kustoman Posted June 14, 2010 Posted June 14, 2010 I am looking at upgrading to My Sky & trying to figure out best way to distribute signal to rest of house. Currently I have a 42" Panasonic plasma, Panasonic HD recorder, Onkyo TXSR 576 HT amp with Jamo sub sats. Bedroom has 26" Panasonic LCD with HD freeview, plus a Samsung 19" LCD in guest bedroom. All have HDMI capability. RF cable goes from main TV up to splitter in roof & out to other TV's so that they can get whatever Sky is on, quality is very average. I love the picture qwuality of HD freeview & would like to get that on Sky channels With a concrete floor & limited access for pulling more cables up from main TV, due to 3 RF cables, power & speaker cables etc already sqeezed in all in the corner of a hipped roof, what is my best option? - Will status quo (RF) improve with new STB - HDMI over CAT5/6, only got space for 2 cables maybe? from tv so would need a remote splitter in roof? - Wireless?? Also need to keep RF splitter as aerial for stereo receiver. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
clevedon Posted June 14, 2010 Posted June 14, 2010 RF will probably make it look worse on the other TVs. Sounds like you are limited for even more cabling. Depending on your budget which will dictate things, the price when I did it was the same price to run twin CAT6 cables, CAT6/HDMI wall pates, short HDMI cables at each end and a splitter as it was to pay $599 (or another $15 a month ongoing) for another MySky HDi and have multiroom. We ended up doing both eventually as you can see from my signature, has lots of advantages with two STB's as well.
bellapl1 Posted June 14, 2010 Posted June 14, 2010 MySky doesn't have RF out, so that limits your options.
kustoman Posted June 14, 2010 Author Posted June 14, 2010 As I understand Sky will install an RF adaptor, if required?
Ernie1553552694 Posted June 14, 2010 Posted June 14, 2010 MySky HDi does have RF out, and yes Sky will install a modulator too if you ask nicely.
Brian Ono Posted June 14, 2010 Posted June 14, 2010 With 2 my skys whats the extra damage financially with regards to monthly costs.I pay $25.00 a month extra for a standard STB .Will the vodaphone deal fund a second HDMI DECODER?.
tkr001 Posted June 14, 2010 Posted June 14, 2010 Ernie;125470 wrote: MySky HDi does have RF out, and yes Sky will install a modulator too if you ask nicely. MyskyHDi does NOT have RF out. You need a modulator. If you are currently using RF to the other TVs Mysky will look just as good (or bad) as you get currently. As mentioned above HDMI over Cat5/6 is the way to get best quality.
Ernie1553552694 Posted June 14, 2010 Posted June 14, 2010 Semantics Tony. It does have RF out if you get the modulator installed as I mentioned.
dtl1553552751 Posted June 14, 2010 Posted June 14, 2010 HDMI over cat 6 has a limited range. I think its around 20M & then the quality drops.
tkr001 Posted June 14, 2010 Posted June 14, 2010 More like 50-60M I think before running into potential problems with 1080p but even longer may be fine for 1080i which is what Sky uses for HD.
kustoman Posted June 14, 2010 Author Posted June 14, 2010 So if I go with the cat 6 option, how do I split the signal to the 2 TV's? I guess that I keep the 3 RFs (sky down, TV down, up to splitter.
Ernie1553552694 Posted June 14, 2010 Posted June 14, 2010 Make sure you install your cat6 with surgical precision, make no hard turns, and use a powered splitter. Test the cable before you even start to install, and test before you close up. It really is a bitch if it doesn't work. There are wireless options for HDMI over wireless, but they are expensive.
clevedon Posted June 14, 2010 Posted June 14, 2010 The CAT6 has to be EXACT paired lengths and it is highly recommended to have factory terminated end plugs.
