I am purchasing a 522. Currently I have cable running into my house from the cable box to 4 different locations around the house. The cables run directly from the cable box outside to each individual location. Is it possible to install the 522 at location A using a NEW run from the dish to the 522 and then send the out signal out through the currently installed run, back to the cable box and then back in the house to location B? Or do I need to make a direct run from Location A to Location B? Or can I have the Dish installer use some kind of splitter, joiner at the cable box? Or will they do all this for me and I should not try to out-think them? Thanks.
522 Cabling Question
- Thread starter timmy999
- Start date
- Latest activity Latest activity:
- Replies 7
- Views 2K
I think you answered your own question. 
The installer will try to minimize his workload - which means he'll re-use anything he can.
NOTE: If you have cable internet - tell him! Some (many, most, almost all???) installers don't have a clue about cable modems. They might think that beings you're getting Dish, there's no need to leave any of the cable hooked up to anything. The manager of an outfit I started working for did that - and he was "training" me! Ha!
Needless to say, I didn't stay there.
The installer will try to minimize his workload - which means he'll re-use anything he can.
NOTE: If you have cable internet - tell him! Some (many, most, almost all???) installers don't have a clue about cable modems. They might think that beings you're getting Dish, there's no need to leave any of the cable hooked up to anything. The manager of an outfit I started working for did that - and he was "training" me! Ha!
Needless to say, I didn't stay there.
The installer will figure it out. Assuming you have a four-way splitter right near the current cable entrance into your house, and your four locations (including the one where the 522 will go) come off of the outputs of that splitter, then the installer will probably take the 522's cable and unhook it from the OUTPUT of the splitter and connect it to the INPUT of the splitter - leaving the current cable feed disconnected. This will work fine unless as SimpleSimon mentioned, you happen to have cable internet. If so, another splitter/combiner/something is called for to merge the cable internet and 522 signals. I would recommend watching the installer and asking questions so you know what the heck he's connecting/disconnecting in the event you ever want to touch this yourself.
I just went through many of these issues myself, and must say that the folks on this forum were quite helpful in answering my questions.
Bottom line - the installer will do it. That's their job. If you want to customize it after the fact, like I did, ask questions here. I found many helpful people.
I just went through many of these issues myself, and must say that the folks on this forum were quite helpful in answering my questions.
Bottom line - the installer will do it. That's their job. If you want to customize it after the fact, like I did, ask questions here. I found many helpful people.
Thanks for the quick responses. I do have a cable modem so I will be sure the installer is aware of that so he doesn't disconnect me entirely. I'm just hoping to avoid the need to run cables through the inside of my house as I know most installers will only run cable to an outside wall, but it sounds like everything can be joined together at the cable box.
This looks like pretty active and very helpful forum. It's nice to have a good resource like this available.
Thanks again.
This looks like pretty active and very helpful forum. It's nice to have a good resource like this available.
Thanks again.
You said you had four locations throughout your house and are getting a 522. If you have four different people that want to watch four different channels, you might want to have a 322 installed alongside the 522. You'd then have four independent tuners (two with the 522 and two with the 322). The 322 will cost you an extra $5 per month however, but you get the unit itself for free as a new customer. I don't know what (if anything) it would cost to add a 322 later, but if you don't have more than two people watching TV this would be way overkill in the first place. Consider a 322 as a 522 without DVR capabilities.
Using the existing cable wiring you describe in your house, any of the four TV's could be hooked up to access any of the four tuners (so the normal 322 users could in fact access the 522). That's what I just hooked up at my place. Well, my 3 upstairs TV's can only get at three of the tuners - but I plan to try hooking up the fourth later today. There is some possibility of chan3 vs. chan 4 interference, but I'll see if that actually plays out this evening.
If you only go with the 522, I would suggest taking it's two outputs (one on chan 3 or 4 and the other much higher - like chan 73) and "combining" them with a splitter used backwards before plugging that into your existing house cabling. That way all TV's hooked up to the house cabling can access either of the 522 tuners. That may be handy at times. You will have to move remote controls around from room to room to have control however, and possibly buy an RF/IR "remote extender" also. You might need an inline amp depending on how many splitters you actually end up with and how long your cable runs are. Cost $10 - $15 for a cheapo amp. I ended up with a "distribution amp" (an amp with four outputs) and that was $16.99 at BestBuy. My cabling is different than yours, and you shouldn't need a multi-output amp, or maybe no amp at all. The added benefit of a setup like this is fairly minimal, but if all's it's going to cost you is a splitter (which the installer will probably give you for free) ... why not?
Using the existing cable wiring you describe in your house, any of the four TV's could be hooked up to access any of the four tuners (so the normal 322 users could in fact access the 522). That's what I just hooked up at my place. Well, my 3 upstairs TV's can only get at three of the tuners - but I plan to try hooking up the fourth later today. There is some possibility of chan3 vs. chan 4 interference, but I'll see if that actually plays out this evening.
If you only go with the 522, I would suggest taking it's two outputs (one on chan 3 or 4 and the other much higher - like chan 73) and "combining" them with a splitter used backwards before plugging that into your existing house cabling. That way all TV's hooked up to the house cabling can access either of the 522 tuners. That may be handy at times. You will have to move remote controls around from room to room to have control however, and possibly buy an RF/IR "remote extender" also. You might need an inline amp depending on how many splitters you actually end up with and how long your cable runs are. Cost $10 - $15 for a cheapo amp. I ended up with a "distribution amp" (an amp with four outputs) and that was $16.99 at BestBuy. My cabling is different than yours, and you shouldn't need a multi-output amp, or maybe no amp at all. The added benefit of a setup like this is fairly minimal, but if all's it's going to cost you is a splitter (which the installer will probably give you for free) ... why not?
The previous poster has some good suggestions (they sound familiar ). One thing - beings you're leaving cable hooked up to some part of the system, if you're putting a TV signal from a receiver onto the line you MUST use a combiner or other form of blocker to prevent your signal from going back up the cable and causing interference. This also applies to OTA antennas.
). One thing - beings you're leaving cable hooked up to some part of the system, if you're putting a TV signal from a receiver onto the line you MUST use a combiner or other form of blocker to prevent your signal from going back up the cable and causing interference. This also applies to OTA antennas.Yep. Many thanks go to SimpleSimon and others for holding my hand and guiding me through my setup. I really appreciate the help!SimpleSimon said:The previous poster has some good suggestions (they sound familiar
BTW, I just now tried to add chan 4 into my combining. No dice (as others predicted). This caused lots of interference on chan 3, but chan 4 was OK. I don't really need all four tuners going into my feed to other TV's so I'll just leave chan 4 out of the mix. No interference between the remaining channels 3, 73, and 91 as these are widely seperated.
