Understand 9

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Understanding SKY

Digital Satellite TV

Learn the trade secrets about satellite television

Understanding Sky Digital Satellite TV

Start



Understanding SKY

DIGITAL Satellite

TVUpdated on

Written and compiled

byMartin T. Pickering

Published by M.T. Pickering T/A SatCure

© Martin T. Pickering 2001

No part of this publication may be copied by any means, stored in a retrieval system

or transmitted in any form without the prior consent of the copyright holder.

First edition 1994.Rewritten July 2001Current version updated on January 25, 2006

Thanks are due specifically to:Mike Hancox of Satellite Scene, Derby. for his help.

David Poole (deceased) of Davenham Satellites for his help and support.Terry Boyd of Tardis Electronics.

The various manufacturers of satellite equipment, without whose help this bookwould not have been possible.

ISBN 1-905964-00-5 -> ISBN 978-1-905964-00-0

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Copyright

It takes years to gather the information for a book like this and weeks to

type it, check and recheck it.

Imagine how long it needed just to take the photographs, retouch them,resize and crop them, compress them and position them on the pages foryour benefit.

It takes two minutes to steal a book like this.

But there's no need. It's FREE !!

Why am I giving it away for nothing ?

Because I'm hoping you might buy something from me.

Before you can buy, you need to understand what you are buying.

And there are additional books in this series which are not free (butworth every penny).

This book is NOT for sale.It may NOT be given away except from the SatCure or Cool Book Shopsite or an approved SatCure affiliate. If you paid for it or got it from

Ebay then it’s a pirate copy and may not be up to date.

I do my best to keep this up to date but if you find an error please email me.

http://www.satcure.co.uk

http://www.The-Cool-Book-Shop.co.uk

For information on satellite TV encryption and decoding methods, plusdetails of UK and European adult channels, click on the link below.Inside information on satellite and digital TV plus PC information centre- upgrade and repair PCs:

http://www.satcure.co.uk/satinfo.htm

page 3


http://www.satcure.co.uk/

http://www.the-cool-book-shop.co.uk/








Introduction

Most books about satellite TV are general references covering outdatedanalogue systems. Such books are often full of mathematical equationsand technical explanations which even the time-served installer neitheruses nor understands.

This book is a MATHS-FREE ZONE. I promise youthat there is less maths in this volume than youwould need to count out your beer money!

You will find simple explanations of everythingyou need to know. In fact you will probablyunderstand Sky digital satellite TV better than mostTV engineers by the time you’ve read this!

A complete description of how to install a satellitesystem can be found in the NEXT booklet in this

series.

Note: this book does not contain any information about hacks, codes,cards, CAMs or computer software. Nor does our web site. I don’t knowabout these so please don’t ask. There is no Videoguard CAM availableseparately*. It’s part of the Sky Digibox mother board so you need a SkyDigibox if you want to receive Sky Digital programmes or UK “Free To

View” programmes (not to be confused with “Freeview” terrestrial).*Except the "Dragon CAM" but I have no information on this.

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How do I get a Digibox and card?

“OK , the bottom line: How do I get a Sky Digibox and card?”

You can buy a Sky Digibox etc. from any source - new or used - or youcan pay Sky to install everything at your UK address and supply theviewing card. You may get a subsidised discount if your Digibox is con-nected to your phone line. Connection to a phone line is not mandatoryif you have only one Sky Digibox.

Sky viewing cards and FreesatFromSky cards come ONLY from Sky.

If you do NOT get your Digibox installed by Sky or by an Authorised

Sky Agent (ASA) then you have to phone Sky, giving your UK address,and ask for "a second hand subscription". (This applies whether you

bought your Digibox new or used). Tel: 0870 240 4040For a Freesat (FTV) card tel: 0870 606 1111 (no subscription required).

The subscription form will be sent to your UK address within (usually)not more than 3 weeks. (They always say "it's in the post" but I've per-sonally had to hassle them for weeks before the form arrived). Then you

complete the form, return it and Sky will send the viewing card to yourUK address. It would be a breach of contract to take the Sky viewingcard outside the UK. They are not even very happy about your taking itto your holiday caravan in the UK so bear this in mind when discussinganything with Sky. They will switch off your card if you breach contract.

If you have left this till the last minute, you might be better to get a localsatellite specialist to supply the Digibox. Ask them if they can organisegetting the card QUICKLY and getting it activated in your new Digibox,

if you have no dish installed.

Freeview or Free To View or Free To Air?Everyone is confused by these terms but it's really quite simple.

FreeviewNothing to do with satellite TV. You will need a terrestrial TV aerial inthe UK and a Freeview receiver. In good reception areas, any widebandaerial and Freeview receiver should work (but depends on local condi-

tions). In fringe reception areas the choice of aerial and receiver may becritical. No viewing card is required. Viewing is free.

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Can I receive Freeview at my location? Click here to find out:http://www.satcure.co.uk/freeview.htm

Top Up TVWith a suitable terrestrial Freeview receiver and a TopUpTV viewingcard, it may be possible to watch additional programmes. Viewing cur-rently costs around £8 per month.

Free To Air (FTA)Means you can receive the programmes with a simple digital satellitereceiver and a suitable size of dish with LNB fitted and aligned. Youdon't need an additional viewing card or Conditional Access Module

(CAM). In the case of FTA programmes broadcast from the satellites at28.2 degrees East of south (28.2'E), you will NOT need a CAM or view-ing card. You can use ANY Sky Digibox or any other Digital satellitereceiver. All BBC and ITV programmes are FTA. Viewing is free.

Free To View (FTV)As above but you need a digital receiver and a suitable viewing card. Inthe case of FTV programmes broadcast from the satellites at 28.2 degreesEast of south (28.2'E), you will need a Sky Digibox and suitable viewing

card to watch SKY3, CH4 and FIVE. All FTA programmes (BBC, ITV, etc.can also be watched). At the time of writing, Freesat cards are availablefor purchase for £20 from Sky.Phone 08706 061111 to order one. If you have one, you will be able towatch these programmes with ANY Sky Digibox). Note that a Freesatcard will NOT let you watch some other "free" programmes. For this,you will need a Sky subscription card.

FreesatFromSky ("Freesat" is a BBC registered trademark)BskyB launched a new marketing campaign on 22nd October 2004 inwhich they will install a satellite dish and Sky Digibox with a card for aone-off payment of £150. This is identical to the FTV system (above).No phone connection is required but the Sky installer will connect thephone line if it is easy to do so and IF you don't object. It is anticipatedthat the installation might eventually be followed by upgrade offers toreceive additional pay channels. (But, to be honest, nobody reallyknows!) Phone 08706 061111 to order a system or a card or simply a

brochure giving details.

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http://www.satcure.co.uk/freeview.htm

http://www.satcure.co.uk/freeview.htm



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"Standard" Sky installation guideline

1 dish/LNB/bracket

4 bolts and nylon wall plugs1 TS1 & ES1 socket and double adapter plug2 'F' connectors1 Set Top Box (Digibox and connections)20m CT100/H109F double-shielded coaxial cable10m 2pr telephone cable approx. 50p/m for each additional metre.10x7mm coax clips

All cable to be surface mounted, no cavity drops, attic runs etc.

All additional bracketry costs £39.99 e.g. T+K and pole/patio mount.Chimney lashing kits have been withdrawn so chimney installations areonly where possible/necessary and only drilled into double skinnedstacks. (And do you know what your chimney is?). Additional cable is50p/m. All payment to be collected prior to start of installation.

Telephone cable should be under 10m from STB to BT socket. This is50p/m. Extra cable is charged at the engineer's discretion but not

according to policy, just practice. Snotty customers may incur wrath andget stuck with the bill, but it is more time and trouble to collect so youprobably won't be asked to pay unless it is a very long run. That mayinvolve the installer recommending that the customer attends to thishimself in certain circumstances. There are fixed procedures but notpractices; it is at the engineer's discretion. You may choose to fit yourown telephone line to a point near the TV, if it is a long way or involvesan awkward route. BT will do this for you 'at a price' (not cheap), or seean electrician who should do it for a fair price and to a standard which is

better than the Sky installer's surface-mounted method.

Subcontractors have different operational guidelines.SkyLink "remote extender" accessories are available that enable multipleSkyLink operation. SKY don't install them but sub contractors may. Alsothere is a bypass that enables existing distribution amps to be used tocarry the RF with the 9V feed for the SkyLink being looped round andso enabling its use on one or more TVs but still allowing uncontrolledviewing on other TVs. For example: SkyLink in main Bedroom and

uncontrolled SKY in two kids’ bedrooms with STB in main room.

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See SatCure catalogue for “SkyLink” systems, including the popular“SLXlink” and the dearer but more robust “DigiLink” version.http://www.satcure.co.uk

You can add a phone prefix. The actual number may be held in theviewing card. Multi digit phone prefixes are possible; they used torequire use of the sideways arrow keys to advance to the next digit, butnow accept direct entry (1470 is required if your number is withheld).

Digital phone lines present problems sometimes, as do some Highwayconnections. BT can cure this latter. Contact your telephone serviceprovider before embarking onto Digital if in any doubt about your

equipment. The SKY installer may well not know more than which endof the lead to put where. Use a “microfilter” for ADSL broadband.

Amstrad DRX100s are "class 1 devices" (not double-insulated) andrequire an earth connection both for safety sake and to operate properly.They won't detect a dial tone if the plug isn't earthing because of a cheapplug board or on some PME (Protective Multiple Earth) wiring installa-tions. You could run an earth from the case to, say, a radiator, which willovercome this but don't! If you have this problem, you are at risk of

ELECTRICAL SHOCK and should rectify it IMMEDIATELY. Plug theunit directly into a wall socket and, if in doubt, consult an electrician.

The telephone line is classed as a "Safety Hazard" because it could pro-vide up to 50 volts dc and up to 75 volts ac while ringing tone is present.For this reason you are advised not to touch it. However, you can buy adouble-adapter plug and extension "slave" socket. Simply position theslave socket behind the TV then plug the adapter plug into the nearestextension socket and plug the existing phone back into the adapter plug.

Note that all telephone equipment is marked with a REN number, thetotal of which must not exceed REN = 4, otherwise your phones mightnot ring or might ring only intermittently. The Digibox REN = 0.5The Digibox will work OK without the phone connection. Although theB.I.B. contract obliges you to leave the phone connection plugged in, inpractice this greatly increases the risk of damage. Would you go on holi-day and leave anything plugged in when there's a risk of lightning? I'm

sure I wouldn't. Lightning-induced surge up the telephone line is a verysignificant cause of Digibox failure. It can also cause serious damage.

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So, given that, for safety sake, you should disconnect your Digibox whenyou go away, you might as well take it with you in case your house is

burgled. And take the card for the same reason. And, since Sky may not

give you a rebate for going on holiday, you might as well use the servicefor which you are paying! Can Sky defend their position when the FireBrigade and Police are continually pleading with people to think of safe-ty issues and you have paid for the service? (Probably!)

If you have a problem that, despite everything, you cannot get on line toorder pay per view movies, you may have B.T.'s automatic exchange

based answerphone installed which goes by the name of "Callminder".If you have then, when your exchange has a message waiting to be lis-

tened to, it "modulates" the dial tone with a second tone or more likely itchanges the cadence of the dial tone and inserts one second "pauses". In

both cases the Sky Digital receiver is unable to "hear" the dial tone andwill state that "no line is connected" even though you can dial out andmost computer modems will function too.Naturally all will work every time a technician visits the house becausethere are no messages waiting at that particular time !!

If you have no phone socket near your Digibox there’s a gadget avail-

able from SatCure which connects the phone line via two 13 Amp mainspower sockets for convenience. See Wireless phone extender.http://www.satcure.co.uk

Favourite channelsPress [services] [5] and select your (up to 50) favourite channels.Now, while you are watching any programme, you can press [services]to bring up the information banner. Pressing the "blue" button repeated-ly will step through your favourite channels.

Remotely controlling the Digibox inside a cabinetOur SmartEye or Digilink or tvLINK will work just fine. All you needto do is to plug it into the RF2 output of the Digibox and put the "eye"where you can see it, outside the cabinet. Set the RF2 voltage to "ON" inthe menu and that's it. Make sure your cabinet is force-ventilated with afan or fans, otherwise, in 12 months, you may be looking at the repairsection! To remotely control other items you can use the tvLINK Plus or

the wireless Powermid system or the wireless DigiEye system or theSmartEye and SmartBlaster.