Brian Ono Posted June 15, 2010 Posted June 15, 2010 clevedon;125466 wrote: RF will probably make it look worse on the other TVs. Sounds like you are limited for even more cabling. Depending on your budget which will dictate things, the price when I did it was the same price to run twin CAT6 cables, CAT6/HDMI wall pates, short HDMI cables at each end and a splitter as it was to pay $599 (or another $15 a month ongoing) for another MySky HDi and have multiroom. We ended up doing both eventually as you can see from my signature, has lots of advantages with two STB's as well. Just curious about the extra cost of 2 my skys
Ernie1553552694 Posted June 15, 2010 Posted June 15, 2010 Good idea Brian. I'm sure Sky will have some sort of deal.
clevedon Posted June 15, 2010 Posted June 15, 2010 Well we paid $599 upfront for both MySky HDi STB's ( well American Express Rewards points did - Cheers Amex! ) or you can pay $15 a month per STB "rent". So we pay Basic Sky payment plus Movies, Sport and Rugby Channel and normal multiroom charge which is $25 and you get the HD ticket free for both HDi boxes. Two PVR's is great when you have kids as well, the HDD's never get full which we found with only one, ended up deleting recorded stuff we hadn't got to watch yet to fit other stuff in. Don't know how you would get on with the Vodaphone deal though, you would want to talk to someone high up the chain I would imagine.
kustoman Posted June 15, 2010 Author Posted June 15, 2010 Was that $599 for 2 or each, just wondering if it ended up being a special deal?
clevedon Posted June 16, 2010 Posted June 16, 2010 No, $599 each. We got the MySky Mk1 when it first came out 4 odd years ago and when HDi was going to be released they asked if we would like that - yes please! So they came out and installed it for free, so kept the old one for multiroom. Then late last year we upgraded that to another HDi also with no installation fee and six months free Sky Sport magazine. If you have, or know anyone with Amex rewards points, it is 95,000 points to redeem for MySky HDi. Beats paying for it out of your own pocket I reckon.
Brian Ono Posted June 17, 2010 Posted June 17, 2010 Sounds like a starter for me I cant stand watching the picture from the standard decoder.
got tinnitus Posted June 17, 2010 Posted June 17, 2010 Brian Ono;125680 wrote: Sounds like a starter for me I cant stand watching the picture from the standard decoder. Watching Sky content via the standard decoder, S-video out into a Panasonic HiDef recorder then out via HDMI 1080i into my Pio 50".... Looks pretty good. I have no want to upgrade to My Sky HD
SpongyP Posted June 17, 2010 Posted June 17, 2010 got tinnitus;125687 wrote: Watching Sky content via the standard decoder, S-video out into a Panasonic HiDef recorder then out via HDMI 1080i into my Pio 50".... Looks pretty good. I have no want to upgrade to My Sky HD You wouldn't get 5.1 sound would you?
got tinnitus Posted June 17, 2010 Posted June 17, 2010 You wouldn't get 5.1 sound would you? 5.1. Whats that? 2 channel only here!!
Boris1553552671 Posted June 17, 2010 Posted June 17, 2010 got tinnitus;125687 wrote: Watching Sky content via the standard decoder, S-video out into a Panasonic HiDef recorder then out via HDMI 1080i into my Pio 50".... Looks pretty good. I have no want to upgrade to My Sky HD No HD sport :eek: B.
kustoman Posted July 14, 2010 Author Posted July 14, 2010 Got the My Sky yesterday, with the HD ticket & RF modulator until I get around to pulling cables, results are good, even managed to reprogramme Logitech 525 remote to do most things, live pause & coloured buttons all work, only thing I havent got is the planner botton. The Sky tech hooked up HDMI to TV but left scart to component cable as well ??? Should not be required??? He also suggested to run a digital audio cable to reciever (Onkyo TXSR576) rather than passing HDMI through the reciever. I guess that lets us use the TV speakers without turning on reciever (wife likes that, full HT sound can be a bit much at times) HDMI through the receiver would allow me to record HD to the Pana HD recorder though. Any comments please.
clevedon Posted July 15, 2010 Posted July 15, 2010 I think the copy protection on the HD content will let you record it, just not view it. Sky Sports might be an exception, someone here will know more.
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