Currently working overseas and the wife has given this problem to resolve.

Wife has recently installed second SKY TV box at home in Scotland. We have an electronic alarm system connected by phone to a central monitoring company. We have been told that the SKY box requires a MCD filter to connect the phone line and stop the alarm interfering. Currently the SKY box is unable to pick up the telephone signal. BT will come to install at an astronomical fee, but informed us we could purchase from alarm company. Anyone with any idea on what is required.

An "MCD" is a Modem Compatabillity Device. Your alarm company or possibly BT should be able to supply you one. They do not need to attend to fit it.

we`ve never had to fit one of these mythical beasts - you sure sky have got the phone line right , is it broadband too ?

Have had to fit a MCD on to a Old Sky Box once and it did solve the problem this was on Redcare

Do you have redcare or just a digicom link and as angus say's do you have ADSL as this is a different ball game

Have had to fit a MCD on to a Old Sky Box once and it did solve the problem this was on Redcare

Do you have redcare or just a digicom link and as angus say's do you have ADSL as this is a different ball game

It is Redcare. I have a main telephone box which had something attached when the 1st Sky box and ADSL was connected. This is a second box which will have a wireless ADSL, plus the Sky box.

ADSL ( wireless too ) needs a newer redcare STU ? or as is usually the case theres somthing wrong with the phoneline terminations , have you removed the 3rd wire ?

ADSL ( wireless too ) needs a newer redcare STU ? or as is usually the case theres somthing wrong with the phoneline terminations , have you removed the 3rd wire ?

Surely a Sky box is just the equivalent of a phone handset so should just work if plugged in at the right place; my money is on a phone wiring fault/error.

Surely a Sky box is just the equivalent of a phone handset so should just work if plugged in at the right place; my money is on a phone wiring fault/error.

cheap digi dialler built into them and though you can get the adapter ive never used one , maybe they forgot the broadband filter ? or usually its been filtered twice through a cheap plug in extension lead to the sky box

cheap digi dialler built into them and though you can get the adapter ive never used one , maybe they forgot the broadband filter ? or usually its been filtered twice through a cheap plug in extension lead to the sky box

Very plausible; either of those is very likely.

A lot of people (and in my experience ALL Sky installers) have little or no knowledge of how phone wiring works and how to set it up properly (with or without broadband).

Had to laugh the other day; trying to find out why someones broadband was no longer working. Turns out they had "rejigged" the phone extension cabling around their house to enable the sky box to call out and put the computer in a different room. The "rats nest" of adapters and cables had to be seen to be believed - it turned out that the Sky box wasn't actually connected at all and the ADSL signal was double-filtered out of the wrong side of 2 widely-separated filters connected in serial. It had only ever worked because they are literally 50 yards from the exchange so the ADSL signal was at Warp 11. After throwing 90% of the adapters and cables away they had a simple setup that worked fine.

Edited August 3, 200718 yr by amateurandy

Very plausible; either of those is very likely.

A lot of people (and in my experience ALL Sky installers) have little or no knowledge of how phone wiring works and how to set it up properly (with or without broadband).

Had to laugh the other day; trying to find out why someones broadband was no longer working. Turns out they had "rejigged" the phone extension cabling around their house to enable the sky box to call out and put the computer in a different room. The "rats nest" of adapters and cables had to be seen to be believed - it turned out that the Sky box wasn't actually connected at all and the ADSL signal was double-filtered out of the wrong side of 2 widely-separated filters connected in serial. It had only ever worked because they are literally 50 yards from the exchange so the ADSL signal was at Warp 11. After throwing 90% of the adapters and cables away they had a simple setup that worked fine.

and you dissed the 3rd wire for them whilst you were there too? , everbody forgets the 3rd wire