one out - but that it will take 3 to 5 days.
Given that it gets installed tomorrow, i'm gonna have sky for a few days and not be able to watch it. :mad:
Something tells me this aint gonna be a smooth install. (Special heights team req etc..)
ian@huth
15-02-2005, 11:48
Well, first screw up by Sky - they haven't sent me my card, I phoned up yesterday thinking, i'm sure they said something about a card, to check and they said that they would send me one out - but that it will take 3 to 5 days.
Given that it gets installed tomorrow, i'm gonna have sky for a few days and not be able to watch it. :mad:
Something tells me this aint gonna be a smooth install. (Special heights team req etc..)Hopefully it will arrive in time but if it doesn't there are plenty of channels that don't need a viewing card inserted although most of those may probably not appeal to you.
TheBlueRaja
15-02-2005, 11:53
Hmm,
I was told that you need to have a viewing card inserted to see anything.
So i presume i can still see the freeview type channels - BBC etc...
ian@huth
15-02-2005, 11:56
Hmm,
I was told that you need to have a viewing card inserted to see anything.
So i presume i can still see the freeview type channels - BBC etc...You can see the Free to Air channels but not the Free to View. Just Gopogled a site that appears to explain this at http://www.wickonline.com/fta.htm
Here's another complete list:
http://www.lyngsat.com/28east.html
You can receive any FTA (free-to-air) channel (listed in 'raffle ticket yellow') without a card. You will need a card to watch any of the FTV (free-to-view) channels - notably ITV1/2 and Channel 5.
You don't need a Sky system to receive the FTA channels - any digital satellite receiver will do. If you have a hunt around Lyngsat you'll find plenty more FTA channels from other satellites too.
TheBlueRaja
15-02-2005, 13:05
Nice one fellas.
Well, thats at least something.
Ta.
TheBlueRaja
16-02-2005, 10:31
:mad:
Knew it was too good to be true, Sky changed the install date from Today until the 5th of March without letting me know.
And i cannot make that date as i wont be available, and she cant change the date because its a specialist heights team thats booked, so they need to send an e-mail to another department to change the date which could take upto 7 days before they reply to me.
So i dont have a clue whats going to happen now.
NTL were never that bad.
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