Advice Needed Dual LNBs wired into 2 different rooms - is this wrong?

John Bergqvist

John Bergqvist

New Member
My Satellite Setup
Single Sat - Dual LNB - 28.2E to DVB-S2 tuner card in PC.
My Location
Oxfordshire
A property I am thinking of moving into has an (to me anyway) unusual set up. The property has been recently renovated (not by me) and the renovator has wired the LNB cables from the dish in as follows:

The Satellite is a standard Sky minidish with a quad LNB, two of those are cabled up. However one of the two has been wired into the living room, and the other wired into the bedroom, both into proper faceplates as well I should add. I haven't been able to check for certain but it looks like they're wired in through the attic, and then down into the two rooms. Surely though for a modern satellite setup this is incorrect, as most Sky+ & Freesat boxes require you to use both the LNB inputs, which obviously can't be done if one of them is physically in another room!

So basically, is it correct (for most modern usage with a modern Sky or Freesat box), that the two LNB cables should be wired so they come out together, from the same point? I notice the only TV aerial point has also been wired not into the living room, but to the bedroom which also seems a bit counter productive... Due to the layout & doors etc. you can't simply use an extension cable without it being extremely cumbersome...
 
John Bergqvist said:
Surely though for a modern satellite setup this is incorrect, as most Sky+ & Freesat boxes
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Hello John and welcome to the forum. Not incorrect exactly, as the person who requested the renovation may have only required separate one tuner receivers in the living room and bedroom and didn't want to use the aerial. I don't (at present) possess a recording capable set top box for instance, being a bit of a techno luddite if that's not an oxymoron. I'm not sure what the current UK building codes require for satellite connectivity however...
 
sonnetpete said:
Hello John and welcome to the forum. Not incorrect exactly, as the person who requested the renovation may have only required separate one tuner receivers in the living room and bedroom and didn't want to use the aerial. I don't (at present) possess a recording capable set top box for instance, being a bit of a techno luddite if that's not an oxymoron. I'm not sure what the current UK building codes require for satellite connectivity however...
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Can we have an English translation of that!
The previous owner obviously didn´t have decoders with recording capability, does´t make him a bad person though. As for the terrestrial feed only being in the bedroom, maybe that does. I don´t believe there is a " code " for TV or Satellite cabling for domestic situations, ( other than safety codes ) so think it´s down to personal preference.
And Pete, I don´t think your any kind of moron, let alone an oxy one.
Sorry John, should have started with welcome to the forum as well
 
There is no major problem other than changing the wallplate in the living room to add Freeview (DTT TV) to that room. Merely cut into that cable in the attic and fit a diplexer with an additional TV aerial input - this will add the DTT signal to the satellite cable and then split the signals in the living room with a diplexing wallplate.
 
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davemurgtroyd said:
There is no major problem other than changing the wallplate in the living room to add Freeview (DTT TV) to that room. Merely cut into that cable in the attic and fit a diplexer with an additional TV aerial input - this will add the DTT signal to the satellite cable and then split the signals in the living room with a diplexing wallplate.
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That leaves me skeptical as i'm wary of interference/quality loss through carrying two or more signals down 1 cable. I would prefer to keep the three (Sat 1, Sat 2, aerial) in each of their own cables. Hopefully all three go into the attic and then down into their current positions. If i'm lucky, the electrician has left some wiggle room in whatever hole the Sateliite cable goes down into the living room, so that I can then push the 2nd sat cable & DTT cable also into that hole and then just use a 3 socket faceplate to attach them all to.
 
Diplexing the uhf signal into one of the sat feeds wont cause any issues what so ever providing you use a decent diplexer like a Global Invacom one. The worst thing that would occur is a slight drop in signal strength due to insertion loss on the diplexer itself, although this is highly unlikely to cause any major issues if the signal is fairly strong to start with.

Worst case scenario is if the uhf signal is too strong, this may cause issues which can be solved by just installing an attenuator on the uhf input.

I would also like to point out that most three/four socket faceplates will only have the connection for one or two cables as it will be expected that sat 1 will have a combined sat/uhf signal.

I would also like to point out its very likely that you will not be able to pull three cables through as its likely that if the cable has to pass through a solid structure that the hole will not be big enough for three cables.
 
Manicscrewdriver said:
Diplexing the uhf signal into one of the sat feeds wont cause any issues what so ever providing you use a decent diplexer like a Global Invacom one.
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I used to entertain purist views about leading the 28.2E fringe signals via separate coax cables all the way to the receiver.
Then when hard-pressed for sharing the signal in many rooms, I got a distribution unit (which does diplexing) and fed the mixed signal around the house to de-plexing wall plates.
And as described by the other posters, the signal quality is to all extents unaffected, only the absolute signal strength has gone ever-so-slightly down.

Signal Q is everything.
I also have an installation at work with an Inverto Red single LNB on a CM100 feeding a cable run that includes > 100m cabling and a diplexer-deplexer combination + several cable transitions.
I have this wierd signal reading On my Sky+ HD box: Signal strength: 0%. Quality: 80%.
And workable reception.

So dixpleing of reasonable quality is nothing to be afraid about.
Bad cabling is much worse.
 
I have this wierd signal reading On my Sky+ HD box: Signal strength: 0%. Quality: 80%.
And workable reception.
Click to expand...

That will be the quality receivers supplied by Sky :D

Some Sky receivers do throw a strange signal reading up if the signal quality drops below 55dB for some unknown reason. I used to see it now and then on some of the high rise block of flats i used to look after before i left the profession.
 
Exactly which profession? I know a few people who used to " cruise " tower blocks, not all electrically trained:D
 
I used to install IRS and SMATV systems, it all went pear shaped after digital switch over finished in the UK. Wages dropped through the floor in my area due to the amount of unemployed IRS engineers. I have been offered several IRS jobs since 2012 but the wages were crap so i turned them down. I'm earning more now doing something totally different which i enjoy. Installing sat stuff for a living gets a bit tedious after a while.

I am fully certified for IRS/SMATV, fibre optic installation and satellite broadband both here and Canada, holding provincial certification in Nova Scotia, Canada. You cant even drill a hole through a wall in Nova Scotia without this cert or without being supervised by someone who does hold one.

My proper name and other identifying information has been removed for obvious reasons :D

cert.webp
 
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