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The Sky Digital system requirements

A new or used Sky Digibox with internal modem, single LNB input,

Universal LNB, suitable dish aligned on 28.2 degrees east of due south,optional telephone extension wire and socket, and Sky viewing card if you subscribe (which includes free ITV, 2, CH4, FIVE viewing for UKpost codes). The dish used in the far north of England and in Scotlandhas to be larger. As an alternative to the Sky viewing card, you can haveno viewing card and receive only the FTA "Free To Air" programmes oryou can buy a FTV* "Free To View" card. Note that you must have a cur-rent UK television licence registered for the UK postcode. If your card isnot preprogrammed for your Digibox serial number then you will have

to phone Sky when you receive it, so that a signal can be sent via satel-lite to activate it. Do this in the UK to avoid problems. No other DigitalReceiver will get FTV or SKY programmes.A cancelled Sky card usually still gets the 3 FTV channels but you canorder a FTV card from Sky for £20 as mentioned on a previous page.Read the Sky subscription contract for terms and conditions.

Pin number for sky digiboxes

Default pin number for Sky cards is the last four digits. You must phoneBskyB with your serial number, version number and card number if youchange & lose the PIN. They will reset the PIN via satellite transmission.

The telephone connectionIf you can't have - or don't want - a telephone connection, you can stillget the system installed but you will either have to pay the extra amountthat is normally subsidised by British Interactive Broadcasting (BIB) or

buy a new or used Digibox without the BIB contract. You will probably

not be able to use any of the Interactive Services and authorisation of pay-per-view movies, change of PIN numbers and various other thingswill have to be done by you by using the telephone in the normal way.The telephone connection is NOT essential (except for “mirror subscrip-tions”). The Digibox will work perfectly well without it.The telephone connection allows the Digibox to dial out. Whenever pos-sible, this will usually happen during the night and it will not interruptan ongoing call but will wait until the line is free. The duration of thecall will be just a few seconds for booking a movie. It will occur when,

or some time after, you authorise a "Pay per View" movie. If you use the

page 11




shopping, banking or Internet facilities then the call can last as long as ittakes. Sky can send a satellite signal to tell your receiver to phone Sky.The Sky contract states that calls will be free unless one month's notice is

given to you. The freefone number that is dialled by Sky's Digibox toupload and download data is 0800 7317929 at present (although “inter-active” may be an 0845 or an 09 number - check your phone bill).

In theory, the Digibox could also accept an incoming call without yourtelephone ringing. To do this is no great technical challenge. The modemreceives the incoming caller ID data before the first ring. The internalsoftware recognises the caller ID as belonging to (for example) Sky orBIB and tells the modem to ground the ringer wire so no telephone in

the house can ring. The modem then accepts the call, data is exchangedand the telephone line is released. All of this can happen within lessthan 2 seconds - dependent on the amount of data to be transmitted.

Note: there is no suggestion that this is being done or can be done withexisting Digiboxes. But the technology exists to do it. In any case, if itdid happen, a "Callminder" would show the number on its display.

Sky installers don't (as a rule) connect the orange bell wire and so the

STB can't ground the line. Sky had a lot of BR (Bell Ringing) and BNR(not ringing) problems with customers being driven spare by bizarrehappenings to their telephone, so it was decided to drop this procedure.Most of the (cheap and nasty) sockets and adapters, TS1 & ES1, nowhave only two pins 2+5 anyway. However “Bell tinkling” can occur if the Digibox dials out (pulse) and the orange wire is not connected!(TS1 & ES1 are the socket and double adapter plug used to make up thetelephone extension lead). Some digiboxes affect computer modemoperation so you may need to disconnect the Digibox from the phonesocket while you use your computer modem. If you have ADSL you willneed a microfilter for the Sky Digibox, as well as for telephones and fax.

Sky don't charge for replacing cable, but may (should ) charge for cableover 20m at 50p/m. Don't expect your Sky installer to climb into attics,cellars or over roofs or conservatory to run your cable. They have strictguidelines to adhere to and can provide only a "Standard Install" as laidout in the contract. Go to an independent if you have special require-

ments or else lay cables yourself prior to the install date.

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Connecting

more than oneTVsee my eBook"Piping TVAround theHouse" for fulldetails. You canextend yourremote control

by the methodsdescribed on the previous page.

DigiLink “magic eye”

http://www.satcure.co.uk/book.htm

Any “SkyLink” requires 9 volts from the Digibox. The current must passthrough all connections to it. You should solder the tips of all TV plugsthat are in line with the “SkyLink”. You should also make sure that any

wall plates, splitters or amplifiers can pass the current (some wall platesand amplifiers have blocking capacitors fitted!) See SatCure accessoriescatalogue for suitable amplified splitters and wall plates.http://www.satcure.co.uk

If the digibox detects a short circuit on the “SkyLink”, it will remove thecontrol voltage. One possible cause of a short circuit is that the RF2Second Outlet Power Supply setting (in the RF Outlets screen) wasswitched to 'On' prior to physical connection of the “SkyLink”.

To remedy this situation, proceed as follows. Turn Digibox on.

Press [services] 401 [select] without looking at the TV screen.

Select option 4, 'RF Outlets'.Highlight the Second Outlet Power Supply setting and switch it to 'Off',then highlight 'Save New Settings' and press the select button.

page 13








Check for correct installation and termination of the coaxial cable lead-ing to the remote location. Also, check the “SkyLink” module itself andthe small cable leading from the “SkyLink” to the Remote Eye.

Finally, switch the Second Outlet Power Supply setting back to 'On',then highlight 'Save New Settings' and press the select button.

More information about troubleshooting “SkyLink” problems is available when you buy one fromSatCure. You’ll also find helpful notes in our book “Piping TV Around the House”.


or


page 14


Installing a Sky Minidish

This is a movie on DVD.In it, Martin shows you

everything you need toknow about installing a

Sky minidish in the UK.

Available from The CoolBook Shop.







Using the remote control fromanother room

The best known "Remote Extender"system is the "Powermid XL" whichcomprises a transmitter and receiv-er, both in the shape of a pyramid.The units are very small but each

needs to be plugged into a 230v mains power outlet.http://www.satcure.co.uk

The units require no setting up. You simply plug them in and they work.

You point your normal remote control handset at the remote Powermid"transmitter". It receives the infra-red pulses from your remote controland transmits them via an aerial to the Powermid receiver. This unitduplicates the original infra-red pulses.It works with almost any remote control handset. So you can take yourVCR remote and your Digibox remote to bed with you and select theprogramme or film that you want to watch on your bedroom TV. Or youcan simply use a "universal" remote control that works the basic func-tions of your VCR and your Digibox.

Disadvantages? Not many. The transmitting range is limited but, unlessyou are lucky enough to live in a large mansion or a warehouse withintervening metal walls, the system should work just fine.

If a nearby neighbour has a Powermid system and has the same type of equipment as you (TV, VCR and especially a Sky Digibox) then you may

be surprised when the box changes channels by itself! I have neverknown this happen but you could be unlucky if your houses are veryclose together.

Remote extenders don't work with some cable TV boxesIt gets confusing because NTL has taken over Cable & Wireless but for along time it looked like C&W would take over Telewest. Anyway hereare the current cable boxes:-

C&W (now NTL) - DiTV1000

Telewest - Di1000TNTL - Di4001

page 15






Here's the point I'm trying to make:-The C&W and Telewest boxes use almost identical hardware althoughthe software differs. Both use an IRDA IR remote and a DOCSIS cable

modems.

The NTL box is completely different and uses a conventional remotecontrol and a DAVIC cable modem.

As for remote extenders you should be OK with an NTL box unless it isNTL that was C&W. I do not know of any universal remotes or exten-ders that are capable of controlling the Telewest and C&W that was.The follow explains the differences with the IRDA remotes.

The system used was chosen by our customers ( the network providers )and is a high speed system that gives some "future proofing" of thedesign . The system is designed for remote keyboard use ( Web brows-ing ) and to enable multiple handset to be used " simultaneously " asrequired when playing games . This is because at some time in the nearfuture the network providers will offer these services ."Normal" handsets use a system of modulating (switching on and off ) acarrier signal. The normal frequency of the carrier being in the range of 35kHz to 60kHz.

The system used by Pace is based on the IRDA standard that has beendesigned to enable computer peripherals to be linked without cables. (This is not surprising as modern digital cable set top boxes contain apowerful micro processing systems and the Pace boxes are the first toalso provide an integrated cable modem within the box.) The handsetdata is transmitted as discrete pulses of IR - it is not carrier based. Thepulse rate is approximately 115kHz. The handsets have identificationkeys / tabs that enable the receiver to identify the handset. Each keysends a 7 byte package of data within 600uSec ( the same the time that ittaken to send only 1 or 2 bits of information with the normal system ).This allows the data to be sent very quickly thus freeing time for a sec-ond handset to jump in . The receiver software also adds a time stamp tothe data to enable the games programmes to decide which handsetresponded first. The system and protocols used are covered by patents.

If you need an IrDA compatible remote extender, order our DigiEye.


page 16






Two Digiboxes in one room

You can use a Sky-plus and a standard Digibox in the same room because the remote control signals are different. However, if you want touse two Digiboxes of the same type, you have a problem!

The best thing to do is to mask the infra-red sensor on the front panel of one of the Digiboxes. Black PVC tape is ideal.

Now connect a DIGIlink or an SLXlink to the “RF Out 2” socket and setthe RF output voltage to ON. Position the “eye” of the “Link” as farfrom the other Digibox as possible - preferably against a dark, matt

background so that the remote control invisible light is not reflected.

Wrap a piece of black card around the front end of the remote control tolimit its “beam width”. Now you should be able to point it at theDigibox or the “link eye” to control your Digiboxes individually. Thedegree of success will be determined by the colour of your walls, dis-

tance and ambient light levels. You may need to fit a “Link” to the otherDigibox, too.

Alternatively, you can install the Digiboxes inside a cupboard (wellventilated) and use the “Link” systems to control them in the same way.

Someone suggested polarised film (like polarised sunglasses) to sepa-rate the signals. We tried this but it didn't work. So take a look at thispage: http://www.satcure.co.uk/tech/remote_doubler.htm

You’ll find more information about “Link” systems in the eBook “PipingTV Around the House”. We can also supply a cupboard “Link” for the

Grundig and Thomson “Freeview” box.

If you have a standard Sky Digibox and a Sky Plus, take a look at our

tvLink-Plus system http://www.satcure.co.uk/tech/tvlink_plus.htm

page 17


http://www.satcure.co.uk/tech/remote_doubler.htm

http://www.satcure.co.uk/tech/tvlink_plus.htm

http://www.satcure.co.uk/tech/tvlink_plus.htm

http://www.satcure.co.uk/tech/remote_doubler.htm



The Digital interface socketThe 1394 digital interface socket is for use by authorised manufacturersonly. It is used for testing and uploading new software from a PC but

the software required to do this is written by (and copyright to) Sky and,therefore, available only to manufacturers. SatCure has no information.

You will not need to use this socket because the internal software will beupgraded by Sky from time to time overnight via satellite.

Recording a different programmeIf you want to record a different programme from the one you are cur-rently watching, you will have to record the normal terrestrial analogue

TV signal or use a second Digibox (and 2nd smart card if required forthat programme). Alternatively, you can buy a "Sky Plus" Digiboxwhich has two tuner inputs. You will need a twin-output or quad-out-put LNB on the dish to allow two separate programmes to be tuned inat the same time. An internal Hard Drive in the Sky Plus box allows oneprogramme to be recorded while another is watched. In addition, itallows "time shift viewing" so that you can press a button when you goto answer the door or the phone. When you return you can continue towatch the programme from where you left off.

If you can’t afford a Sky Plus Digibox, our “Phantom PVR” device letsyour VCR record programmes automatically from your Digibox.Some Sky PPV movies are protected from being recorded by a"Macrovision" system which is built into all Digiboxes. You can buy aso-called "Macrovision Buster" box from various suppliers (not SatCure).

If you use two separate Digiboxes, each receiver will require its ownsubscription card, unless you are happy to watch only the free channelsfrom one. Cards are not fully transferable between receivers. A card inthe wrong receiver will allow you to watch some (not all) channels.

