(Wrightsaerials) wrote in
:

I live in a block of around 220 flats and I was wondering if the letter
sent to me by the managing agent is accurate.

There is an old exiting analogue satellite installation that is provided
to all the flats that needs to be upgraded to digital. Here is a section
of the letter

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Costs involved

Please bear in mind when responding that an upgrade of the satellite
receiving equipment would require a one-off additional service charge
contribution from lessees of approximately £15-20,000 (between say £75
for a studio flat and £215 for a two bedroom flat) together with on-going
rental at approximately £4,000 per annum (between £17 and £50 per annum
per flat, depending on size). In addition you will need to subscribe to
SKY Digital for the various channel packages, which range from between
£10 per month (or the basic package) to more than £37 per moth. These
costs may well influence your decision as for a two bedroom flat watching
all available channels, the costs could be more than £700 in the first
year.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

This seems an awful lot, and I dont see what their point is in rental, as
how often does the system need repairing ?

I would have thought that a system of that size could be replaced in its
entirety for about £120 to £150 per satellite outlet.
If the flats have outlets in the bedrooms the normal thing would be to wire
these as 'slaves' (extensions) from near the one in the living room, so you can
use one Sky box and sub for the whole flat (using Skylink). The suggestion that
you might want to pay Sky £700 per year is ridiculous.
The cost per flat, on this basis, would be the £120 to £150 figure (above) per
flat, plus something for the extensions to the bedrooms - say £50 per bedroom.
The mention of 'rental' makes me wonder if the one-off cost is to buy the
system outright - or does the hardware remain the property of the installer? If
so it's very very expensive. In any case, I think £4000 pa for maintenance is
well over the top. Get the system insured against lightning, vandalism and
theft and then pay as you go for repairs. The cost is likely to be about £300
per year over the first five years or so.
Bill

"Stone Free"
spam_KillKillKillstone_freeNoSpamPleaseWereBritis wrote in
message . 110.133...
(Wrightsaerials) wrote in
:

I live in a block of around 220 flats and I was wondering if the letter
sent to me by the managing agent is accurate.

There is an old exiting analogue satellite installation that is provided
to all the flats that needs to be upgraded to digital. Here is a section
of the letter

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Costs involved

Please bear in mind when responding that an upgrade of the satellite
receiving equipment would require a one-off additional service charge
contribution from lessees of approximately £15-20,000 (between say £75
for a studio flat and £215 for a two bedroom flat) together with on-going
rental at approximately £4,000 per annum (between £17 and £50 per annum
per flat, depending on size). In addition you will need to subscribe to
SKY Digital for the various channel packages, which range from between
£10 per month (or the basic package) to more than £37 per moth. These
costs may well influence your decision as for a two bedroom flat watching
all available channels, the costs could be more than £700 in the first
year.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

This seems an awful lot, and I dont see what their point is in rental, as
how often does the system need repairing ?


If the existing system is for satellite and wired in CT100, then the actual
wiring does not need changing, only the 'head' end. If the existing system
is for TV and a few analog channels were inserted then the wiring to each
flat will need upgrading and the cost is reasonable. Some flats may want
two SatTV connections (e.g. for $ky+)

If you are distributing for 220 flats then it is probably worth having a
toroidal dish and four LNB's (28E, 19E, 13E and another) via Disequ
switching. 28E should be the default position for those suckers on $ky.

A lot of splitters and amps will be needed, and you almost certainly need a
pro for a system that might have nearly 500 outputs, however the dish end is

http://www.wavefrontieruk.co.uk/wavefrontier.html
and
http://www.emp-centauri.cz/products....age=p170-cp-16
This should also distribute DAB and DTT.

Unless you are renting the system instead of buying there is absolutely NO
reason for rental. OTOH a maintenance contract is probably a good idea.
Modern distribution gear is safe against shorts, but with 220 users plugged
in someone is bound to stick the mains up the wire sooner or later!

TV Aerial
) |
) V
) dish 4xQLNB === 16ct100 ==== amps and taps == CP170 --- 16 users
)
CP170 --- 16 users
)
x 28

With so many splits, signal degradation might mean you could need more than
one dish.

In article ,
R. Mark Clayton wrote:



If the existing system is for satellite and wired in CT100, then the
actual wiring does not need changing, only the 'head' end.

I doubt if a system of that size has only got amplifiers at the head end.
There could well be others spread throughout the complex.

I also suspect that the contractors would not want to rely on existing
cabling. It would make for guarantee problems. "No that problem is due to
the old cable - so we won't fix it under guarantee."

--
From KT24 - in "Leafy Surrey"

Using a RISC OS computer running v5.11

"charles" wrote in message
...
In article ,
R. Mark Clayton wrote:



If the existing system is for satellite and wired in CT100, then the
actual wiring does not need changing, only the 'head' end.

I doubt if a system of that size has only got amplifiers at the head end.
There could well be others spread throughout the complex.

Indeed, although the number of cables (even for analog) would be a problem.

Email a brief description - how many blocks etc.


I also suspect that the contractors would not want to rely on existing
cabling. It would make for guarantee problems. "No that problem is due
to
the old cable - so we won't fix it under guarantee."

--
From KT24 - in "Leafy Surrey"

Using a RISC OS computer running v5.11