Centralised Astro dish used by selected High Rise Buildings
Some of the building managements of high rise buildings such as apartments/flats, condominiums, offices, are not allowed to install Astro dish at the balcony of your unit, otherwise the building block will be filled with satellite dishes installed by residents, hence affecting the overall outlook of the building and making it look ugly. You wouldn't want the building to look like this picture below, isn't?
Picture for illustration and reference purposes only. Source
Therefore, your building management uses SMATV (or known as Single Master Antenna Television, or Satellite Master Antenna Television), where a centralised satellite dish for Astro and an UHF antenna for terrestrial TV is installed on top of the building to supply/distribute TV signals to every household of the building, internally. This also solves the problem when a particular unit is not possible to install individual Astro satellite dish as the dish are unable to face west (for Peninsular Malaysia) to the sky. For example your balcony is facing east but you are unable to receive satellite signal from Astro as your satellite dish needs to be facing west.
However, due to certain technical limitations of this centralised antenna systems, you might encounter problems such as:
However, due to certain technical limitations of this centralised antenna systems, you might encounter problems such as:
Your building do not fully support HD service from Astro? Your unit only has 1 satellite port from wall socket, yet you want to enjoy both HD and PVR services?
Contact your building management and ask if they allow you to install own satellite dish outside of your unit such as balcony as using own satellite dish is the easiest and less complicated method. If they do not allow, ask if the building's centralised dish fully supports Astro's HD and/or PVR service.
If it does not fully support HD, and if you insist to connect the satellite port from wall socket to Astro HD box, you will be only able to watch only selected HD channels, on top of all SD channels.
Meanwhile, insist using PVR box by connecting the 1 satellite port from your unit's wall socket is technically possible, but you will experience signal conflict between channels and you will not able to use PVR's Dual Tuner feature, where you can record 2 channels simultaneously. For example, once you started recording a programme, you should not tune to other channel as either you won't be able to watch the another channel (message shows Service Currently Not Available), or the recording that you started will no longer recording in the background, despite that it is still showing as recording. In other words,
So what is the solutions available?
If it does not fully support HD, and if you insist to connect the satellite port from wall socket to Astro HD box, you will be only able to watch only selected HD channels, on top of all SD channels.
Meanwhile, insist using PVR box by connecting the 1 satellite port from your unit's wall socket is technically possible, but you will experience signal conflict between channels and you will not able to use PVR's Dual Tuner feature, where you can record 2 channels simultaneously. For example, once you started recording a programme, you should not tune to other channel as either you won't be able to watch the another channel (message shows Service Currently Not Available), or the recording that you started will no longer recording in the background, despite that it is still showing as recording. In other words,
So what is the solutions available?
"Cheapest" but messy method: Lay another satellite cable from corridor into your unit (not all buildings allow this)
This additional installation fees will be borne by you to the third party installer/contractor. They will be laying one exposed RG-6 coaxial cable (or 2 exposed cables if you opt for PVR service) from the corridor to your unit, then connects to your Astro box. RG-6 cable is the common satellite cable used by Astro, as well as many other satellite pay TVs around the world, and it is commonly used for CCTV cameras too.
You can opt for concealed cabling should you find it messy, but additional charges will be levied as it is part of non-standard installation.
Do note that your building management may not approve such installation method as this may look messy at the corridor with additional cables being laid such as the ceiling.
You can opt for concealed cabling should you find it messy, but additional charges will be levied as it is part of non-standard installation.
Do note that your building management may not approve such installation method as this may look messy at the corridor with additional cables being laid such as the ceiling.
Using back existing 1 satellite port from wall socket: Stacker-destacker (No longer used)
Picture for illustration purposes only. May look differs from the one that supplied by Astro or installer.
Stacker Destacker takes 2 LNB inputs (or 2 satellite dishes) from the centralised dish installed at your building's rooftop, and combines/stacks them into a single cable, allowing you to enjoy full PVR functionality for your building.
Click image to view larger
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Due to technical limitations of the satellite frequency/transponders used for SD and HD channels on Astro, as you can see the diagram, the first satellite dish which to be receiving SD and selected HD channels, and the second dish to be receiving the rest of the HD channels.
Then, a stacker is used to combine the connection of 2 satellite dishes into 1 cable, which will be used to distribute the connection to all units of your condominium, or building. At the other end of the cable, a destacker will be used in your unit to splits the back into 2 satellite port outputs, allowing you to connect 2 satellite cables to your Astro PVR box just like regular Astro PVR user. |
If you have any questions about centralised dish systems used in your building,
contact to your building management office to know further, or Astro customer service.
contact to your building management office to know further, or Astro customer service.