Viewers in Southern Ireland are a special case. If the Digibox and cardare registered for Southern Ireland, the UK terrestrial programmes arenot usually available, since residents of that country do not pay a UK TVlicence fee. Likewise, Viewers in the UK may not watch Irish pro-grammes unles they use a Digibox and card that were registered to an

Irish address. (But BBC+ITV programmes are viewable by everyone).

page 18




Digibox compatibilityThe Digibox has the capability to handle wide screen transmissions. Itdoes not use Nicam stereo. (Connect your TV using a Scart lead to get

stereo. Your TV will still indicate “mono”). Nicam is a stereo audio stan-dard used for some analogue terrestrial transmissions and has nothingto do with satellite TV. The Digibox uses MPEG-2 digital audio whichgives "near CD" quality stereo sound. It includes the normal DolbyPrologic information whenever this is transmitted - usually with movies- for centre, front, and rear speakers. Connect via the Phono sockets toyour Dolby amplifier. “Dolby Digital 5.1” is output only from the“Sky+” Digibox and only with certain programmes - mostly movies.

Using an existing dish for Sky digitalThe dish that was used for the original Analogue Sky transmissions will

be aligned on 19.2’E. You can either realign it on 28.2’E for Sky Digital orelse add a second LNB on an extension bracket and set that so it picksup the signal from 28.2’E while the existing LNB still receives signalsfrom 19.2’E.

The LNB for Sky Digital will need to be a Universal LNB with high qual-ity digital coaxial cable and must be accurately aligned on 28.2 degrees

East of South. In most parts of the UK a 60cm dish works well even inheavy rain (80cm in Scotland).

The picture shows an ancient solid white 60cm dish being realigned forSky Digital. Note the SatCure satellite finder meter hanging from theLNB. The signal is monitored while the dish is moved.Note that this particular dish was mounted on 24 inch “T + K brackets “

because the original 19.2’E alignment was atexactly 90 degrees to the wall, which causedthe roof overhang to obscure the satellite sig-nal. For 28.2’E the LNB had to be rotated fur-ther from the wall so the overhang was nolonger a problem.

If you use an old dish, ensure that it is not dis-torted or bent and that it is reasonably freefrom rust. Oil all adjusting bolts and free them

off so the dish moves smoothly, otherwise youwon’t be able to make the fine adjustments during realignment.

page 19




Using an existing analogue system in addition

The best way to do this is to keep the two systems totally separate.

However you will need planning permission for two dishes (in theory).In practice, if at least one dish is out of sight and/or you get on wellwith your neighbours, then you won't need to apply for permission.

Another way is to use a 60cm or 80 cm dish with two LNBs on a bracket.If your system is motorised you might be ableto use a twin-output Universal LNB to feed

both receivers. However, you should always"park" your dish at 28.2E when not in use,

otherwise you could miss software upgradesand other information (messages) broadcast

by Sky.

Full information about installing two or threeLNBs on a single dish (or a twin-output orquad-output LNB) is given in our book“Installing Sky Digital TV”.

http://www.satcure.co.uk/installing_sky_digital.htm

Live by the sea?

Those people who live near the sea, in Britain, know how quickly metalobjects corrode! A normal steel dish is a rusting heap in less than a yearand the rust doesn't improve the signal. An aluminium dish is better butstill acquires ugly white "psoriasis". Our answer is to offer you a Triaxfibreglass dish that won't corrode. See our catalogue for details.

OK, that’s covered the questions that most people ask. The rest of thiseBook will explain the history, the technical stuff and lots of usefulthings that you probably didn’t know you could do!

page 20






Terms used in satellite TV

Analogue:.............Not digital. A signal composed of every possible

value.Aerial: ...................(this is how we spell it in the UK) that bunch of metal

sticks on the roof.Antenna:...............little pointy things on a bug (insect). Pl: antennae.Arial: .....................A sans-serif computer font.

Ariel: .....................A gazelle. Also a biological washing powder. (It neverceases to amaze me how many people report troublegetting good pictures from their biological detergent!)

Channel: ...............Normally refers to a specific frequency – often given adiscrete number – used to transmit one or more TV orradio programmes or data.

Dead:.....................Please note that "dead" is defined as "no measurablesecondary voltages from the power supply". A "dead"receiver will not light up or make a noise! I get a lot of people wasting my time with false descriptions of "dead" when they actually mean "no picture", "poorpicture", "scrambled picture", "no sound" or "ticking"

or "working perfectly but no front panel display" etc.(I also have people write: "My receiver is not dead because it keeps blowing fuses"! If it blew the main

protection fuse, it is dead, believe me!)

Decoder: ...............The box or internal circuit that unscrambles the pic-tures on some analogue channels.

Digibox: ................Any sort of digital receiver of which the Sky Digiboxis one example.

Digital: ..................Not analogue. A signal comprising discrete elementswhich reprresent either “zero” or “not zero”.

Dish: ......................That non-flat thing that you point at the satellite.Usually based on a parabolic curvature to act as afocussing mirror to reflect signals into an LNB.

Disc::......................Flat circular object like a penny.Engineer: ..............A person who has passed the examination to get a

Bachelor of Engineering (or Science) degree or similar.Installer: ...............A person who probably hasn’t. :o)

page 21




Freeview ...............UK digital terrestrial programmes received with asuitable receiver and aerial (not a dish!)

FTA: .......................Free To Air. A programme you can watch with basic

equipment without paying a fee.FTV:.......................Free To View. A programme you can watch with spe-cialised equipment, often without paying a fee.

LNB: ......................The signal collector on the dish arm. Low NoiseBlock-downconverter converts a block of frequencies.

Macrovision.........Refers to a method of adding a pulse to a video signal

to make it difficult to record a programme.Martin: ..................my name. Amazing how many people think it’s

"Mark", “Mike”, "Keith" (?) or "Martyn". It’s not.

PCB:.......................The Printed Circuit Board on which components aremounted.

PIN: .......................Personal Identification Number or “password”.Polarisation:.........Often referred to (incorrectly) as “polarity”. A method

of transmitting a signal so it doesn’t interfere with anadjacent signal. Horizontal, vertical, or circular.

Polariser:...............An attachment that can alter the effective polarisationof an incoming signal so the LNB can receive it.

PPV:.......................Pay Per View. You have to pay a fee before you can

watch a programme.Program: ...............Normally refers to a computer software application.Programme:..........Normally refers to a televised show, movie, documen-

tary which you can see and/or hear on TV/radio.PSU:.......................Power Supply Unit which may be part of the main

internal circuit board or may be a separate unit.Receiver:...............The box that receives and selects the satellite TV

transmissions from the LNB. Note the correct spelling

RF Modulator: .....The module that you connect the TV aerial into andpicture signal out of. May be a separate unit.Satellite:................the correct spelling for those transmitters above the

earth, some 22,000 miles away.STB:.......................Set Top Box – a term used to refer to any sort of TV

accessory for receiving TV signals, Satellite signals orInternet data. May be digital or analogue.

Transponder:........think of it as a transmitter and dish, bolted to thesatellite above the earth.

Tuner: ....................The internal module that you connect the LNB cableto - usually with a screw "F" plug.

page 22




Satellite TV

In the early 1980s, a satellite TV system cost over a thousand pounds and

was strictly for the enthusiast. There was only a very limited amount of English program material broadcast so much of the fun was in thatpeculiar sport called “channel hopping” which is followed soenthusiastically by men but seldom by women. If you change channelevery few seconds, it hardly matters that the commentary is in German,French or Swahili!

Nowadays, Europe is well served by the Astra satellites which providehundreds of English language TV channels - mostly via a BskyBsubscription - and hundreds of channels in other languages which are

broadcast by Astra, Eutelsat and other satellites, too.

Most people fail to realise that there are also dozens of radio channels broadcast, mostly in stereo, so you can connect your satellite receiver toyour Hi Fi system and listen to TV or radio channels in glorious stereo.

Better still, you can buy used satellite receivers which incorporate their

own stereo and surround-sound amplifiers which will complement yourexisting Nicam stereo TV and video recorder, eg. SRD2000 and MSS1000.

Unfortunately, many of the channels broadcast by SKY on Astra use ascrambling system which requires you to put a special plastic “SmartCard” into a slot in the receiver. You must pay a subscription fee for thecard, and a “Pay per view” system is also in use, where you pay extra towatch certain programmes (for example, football matches).

There are several channels which simply show movies; there are sportschannels, music channels, channels which concentrate on familyentertainment such as panel games and “soaps”; news channels;channels for adults and cartoon channels for children; of course, if youspeak, or want to speak, a foreign language, there are plenty of those tochoose from, too, but not many in the UK "Sky" package. The SkyDigibox is capable of receiving satellite broadcasts from other satellites

but it is not designed to do so in a user-friendly way. You must use the“Add Channels” menu feature to store “bouquets” of “other channels”

(maximum of 50 other channels - but frequently much less than 50).

page 23




First the basics

A satellite is a group of TV transmitters in a box, which is launched by

rocket and manœvred into position so it hangs abovethe Equator about 36,000 kilometres from the Earth.

This position is called “geostationary”, which means that the satellitetravels around the Earth at such a speed that it remains in the samerelative position in the sky, as the Earth itself rotates.

Once a receiving dish is pointing at the satellite, therefore, the dishshould never need to be re-aligned because the satellite appears to be

fixed in place.

However, the initial alignment of the dish is extremely critical. You willunderstand why when I tell you that most satellite transponders

broadcast with a power of just 45 - 65 Watts. Imagine pointing atelescope at a 45 Watt light bulb which hangs in space 36,000 kilometres(22,000 miles) away. Think you could see it?

The signal which reaches Earth is incredibly weak and it is amazing thateven a 35cm diameter dish will catch enough signal to give superb TVpictures and sound from a digital transmission.

Each program is transmitted to the satellite from a huge dish on Earth.The satellite then beams the transmission back to Earth using a unitcalled a “transponder” (which is really another term for transmittingdish and amplifier).

Some non-UK programs will seem weaker than Sky's because theirtransponders are pointing towards their own

countries and we are on the edgeof their reception area or

“footprint”, as it is called.Most EU transponderfootprints are centred onEurope to give the widest

geographical coverage.

page 24


A typical footprint



Consequently, areas on the edge of the footprint will need to use a largerdish than standard to compensate for the weaker signal in their areas.Scotland will usually need a larger dish than southern England, for

instance. Scandinavia and southern parts of Europe will, too.

The “Astra” satellite transmissions actually come from several separatesatellites which are positioned so close to each other that the dish picksup all their channels as if there were just one satellite. (Actually, they arepositioned within a cube of space whose side measures about 140kilometres, so there is little chance of one satellite hitting another).

The number of Astra satellites has been increased since 1994 (when there

were only three positioned at 19.2° East of South). In addition, withdigital compression, the number of channels from a satellite can bemultiplied by 5, since each transponder that carried one analogueprogramme can carry 5+ digital programmes. One programme can be

broadcast on a dozen digital "channels" with each channel starting, say,fifteen minutes after the previous one. In that way, you can watch anentire film on one of the channels no matter what time you arrive home!

Why Digital?

Digital programmes are "compressed". I'll explain this in non-technicallanguage because it's useful to know how it works. My explanation isn'ttechnically accurate but it will serve to give you a good enoughunderstanding. You probably already know that a moving TV picture ismade up of a series of still picture "frames". Each frame is made up froma number of horizontal “lines” which scan across the TV screen from leftto right, filling the "frame" from the top to the bottom. (A conventionalpicture already contains some digital information. You can sometimessee it as flickering dots or dashes at the top of the screen. This is the"Teletext" information which is normally hidden out of sight). To converta TV film to digital, a computer looks at each picture frame in turn andrepresents the coloured dots and brightness as a number code. Inaddition, it can "compress" some of the code. For example, a red lineacross the screen ........... can be represented as the number code for everyred dot which might be -05-05-05-05-05-05-05- 05-05 -05-05 as manytimes as it takes to make the correct line length. But this is wasteful

because the same information can be represented as (the number of dots) + (the colour). So our short line of red dots becomes [11][05], which

page 25




is a much shorter code. This is a simplified explanation of how acoloured picture can be compressed using numeric values.

But simply compressing the picture information is not enough. The"boffins" figured out a way to remove information so that even less codeneeds to be transmitted. Suppose you are watching a news reader. Mostof the time, the only parts of the picture which are moving are her eyesand mouth. So the computer looks at the first picture frame, converts itto digital code and "compresses" it in a similar way to the red lineexplanation. Then it looks at the next picture frame and compares itwith the first. The news reader has started to open her mouth butnothing else has moved. So the computer sends a code which means

"same as previous except at coordinates x-y substitute the followingcode" and then gives the code for the new position of the dots that makeup the news reader's lips. And it does this for the next frame and thenext.

But even this isn't compressedenough for the "boffins" so theythought up another idea. The nextframe isn't transmitted at all!

