# sky installation, no cables showing



## seantheman (7 Nov 2007)

have been thinking about getting sky installed for upcoming heineken cup rugby. i live in a dormer bungalow with tv room downstairs , my question is, can i have sky installed without any new cables having to be dropped down? i already have a double socket (electric) and an ariel socket behind the tv, can this conduit be utilised for sky needs?


----------



## Leo (8 Nov 2007)

Wouldn't think so. The existing cable to the ariel socket is unlikely to be up to the job. Certainly if you want Sky+ (and why wouldn't you) or HD, then you'll need two feeds from the dish.
Leo


----------



## ClubMan (8 Nov 2007)

I agree. The existing coaxial cable may be OK for terrestrial TV signals but not for higher frequency satellite feed.


----------



## seantheman (8 Nov 2007)

ok, point taken, but if i get sky installed i'll have no further need for the coaxial socket, could the ariel cable be pulled out of the conduit back up to eve space and sky cables fed back down same?


----------



## ClubMan (8 Nov 2007)

I guess so if the conduits are accessible.


----------



## seantheman (8 Nov 2007)

sky installer calling next week, i'll see what he says. i'd rather not have any cables coming down from above, block built walls, so no way to disguise them. thanks for input i'll let ye know how i get on


----------



## RMCF (8 Nov 2007)

If you house is built fairly recently then you should be able to get away with feeding the cables down the conduits in the wall.

I know a dish installer and he can't believe the amount of messy jobs that he sees around the country. After he told me the craic I notice them everywhere as well!!

Any recently built house has, apparently, an opening under the roof tiles near the front (it was the 3rd tile up from the gutting on my house) through which coaxial cable can be feed - this is of course to stop it hanging over the front of your house and being nailed to the wall, like you see so often.

The cable then goes into your attic space and there should be a conduit that you can feed the cable(s) down and these will come out in your TV corner/alcove. Neat job.

Check with your installer and ask him about this. Its better than having a brown cable down the front of your white/lemon/? coloured house and then into a hole in your wall/PVC that he drilled.


----------



## ClubMan (8 Nov 2007)

How recent? Our house was built in 1995 and certainly has no built in conduits matching the descriptions above.


----------



## rake (8 Nov 2007)

good luck with the sky installer. they are trying to get as many installs done as possible. some of the "standard" installs are pretty poor visually-ie dish up-coaxial cable along wall with a couple of cable clips. then hole drilled through wall/window frame into room.

in my opinion you could try one of two things

1) sweeten the deal for the installer

2) d.i.y. it (what i did). first of all before he comes check neighbours houses for location of their dishes and work out approximately in relation to theirs where your dish will end up on your house. then see if you think you could make a better job of running the cable from the dish to the tv point than he would (as decribed above). if you think you could then-

 when the installer comes. suggest that you run the cable while he puts up the dish. because you have studied the layout you are bound to make a better job of it!!!

p.s. offer cup of tea and biscuit at start and end-will give you more install time to make sure you are happy.

regards
          rake


----------



## ClubMan (8 Nov 2007)

The boards.ie satellite TV forum is also a good source of info on this sort of thing.


----------



## RMCF (8 Nov 2007)

ClubMan said:


> How recent? Our house was built in 1995 and certainly has no built in conduits matching the descriptions above.



Mine was built in 2000.

My installer told me that 'most modern houses have them' way back in 2000 so I can't put a year on what he meant by that, sorry.

But do you have a white box on the wall in your TV alcove with a couple of aerial points? Mine looks like this and if you take it off there is a nice gap behind the wall and then a conduit running up to the attic.


----------



## ClubMan (8 Nov 2007)

OK - I've never checked what's behind the _NTL _panel (on a solid wall) but will do so at some stage!


----------



## seantheman (22 Nov 2007)

just an update to say north west sky came today and installed in less than 30 mins. they were able to utilise the existing conduit, pulled co- ax cable back up to eve space and fed sky cable down same, no fuss,clean job. fixed dish on gable end (out of view) drilled one hole which gave acess to abovementioned eves


----------



## Rico (24 Nov 2007)

Just at finishing stages of new build, had two coaxial cables to roof, as I understand it. House has internal cabling throughout. Wanted to put in sky+ and HD. Sky installer says we will need six coax cables to roof an major job now as the area in the attic is slabbed and finished. Not even really sure what they are talking about. Wondering if there is a solution to this.


----------



## domadd (25 Nov 2007)

Source a good local engineer who installs Sky.  Do not depend on Sky Engineer sent by Company. It is possible to have a good clean installation put in place but it is also likely if you leave it up to Sky Engineer then you will be sadly disappointed. Pay a little more for a perfect job.  I speak from experience!!!!!


----------



## Rico (27 Nov 2007)

Thanks Domadd, its been a complete learning curve in human psychology dealing with building and associated trades.


----------

