Extending TV around your home

Before you begin to extend your satellite TV viewing around the house, have a think about who will be using the various TVs, both now and in the future. There are two main methods of extending your viewing - we call them 'dependent' and 'independent' viewing.

Dependent viewing is where you distribute the TV channels to another location, but whatever is shown on the main TV will be shown on all other connected TVs (and vice-versa). A typical example of this is where you want to watch your TV in the bedroom, after you've finished using the TV in the lounge, but it obviously wouldn't suit two or more viewers with different TV tastes who want to watch different channels at the same time.  

Independent viewing is where two or more people can watch different TV channels at the same time. This type of system is the most flexible and is not always more expensive to install. It is always possible to install a combined independent/dependent system that will give the most flexibility for the least cost. However, the exact configuration will depend on who will be watching, the number of TVs to be connected and the type of satellite service that you receive (ie Freesat or Sky). Hopefully, by reading the guide below, you will gain a better understanding of the different options available, and the best type of system to suit your circumstances.

Dependent viewing systems

Let's start with the simplest system of all - where you have a main TV and satellite receiver linked to a second TV in another location. The most typical example of this is where there is a TV and satellite receiver in the main living room, but you would also like to watch TV in the bedroom. Let's also assume that you have a Sky box as the satellite receiver in the living room, and are receiving either the free channels or have a Sky subscription package.

The basic configuration is shown in the diagram below:

The satellite dish and cabling to the Sky box in the living room remain untouched, and a cable is run from the 'RF2' output on the back of the Sky box to the aerial socket on the upstairs TV. To change the channels upstairs without having to keep going downstairs, you can fit a 'magic eye' TV link at the point where the cable connects to the aerial socket of the TV - this allows remote control commands to be sent down the cable to the Sky box downstairs.