That's OK because the DigitalReceiver also contains a computer.It watches the code for each frameand converts it into a picture that you can watch. When it sees that aframe is missing, it looks at the previous few frames and compares themovements. Then it "predicts" what the next frame will look like andguesses it. Normally you can't tell but very occasionally things gowrong. For example, if the news reader moves to the right to pick up apiece of paper then moves back again - if at the point when she begins tomove back, the frame is not transmitted, your Digibox will "predict" thatthe news reader continues to move to the right. Worse, it may decidethat only her hair continues to move to the right. The result may be that,

just for one fiftieth of a second, the news reader moves left while herhair stays still! These mistakes are usually so subtle that you won't evennotice.

So, the digital compression technique is not perfect but the resultantpictures should be. When the Digibox computer "reconstitutes" a

page 26




picture, it will make a perfectly "clean" picture with no "sparklies", no"graininess", no colour faults, no "ghosting", no interference lines. If you see any of these effects, then they will usually be occurring after the

Digibox has passed its picture out to your TV.

MultiplexingOnce compression is complete, a typical TV programme or film can be

broadcast in about one tenth of the time it takes normally. However, thisis of little use since you don't want to watch it ten times as quickly!

So the broadcasting computer combines the digital information of up toten different programmes (typicaly 5) by a process called "multiplexing".

Simply put, it mixes the data for ten programmes together in such a waythat the Digital receiver can pick out the data for the programme thatyou want and reconstitute it into picture and sound. Oh yes, I forgot tomention, the sound is also converted into digital information,compressed, and mixed in with the rest of the data.

The end result is that each of the satellite's transponders receives a datastream containing picture and sound for up to ten separate programmesand retransmits this data stream or signal back to earth where your dish

can receive it. If the satellite has, say, sixteen transponders then it mighthandle up to 80 programmes simultaneously. Add another satellite andyou can get 160 programmes. One big advantage is that it now costsonly one fifth of the price of transmitting an analogue programmewhich required one transponder to itself. This opens the door for low

budget productions, religious programmes and the like.

Your Digital receiver works magic by picking out the specific frequencyof the transponder whose data stream contains the programme youwant to watch. Its internal computer takes the data for that oneprogramme out of the data stream and recombines it to give picture,sound, teletext and other information as well. It works at incrediblespeed to reconstitute each picture frame as well as the sound to go withit, guessing at (roughly) every fourth frame and receiving a full frameonly (roughly) every ninth. When it gets it right, you'll have crystal clearpictures and sound. If it gets it wrong, you'll get lip-synchronisingproblems, strange picture effects and even complete loss of picture

(usually only when the signal is weak or interrupted). Sometimes, aswith a computer, you’ll have to remove the power to “reboot” it.

page 27




What does a dish do?

The dish collects the signal which is beamed down by the satellite and

focuses it onto the collection horn of a device called an “LNB”.

Clear dishes made from plastic with metal embedded inside areavailable. The performance can be just as good as that of a metal dish.Most dishes are pressed out of solid metal and, provided that thepressing is accurate, this is still the most efficient dish to use.

However, a solid dish is not very pretty on a house wall and perforateddishes with holes (so called “mesh” dishes) are more popular since they

do not present such an eyesore. Square, flat dishes are also available.

Two types of metal are used: steel and aluminium. Steel is heavier andwill rust unless the paint coating is exceptional. Aluminium is lighter

but more expensive. It is also prone to corrosion, if not protected by agood paint coating, but the corrosion tends to be less severe and white,not brown. Aluminium is softer than steel and bends more easily.Plastic, steel or aluminium? – The choice is yours - unless you choose a

Sky minidish which is always steel (to minimise the cost).

An “offset focus dish” can be mounted almost vertically, close to a wall.The LNB is on an arm low down. A prime focus dish has to be angledupwards more and tends to be large-used mostly for motorised systems.

There are more exotic designs, too, at a much higher cost. You can buy atransparent dish; a flat, square “dish”; a flat, circular “dish” which boltsflat against the wall; a small, horn-shaped dish was also manufactured

at one time. See “Installing Sky Satellite TV” eBook for disguised dishes.

The choice is not easy and there are other considerations, too:-

Wider dishes have a narrower focal angle – that is to say, they focus on asmaller circle in the sky. Since satellites are positioned only about 3°apart, a focal angle of less than 3° is highly desirable in order tominimise interference which can cause strange effects on picture, soundor both – often on only one or two analogue channels. Digital channels

may be lost completely. The wider the dish, the narrower the focal angle.But a narrow focal angle makes the dish alignment much more critical.

page 28




The LNB horn also has a focal angle so, not only must it be clamped atthe focal point of the dish, but the horn angle must wide enough tocapture reflected signal from the whole of the dish but not so wide that

it also collects unwanted interference from wall or sky behind the dish.

Most LNBs will fit most dishes but there are some LNBs and disheswhich may be used only in matched pairs. Beware apparent “bargain

buys”. LNBs designed for the Sky “minidish” are very special.(You’ll find them in our on-line catalogue under “minidish LNBs)This book can not guide you on which make of dish is best since only

you know your requirements and since dishes that are available nowmay have changed in design by the time you read this. However, you

now know some of the questions to ask your local satellite specialist.(A specialist satellite dealer is far more

likely to be able to advise about satelliteequipment choice, latest innovations and have

technical know-how than a high street shop).

Focal angle of LNB should be justwide enough to catch the signals reflected from

the dish, both vertically and horizontally.

Just to prove the point, here is a "Universal"LNB as used with a Sky "minidish".The minidish is oval in shape, beingmuch wider than it is high.

Inside that plasticrain cover is the

actual LNB. Note the difference in scalarring height (red arrows). The sideprojections allow the LNB to focus on awide area in the horizontal plane, whilethe top and bottom projections are longerand focus the LNB on a narrower area inthe vertical plane. This LNB is designedspecifically for an oval dish and is likely togive poor results with a dish that is roughly circular or, especially, a dish

that is taller than it is wide. (Never open the metal housing of an LNB -you may destroy its tuning cavity and its hermetic seal).

page 29




What does an LNB do?

The letters LNB stand for Low Noise Block-downconverter.

In order to get the maximum number of program channels transmitted in thesmallest possible frequency bandwidththe channels are transmitted withdifferent polarisation. You don’t need tounderstand what these terms mean;simply accept that some signals have“Vertical polarisation” and some have

“Horizontal polarisation”.

A good (obsolete) LNB is the "Alps" which doesn't have a "horn" in thenormal sense. Instead, it uses a special plastic "nose cone" to focus thesignals onto its internal antennae by "lens diffraction".This Alps LNB has a "typical" noise figure of 0.7dB, which is fine.

An LNB does several things: its horn focuses the reflected beam from

the dish down onto a tiny aerial inside the LNB. Actually, in a modern“voltage switching” LNB there are two aerials – one for Horizontal andone for Vertical signals. The signals go right through the thin plastic raincap on the horn and are received by the two aerials inside. These weaksignals are amplified by an electronic amplifier.

Now, these signals are very high frequency like those used by amicrowave oven (but much weaker!) and they will not pass well throughglass or metal. In fact they will not go down cable, either, so the final job

of the LNB is to convert them into a block of lower frequencies whichwill go down a cable. Hence “Low Noise Block-downconverter”.

A typical transmission frequency used by the satellite would be 12000MegaHertz - that's 12 GigaHertz.(Never mind what it means. It’s just a big number). Now ordinarytelevision cable would be struggling to carry a signal of 1 GHz so 12GHz is simply impossible. However, a better quality cable (called“satellite” or “digital” cable by most installers!) will carry a signal of up

to 2 GHz, so we need to reduce the frequency below that limit.

page 30




Now for the most complicated mathematical sum in the whole book:–What the LNB does is to subtract (for example) 10.6 GHz from thesatellite signal and pass the rest down the cable. For the example quoted

that would be 12 - 10.6 = 1.4 GHz, which is in the range that satellitecable will carry (but not TV cable!) The LNB transmits all the channelfrequencies down the cable simultaneously as a "block", (hence its name)having subtracted 10.6 from all of them. All the satellite receiver has todo is to select the one individual frequency that you require.

To sum up, the LNB performs several functions, as follows:• Collects very weak satellite signal reflected from the dish.• Separates Horizontally- and Vertically polarised signals.

• Amplifies signal.• Mixes signal with that produced by an internal oscillator.• Subtracts the two frequencies and sends the difference

down the cable to the receiver at a much lower frequency.

The low band satellite channels span the range 10975MHz to 11750MHz.If the LNB oscillator runs at 10,000 MHz, the cable will contain signalsfrom 975 to 1750MHz. The old Astra 1D channels spanned 10710 to11750MHz. If the LNB oscillator runs at 9,750 MHz (“Enhanced LNB”),

the cable will contain signals from 960 to 2000 MHz. For each polarisa-tion, all of the satellite program material which is broadcast is containedwithin the block of down-converted signal — not just one program. It isthe job of the satellite receiver to separate each program from the blockof down-converted signals coming down the cable from the LNB.

LNB Noise Figures

The LNB has internal electronics which generate some unwanted“noise” — random frequencies which can cause interference in the veryweak signals from the satellite. In order to minimise this interference,the LNB “noise” must be as low as possible. The “Noise Figure” isexpressed in a unit called the deciBell (dB). Before 1990, a noise figure of 3.0dB was considered good. At the time of writing there are now inex-pensive LNBs available with typical noise figures of 0.7dB and lower.

The charts show the manufacturing spread of noise figures for two dif-

ferent makes of LNB. The vertical scale represents thousands of units.The horizontal scale represents noise in dBs.

page 31




The left chart shows figuresfor a “1.2dB typical” LNB.The right chart below shows

a “1.0dB typical” LNB.If you buy one of the thou-sands of "1.2dB typical" LNBsmanufactured by the thiscompany you stand a chanceof obtaining a noise figurewhich is actually 1.0dB oreven 0.9dB.

If you buy an apparently better"1.0dB typical" LNB manufac-tured by the this company, right,you might be unlucky and get a1.3dB LNB. Buying an LNB can

be a risky business!

If the noise figure is really criticalthen purchase an LNB which

gives the actual test figures of noise as it was measured at the factory. Even then the result is uncertain

because the practical noise figure depends on your cable and yourreceiver to which it's connected!

If the satellite signal is very weak indeed, then the dish will also reflectextraneous noise into the LNB. In this instance it will not matter howlow the noise figure of the LNB may be — there will always be noisepresent on the signal. The only way to overcome the problem is to use alarger dish. In most cases, you are wasting your money if you buy anLNB of less than, say, 0.6dB. “The law of diminishing returns” applies -size matters; in this case, dish size is more important than LNB noise.

The feed horn must collect signal reflected from the entire dish area toachieve maximum gain. If the LNB is too close to the dish, some of thesignal reflected near the perimeter will be lost. However, if the LNB istoo far from the dish it will pick up noise from beyond the edge of the

dish which will swamp a weak signal.

page 32


8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0"0.8 "0.9 "1.0 "1.1 "1.2 "1.3 "1.4 "1.5 "1.6



As mentioned, previously, the LNB feed horn must be matched to thedish. If not, then similar problems can occur. If you use a Sky minidishwith a standard LNB, or a minidish LNB with a standard dish, the per-

formance may be adequate when the signal is strong but poor if the sig-nal is weak.

So don't use a conventional LNB on a Sky minidish. (You might betempted to do this if you want a twin-output LNB - which will be dis-cussed later.)

This discussion has dealt mainly with what was once the bog-standardLNB, often called a “Marconi switching LNB”. This LNB will select

Horizontal polarisation channels when it receives 17 volts up the cablefrom the satellite receiver and Vertical channels when it gets 13 volts.Modern receivers are designed to provide 13 and 17 volts and also a 22kiloHertz signal (just above the human audio hearing range) which tellsa “universal” LNB to switch to a higher frequency band.

Virtually ALL modern Digital receivers in the UK and Europe require a“universal” LNB. (Digital receivers used in the USA may require adifferent type of LNB).

Just for completeness, you might like to know that a universal LNBoscillator produces 9.75 GHz for low band operation (22kHz switchedoff) and 10.6GHz for high band (22kHz signal switched on).

Sky Digibox User Guide

This User Manual is the ideal solution if you'vebought a Sky Digibox without one.

Explains all the features of a Standard Digibox

including "secret" menus.

page 33




LNBs - summing up

All LNBs can receive analogue OR digital signals and convert them to

lower frequencies which can be fed down a coaxial cable. The LNBdoesn't care whether the signal is analogue or digital.

