Electrical More Vast/Foxtel stuff

[Drover]

Have Vast set up in van so all I have to do is set up dish and plug it in, no stuffing around involved other than lining up the dish, thought that to add Foxtell all I would have to do would be plug in iQ3 box to the dish outlet on the Vast STB, so tested it in the house, Vast can't find anything, a bit more research and seems I need a dual LNB for both to work and a multi switch, the old vertical and horizontal crap strikes again it seems.....................but then t was pointed out to me we rarely watch it it while we are away anyway, the movie channel is all we need........................possibly true but and it's a big BUT, I like to have everything working, may not use it but like it all to work...........................more research needed and any ideas from others that have trodden this path would be welcome.

Might set the vans dish up and see how or if the Foxtel iQ3 box will work on a single LNB, I assumed it needs the double if you want to record.....................one has to be in the mood to do it though......

 

[Crusty181]

You can switch a single coax from VAST box to the Foxtel box with a coaxial switch such as a Steren 200-310. Ive used them for many years and although they look a little agricultural they are the ducks nuts.

That will have the effect of completely isolating the coax from one STB in favour of the other. We no longer have Foxtel, after swapping to VAST so what Im saying is from my setup with an older Foxtel STB. The Foxtel STB requires the input via dual coax and from a dual output LNB to work without extra effort, like at home. That said, like you, I wasnt about to run twin coax's and I used a single LNB and split the single coax into both of the STB inputs. You cant use a simple Jaycar splitter because although it work to a point, you wont get the FTA that way. I used Foxtel on a single LNB for many years and got FTA using the Steren switch.

You dont need a quad output LNB, unless your going to watch Foxtel and VAST at the same time (even then I not sure youd need a quad anyway)

This is the best way I could describe what happens with the dual input; the Foxtel STB seems to need one of the two inputs to load the program guide and when that's loaded, use the other input to watch the programs. Foxtel would function quite happily until it needed to refresh the program guide again, maybe once a day. Manually, you could simply screw in the single coax, load the program guide, then swap the coax into the other input to watch whatever you want for the rest of the day. Then repeat when it lost signal, maybe once in 24hrs.

What I did was split the single coax into both STB inputs with a Steren switch and simply flick backwards and forwards as required once a day to load the guide.

For you to swap from VAST to Foxtel, 2 x Steren 200-310 would do that nicely with no real effort other than sliding the switches.

I use 2 Sterens in my van, one was for the Foxtel, and other is to flick the outside TV from terrestrial to VAST and they work nicely

 

[Drover]

Yep, yep I'm fast tracking the 101 on the subject........ideally I would like to just plug the Foxtel box in when we hit the road and thats it, just change the TV HDMI input to swap from Foxtel to Vast, a 2 to 4 multi switch $30, dual LNB $60, so not overly expensive, will see how the set up goes on the vans Sat set up tomorrow and then plan something out. fixed cable runs from back and front Sat mounts to a double T split for the cable feeds under the floor then running into a multi switch which feed the 2 STB's so everything but the dish is set...Well thats the ideal set up, might not get that far.......................just hate running loose cables around the place, like to keep the ginning around to a minimum......
Might go the easy way with what you suggested though @Crusty181 , see how tomorrow turns out, might just pplug the terrestial in and worry about Vast when I can't get local, I dunno............It's only TV so not really important, except when Origin is On.

 

[mfexpanda]

I run vast and Foxtel iQ .
The rooftop dish has a dual LNB 1 goes to the IQ which I split and the other goes to the sat dish control box then through the loop outlet to the vast box which is in a different spot to the IQ.
Both run hdmi to my Tv through a hdmi splitter , as its only got 1 hdmi inlet ,
Splitting the IQ does not give me fta channels but I can use the vast box for that .
Once I work out how to remove or get behind the microwave , which is where jayco has run all the cables,I intend to move the wiring so the vast and IQ are in the same cabinet use the loop outlets and hopefully all will work nicely.

 

[Drover]

I've worked out that for things to work in the van I will need one of these to replace the single LNB.......................................................................

......................coupled to this thingy...................................

then it will all be plug and play and while I have the VAST box sitting in a nice spot the iQ3 Foxtel box is a big lump, but with a bluetooth remote it can be stashed in a cupboard...................................just need to be allowed to spend some money...

The microwave puzzle is a biggy in Big Mal @mfexpanda , I have looked at it numerous times and I think they fitted it on top of the fridge cabinet then built the wall for the ensuite it's either pull the ensuite wall off or maybe pull the fridge out as you need to get underr and behind the microwave to get at the bolts, my other option is since the microwave would possibly be buggered for me to want to remove it them I could just cut it up with the 9" and fit the new one in a better way, though fire is a possibility.

 

[crustt]

I have a foxtel box, if I down load a stack of shows onto the hard drive can I just disconnect the box and take it with us in the van and watch the downloaded shows. Just plugged into the telly, no internet or dish involved. Anyone doing this.

 

[mfexpanda]

I have a foxtel box, if I down load a stack of shows onto the hard drive can I just disconnect the box and take it with us in the van and watch the downloaded shows. Just plugged into the telly, no internet or dish involved. Anyone doing this.

Never tried it anyone ?

 

[crustt]

I've only tried it as far as turning the internet connection off in our house and anything downloaded played fine.

 

[Crusty181]

I have a foxtel box, if I down load a stack of shows onto the hard drive can I just disconnect the box and take it with us in the van and watch the downloaded shows. Just plugged into the telly, no internet or dish involved. Anyone doing this.

We only had the basic Foxtel satellite box, but it would do anything until it had satellite signal tuned in.

 

[crustt]

Just disconnected the satellite dish and internet from my foxtel 2 box, connected to the tv only. Worked well playing downloaded and recorded shows, should work in the van.

 

[Drover]

Thats a good idea, I will try that when I get away, good for just an overnighter too.

 

[Drover]

Just an update on this oldie, the iQ3 STB needs the sat plugged in for it to play recorded shows and needs both cables plugged in, set up as shown above has worked well for a few trips now and once the Fox box is plugged in is out of sight and and it and the VAST box hidden away in cupboard with remotes to run things.

 

[Joevee]

You could get fancy and put a 3 in 6 out multiswitch? This would allow dual polarity for you LNB and also FTA.
But you must not have any power from your FTA amplifier getting to the multiswitch or you will only get satellite signals.
13v vertical
18v horizontal
Also diplexers work very well to combine the signal.
One other point is if you are just using splitters they must be satellite grade going to 2400mhz and power pass on all ports.

 

[Drover]

The VAST takes care of FTA, no need to bother with the terrestrial rig.......

 

[RickB]

If you have a VAST certificate you can call Foxtel as they can configure your Foxtel box for the vast channels, then you won’t need two boxes!

 

[Drover]

Ring Foxtel, similar to ringing Telstra, phone torture, I had Vast before Fox box but a good point though, though Foxtel frown on you going mobile with their gear and seems the customer service people don't believe its possible so I've been told...I have a travellers Vast ticket, I have a dish on shed so keeping it current is as easy as turning it on every few weeks.

 

[Drover]

Well I stand corrected, my iQ3 box tonight actually played recorded stuff while dish disconnected, never has before, it does still have an internet cnx, that might be it....may experiment more....