Sky technical question

I have Sky+ but it's in single feed mode as I only have one feed from a communal dish, this means normally I can only record/watch one thing at a time.

In theory then, if two channels are on the same transponder, for example BBC One HD and BBC HD, I should still be able to record both at the same time, right?

Not through the EPG as it will recognise a clash but if I did it through Sky Remote Record perhaps?

I think so yes, but presumably you'd have to split the coax from the dish to feed both tuners.

I know someone who wired up the 2 tuners of his Sky+ box to 2 satellite points in his flat but they were both coming to the same LNB output. Therefore when one of the tuners changed polarisation (or frequency range?) the channel on the other one was lost, essentially the 2 tuners were fighting it out

I guess the only way would be to try it and see, so I'll report back tomorrow!

It should work, but you just have to make sure that it doesn't de-tune the transponder on one of the tuners. I don't know how much the box users one or other of the tuners for downloading things like EPG/updates/Anytime - that could scupper it!

It may well work if you split the LNB feed between the two tuners, and enable dual-tuner mode (you might have to use a clever splitter that stops any voltage/tone going back up to the LNB for the second tuner feed). It won't do it, AFAIK, if you are still in single-tuner mode (it assumes that you can only tune to a single service with a single tuner)

However you'll have to ensure you don't schedule recordings on different H/V Hi/Lo bands at the same time as one of them will fail.

Modern Sky boxes, I believe, support Unicable LNBs (where you can feed 8 tuners via a single cable - the LNB doesn't output 1/4 of the whole band at once, it sends just the transponder you wan't on a fixed frequency "assigned" to each tuner)

(MythTV will do what you want with a single LNB feed and a single tuner AIUI - as it can record multiple services on the same transponder or mux if the tuner will send the whole transport stream to it)

It's in single feed mode so it doesn't use the second tuner at all (this could explain why if I'm recording stuff overnight, I don't seem to get anything new added to Anytime).

It seems to update the EPG while switched on and watching/recording something - it updates Sky Remote Record requests pretty much instantly.

I seem to recall having done it before, but that might have been with single feed mode turned off - to stop the software from detecting a clash rather than to use both tuners at the same time.

I'll try it both ways. It might be a case of "luck" more than anything!

I'd be interested in how this goes. I'm moving in to a flat in a couple of weeks which I fear has only a single SAT output.

My intended solution is just to use a cheapie Freeview+ box (since it's rare that we'll be recording from 2 non-Freeview stations at once). The next problem, does anybody know of a Digisender like device which allows you to select a 'channel' so I could have two running (or do they all have this ability?).

My big sister has a similar situation in her flat.

From memory, she has one TV feed & one radio feed.

She has no reason, to my knowledge, to use the radio feed.

You would think landlords would think 'Ah my tenants might use Freeview Plus in the flat, so why don't we set up the system as so!'

Or does it work a different way?

She's got SKY Plus but she can only record one thing at a time.

Surely the SKY installer should have accounted for this, because what's the point in having PVR if you can't use it properly?

(I did ask her to flag this to SKY, but she didn't, to my knowledge. Women eh?)

Freeview+ only needs a single feed in. The feed is then split internally.

Sky requires two, I believe as each tuner can only decode one transponder at a time, and the transponders are on both Horizontal and Vertical positions.

I have Tevion digisender-like device (£25 from Aldi) which has remote control support. I take the Sky remote into the bedroom and control the sky box from there. There is a small black IR transmitter connected to the transmitting digisender, stuck next to the IR receiver point on the Sky box (it's hidden, about 2 inches to the left of the centre on the front).

We get round some clashes by watching Freeview on our IDTV while recording on the Sky box or using it with the digisender. We have a dual SAT point but the installer got no signal from the second, and told me it was labelled for distribution to other rooms although we don't have SAT points in any of the other rooms.

We were told we could have a second feed put in provided we the property manager gave us permission, but it would cost us. We didn't do it because we weren't sure how long we were going to stay in the flat (we're thinking of moving now we've been here a year, due to noisy neighbours).

We watch a lot of non-Freeview channels. We'd probably have Virgin's V+HD box if we were in a cabled area.

Sky+ won't care - it's not their fault she only has one feed. The box you get is the same whether you pay for the Sky+ functionality or not. Like mine, your sister's flat was probably built before Sky+ was around, and standard Sky boxes only require one feed. Satellite distribution systems are expensive, you can only wire up so many feeds to an LNB.

If you're not going to watch non-Freeview channels, a Freeview+ box is a far better solution, you only need one feed for that.

The radio feed will be a communal FM/DAB aerial (reception can be tricky in flats if you're facing the wrong way).