Early 13/17v "switching LNBs" had a 10 GHz internal oscillator and afairly limited frequency range. Noise figures could be anywhere from3.0dB down to 1.0dB.

Later 13/17v "switching LNBs" had a 9.75GHz internal oscillator andwere called "Enhanced" LNBs as they had a slightly wider frequency

range. Noise figures were typically 0.9dB.

The latest 13/17v universal "switching LNBs" have both a 9.75GHzinternal oscillator and a 10.6 GHz internal oscillator. The 10.6 is selected

by sending a low-level 22kHz signal up the cable to the LNB. Theiroperational range stretches across both "low band" and "high band" toinclude frequencies from 10.7 GHz to 12.75 GHz. Typical noise figurewill be 0.8dB down to 0.3dB (claimed).

These are called "Universal" LNBs and are the ones thatmost digital satellite receivers need.

Here is a typical LNB made by California Amplifier. It's asingle-output, universal with a "typical" noise figure of 0.5dB.

Remember that a small increase in dish size has MUCHmore effect than a tiny reduction in LNB noise figure!

Here is a twin-output LNB made by Philips. It's auniversal with a "typical" noise figure of 0.8dB.Each output is fully independent and can beconnected to a separate satellite receiver. Forexample, you can use two Sky Digiboxes (butyou'll also need two subscription cards) or oneSky-Plus Digibox. See LNBs at:-


page 34






What kind of LNB is it ?

People with older LNBs keep asking me what sort of LNB they have. It's

easy to find out:-

Align your dish on the Astra satellite cluster at 19.2'E.Set your analogue receiver LNB installation menu to 10.0 GHz (notadjustable in older receivers so you can safely assume it's already fixedon 10.0 GHz).

Now check the current listings for Astra at 19.2'E and select a programat, say 11.244 GHz Horizontal. (This is currently "RTL shop")

If you see the correct programme when you tune your receiver to 11.244GHz Horizontal then you have a 10.0 GHz LNB. If you find this pro-gramme 0.250 higher at 11.494 then you have a 9.75 GHz LNB("enhanced") or maybe a 9.75/10.6 GHz LNB ("Universal").

The only way to determine whether an LNB is "universal" is to supply itwith a 22kHz "tone" and see if the picture disappears (it switches to"high band"). However, most Universal LNBs are clearly marked either

"Universal" or "9.75/10.6" so, if yours is not marked, it probably is not a“universal” LNB. These LNBs were not made for very long before SkyDigital was born so, if your LNB predates 1998, it’s definitely not “uni-

versal”. If it's marked only "9.75" (Enhanced) or "10,0" it's not universal.

The Philips SC519QS/S Quad Output 0.7dB LNBis a more modern LNB.

Designed forthe Sky“minidish”only. Arrowshows ovalcam shaped“scalar rings”which focuson the dish.

page 35




Encryption

The two popular analogue European transmission standards are called

“PAL” (which is also used for ordinary TV transmissions) and D2MAC(which will give a better picture quality if used with a compatible TV).I emphasise that these are transmission standards, not encryption.SECAM (used mostly by France) is similar to PAL but uses a slightlydifferent colour encoding system. PAL signals were often scrambled bythe “Videocrypt™” system and D2MAC by the “Eurocrypt™” method.Analogue encryption methods were changed quite frequently to combatthe constant problem of “hackers” and different decoders were neededevery few years. Very few encrypted analogue broadcasts are left now.

Sky Digital, however, uses an entirely different system. Severalprogrammes (typically five) are first converted to digital signals, thenencoded with the "Videogard" system and "multiplexed" together, thencompressed using "MPEG". A Sky Digital receiver ("Sky Digibox") hasinternal circuits which decompress the signals, decode them and convertthem to a PAL-I signal which your UK TV can recognise. The Digiboxhas a built-in CAM circuit ("Conditional Access Module") - other digital

receivers use a separate plug-in CAM. In addition, the Digibox CAMcircuit needs a smart card and, as a final security measure, each card isprogrammed to "recognise" its own Digibox and will allow only a fewprogrammes to be viewed if it is put into a different Digibox. The onlyseparate CAM is the "Dragon CAM" but I have no information on this.

No need to employ an expert when youcan BE one! Our book “Installing SkyDigital TV” gives you complete informa-

tion about installing your dish, cable andDigibox. Dish sizes for outside the UK arediscussed in a section crammed full of

reports from Expats living as far away asScandinavia, Israel and North Africa.

Find out what you need to buy and how toinstall your dish safely. Bolt it up don’t“screw it up”! Over 100 pages of info.


page 36






Motorising the Digibox

The Symbol Rate is limited to just two choices

so you won't get many extra channels. In addi-tion, the software is not really designed tocope with a moving dish system and youmight suffer frequent "lock-ups" which willrequire you to disconnect the mains powerfrom the Digibox. It's much better to leave theDigibox as a separate system and buy a goodquality FTA digital receiver with a separatemotorised dish. Refer to our book:

“Installing a Motorised Satellite TV System”

Free To Air channelsThe digibox is capable of receiving free-to-air (FTA) channels, providedthat the channel frequency is in the range 10.7 - 12.5 GHz and that thesymbol rate is either 27.5 or 22.0 Mbaud. You need a second dish or asecond LNB on the existing dish with LNB pre-aligned on the satellite of your choice (or a motorised dish).

Programming "other satellite" FTA channelsYou can add up to 50 "other" programmes but there is a problem. If thelast bouquet that you add contains more programmes than the limit of 50 allows, you will not add any of them. The easiest way to cope withthis at present is to buy a "learning" remote that has a "multifunctionsequence" button. You can teach this button ALL of the digibox keypresses needed to reprogram "other satellite" channels. Sneaky, huh?

Use the "Other" menu for motorised or multi LNB useNormally there is no need for you to tune in satellite channels becauseyour Sky digibox tunes in all the available channels for you, includingnew channels as they are added to Sky's Electronic Programme Guide.Reception of Free To Air satellite signals is possible on your sky digibox

but only with the symbol rate of 27500 or 22000. This is due to the soft-ware used by Sky. The FEC is adjustable.If you want to tune in other channels that are not listed in Sky guide, forexample foreign language channels, follow these steps:

page 37




Press "services" on the Digibox remote control. The Services screensappears on your TV.

Select the "System Setup" option. The System Setup menu appears onyour TV screen.

Select the "Add Channels" option. The Add Channels menu appears onyour TV screen.

Highlight "Frequency" and use the number keys to enter the transpon-der frequency.

Highlight "polarisation" and use the left or right arrow button to set thepolarisation for the transponder.

Highlight "Symbol Rate" and use the left or right arrow button to set thesymbol rate for the transponder.

Highlight "FEC" (Forward Error Correction) and use the left or rightarrow button to set the FEC for the transponder.

Highlight "Find Channels" and press select. The Sky digibox checks thesettings you entered and looks for any new channels in the "bouquet"that has those settings.

The "New Channels" screen appears on your TV. This is a list of thechannels that your Sky digibox has found. You can select those youwant to add to the Other channels list.

To add each or any channel, highlight it, then press the "Store Channel"(yellow) button.

When you have finished adding "Other Channels", press "select".

New channels are stored in the Other Channels listing, which you canaccess from the Services menu. The digibox can store up to 50 suchchannels. However, as the size of the operating system software increas-es with every “upgrade” there seems to be less space for “Add chan-

nels”.

page 38




LNB Local Oscillator settingsThe LNB LO frequency can be adjusted between 9.75 and 10.75 butshould never need to be touched in practice.

22kHz signalThe 22kHz signal is automatically switched OFF if you select a frequen-cy of 11.699 or less. You can switch it off permanently in the InstallerSetup menu under "LNB". Its function is to select “high band” by caus-ing the universal LNB to use its 10.6 GHz internal oscillator.

DisEqCNot supported by any Sky Digibox.

Secret menus/ handset codesTo access the Installer Setup Menu you press these handset buttonswithout looking at the screen: (note that pressing the zero appears to donothing - but I told you not to look at the screen!)

[services] 4 0 1 [select]

The UHF channel for RF Out is also selected in this menu (the default

channel is 68).

UHF output tuningThe Default UHF channel is 68. If you want to change this press "ser-vices" then: 4 'System Setup' 0 1 select. This will bring you into theInstallers menu. Select option 4, 'RF Outlets', to display the RF Outletsscreen. Here, you choose an RF channel number between 21 and 69.To store the change you have made, highlight 'Save New Settings', thenpress the select button. Setting the UHF channel on top of a “Freeview”digital transmission will cause the Digibox to give “grainy pictures”from the RF outputs (but OK from scart of course).

Using the Sky Remote control Handset with a TVThe Sky remote control can work the basic functions of most (95 percent)of the TV sets in the UK. Simply enter the 4 digit code given for yourmodel in the User Instructions. The handset will remember this for thelife of the battery and also for up to five minutes during battery swap-

ping. If you have a very new TV model, make sure you have the latestrevision Sky remote (look inside the battery compartment for "Rev").

page 39




It will not work your VCR. However, a different “universal” remote isavailable which works some VCRs: http://www.satcure.co.uk

The Sky remote control was designed to work with most TV sets. If itcannot carry out the basic control functions (volume control, channelchange, Teletext access etc.), you may have to choose a different setupcode.

Note, however, that if you have a very old - or a very new - type of TVset, the Sky remote may not be compatible with it. In such a case, youwill have to resort to the original remote to control the TV, and use theSky remote to control the digibox receiver only.

The latest information about Sky Digibox remote control codes can befound at: http://www.satcure.com/tech

It is a large file so you may prefer to download it and read it off-line.

When looking for the code for your TV set, bear in mind that many TVsets are “badged”. For example, a “Granada” TV could be made by anyone of several manufacturers such as “Philips”. Look at the labels on the

rear of your TV set for a clue. Also bear in mind my previous comment:if your TV is too new or too old or too obscure (European import orTurkish import like BEKO, or a plasma screen) then the code is probablynot available. If you can’t find the code, please do not bother to ask me!I keep the file up to date. If the answer isn’t there, I haven’t got it.

Since September 2000, Skyguide allows you to do an A-Z programmesearch. A full explanation of this feature was given on p.37, Issue 5, Sept.2000 of Sky magazine. This is the free magazine sent out monthly to Skysubscribers. When you first access the A-Z listings you are presentedwith the "A" programmes first. To view programmes beginning with M,you simply press the M button on the remote control.

page 40


Join the SatCure FREE mailing list for monthlyreports about Satellite TV and similar subjects.



http://www.satcure.com/tech



http://www.satcure.com/tech




A review of the mk1 Sky-Plus Digital BSKYB3000 receiver from Pace.

To clear up the confusion surrounding this

box, you can watch one programme whileyou record another. You can NOT watch twoprogrammes at the same time.

An existing Sky subscriber can buy a Sky-Plus Digibox from an A.S.A. In addition,

Sky will charge £12 per month for the sec-ond smart card, which will get the same programmes that the first cardgets. BskyB say you MUST connect the Sky-Plus Digibox to a telephone

line. To record programmes costs another £10 per month unless you payfor an expensive premium package.

The Sky-Plus Digibox has 2 Hard drives. One holds between 8-12 hoursrecording. The second about 2 hours. This is the one used for time delaywhen, say, the phone rings or somebody comes to the door. You simplytell the Digibox to record. When you come back you press play and the

box runs the program from the point where it was interrupted and keepson recording so the entire program is time-shifted for you.

You will have choice how it records over previous recorded pro-grammes. It puts up a menu on the screen so you can highlight pro-

grammes you want to keep and these will not be wiped off. You can alsoset to it to auto which wipes off the oldest programme).

You will be able to transfer recorded programmes to video (not films).You will also be able to use a timer function.

Sky are starting a new Box Office with the new box. The films will benewer than the existing Box Office and you will have to "Download"them to your Digibox. You "rent" these rather than the way you do now.Sky allegedly have not decided yet whether to rent by the day or by thenumber of viewings. Either way, the film will wipe itself after the hireperiod. Also, the hire period does not begin until you start to watch itfor the first time. You can not transfer these to video.

You will be able to watch (Record) one Digital channel and watch anoth-er Digital channel as the box has two tuner modules. A twin output LNB

page 41




(minimum) is required but a QUAD output LNB will be supplied as standard so you can feed TWO Sky-Plus Digiboxes or ONE Sky-Plus and TWO standard

Sky Digiboxes (with additional cables required fromthe LNB). Special twin “Shotgun” cable is available.It is very thin and makes installation easier. Seeaccessories catalogue for cable:-http://www.satcure.co.uk

The Programme planner will cover the whole month, and you are ableto set the record feature up to a month in advance.

