Sky Digital Set Top Box & Twinhan PCI CARD

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madcircle

31 posts

Geek

Topic # 14784 20-Jul-2007 09:09

ok ive just brought a TwinHan PCI Card and im very very green when it comes to satellite tv as ive only just become interested in it. i have had sky digital for about 2 years now and want to receive freeview on my pc in another room. Running mediaportal under VISTA i managed to pick up all the freeview channels. i want to plug a splitter in to share the LNB between the sky box and the PCI card but am not having any luck. i have read in another thread that this is not possible due to polarity???

when i plug them both in i cannot get reception but alnoe they work fine

can anyone shed some light onthis matter?

sbiddle

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Reply # 78931 20-Jul-2007 09:54

Yip the polarity is the issue. Essentiall Sky and Freeview transmit from the same satellite but use different polarity so the LNB you have on your dish needs to look at V polarity for one and H for the other meaning you can't use both at the same time. This issue should be resolved in two weeks time with all the rumors saying that Sky will be making their long awaited polarity change on the 1st August so both Freeview and Sky will be the same.

madcircle

31 posts

Geek

Reply # 78972 20-Jul-2007 12:31

thanks for the info!! i have since swapped ports on the switch and have found that the sky digital and freeview will work simultaneously but only if the PCI card is actively receiving, otherwise is says no signal on the sky box. seems very strange!!

SOO...

the pci card will only work through one port (on the switch) but not the other, however the sky will work on both but when plugged into the same port the pci card will not work on it wont receive anything unless the pci card is actively receiving on the other port.

mruane

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Reply # 78982 20-Jul-2007 13:40

Often only one of the ports on the switch passes power to the LNB and this is what controls the polarity. The SKY decoder need to be connected to the port that is passing the power so that it can control the LNB.

Cheers Mike

allstarnz

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Reply # 78985 20-Jul-2007 14:10

yeah, mike is right. I had the same thing with a passive splitter. Originally i had it so that the PC was the switcher. I changed it and have no issues. I have found the best way to fix this when you want to watch Freeview, change the Sky box channel to 888 (h-pol test)

madcircle

31 posts

Geek

Reply # 78990 20-Jul-2007 14:21

cheers for the 411 guys! can i then get a splitter which allows powering the LNB off both ports?

madcircle

31 posts

Geek

Reply # 78992 20-Jul-2007 14:30

found them @ http://www.freeviewshop.co.nz

EEEEHHHHHHHHH!!! :)

mruane

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Reply # 78998 20-Jul-2007 15:17

You may have issues using a switch that passes voltage on both ports. I guess they have diodes in then to keep the DC seperate but essentially the device sending the highest voltage will control the polarity so if you are recording from both decoders one will probably fail to get a signal. Not sure, I have not done this - others can probably offer more pragmatic advice.

Of course, after the 1st August Freeview and Sky should be on the same polarity anyway, so the problem should go away. That is what I am waiting for. Waiting may save you the cost of the additional switch!

Cheers Mike

AdamG

3 posts

Wannabe Geek

Reply # 81437 7-Aug-2007 12:37

Can I just clarify something please?

I am new to NZ (from the UK). I am renting a house (since mid Jun) that has a satellite dish which I am assuming is SKY as they sent me a letter saying the previous tenant was a subscriber blah blah...

My TV has a built in Digital decoder (bought in the UK)

As of the 1st August, should I now be simply able to plug the feed from the satellite dish into my TV and pick up Freeview? (I have no SKY equipment connected).

Thanks in advance

Adam

sbiddle

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Reply # 81440 7-Aug-2007 12:50

AdamG: Can I just clarify something please?

I am new to NZ (from the UK). I am renting a house (since mid Jun) that has a satellite dish which I am assuming is SKY as they sent me a letter saying the previous tenant was a subscriber blah blah...

My TV has a built in Digital decoder (bought in the UK)

As of the 1st August, should I now be simply able to plug the feed from the satellite dish into my TV and pick up Freeview? (I have no SKY equipment connected).

Thanks in advance

Adam

No..

Your TV will have a decoder for the UK Freeview DVB-T service. This is terrestrial digital not satellite.

New Zealand launches it's terrestrial DVB-T Freeview service in February next year. It's highly unlikely your TV will pick this up then either since NZ is using DVB-T with MPEG4 compression vs the DVB-T MPEG2 service that has been rolled out elsewhere (including the UK and Australia).

AdamG

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Reply # 81441 7-Aug-2007 12:55

Thanks for the quick response.

I thought it was too much to ask for it to work! I mean, why should the world use one standard in the digital age....

I will just have to put up with analogue for a while until I decide whether to get my sky or not. Anyone heard any rumours about special offers to reduce the $600 outlay?

openmedia

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Reply # 81472 7-Aug-2007 16:42

AdamG:
Thanks for the quick response.
I thought it was too much to ask for it to work! I mean, why should the world use one standard in the digital age....

Here in NZ we are starting with the standard that the UK is starting to move to.

AdamG:
I will just have to put up with analogue for a while until I decide whether to get my sky or not. Anyone heard any rumours about special offers to reduce the $600 outlay?

If you already have a dish then you just need an STB. You can get and "official" one for NZ$300, or take a look at http://freeviewshop.co.nz for cheaper alternatives.

Generally known online as OpenMedia, now working for Red Hat New Zealand as a Solution Architect for all things Linux, Virtual and of course Cloud. Still playing with MythTV and digital media on the side.