Connecting a SkyBox to a Multiswitch - Germany

Hi,

My colleague rents a nice apartment near Darmstadt, and the Landlord has two dishes, one for Astra 19.2 and one for Astra 28.2. He uses quad universal LNBs all feeding a two satellite dish Multiswitch which distributes to the apartments, and they all have old Premiera sat receivers. So, he receives all the free-to-air Astra2D programmes (BBC1-2-3, ITV 1-2-3-4, Channel 4 and Channel 5). Great.

However, he then tried installing his Skybox from home in the UK, as he has a subscription to Sky Sports, but no Astra 2D can be received.

The problem is this: The Premiera boxes can select not only High-Band H and V and Low Band H and V, but also select Sat 1 and Sat 2 (as they have DiSEqC tone burst to make that switch).

However, his SkyBox does not have DiSEqC so he cannot switch between Sat 1 and Sat 2, and as Murphy's law would have it, the default switch position on the Multiswitch is Sat 1, which is the Astra 19.2, so that is all he gets.

I suggested that he ask the Landlord if he could switch over the cables from the two dishes into the multiswitch so that Astra 28.2 was the default output, but he said he couldn't as he did not want to upset any of the other tenants, and the cables had been trimmed to length anyway, and moving them over was not easy.

The other solution would be to insert a Diseqc Generator into his sat lead at the rear of his Skybox so that he can manually switch on the tone burst to select Sat 2 (preferably a smart generator, that could detect simple 22Khz tone from the receiver, and pass it if it was present, rather than have to switch 22Khz tone on/off manually as well).

Does anyone know what models of Diseqc generators are available in Germany that would suit his needs?

Wibs

Diseqc generators are no longer made..

I may just have one....

SP

Or buy one here (on stock) for €30.50 + shipping

Many thanks for the replies.

I am really surprised that Diseqc Generators are no longer made, given that SkyBoxes do not use Diseqc, and that both SkyBoxes and Multiswitches are popular in Germany.

I got some spare time this morning, so I did some more Googling, and came up with the following:

Generator 1

Generator 2
(more detail here: Tech Details )

Thanks for the Johansson device suggestion. It is no longer manufactured, but I guess there may be some retail stock out there as per your link YorkshireLad.

I will also check the Premiera receiver to see if has an LNB loopthrough.

Thanks again

Wibs

UK Sky boxes do not have DisEcQ biult in as it is not really needed in the UK as all channels come from the one possition..

The German and Itallian Sky boxes DO have DisEcQ in them as Multiswitchs are common place here in Mainland Europe.

The loop through may work on your set-up, but if its not a "Commited" switch, Such as the Spaun Range of Switches, then its unlikely to work..

The other way to Sort this issue is to Fit a Small Spaun Multiswitch Prior to the Main switch.

The Later Spaun Switches have a "Trunkline" Through pass so you can connect to just the UK side of the switch, without the house having to change anything!

SP