The new boxes are not covered by the free box offer.

The new Digibox is a little bit (not much) smaller than a "normal" PaceDigibox.

The Sky-Plus remote is the same size, but has five extra buttons(Forward, Stop, Rewind, Play and Pause) just below the down button.This remote does NOT normally* operate the standard Digibox, so bothtypes of Digibox could be installed in the same room.*There’s a button sequence that lets it operate a standard Sky Digibox.

Sky-Plus boxes have been available since September 2001.

The Sky-Plus comes with a quad-output LNB and adapters to fit it toyour standard minidish. It can not be fitted to any other type of dish

because the fitting is different and it isdesigned to focus on a minidish shape

(much wider than its height). If you “bodge”it on a standard dish, the results will be poor.See my eBook for more details: “InstallingSky Digital TV”.

Sky-Plus has an S-Video output socket andan optical output socket for Dolby Digital(5.1) which is used on some movies.No other Sky Digibox has Dolby Digital.

A larger capacity Hard Drive can be fittedSee http://www.satcure.co.uk/tech

page 42



http://www.satcure.co.uk/tech

http://www.satcure.co.uk/tech




Digibox receives some digital terrestrial channelsIt will receive only those which are rebroadcast via satellite. CurrentlyBBC1,2,3,4,7 etc. CH4, CH5, ITV1,2,3. Also several radio channels. The

Sky Digibox is NOT compatible with digital terrestrial transmissions because, for good technical reasons, the transmission standard is differ-ent. To build a multi-standard box would be prohibitively expensive atthe present time. You will need a different box for the UK digital (wasONdigital/ITVdigital) terrestrial channels.

BBC, C4, C5, ITV without a Sky digital subFrom July 10th 2003 the BBC programmes are no longer scrambled(*except BBC Prime). This means that you don't need a card to watch all*

BBC programmes and ANY digital receiver should do if you can get asignal in your area. Existing dark blue and yellow FTV cards shouldcontinue to work until at least December 2005 and you can order a cardfrom BskyB for £20 in order to see CH4, 5 and SKY3 programme.

BBC1 and BBC2 programmes from different regionsThe card is authorised to appoint the BBC channels according to yourpost code area. The card is also linked to the serial number of theDigibox. You are allowed one card per Digibox. From mid July 2003 you

can receive all BBC programmes without a card (except BBC Prime).From November 1st, 2005, you can receive all ITV progs without a card.

Sky digital viewing card works in any Digibox, but ...NOT for the premium channels for which the card is matched to onereceiver. In order to use your existing card for premium channels on adifferent receiver, you will have to ask Sky to re-authorise the cardwhile it is in the new Digibox. They will require various informationincluding the Version Number and the serial number. A second hand(used) Digibox can be authorised in this way, either with an existingsmart card or with a new card. A card previously used in a differentDigibox will require re-authorising by phoning the number given previ-ously. A card which has not been used for some weeks may take up to48 hours before it begins to work or may need to be re-authorised if it’sstill not working after being in the correct receiver for a day or two.Some new cards fail to work altogether. Ask for a replacement if thishappens. If you need to use your card temporarily in another Sky

Digibox, do not mention "temporary" or Sky won't do it! Just ask for thechange then, later, phone and ask again for it to be changed.

page 43




Freeview (terrestrial digital gives BBC, ITV etc.)You don’t need a dish, just a TV aerial. Read thiseBook for information about choosing and

installing a receiver.http://www.The-Cool-Book-Shop.co.uk

You will need a terrestrial aerial and Freeviewreceiver, since most Freeview programmes are notbroadcast by Sky.

Alternatively, you can buy a FTV (Free To View)card for £20 from BskyB and use the Sky Digibox

to receive those programmes instead. See details of this on a previous page.

Digital decoderThere is no such thing as a Sky Digital decoder. The nearest is the"Dragon CAM" which still needs a Sky card. The Sky Digibox has itsown decoder (CAM) circuit built into the mother board.

BBC radio stations available from Astra at 28.2E

BBC radio is available as well as numerous other radio stations.

Foreign programmes from Astra at 28.2 degrees East of true SouthCNE (Chinese), two Asian channels, Arabic “Al Jazeera” and severalothers. You can also use your Digibox to receive programmes from othersatellites such as Eutelsat at 13'E and Astra at 19.2'E, but not easily.

See the coverage "footprint" of Astra2 satellites at 28.2Ehttp://www.ses-astra.com/satellites/footprints/

Note that the footprints are somewhat pessimistic. For Astra 2D see:http://www.satcure.co.uk/2d/

Buying a second hand (used) DigiboxTry LOOT or Ebayhttp://www.scoot2.co.uk

http://www.ebay.co.uk

Also see our on-line catalogue page 10 for sellers of used receivers:http://www.satcure.co.uk

page 44



http://www.ses-astra.com/satellites/footprints/

http://www.satcure.co.uk/2d/

http://www.scoot2.co.uk/

http://www.ebay.co.uk/



http://www.ebay.co.uk/

http://www.scoot2.co.uk/

http://www.satcure.co.uk/2d/

http://www.ses-astra.com/satellites/footprints/




Digibox and Internet AccessYou can buy the "OPEN" keyboard from BskyB, which will allow you tosend and receive e-mail messages but you will not have access to the

World Wide Web or to USENET News Groups. You will have access tothe "OPEN" shopping mall only.

Recording programmesIt is possible to set the Sky Digibox to remind. The ElectronicProgramme Guide allows you to set reminders on programmes thathave not started. These are then listed in a personal programme guide.From there, they can be set to an automatic mode. Reminders cause amessage to be displayed over the programme that you are watching for

about 5 minutes. Automatic setting causes the Digibox to switch channelwhen the required programme starts. This mode also works with somemodern VCRs and with our Phantom PVR device.

The Personal Planner concept is very good in theory but, at the time of writing (August 2001), the software seems to contain errors, which resultin either no recording or a recording of a blank screen. Unfortunately,although this doesn't happen every time, it happens often enough for thefacility to be useless unless you sit and watch what it's recording!

Personal Planner Calamities

Does anyone else have problems with the sky personal planner?

My brother selected a movie, Fled, shown on BBC CHOICE a few months ago,and it came up with the reminder and everything, but it hasn't deleted itself

from the PP. When I press the yellow button to delete, it doesn't let me!

"THIS BOX OFFICE PROGRAMME HAS ALREADY BEEN VIEWED AND CANNOT BE DELETED" or something like that.

I don't want to do a forced update because it went terribly wrong before, but isthere anything I could do to get rid of it otherwise?

Follow this sequence:1. Remove viewing card

2. Reinsert it upside down (yes, really!)3. Switch box off at mains

page 45




4. wait 30 secs. switch it back on5. Give it 60 secs to generate listings then press sky to take the box out

of standby

6. Remove viewing card, then wait until "Insert card" message appears7. Reinsert viewing card the correct way up.

VCR controls Digibox ?If you are good with electronics you can build an interface module thatcan intercept the codes from your VCR and convert them to codes whichwill be recognised by the Digibox. See this web site for details:http://website.lineone.net/~dezellis

Some recent VCRs can control the Digibox directly by means of infraredcodes - notably the NVHD675, NVHD685 and NV-HS960 fromPanasonic.

You can also buy a unit from us called a “Phantom PVR” which lets theDigibox “autoview” facility control the VCR. Some people prefer this tothe SKY+ with its internal Hard Drive.

Stereo audio from the Digibox

Connect to your TV via Scart. If you want stereo sound in another room,use a separate audio amplifier and connect it via one of those longphono cables that you can buy from SatCure.

Use the RF connection just for the picture and mute the audio on the TVwhile you listen to the stereo sound through the amplifier. You can get acheap stereo amp from places like Tandy (I think) or use a CD/Tapeplayer with an "Aux" input or use an Amstrad SRD2000 or a PaceMSS1000 to get Dolby Prologic surround sound from the Digibox.

Dolby Prologic Surround Sound with Pace MSS1000:- Connect Digiboxscart to Pace AV scart, switch the Pace on and select AV.

Amstrad SRD2000 can also be used. These receivers can even be used asScart switching boxes with three or four inputs.

page 46


http://website.lineone.net/~dezellis

http://website.lineone.net/~dezellis



page 47


Scart AV functions

Most people, whose TV sets are connected to the digibox via Scart, are

puzzled by the way their system works. Problems relate particularly toAV-select and wide screen functions. What is going on?Some users are unaware of the functions that a Scart-connected digiboxcan provide. A user may even come to believe that the unit is faulty.The way that a Scart-connected digibox works is affected by the SCARTControl setting (at the Picture Settings screen of the System Setupmenu). If this setting is 'On' (the default), then, when the digibox is

brought out of standby, a control voltage will be sent from the digiboxon Scart pin 8 to the TV set. This will switch the TV set to its 'AV input

mode' - i.e. the TV will display whatever is being output by the digiboxand ignore its own tuner.

Now, you may not actually want to watch what is being output by thedigibox - for instance, you may want to watch terrestrial television,while recording the digibox programme. In this case, you can press the'tv' button on the Sky remote control to switch the TV out of its 'AVmode' and then use the number buttons to select the terrestrial TV chan-nel. If the 'tv' button on its own does not switch the TV out of its 'AV

mode', you should press the 'tv' button followed by the 'help' button. If this still does not work, you will have to use the TV's original remotecontrol to switch the TV out of AV mode.

With regard to wide screen operation, again the way the digibox worksis affected by one of the system settings. If you have a wide screen TVset, check that the Picture Format entry (at the Picture Settings screen of the System Setup menu) is set to '16:9'. The digibox will then vary theoutput on pin 8 of the TV Scart between 6 and 12 volts, dependent onthe type of programme being broadcast. If the digibox identifies a 16:9programme, it will set pin 8 to 6 volts, which will switch the wide screenTV to 16:9 operation. If the digibox identifies a 4:3 programme, it will setpin 8 to 12 volts, which will switch the wide screen TV to 4:3 operation.

Note: The Digibox can output only one format at a time. This goes toALL outputs (Scart and RF). You can set the format to (say) 16:9 for loca-tion 1 and 4:3 for location 2. The Digibox will change the format to 4:3 if

(and only if) it receives a remote control signal via RF output 2. You willneed to use a “SkyLink” type remote extender at location 2.



If the digibox does not work as described above, check that the widescreen TV set is in so called 'Autoswitching' mode (refer to the usermanual that came with the TV set). If it still does not work, check that

the Scart lead is connected properly. If necessary, replace the Scart lead.For Scart leads and scart switching boxes, see the SatCure catalogue.Many modern TV sets will accept the colour picture signals directly. Toachieve this, press SKY, Services, 1, 4, 1 and select video output = "RGB"instead of "PAL" in the menu. This puts a signal on Scart pin 16 whichtells your TV set to accept the "Red, Green and Blue" colour signalsdirectly. The advantage is that these signals go direct to the TV insteadof first being processed by the Digibox RF modulator then processedagain by the TV aerial tuner, which degrades the picture quality.

Note: The RGB signal is always present on the TV scart along with theCVBS signal, the TV is told which one to use by the status of pin 16, 0Vfor PAL & 3V for RGB. If the scart control is turned off pin 16 is always0V (PAL mode).

Picture ShiftHowever, some TV sets do not recognise the signal on Scart pin 16 (it'sonly 4 volts) and some TV sets will shift the picture left because of an

incompatibility with synchronising puls-

es. This would be expensive or impossibleto correct so TEST your new TV with aDigibox before parting with your cash!Applies especially to plasma screens.

For more information please see myeBook "Piping TV Around the House".http://www.satcure.co.uk/book.htm

page 48






Dish behind a window

I can guarantee that, at least once a month, somebody will ask me “can I

install the dish in my loft (roof space)?” or “can I install the dish behinda window?” or “can I install my dish on a balcony?” or “can I buy a dis-guised dish that doesn’t look like a dish?”The answer is often “yes”.

Read my “Installing Sky Digital TV” eBook formore information. See page 17 in on-line cata-log.

The Digiglobe

Metronic dish

Pipe “dish”

Not sure how to use a multimeter?

You can buy this low-cost companion book

at http://www.The-Cool-Book-Shop.co.uk

page 49






Ordering pay-per-view programmes

Before you can order a pay-per-view (PPV) event, the viewing card has

to be activated in the digibox for this purpose. The procedure is initiated by a ‘callback’ from the digibox to Sky. Upon successful completion of the callback, Sky will send PPV authorisation to the viewing card, viasatellite. So, if you are experiencing difficulties with PPV, first contactSky to check the status of the viewing card.

