Getting Sky Digital TV on 2 TV's without getting another decoder

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OnceBitten

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#12064 26-Feb-2007 13:34

Hi - I am completly new to this, so this is my 'virgin' post.

We are about to move into a new house that has Sky TV wired to the living room & main bedroom (plugs are already in the wall). We currently have Sky TV Digital and are getting them out to put the satellite dish on the roof when we move.
The problem is we are moving to an area that doesn't get normal free to air TV, as we are out of range of the transmitter.

We would like to be able to get Sky TV on the TV in the bedroom - without having to get a 2nd decoder.
I believe you can buy a 'transformer' or a 'splitter' from Dick Smiths...etc... but that will only allow you to watch the same channel as is being watched in the living room, and this defeats the purpose. Is there a way around this (so we can watch 2 different Sky channels at the same time) or is a 2nd decoder the only answer??

any help would be much appreciated!

many thanks

Nick & Maria

sbiddle

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#61987 26-Feb-2007 13:41

A second decoder is the only option to watch two different channels. If you want to watch the same channel on multiple TV sets you can either use the composite output and cable it up or use a cheap wireless video sender.

Just be wary of 2.4GHz video senders though - they use the ISM band so can potentially interfere with cordless phones or WiFi routers.

OnceBitten

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#61992 26-Feb-2007 13:48

Thanks... I suspected that might be the case..... It's just a pain [word substituted] that Sky charge $25 extra a month for a 2nd decoder.....

thanks again

[Moderator edit (bradstewart): Removed naughty word]

cyril7

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#62001 26-Feb-2007 14:34

As per usual you you can distribute the RF out of the Sky decoder to the Bedroom but you will only see whats on that decoder. You can also concider buying a DVB-S decoder that will give you access to the new upcoming FreeView service. That will get you TV1,2,3,4 MaoriTV and whatever else they have planned for the service (TVNZ plans a news and general journal channel by the end of the year).

Non certifed boxs for this service start at around $130. Certed ones currently are not available, but certification just means that the will support FreeViews EPG, Interactive channels and automatic updating. At this point I personally am not worried about these features especially if they over double the price of a STB.

To use this service you will need to split the feed from the sky dish to feed the FTA decoder.

Cyril

wazzab

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#62406 1-Mar-2007 11:15

I have a similar setup, and I'm able to view free to air Ch 1,2,3,Prime,Maori etc, then the one sky channel that I have playing on the decoder on the lounge. This works well but cannot watch two differnet pay sky channels on lounge and bedroom tv. We only use the one feed from the output of the sky box into the bedroom tv. The SKy box has both the Dish feed and the house arial going into, so I guess it manages to pass the free-to-air channels from the normal ariel thru the output for the second room. Works well and i have the bedroom tv set up as Ch 1,2,3,4 and then Ch 5 is always what Sky is set to. A remote extender is also in the loop so i can change channels on the sky box from the bedroom

lchiu7

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#62455 1-Mar-2007 16:16

OnceBitten:
Thanks... I suspected that might be the case..... It's just a pain [word substituted] that Sky charge $25 extra a month for a 2nd decoder.....

thanks again

[Moderator edit (bradstewart): Removed naughty word]

TCL charge $19.95 I think for a second digital decoder but only $9.95 for an analogue decoder. You can receive most of the channels with the analogue decoder apart from the really specialist ones like FoodTV and WorldTV.

That's what I do to be able to watch two nonFTA channels at the same time. Of course you need TCL cable :)

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wirelessluva

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#62470 1-Mar-2007 19:07

I have Sky UHF in bedroom - only $9 / month as tandem

http://www.skytv.co.nz/index.cfm?pageID=473&script=skyform&what=Tandem%20UHF%20Decoder

Mighty Ape

Shop now at Mighty Ape (affiliate link).

joe5600

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#62476 1-Mar-2007 20:15

just a idear i used to get a output sliter plug it in to the sky decoder run one coax cable to the tv in the living room and the other cable to the tv in my bed room and get a remote control extender then i can change the changels in my bed room you can get 4 way sliters so u can watch what ever is on the sky decoder in 4 rooms.

but now what i have is 2 decoders it's cheap enough