cable/satellite question

[nitstalker]

Ok.... I have had satellite for quite some time... I just broke down and got cable as well... (I am dropping dsl and my phone line for VOIP)... I have read a little about this on the forums but not quite clear on what I am supposed to do... What I am wanting to do is put the cable and sat signal on the two lines going to my 510 and 301... do I put the diplexer on both ends? and which side of the switch does it go on? (I have a dp21... but soon I will be upgrading dish to HD...

Thanks for the input

Stephen

 

[nitstalker]

also just wanted to mention... I am only getting 'basic' cable (local channels) the cable modem is on its own line from the box to my computer room... The cable guy was dying to cut my satellite cables lol

 

[mudder1310]

If you want to add the cable signal to both lines you'll need four diplexers. Two on each line.

For each line...

OUTSIDE
After the switch the sat line goes to the sat input on the side of the diplexer with two ports.
From the cable splitter a line to the UHF/ant port on the diplexer.
The single port side of diplexer to line going to the receiver.

INSIDE

The line from the switch goes into the single port on the diplexer.
A line from the sat port on diplexer goes into the sat input on receiver.
A line from UHF/ant port on diplexer goes either to the antenna port on receiver or vcr or TV or whatever you want to feed with cable signal. If you plug it into the antenna port on the receiver you would either need to turn the receiver off to view cable or push the tv/video button on the dish remote.

 

[BigShowJoe]

I don't know from experience, but I have heard that its a bad idea to diplex cable and sat feeds. They arent the same frequency but it can still cause problems. Especially with the signal needed for a cable modem and a HD satellite receiver. The Dish installer told me that when he put my system in. Why do you want the cable diplexed on the same line going to your receivers anyway? You can put the cable modem in a room that doesn't have sat and just go wireless for the internet.

 

[mudder1310]

From his post I got the impression the cable modem is on it's own dedicated line so it wouldn't be diplexed. You should definitely NOT diplex the cable modem line to put a receiver in that room. The addition of the dish signal add too much noise to the line causing the modem to perform erratically.

Diplexing regular cable is fine though. In fact, I have many customers who get free basic service with their lease so they'll diplex in cable with their dish so they could watch one while recording the other.

 

[nitstalker]

my cable modem does have its own dedicated line... I will be just diplexing the analog basic cable service which is like channels 2 througn 20 or something like that... I wasnt sure where to put the diplexers... also looking around I see third parties that make switches with the diplexer built into them... are they any good?

 

[mudder1310]

It would depend on what sort of LNB you're using ie. dishpro vs legacy. I would avoid dropping the money on an unknown switch, at most you'd spend $40 for diplexers (not that you should, I just know Home Depot sells them for $10 each, too much IMO). I would look around your town for a local electronics supply house for your diplexer source. Or ebay, or partsexpress.com.