Changing a sky mini dish LNB

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Aug 10, 2019
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I currently have a single feed from my personal sky dish and then another from a communal dish.

The feed from the communal dish isn't the greatest and sometimes causes issues with the picture.

I'd like to swap this out for a Dual LNB so I can have both feeds from my personal dish.

A) How easy a job is this to do.

B) Can anyone point me in the right direction where to buy the new LNB. ( I read there are slightly different models made for a sky minidish and older round dishes.

C) What cable do I need to use?

Thanks

Mike
 

rs6mra

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Hi, I did it myself a while ago and bought the LNB from this site and replaced what Sky had initially installed with CT125 cable although a CT100 would have done the trick.

Installation was a easy and the hardest bit was being at the top of a 3 storey house in winter with a runny noise which i wouldn't even blow out until i had finished the job. I took the chance to also run four cables from the LNB which later proved to be a wise move!

I am not sure if posting a link is allowed but I will do as this is where i got the stuff i needed from and found the site helpful.

http://www.satelliteonline.co.uk/other_accessories.htm
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
Thanks rs6mra

Luckily my dish is very low, so I don't have the trouble of climbing to get to it.

Did you find it easy to do without knocking the dish out of alignment?

I thought about a 4 cable LNB but I don't plan on having a 2nd sky box anytime in the future.
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
Also if I do change the lNB do I need to do anything else? I.E with the box or should it be just swap it over and the signal will pick up automatically?

If I went the route of getting someone out to change it for me, does anyone know how much it roughly costs?
 

daveh75

Well-known member
Dont use a Twin LNB on a 'Sky mini dish'.... For simple reason that twin LNBs for mini dishes haven't been manufactured for years.

Some aerial/sat suppliers will sell standard twin LNBs (meant for round dishes) with an adaptor to fit mini-dishes but using one means you won't get optimum signal on a mini-dish, so go for a quad LNB meant for a Sky mini dish.

The other thing you need to be aware of is that the design of Sky mini dishes has changed slightly over the years so you need to source the correct LNB for your model of dish. See HERE for explanation on the different types.

As for changing the LNB, it really isn't that difficult, and providing your careful shouldn't knock the dish out of alignment - Bare in mind though, that if you do fit a quad LNB they are considerably heavier than a single LNB, and can cause the dish feed arm to sag slightly, so you may need to adjust the dish elevation slightly to account for the sagging.

LNB fitting instructions HERE, if you need them.
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
Thanks daveh.

Other than that, the actually fitting and set up is straight forward?

Thinking a call out to swap one would be £65 + where as it looks like I can do it myself for about £30 or so.
 

daveh75

Well-known member
michael_walkden:

Thanks daveh.

Other than that, the actually fitting and set up is straight forward?

Thinking a call out to swap one would be £65 + where as it looks like I can do it myself for about £30 or so.

Was editing my post when you posted and have added a link to LNB fitting instructions
emotion-5.gif

As for set-up, there isn't any really. Just make sure you power off your Sky box before disconnecting the cable from the LNB as 'hot plugging' can cause shorts and could blow tuner or LNB.
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
Cheers.

Just need to measure the dimensions of the arm on the dish.

I haven't got one of the newer 'U' shaped arms. Mine is complete sold so hopefully the Mk2/Mk3 adapter will work.
 

daveh75

Well-known member
Yep, if it isn't a mk4 dish, then it's almost certainly a mk2/3 as the the mk1s havent been manufactured for years.

So just buy an LNB that comes with a 'legacy adaptor' which means it will fit mk2/3 dishes.
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
Just another question. Cheers for all the help.

The initial installer drilled a single hole through the external wall for the cable to pass through.

I was thinking I can widen that hole for both cables to run through. Are there any issues with running the 2 cables side by side, or should I really drill a second hole?
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
That's great.

I am reading something about alter the 'Skew' of the LNB.

Does the LNB rotate to change the signal strength?
 

daveh75

Well-known member
Skew is the rotational posistion of the LNB in relation to the dish, and it effects SNR (signal quality) rather than strength. Adjusting the skew lessens/prevents oppositely polarised signals causing interference to each other

On a Sky LNB there is usually five adjustments for skew, marked 1-5. Best thing to do is to set it to 3 to begin with and then rotate it left/right one posistion at a time whilst a friend/family member keeps an eye on the strength/quality on the Sky box and lets you know if the quality is improving or not with each adjustment.
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
I was wondering what those numbers were on the bottom of my current LNB.

From looking at diagram of the quad LNB's, will they be matching the single I currently have installed?

I'm thinking in regards to the angle between the arm and the LNB pointing at the dish itself?

Would you see a bit of tweaking needed (distance away from the dish) or does the new LNB only fit into one position on the arm? Will the adapter affect this?
 

daveh75

Well-known member
michael_walkden:
I was wondering what those numbers were on the bottom of my current LNB.

From looking at diagram of the quad LNB's, will they be matching the single I currently have installed?

I'm thinking in regards to the angle between the arm and the LNB pointing at the dish itself?

Yes the 'offset' will be the same.

Would you see a bit of tweaking needed (distance away from the dish) or does the new LNB only fit into one position on the arm? Will the adapter affect this?

The 'focal length' adjustment on Sky quads is very limited, and tbh because the signals from the cluster of sats at 28.2/28.5 E (that channels broadcast on Sky/Freesat use) are so strong it will have little effect anyway. Sky dishes are designed/optimised specifically for use on these strong satellites with little adjustment needed to cut down on installation time
emotion-5.gif
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
Was watching the football on Sky Sports HD2 last night and noticed that it would jump every so often.

Had a look at the signal strength.

Signal 1 (from my own dish) was Strength 80%, Quality 95 %

Signal 2 (communal dish) was Strength 10%, Quality 95 %.

I am guessing that Sky Sports HD2 is on one of the 2 feeds coming from the 2nd Signal, and that the low signal strength is causing the slight skipping?

If I swap out the LNB will this give both signals the same strength and quality?
 

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