RF Modulator

Some people call this a Scart to Aerial adapter.

The function of an RF modulator is to convert videoand audio signals to a UHF signal which iscompatible with your TV aerial input. One sold bySatCure has the added bonus that you can selecteither PAL-i audio (UK) or PAL-g audio (Europe).

You may simply want a way of watching DVDmovies on a TV set that has no Scart input. An RFmodulator can do this (although an ordinary Video

Recorder can probably be pressed into service forthis).

Note that the audio will always be MONO from an RF modulator. Youcan’t buy one that converts the audio to NICAM stereo. The picture willnever be better than a good analogue TV picture.

I get no audio from my Digibox

The Sky Digibox is designed for use in the UK where “PAL-I” transmis-sion standard is used. It is not compatible with TV sets from other coun-tries which may use PAL-G or PAL-BG. In this case you will need to usea Scart lead or an external “Deluxe RF Modulator” connected to yourDigibox Scart socket. See catalogue for details:-


page 50






Software version

It is good practice to check that the Digibox has the latest software if

you've bought it second hand or if it has been disconnected for sometime. At the System Setup menu (accessed from the Services menu),select option 5, 'System Details'. The parameters that vary between soft-ware revisions are as follows:

Model NumberOperating System VersionEPG Software Version

Compare the details which appear on screen with the details from adigibox which has recently undergone an over-the-air download.Alternatively, contact the Manufacturer's Technical Department for lat-est version numbers.

Forcing a software download

Switch off the receiver at the mains wall socket. Press and hold the frontpanel "backup" button and switch the mains power back on. Continue to

hold the button for 20 seconds or until the LEDs all light (depends onthe make/model). As soon as this happens, you'll see a message on thescreen (only if you have connected via the TV Scart). Leave the receiverfor at least 15 minutes to download the software via satellite.

Note that this will not work unless the receiver is getting a good signal!(It can even cause damage if your Digibox is reporting a poor quality signal).After a forced download you should switch the receiver off at the 230vwall socket for ten seconds. Remove the card. Switch back on. Wait till itasks for the card then insert it. This sequence is occasionally necessary tosolve problems caused by the download, although I don't know why!Note that a software download will occasionally change user settings

back to factory standard (for example the UHF output channel to 68).

Locking out or removing one channel with a PINCan I exclude one or more programmes?The "parental control" facility gives the option to lock a program if you

have software version 1.2S4F9, 3.3a.6 or newer. However, you can notremove any programme from the Electronic Programme Guide listing.

page 51




S-Video from a Digibox

No S-VHS upgrade is available because BskyB would have to alter the

software. However, the ‘Sky Plus’ Digibox includes it, as do GrundigDigiboxes with model numbers ending in “/2” and GDS2000 onwards.

Videoplus codes

Sky do not transmit any video plus information on digital so *no* VCRcan control a digibox direct from video plus codes. All the video pluscodes listed in magazines/news papers are for the analogue serviceonly. However, once set up, you can use the videoplus codes for record-

ing, the video changing channel for you just before starting recording.

The only thing that doesn't work is that there is no PDC on Sky, so youhave to manually allow for any overruns etc.

There's now a few videos on the market that use the EPG from the digibox to operate the video to change the channels on the Digibox. Look atthe Panasonic and the Toshiba range. The JVC range includes aninfrared control that will change the channels (imitating the remote)

(although a free upgrade is needed for the newer digibox). Also look atthe “Phantom PVR” device sold by SatCure).

Symbol RatesTwo settings available: 27500 and 22000 - limited by the software.

Forward Error CorrectionFEC settings of 1/2, 2/3, 3/4, 5/6, 7/8 are available.

Electronic Programme GuideEach program provider probably pays* BskyB about 30,000 GB poundsto have his programme included in BskyB's EPG. There is no way to dothis on one Digibox. Consequently, there's no way to add any channel toyour existing EPG line-up via the "ADD CHANNELS" option or intoyour FAVOURITE channels.

*Apologies for the alliteration!

page 52




True Teletext

You need a teletext TV set. Press the teletext button on your TV remote

control handset.

Sky Text

Do NOT do the above. Instead, press “Sky” then “text” on your DIGI-BOX remote control handset. You do not need a teletext TV for this.

BBC Interactive Text (Available on Sky Digiboxes only)

Tune to any BBC Digital channel eg BBC1, BBC News 24. If you pressthe text button on your Digibox Remote you will enter the BBC DigitalInteractive text service. The service is similar to Sky News interactiveand is a combination of Text and Graphics News Weather, etc. You cannavigate between pages of textual information, alongside the minimisedpicture of your current channel on the right hand side. If you like BBCyou also have an alternative way of skipping between the BBC Digitalchannels only. To exit the service press the text button again.

BBC regional programmes start at channel number 942 at present.

page 53




What dish size do I need?

For the UK up to Manchester the standard 45cm “minidish” will be OK

unless there is a very heavy rainfall. North of Manchester you shoulduse a 55cm dish and, in Scotland, from 60cm to 90cm.

For information about dish sizes and equip-ment required in fringe areas (SouthernEurope, North Africa and Scandinavia) read

my eBook: “Installing Sky Digital TV” whichyou can order from:-http://www.satcure.co.uk/book.htm

My Digibox is faulty

Are you sure? Many faults are caused bythe cable, connectors, dish and LNB. Themost sensible course of action is to test yourDigibox on a known good dish system.Don’t simply guess or it could be an expen-sive mistake. Read my eBook “RepairingSky Digital Receivers”.


Some spare parts are available. See web site catalogue.


To get your receiver repaired professionally, see:

http://www.satcure.co.uk/repairs.htm

page 54












Where can I buy ...?

Hardware

Dishes, poles, masts, brackets, LNBs, dish actuators (motors), TV Aerials

Connectors and Cable

‘F’ twist connectors, ‘F’ push-on adapters, cable connectors, TV aerialplugs and sockets, wall plates, cable, twin cable, cable clips, hole grom-mets, telephone cables, self-amalgamating tape ...

Amplifiers

Satellite and TV, splitters, boosters, attenua-tors, LNB switches, Scart switches ...

Signal Meter

Satellite Signal dish-alignment Meter,

compass, ESR meter, multimeter

Remote Control Handsets

for Sky Digital, ONdigital, remote extender “TV Link”, “Digilink”,“Powermid” wireless extenders ...

Caravan and motorhome

roof-mounting dishes, invertors, tripod,audio equipment ...

Miscellaneous

Surge Protectors, Cooling fans, reed switches, soldering irons, screwsand hardware, power supply repair kits ...

SatCure !!!http://www.satcure.com

page 55


http://www.satcure.com/

http://www.satcure.com/



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Did you find it useful?

On the next few pages you’ll find details of other eBooks from SatCure.

If a FREE eBook is as good as this, imagine how good an eBook will be if you buy it!

Visit our other information web sites:

http://www.marketingtips.uk.com

http://www.podcaststingers.com

http://www.glodark.com or http://www.glodark.co.uk

http://www.your-book.co.uk

http://www.satcure-focus.com

Visit our discussion forum to chat about TV problems, and other subjects: http://www.satcure.com/forum.htm

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http://www.marketingtips.uk.com/

http://www.podcaststingers.com/

http://www.glodark.com/

http://www.glodark.co.uk/

http://www.your-book.co.uk/

http://www.satcure-focus.com/

http://www.satcure.com/forum.htm

http://www.satcure.com/forum.htm



http://www.glodark.co.uk/

http://www.glodark.com/

http://www.podcaststingers.com/

http://www.marketingtips.uk.com/



The next eBooks in this series are

Installing Sky Digital TV

Essential reading if you want to move yourold system to a new house, install a brandnew Sky-Plus or standard system, fit a sys-tem to your house, motorhome, caravan ornarrow boat or use it in Europe, this eBookanswers your questions. What size dish,what sort of cable, connectors, which receiv-er is best for outside the UK ... 110+ page

eBook filled with colour photographs andeasy-to-understand explanations.

Piping TV Around the HouseHow to connect your TV, video, satellite,DVD and send the signals to TVs in otherrooms. An invaluable guide and referencethat explains UHF channel utilisation with-

out unnecessary technical terms. Includessketches to show wiring methods.

Repairing Sky Digital ReceiversNot just a repair book!Common problems and cures listed - manyof which you can fix yourself with only the

remote control handset or a soldering iron.Plus lots of general repair informationincluding how to recognise various compo-nents.Written in simple terms, this eBook alsogives the home user valuable advice on howto prevent failure.Read it NOW and save money in the future.But, if the worst happens, read it anyway

because it will still save you money.

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Installing a Motorised DishEverything you need to know about

installing a motorised satellite TV dish sys-tem for your analogue or digital satellitereceiver. Written in plain English with nomaths and a minimum of technical "jargon",this eBook will lead you by the hand.Discontinued (out of date).

A Beginner's Guide to Receiver RepairBased on the original "Screwdriver Expert's

Guide to Satellite Receivers" this eBookdescribes the basic components and a typi-cal power supply with diagrams and expla-nations. Shows how to solder and describeswhat to check and measure. It won't makeyou an expert but, if you are capable of sol-dering in components supplied as a kit, itwill take you one step further so you under-stand why you are doing it and even help

you figure out other possible fault causesand cures. If you buy a repair kit, you needthis eBook.

Sky Digital in Spain (and southern Europe)Salvador spent weeks carrying out testswith various LNBs and dishes. This eBook isa report of his findings. What size of dishand which LNB works best and why?Complete with photographs including thedishes, LNBs, the ground station where hedid the work and the equipment that heused to analyse the signals. This eBook isfull of technical information but Salvadorwrites in impeccable English with a stylethat makes the eBook easy and interesting toread. You can feel his excitement as he

reports on his findings! Absolutely invalu-able for any expat in southern Europe.

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Beginners Guide to Electronics FREE!Easier to understand than anything you'veread previously! Martin has a knack of

explaining technical subjects in simplelanguage. Components covered includeresistors, diodes, transistors andcapacitors. As an example, it describes indetail how to build a flashing LED circuiton perforated stripboard ("Veroboard")

with a photograph of every stage. This isNOT just another boring technical bookfull of mathematical equations. You'll like

it! Ideal for everyone from the youngstudent to the retired lady looking for anew hobby. And it's FREE!

Satellite Secrets - Installing AnalogueAll about Analogue satellite TVinstallations. Although Sky analogue

broadcasts ceased in September 2001, thereare still lots of programmes broadcast in

analogue. This eBook answers yourquestions. What sort of dish, cable,connectors, receivers. How to install.

Tricks of the trade. Money-saving advice.... 112 page eBook filled with colourphotographs and easy-to-understandexplanations.

Each month Martin Pickering as "JackArmstrong" wrote a monthly "SatelliteWorkshop" column for "TelevisionServicing" magazine.We've compiled some of the original,unedited versions - that means they arelonger and funnier than the publishedversions. They may contain errors orstories which have never appeared in

print. They might also contain the oddnote to the editor!

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The Freeview BibleUK digital terrestrial TV is still a mysteryto a lot of people. If you’d like to find outwhat receiver to buy, whether you’ll need anew aerial and where to point it, then thiseBook will guide you.

Includes all sorts of information that youdidn’t know you needed!

Be FoundWant your own web site to be found? Wantto know why my web sites get thousandsof visitors every week? Why just one of mysites attracts over 33,000 unique vistorseach month!Read my eBooklet and you'll know as

much as I do!

My Living Story and Real Family TreeWhy and how you should start yourPersonal Living Story and turn your familytree upside down. It's easy with a comput-

er and your descendants in the 21st centu-ry AD will have a Real Family Tree theycan be proud to be part of.George Appleby calls his eBook "A radicalrestructuring of family history and thefamily tree for my plebeian descendantswith I.T.-wise offspring, post 2,000 AD"George is an amateur writer but this eBookis a real gem. He has turned genealogy on

its head and presented us with a new wayof looking at family history.

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March in April (free eBook)The average life expectancy of a rear gunner

during World War 2 was 6 months. Myfather was just 20 when his aeroplane wasshot down into the sea and he lived to tellthe tale. This is the first part of a book thathe started to write about his experiences.Sadly, the eBook will never be finished

because Tom Pickering died at age 80 inDecember 2000 but the chapters he wroteare fascinating. Includes pictures.

David's letters from FranceThese letters were found in an envelope in asideboard drawer. They had been tied witha black ribbon many years ago and placedthere, out of sight and unread for 85 years.Next to them was a small box containing afew medals and underneath, folded neatly,

an old telegram. Read first-hand about "TheGreat War" from a common soldier.

