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Sky + iMac

S

superbungalow

macrumors member
Original poster
Dec 29, 2008
62
0
OK, I have a Sky+ box in my living room, and and iMac in the room upstairs. What can I do to connect the two together, while maintaining connection to the TV? Is connecting the Sky box to the mac and then streaming it to the TV a possibility, or is there an easier way? If not, is there a way I can merely transfer the recorded programs from the sky box to the iMac? That would probably do me. :D Thanks guys!
 
You could connect your Sky box but it would be via coax output and the picture quality would leave a lot to be desired.

As far as I'm aware, there isn't a way to transfer recordings because the box has no interface to connect to a PC and also, many of the channels are encrypted and so are the recordings (I think).

It is worth remembering that most of the channels you see on your Sky box's EPG are completely free to air. You don't have to pay Sky a subscription to view them and you can buy a box from a company called Elgato that will allow you to record from these channels directly to your Mac. You'll need a connection from your Sky dish to your bedroom to do this.
 
I was looking at elgato but was hesitant for 2 reasons:

1. I wouldn't mind getting a multiroom subscription, and my mac is actually better quality than my normal big fat 13" VHS :)P) combo TV I have atm, so even just using it as a screen for another sky box would be cool, having it replace my normal TV.

2. There are about 6 different options of elgato tuners, and I don't really understand the differences. :s
 
All it depends on is whether you want to watch subscription channels in your bedroom. If so, then you'll need a real Sky box plus multiroom subscription or you'll have to suffer the coax video quality. I'm not exaggerating when I say that it's awful, and having done it myself via coax I remember it wasn't possible to output a widescreen video signal via coax, so all of the people appeared fat on the second display.

If you remove your viewing card from your Sky box you'll see what channels are non-subscription. The channels which don't prompt you to "upgrade your subscription" are all of the channels you can watch without paying Sky any money at all.

The alternative is to get that box I mentioned or Elgato's DVB-T models, which will allow you to get all of the Freeview channels on your Mac. The list of Freeview channels is on www.freeview.co.uk and personally I'm happy with having just this in my bedroom.
 
Do you mean that you want to get a Sky multiroom subscription and then connect that second box directly to your Mac?

If so, be aware that the second box won't be able to access any of the programmes which are recorded to your Sky+ box. It will need an additional wire from your satellite dish to your bedroom and the second box will also need to be permanently connected to a telephone line.

In terms of connecting the box to the Mac, you'll need something like the Elgato EyeTV 250 Plus which has a composite video input. Again, this won't provide perfect picture quality (the best connection for a standard definition Sky box is RGB SCART, the big thick black cable and as far as I know there is no way whatsoever to connect this to your Mac) but it will be good enough to watch. The Sky box will not include a cable suitable for connection to the EyeTV, so you'll need to buy one of those as well.

Personally, I don't think the expense is worth it. If you only want to watch BBC One, ITV, More4, Film4 etc then you would be better off with a something like the eyeTV Hybrid which you connect to your rooftop aerial and which will get all the Freeview channels.
 
I'm a prat, I'm sorry, you already said. What's wrong with me? Thank you I'll take a look at it.
 
What's the difference between the eyeTV hybrid and the eyeTV DTT? Why is it more expensive?
 
Nick. said:
As far as I'm aware the hybrid is for people who live in low signal areas, but it sucks anyway. I bought it and returned it.
Click to expand...

EyeTV Hybrid has both an analogue and digital tuner inside. Pretty redundant really as the analogue signal is already being switched off in some places!
EyeTV Diversity has two distinct digital tuners. You can either use one to record one show while watching another or you can double them up so to speak and increase the signal strength for viewing one channel.
EyeTV DTT is basically a standard Freeview box for your Mac. It will let you watch or record one channel at once.

I can speak extremely highly of the EyeTV software. I've used it extensively and it works very, very well. Recordings always start when you program them to and there is a good programme guide. It all works with the Apple Remote too :)
 
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