A couple of 722/622 cabling/functionality questions

[greg25]

Hey guys,

I picked up a couple more HD TV's to replace some older SD boxes in my house, which necessitated the old reconfigure of the entire system.

While I was knee-deep in cables and separators, it occured to me that there are a couple of basic things that I don't know about the 722 and 622 boxes that I thought you could help me with.

I have a Dish 1000 with 3 feeds running to 2 daisy-chained DP34's. From there, I service 8 different sets, but I wanted to know specifically about one scenario (please refer to attached diagram)

My master BR has a 722. I have a single coax cable carrying the SAT 1 & SAT 2 signal to the 722 (using separators on both ends). I also have another seperate coax cable carrying the signal from an OTA antenna to the 722.

I DO NOT service a 2nd TV from this box. the 722 is dedicated to just the bedroom.

So...if I am NOT running a second TV, is there any reason to bring the SAT 2 feed to the 722? It SEEMS like I don't have any loss of functionality, but may be missing something. I hooked in the SAT 2 feed initially because I assumed that it would give me more options for DVR-ing multiple shows, but from what I can tell that's not the case. I assume that if my TV had PIP functionality, that the 2nd input might come into play?

In any case, I'm just looking to understand a little better what is and is not required in the situation above, because I have a similar one that I'll be dealing with tomorrow-I want all the DVR-ing capabilities I can get, but if I can simplify the cabling/separators, I'd like to do that as well.

Thanks in advance!

greg

 

[brownover]

If you have sat 2 hooked up, you will be able to watch one channel while recording another, or record on 2 while watching 1. (ota and sat 1 or 2.) Whether you service another tv or not, not hooking up sat 2 reduces your options on that tv.

 

[Jim S.]

First, if you want to record more than one channel at a time, or record one and watch another live, the 722 needs both satellite inputs hooked up.

Second, if you have both inputs hooked up, the 722 will do PIP for you whether your TV has PIP or not.

 

[rglore]

Your diagram will not work. The DPP separator must be only at the receiver and connected to only a DPP LNB or switch. You must use two lines if using a DP34. You could replace the second DP34 with a DPP33 or use two lines from the switches and use diplexers on one of them to get the OTA to the receiver.

 

[greg25]

Your diagram will not work. The DPP separator must be only at the receiver and connected to only a DPP LNB or switch. You must use two lines if using a DP34. You could replace the second DP34 with a DPP33 or use two lines from the switches and use diplexers on one of them to get the OTA to the receiver.

Ahh, interesting! I'm not sure I completely understand, so here's what I THINK I'm doing:

Coming out of the switch, I'm taking two separate SAT signals, and putting them on one cable through the use of a diplexer/separator (I've always assumed those were synonymous). Then, when I get to the 722, I'm separating the signals again with another diplexer/separator, and routing them to the respective SAT 1 and SAT 2 inputs.

If we take the OTA out of the picture, do I have this right, or am I making a fundamental mistake?

 

[rglore]

No, you cannot combine sat signals the way you propose. Also, a DPP separator is only for use with a DPP receiver and a DPP LNB or DPP switch and cannot be used in pairs. An official Dish DPP separator is the only way to feed the two sat inputs from a single cable. And, a diplexer is not the same thing. It's to insert an OTA signal into a cable with sat signals and remove it again for a TV or OTA input at the receiver and must be used in pairs. Splitters and combiners are different things and used with cable/OTA signals only.

 

[greg25]

Great info, thank you! Is there a site somewhere with diagrams and maybe parts descriptions that you would recommend--'cause it sounds like I clearly need to reconfigure.

 

[rglore]

Post number 4 gives your options, cheapest is use both coaxes for sat inputs and add a pair of diplexers for the ota or run another coax.

 

[greg25]

Ok, appreciate your patience on this! Could you take a look at the attached edits that I made? I think option 1 documents pretty much what you've been telling me, except I'm going direct with OTA, because I have the cable to do it.

Option 2 is similar to my original, except that I'm using a Dish Separator. I THINK this is unworkable per your post, but I'm struggling to rationalize the statement that you made about using the separator ONLY at the receiver end--can you elaborate?

Thanks again!

 

[BobaBird]

You can not use the Separator to combine the signals, only to break them out. Take another stab at reading post #6.

You were kind of on the right track conceptually as the Separator is a special use case of a diplexer (it works on different frequency ranges than the common OTA/sat diplexer), but the combining must be done by a DishPro Plus switch (either integrated or external) which will translate the requested transponders to the regular DBS or DishPro stacked frequency range as needed.

No diagrams there, but EKB: DishPro Technology explains what is going on.

 

[greg25]

All right--sat down last night, re-read the posts, and actually physically tested. I think I have it now!! Thanks for all the assistance!! Greatly appreciated!