The Photographer’s Book of SmilesThis highly amusing eBook makes the Idealgift for any photographer.Limericks and poems - each with a hand-drawn illustration.Written and illustrated by John Everett, pro-fessional writer and photographer.

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Start your own writing business

Free eBook to help you start writing.

Companion eBook to “Color Psychology”(also free to download).

Writers Wanted!

You know the old saying: “everyone has a book inside him/her”. Well it’s true.

And very often you’ve already written itwithout knowing!

One of my first books was “The CB EpromData Book”. This is a technical explanationof how to convert a CB radio for use on theAmateur Radio frequencies. It resultedfrom an exchange of letters that I had with

a guy who lived in Ventnor, Isle of Wight.

He asked me various questions to which I

replied at length. After the sixth exchangehe wrote: “You should write a book.”So I did. I compiled all the notes andsketches and typed them into my BBCMicrocomputer. Whoa, but I’m giving all

my secrets! You can read about it in my“Run Your Own Business” eBook.

But you can do the same. Have you everhelped anyone by writing a letter? Thisshould answer the common question: “Butwhat can I write about?”

Anything that helps someone!

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Make Money at Weekends

You don’t need much money to start up a business. I did it with just £500. It’s possible to do it with a lot less. But it’s handy tohave at least some.

This eBook gives a lot of ideas about

scraping cash together in order to get start-ed. “You need money to make money”.

Many people are tied down to full-time jobs. They are too busy workingto make extra money! All they can manage is to make enough to pay the

bills and have an occasional night out. But it is possible to break freefrom this trap. I did it. You can, too. It needs just a little effort.

Make money as this little eBook describes and/or make money fromwriting. I write magazine articles and get paid. Then I use the same text

to write books and booklets and get paid again! If you want to be lazy, just send me your text and photos and let me put your eBook on myweb site. I’ll share the profits with you.

Or maybe you already have a successful business and want to advertiseit for free. OK, write some educational articles telling people how to useyour products. People buy things if they are told how easy they are touse; just look at the “QVC” TV shop. You can do the same in writing.

Just type a little booklet and give it away for free. It’s advertising with-out cost. Thousands of people will download it and order stuff fromyou. Darn! That’s another secret I’ve given away!

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See our web sites at:http://www.satcure.co.uk (UK Sky Digibox) and

http://www.your-book.co.uk (Analogue satellite and everything else)

http://www.satcure-focus.com (electronics, caravan/motorhome)

http://www.The-Cool-Book-Shop.co.uk e(Books)




http://www/

http://www/






DVD Secrets

70 pages of information covering most pop-

ular models.

Details of simple modifications to play otherregion DVDs

See list of models covered at the book shop:

http://www.The-Cool-Book-Shop.co.uk New to our range is a number of humorouseBooks such as “Why Chocolate is Betterthan Sex.”

A Guide to Unixand Mac OSX is

for Apple Macusers

Plants Without Pain or Pesticides ia agardening eBook with a difference!Sick of digging? This eBook is for you.

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Not sure how to use a multimeter?

You can buy this low-cost companion book

at http://www.The-Cool-Book-Shop.co.uk

The CB Eprom Data BookAdvanced CB Radio frequency modificationtechniques by Martin Pickering B. Eng.

Eproms are often associated with modern

microcomputer technology and thought to be equally as complex! However, far frommaking life complicated, Eproms are as easyto use as any other electronic componentand can make simple work of an otherwisedifficult circuit. Using simple language anda good selection of diagrams, this bookexplains how to make effective use of Eprom

technology in modern CB radios.

By covering a previously unexplained topic, this book will prove to bean invaluable complement to the popular reference manual "The CBPLL DATA BOOK" written by Lou Franklin.

This book is essential reading for anyone wanting to convert a CB radio

to work on the American "Novice" Band, or 10 meter Amateur Band. Of course, once you understand the basic principles, you can figure outhow to get other bands, too!

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eBook Frequently Asked Questions

Q. How do I buy an eBook?

A. Visit http://www.The-Cool-Book-Shop.co.uk

or http://www.satcure.com/book.htm

Q. What is an eBook?A. "eBook" is actually a computer file which uses "Portable DocumentFormat" developed by Adobe. Almost all computers use a free programcalled "Acrobat Reader" to view or print out these eBooks.

Q. How soon will you send my eBook?A. We don't ever send eBooks. When you order an eBook you willreceive an automatic reply which contains the address of a web pagewhere you can download your eBook. Be sure to test with a FREE book

before paying for one!

Q. Can I send you a cheque or cash or other form of payment?A. No. The system is automated. Processing a cash payment would costmore.

Q. POSTAGE? In the "shopping cart" which "shipping zone" must Ichoose?A. Obviously there is no shipping charge for eBooks since you willdownload them. But the shopping cart requires you to choose a destina-tion zone or it won't work. So choose a zone and it will leave the ship-ping charge at ZERO unless you order something else that has to beposted.

Q. Do you supply a printed version?A. In most cases NO. It would be very expensive to print a minimum

quantity of, say, 1000 books (as required by most printing companies). Inaddition, you'd have to pay shipping costs and you'd have to wait forthe post.

Q. Can I print my own copy?A. Yes but it will use your ink and paper and remember that many of the

eBooks are over 60 pages long and include colour photos. It's better toread it on-screen and print out specific pages if you need to refer to them

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http://www.satcure.com/book.htm

http://www.satcure.com/book.htm




elsewhere. Some people occasionally experience problems in printingfrom Adobe Acrobat Reader. Sometimes this can be solved by printing afew pages at a time. Sometimes it's a problem with the computer, oper-

ating system, memory or printer driver. There is no support for the freeAcrobat Reader but you can usually get help from other users in the on-line discussion forum at the Adobe web site. Unfortunately, we can notoffer help with printing problems.

Q. So what's the advantage of a "eBook" over a printed copy?

• You can download it NOW if it's free and in just 30 minutes from nowif it isn't.• You don't have to drive to town to get it or pay postage.

• A printed copy would sell for typically £19 to £29 plus postage (actual-ly, a book with colour photos would cost a lot more). Most of the eBooksare £8 or less (or FREE).• An eBook takes up no shelf space and it's difficult to misplace it - butif you do, just download another copy.• An eBook is searchable - you can type in a word or phrase and findevery occurrence in an instant.• An eBook can be updated frequently so the latest information isalways available.

• Every update can be downloaded FREE. You pay only once!

Q. How do I know when an eBook has been updated?

To find out about Satellite TV eBook updates, join the free monthlysatellite news letter from SatCure. Guaranteed to inform and amuse.You can also look at the eBook revision dates on the eBook advert pageson the web site. To download an update, simply go to the downloadpage that you were given originally by e-mail. If it is no longer available,

send us an e-mail request and be sure to include your proof of purchase.

Q. How can I be sure that I'll be able to download and read an eBookafter I've paid?A. Download a FREE eBook first. If you have problems, get a friend totry with his own computer. Some office systems have problems becauseof security systems and "firewalls" so try using your home computerinstead. The files take no more than a few minutes to download with a56k modem connection.

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Q. How can I download an "eBook"?A. Windows users should right-click on "Download" and select "savetarget as". Be sure to select a suitable directory in which to save the PDF

file. Macintosh users should "option click" on "Download" (hold the"option" or "alt" button while you click) and the PDF file will be saved inthe default download folder which you set in your browser preferences.This description applies to Internet Explorer but other browsers operatein a similar way.

Q. What do I do if I have download problems?A. We are unable to assist you with Specific computer problems. Be sureto download a FREE eBook first. If you can download that, then you

should have no problem in downloading every other eBook. Some com-puters use a "firewall" system which prevents downloads. If it gives youproblems, please turn it off while downloading. If you do have a specificproblem, please write to us with complete details of which eBook, thedownload page URL, what you are doing and the exact error message(s)that you see. If all else fails, ask a friend to do the download for you on adifferent computer. Please do not send us a vague report such as "I cannot download the eBook" because this will not enable us to advise you.

Q. Can your "eBooks" carry a virus onto my computer or cause otherproblems?A. No.

Q. Can I copy my "eBook" onto another computer or send it by e-mail?A. Yes, I can't stop you. But remember that each eBook is "watermarked"with a secret code so I can trace where each copy came from. If you senda copy to a friend, point this out to them and ask them to download

their own copy if they want to keep it. It is illegal to copy these eBooks -even the free ones unless otherwise stated - and copyright law is mucheasier to enforce than patent law. If I find an eBook copy on any web siteI can have that web site shut down within an hour. I guarantee this. I'vealready done it twice. No ISP wants to get involved in a copyright law-suit. They'll switch the site off and ask questions later. This applies toresponsible sites like Ebay, too. They'll cut you out right away.

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Q. I'm not very technically minded. Are your books easy to understand?A. Yes. I've been writing and publishing books for many years and peo-ple tell me that my writing style is easy to follow; technical matters are

explained in simple terms, often with some humour. I believe my read-ers!

Q. How can I be sure that the eBook will be useful and I'm not just wast-ing my hard-earned money?A. My technical eBooks are full of information, ideas, examples and pic-

tures, which have taken years to compile. All of this will help you tolearn about the subject so that you can understand the choices and pos-sibilities available. Armed with this new knowledge and information,

you can make the best possible decision to get exactly what you wantand save money. There's always a good way and a bad way, a cheapway and an expensive way. I want you to get the best at the lowest costand the best way to achieve that is to give you the knowledge to be ableto decide. It's important that you get what suits you and your familyand your house and not some pre-packaged system that never seemsquite right, despite what the salesman said. Lots of people ask me foradvice and I can give that, but I can't, ever, tell you what you need andwant. That's your personal choice and my eBooks allow you to make it.

In addition I give a money back guarantee!

If you are not absolutely convinced, when you have read it, that the eBook you

bought is worth every penny ... if you are not totally convinced that it will save you time and hassle and cash ... simply write to me with proof of purchase and abrief explanation of what was missing from the eBook (so I can improve it) andI'll arrange a refund.

Can I afford to offer a money back guarantee? Well, time will tell. I knowthere are a few total b*stards out there who will take pleasure in wastingmy time and ripping me off but I'm prepared to take the risk in order tohelp those few people who genuinely can't use my eBooks and thereforeshould not have to pay.

So feel safe to download a free eBook or buy an eBook. Safe in theknowledge that you won't catch a virus and you won't get ripped off!

Q. What if I lose my eBook?A. Send me a copy of your proof of purchase.

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Q. Can I put a copy of your eBook on my web site?A. No, my eBooks are protected by copyright law. I update my eBooks

frequently so if you provide a copy it will soon be out of date and causeproblems and complaints. Your ISP will not permit you to put copyrightmaterial on their server. If they discover (or I tell them) they will closeyour account immediately without question.

Q. Do you give a discount if I buy more than one eBooks?

Yes, we give a discount if you buy three or more. Please note that thisdiscount does NOT show up in the "Shopping Cart" but is processed onour Sales Office computer. It will appear on your credit card statement

or on our invoice if you are posting payment.

Q. Where can I get a FREE PIRATE COPY of an eBook?Pirate copies are illegal but you can probably find one on one of the filesharing services such as Kazaa, Gnutella or Limewire. I've downloadedquite a few and they were all at least two years out of date (look at therevision date) and almost useless. If you'd like a more up to date freepirate copy, please click here: http://www.satcure.com/idisc/. Please

DO add it to your Kazaa folder (or whatever) so that other people canshare it. I'd like these special pirate copies to be spread far and wide.Please DO NOT share real copies because we DO prosecute under theCopyright Act. You paid for your copy so why give it away? Please letme earn money from my eBooks and I’ll be happy to update them (andthis one) for you and write more in future.

This eBook will be updated from time to time.


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http://www.satcure.com/idisc



http://www.satcure.com/idisc



Advertisers

Around 50 people download a copy of this eBook each day!

You can advertise in this eBook at very reasonable rates.

Adverts should be relevant to satellite TV

Contact Martin for rates and details.


Sky Digibox User Guide

This User Manual is the ideal solution if

you've bought a Sky Digibox without one.

Explains all the features of a Standard Digibox

including "secret" menus.

How to Install a Free Satellite TV System in the USA (and Canada)

This eBook deals with aspects of installing a

satellite TV system in the USA and Canada.

You can not receive UK (Sky) satellite TV any-

where in the USA because the UK satellites

(Astra-2) are below your horizon. However, you

CAN receive a few free English broadcasts and




Documents

Understand 9