Existing Dishes - Questions
Question:Can I use my existing satellite dish to receive the new freesat services?
Answer: If your satellite dish is correctly aligned to the Astra 2 satellite location as used by Sky, and is in good condition, it should be suitable for freesat reception!
Important considerations;
Older satellite dishes, whilst appearing to be in good condition, may require realignment or even the outside electronics (LNB) to be changed, especially if they prove to be low gain or off frequency. This is to eliminate the risk of interference to the freesat signal.
Wherever possible, it is always recommended that any existing satellite dish or cable is replaced with new equipment to maximise the signal quality and system reliability. This ensures that the overall installation is set up for peak performance.
Shared Dish;
If however, you are currently receiving Sky from an existing satellite dish, the same dish can also be used for freesat signal reception as well should you wish. This is ideal if you do not want two dishes on your property. To facilitate this we will need to replace the existing single output LNB for a twin or quad output version, assuming one has not already been fitted. If you have only purchased a single cable installation, this LNB replacement can be done in lieu of installing a second dish. Should you require more than four outputs, we also have octo output units right up to 800 output bespoke systems; these are of course available at an extra cost.
Required Feeds;
Each standard (SD) or high definition (HD) freesat receiver requires one cable, whilst each twin tuner digital television recorder (DTR, Sky+ or Sky HD) requires two cables. Add the amount of cables required to the cables already connected to your existing dish to establish the amount of outputs needed from an LNB.
Consents;
It is you the customer, who is responsible for ensuring that you have the necessary permissions to use any dish already on your property, or any communal dish available to you. It is also important that you ensure that any existing dish is not covered by some form of service policy / warranty cover with an existing broadcaster or warranty provider. (Note: Any modifications or upgrades carried out to the existing satellite dish may affect existing policy conditions – please check!) TSG accept no liability arising from any claims for unauthorised connection to any existing or communal equipment where we have been granted permission to do so by you.
Warranty;
As an environmentally aware company, TSG appreciate the need to reuse existing materials where possible. However due to the uncertainty of the outdoor electronics, it would in most cases be normally necessary to replace these as a matter of course.
You can however rest in the knowledge that whatever we do or do not reuse or replace will have exactly the same 12 months parts and labour warranty applied to them.
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