How do I watch freesat using my Sky Q dish?

Posted by Significant_Ad6161@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 19 comments

We recently left sky and have two cables in the lounge from the sky Q dish. Our TV (Samsung Q60T) has freesat built in but only one satellite in connection. Can I use just one of the sky Q cables (leaving the other spare) to watch freesat and if so does it have to be tuned in a certain way?

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19 Comments

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IWishIDidntHave2@reddit

You will need to change the LNB for a standard LNB (See [https://www.amazon.co.uk/GeoSync-Universal-Satellite-Freesat-Receiver-Single-LNB/dp/B0B8T4FL55](https://www.amazon.co.uk/GeoSync-Universal-Satellite-Freesat-Receiver-Single-LNB/dp/B0B8T4FL55)). This is trivial to do, as long as you can safely reach the dish.

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mattzildjian@reddit

Will skyQ still function after installing this?

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flannobrien1900@reddit

With a generic satellite dish, yes. I've done some digging and it seems that the SkyQ LNB (the LNB is the bit at the dish which receives the signal) is not the same as a generic LNB. An aerial fitter would be able to switch it for you or you could do it yourself if bold. I'll paste what I found below: Can I Run SkyQ and Freesat HD From the Same Dish? Yes it is possible to have SkyQ and standard Freesat HD on the same satellite dish. Many households may have Sky Q in the main living room and other Freesat HD satellite receivers or TVs with freesat built in for other rooms in the house. For this style of installation you will require a Sky Hybrid LNB. The Hybrid had six outputs, two are wideband for SkyQ and the other four are standard universal outputs so you can connect up to four Freesat TVs or a mix of Freesat Boxes and TVs at the same time.

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Significant_Ad6161@reddit (OP)

So does this mean it won't work without any alterations and it's not just plug and play like others suggest in their responses?

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flannobrien1900@reddit

Not from what I have read. Wideband LNBs are not the same as regular LNBs, there's lot about this on various satellite websites. I've only used regular LNBs and standard receivers (i.e. fairly old by satellite standards), Skqy Q uses a new wideband LNB of the kind used by 4K receivers. I guess the answer is to try it and see if it works. The other commenters may be more up to date than I am so I'm not going to start calling anyone out. After further digging, on "[https://eu.community.samsung.com/t5/tv/satellite-cable-connection-to-freesat-enabled-tv/td-p/2248112](https://eu.community.samsung.com/t5/tv/satellite-cable-connection-to-freesat-enabled-tv/td-p/2248112) about half way down "This should work for anyone who had Sky Q installed and has now cancelled the contract. The LNB will not work so you will need to order a freesat/sky HD one from Amazon (roughly £15). Assuming you can access the satellite dish, its a quick swap which will take 5-15 mins depending upon how confident you are doing it." That's direct reference you using your make of Samsung with a Sky Q dish. I'll shut up now as I have not done this personally.

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313378008135@reddit

I have done this personally and you are absolutely correct. The skyq lnb is not compatible with generic dvbs/s2 receivers.

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flannobrien1900@reddit

Good to hear from someone who has done it.

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PlumbTuckerd@reddit

Blind leading the blind this thread. The new frees at boxs (arris) will work with a (q) wide band LNB, but the old boxs (humax Manhattan sky hd) won't. You'll need to change the LNB to a universal.

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RSG_Assassin@reddit

Yes, you'd plug one of the cables into the TV and it should work fine since the TV looks to be fairly recent and should support the feed. It won't need tuning. If you at any point decide that you'd want to record whilst watching another channel, you can buy a Freesat 4k recorder and plug the cables into that instead. But honestly I find there's no need these days with on demand being a thing.

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bigvernuk@reddit

Unless you want to skip the ads.

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RSG_Assassin@reddit

True that, then it'd be worth it for sure.

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bigvernuk@reddit

Deffo. P

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A-Light-That-Warms@reddit

The second cable just enables recording one channel while watching another. When we ditched Sky Q for a Freesat box it was just a case of plugging in the cables and turning the Freesat box on, no tuning required.

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Significant_Ad6161@reddit (OP)

Do you know how to tell which of the two cables is required?

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A-Light-That-Warms@reddit

You could have tried them in the time it took to make that comment.

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Significant_Ad6161@reddit (OP)

Not at home with the cables in front of me so was asking in advance in case it made a difference

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CliffyGiro@reddit

It doesn’t matter which one you use. They serve the same purpose. The second one can just be a sour incase the one you’re using fails.

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Dazz316@reddit

Plug one in, if it doesn't work plug the other one in.

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