How do I fit my A/B Switch to my Sky box?

Question

I've recently got Sky+ but because I don't have an external cable I can only record programmes I'm watching. I wanted to be able to record a few things when I'm out and was told I needed to have an A/B switch. Well, it has arrived now, but it hasn't come with instructions. I'd like to fit it as soon as possible because I'd like to record a few things when I go out tomorrow. Any advice on which cable fits into which bit?

footynutguy;
I have a dish fitted to the flats I live in but the dish is for Sky only, not Sky+. I only have one cable coming into my home not two so have to use the a/b switch to get more use out of the system I have. Terms like "LNB" etc, are far too technical for me....

The competant installer came but with no switch. It was posted to me with no instructions.

Answer 1

There is a slight problem there. Do you have a sky plus dish with a quad LNB?

Satellite TV doesn't work in the same way a normal TV aerial works. A normal TV antenna can pick up signals from the whole band it is looking at, whereas a satellite dish can only pick up part of the signals at once. To get around this, the receiver sends a signal to the LNB on the dish to start looking at the other part of the band when necessary.

A Sky + box needs a twin LNB as it may need to receive signals from both bands at once. A splitter or A/B switch would only confuse the LNB and possibly damage it.

I am afraid the only solution is to replace the LNB with a twin LNB. Alternatively, you can run another receiver from the same dish if you have a quad LNB installed. This is what is installed with most Sky + dishes these days.

Any competent satellite installer could fit one of these.