Adding a 4th receiver

[CajunMama]

Hi, I am adding a 4th receiver for my daughter's bedroom. I have already activated her card, and my husband thought he had it hooked up right but my daughter's and son's programming are screwing up. He said he just has a splitter on it but that's not working. Exactly what do I need to purchase to make this work? I have a Circuit City right by my office, so that's probably where I will go.

 

[Brewer4]

There is probably nothing wrong with the receiver. If he is using a splitter, he probably split the sat signal which you can't do. You need to run the individual lines from the dish/multiswitch. If you have already used 4 lines, then you need to upgrade the multiswitch to handle more than four. They make switches that can handle 8 and even more. I would recommend talking to your husband and maybe even calling DIrectv to upgrade the dish which they will upgrade the multiswitch as well. Have them install the 5 LNB dish which can handle future programming.

 

[CajunMama]

We only have 4 receivers, including the new one. Two of them are DVR's. What is a multi-switch? Maybe that's what I need to buy.

 

[Brewer4]

DVR's take 2 lines each. So with 2 DVRs, you take up the 4. Adding another receiver will require a 5th line. I am assuming you have a 3 LNB oval dish? Here are some multiswitches that will work. All the multiswitch does is combine the lines from the dish and output all the satellite signals on one line. The number of outs just represents the number of unique lines to the receivers.

Buy the Philips 5 x 8 Multi-Switch (SDW5058) and other Video Cables and Connectors at circuitcity.com

They can get quite expensive. I only quoted this one since you mentioned Circuit City. There are cheaper ones on the internet including ebay and some of this sites gold sponsors at the top of the page.

 

[iwc5893]

I would guess that they already have a 4x8 Multiswitch or something similar already installed with three receivers including 2 DVR's. If that is the case, you will just need to run another line from the switch to the receiver.

 

[Brewer4]

Not sure. They may also only be using the single tuners. So the key comes down to check your multiswitch and lines. Dont use any splitters.

 

[CajunMama]

Thanks! That helps.

Actually, the 2nd DVR is in my master bedroom, but b/c we don't have a conveniently located phone line, we haven't used the DVR feature on that one, we are just using it as a standard receiver. So we would be using two lines for the DVR in the den, 1 line for the receiver in my son's room, 1 line for the receiver in my bedroom, and 1 line for the receiver in my daughter's room, so that's 5 lines. I'm not sure what kind of dish I have, but my husband said it appears there is already some kind of multi-switch in our attic, but I guess all of the plugs are being used?

 

[Brewer4]

Thanks! That helps.

Actually, the 2nd DVR is in my master bedroom, but b/c we don't have a conveniently located phone line, we haven't used the DVR feature on that one, we are just using it as a standard receiver. So we would be using two lines for the DVR in the den, 1 line for the receiver in my son's room, 1 line for the receiver in my bedroom, and 1 line for the receiver in my daughter's room, so that's 5 lines. I'm not sure what kind of dish I have, but my husband said it appears there is already some kind of multi-switch in our attic, but I guess all of the plugs are being used?

Thats the best guess. If you were using 4 and all good, then add a 5th and splitter involved and things start going wrong, then its sounds like 4 line Multiswitch is involved. All you then need to do is upgrade it so it can handle at least 5. Might as well upgrade the second DVR to 2 lines while you are at it. Shop around for a good price as Circuit City ones will be really expensive. Go with a 4 x 8 or 5 x 8. All that means is 4/5 inputs and 8 ouputs. The 5th one is for over the air antenna if you have one. If you dont, you can still get the switch, just dont use the input.

Ebay can be your friend. Watch as some can be powered. Its ok if they are, but will require a power jack nearby or you have to run a long coax to power converter.

 

[Brewer4]

Here is decent one for price on ebay. Its powered.

eBay: DirecTV - Eagle Aspen DTV4X8 4x8 Multi-Switch direct tv (item 330145816618 end time Jul-17-07 19:15:00 PDT)

eBay: NEW In Box! Eagle Aspen DTV 4x8 Multi Switch DirecTV (item 320137400699 end time Jul-19-07 20:28:38 PDT)

 

[iceturkee]

here's my question brewer............does it sound like she is already using a multi-switch? if she needs a second one, then i would surmise going the ebay route is the best. but if its a first one, shouldn't she be able to get that from directv? they provided mine.

 

[Brewer4]

here's my question brewer............does it sound like she is already using a multi-switch? if she needs a second one, then i would surmise going the ebay route is the best. but if its a first one, shouldn't she be able to get that from directv? they provided mine.

That was my first suggestion.

 

[iceturkee]

i was unclear by the op's post, that's why i asked. thanks.

 

[Bob Nielsen]

Thanks! That helps.

Actually, the 2nd DVR is in my master bedroom, but b/c we don't have a conveniently located phone line, we haven't used the DVR feature on that one, we are just using it as a standard receiver. So we would be using two lines for the DVR in the den, 1 line for the receiver in my son's room, 1 line for the receiver in my bedroom, and 1 line for the receiver in my daughter's room, so that's 5 lines. I'm not sure what kind of dish I have, but my husband said it appears there is already some kind of multi-switch in our attic, but I guess all of the plugs are being used?

A phone line isn't a requirement for a DVR, so you can add another line there without problems.

 

[dave29]

depends

if you have an older dvr, like a hughes, you do need a phone line for it to record