Questions about DVB-S/ DVB-S2 and aerial Wall sockets

BiGT-

BiGT-

BiGT-

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7 May 2009
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837
Hi, I have a couple questions but ill start off with my main objective, I would like to receive freeview HD channels (BBC, ITV and LUXE) through my PC in my bedroom, we have two dishes outside, the owners before us had NTL and ArabSat, we still have the ArabSat fully working but they took the NTL box with them, in each room there is a socket on the wall for an aerial like this..

tv_aerial_wall_plate_%28400_x_300%29_%28375_x_281%29.jpg


however when I connect the aerial that used to be plugged into the NTL box into a freeview box nothing shows, but when its connected directly to the TV I get channels 1 - 5 in perfect quality, now for the questions..

1) How can I check what the socket on the walls are for/what type of connection it is?

2) With the information I supplied can you tell if its possible for me to receive the HD channels?

3) Does it matter which tv card I get, DVB-S or S2?

Thanks very much.
 
BiGT- said:
1) How can I check what the socket on the walls are for/what type of connection it is?
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It's a standard terrestrial aerial socket. Unless the previous owners haven't taken the aerial on your roof, you should get reception from it.
BiGT- said:
2) With the information I supplied can you tell if its possible for me to receive the HD channels?
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Get a DVB-S tuner and plug your satellite into it. Point it to Astra 28.2°E. You will be able to get a few unencrypted SKY-HD channels, such as BBCHD, C4HD and a few others.
BiGT- said:
3) Does it matter which tv card I get, DVB-S or S2?
Click to expand...
You can still get HD on a first gen DVB-S tuner. But some channels may need a DVB-S2.
 
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BiGT- said:
however when I connect the aerial that used to be plugged into the NTL box into a freeview box nothing shows, but when its connected directly to the TV I get channels 1 - 5 in perfect quality, now for the questions..
Click to expand...


That makes no sense. NTL would have been DVB-C and should have an F type screw connector. Sounds more like a simple UHF connection (and you can get Channels 1-5 fine) then you SHOULD be able to get freeview (DVB-T) as that uses the same UHF range..... however, you'll need to check you can get freeview in your area. My M-I-L can get analogue UHF fine, but the same aerial struggles to get freeview, until they are switched over and the power output in increased that is.
 
Could be a old analogue cable connections, they have them in Milton Keynes and a few other places were cable was installed very early on, you get 1-5 + virgin1 and a few others (hallmark) if you have a TV capable of hyperband.
 
If you have 2 dishes there should be at least 2 sepearte wires out with screw type connectors, ones arabsat whats the otehr do?

Regarding checking the sockets

yes thats a coaxial socket for terrestial type tv and could be connected to a rooftop TV aerial

or

it might just have been used for sending TV around the house with no aerial linked in

trace back to the aerial to found out.

Not sure why an NTL box would have needed an aerial lead, signal should have come in by cable along the street. If your getting channels 1-5 thats an analogue feed only and either theres no digital in that wire or its not high enough good enough digital for your freeview box. Trace it back to an aerial or confirm if its ntl's cable feed with live analgue only.


DVB-s card are good enough for now and cheap, in theory dvb-s2 is the way forward but by the time its essesntial dvb-s2 cards will be much cheaper. So dvb-s to play with , S2 if your convinced you want sattellite and dont want to change the hardware in x years time
 
nla52p.jpg


This is in my living room, as you can see by my fantastic annotation, the small image connects to my TV and I can receive the normal 1-5 channels but not when connected to my freeview box.
 
As others have said, cable can also carry analogue TV signals and is still active in some areas, though is due to be switched off soon. So, there's no DVB-T signal there at all, just the analogue channels. In other words, pretty useless nowadays :p
 
asim18 said:
Get a DVB-S tuner and plug your satellite into it. Point it to Astra 28.2°E. You will be able to get a few unencrypted SKY-HD channels, such as BBCHD, C4HD and a few others.
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C4HD isn't free,

you'll only get ITV-HD(which is only on freesat not sky), BBC-HD, LUXE-HD.
 
ok sorry Im just a bit confused (noob), so with the picture I showed above, do I just connect that cable to the DVB-S card? also is there some sort of splitter so two TVs can watch?
 
BiGT- said:
ok sorry Im just a bit confused (noob), so with the picture I showed above, do I just connect that cable to the DVB-S card? also is there some sort of splitter so two TVs can watch?
Click to expand...

The pic you posted is not satellite. It's cable TV.

You need to find the cable from your satelite dish and plug it into a DVB-S tuner.
 
ok then thanks very much for your help, I guess all there is to do is just buy and see if it works, last question, is there a splitter then so 2 TVs can watch at the same time?
 
BiGT- said:
ok then thanks very much for your help, I guess all there is to do is just buy and see if it works, last question, is there a splitter then so 2 TVs can watch at the same time?
Click to expand...
Yes, you will need to get a dual LNB for your dish. This will allow you to have two cables coming out of the dish into two separate tuners.
 
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