Can 921 be connected to two separate dish systems?

FLee1936

Active SatelliteGuys Member
Original poster
Jul 12, 2004
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I have a Superdish that has local channels as well as my AT 120 and HD packages. I also still have a separate regular size dish that has a wing dish combined with for 62.5 (for WCBS-HD). I have had the two systems running thru an A-B switch until now. My question for the experts is will I be able to put the Superdish output into one of the 921's inputs and the other dish/wing dish output into the 921's second input or will I be forced to run a second cable from the Superdish?
 
You just need a multiswitch. I believe the DP+44 is your only choice for SuperDish + one wing dish. And as far as I know, both tuners of the 921 need to "see" the same thing at all times. I'm surprised the A/B switch hasn't confused your 921 (by an inconsistent check switch matrix across both tuners, and/or across time) or harmed your LNBs (by "connecting" them with receiver power on).

(also fyi it's 61.5 not 62.5 :))
 
i do not have the 921 yet. I am using an 811 and the A-B switch has worked fine. I have to do a check switch when changing from A to B and vice versa.
Does only one of the 921 inputs provide LNB power? If that is the case then the DP+44 switch is the only option.
 
FLee1936 said:
I have a Superdish that has local channels as well as my AT 120 and HD packages. I also still have a separate regular size dish that has a wing dish combined with for 62.5 (for WCBS-HD). I have had the two systems running thru an A-B switch until now. My question for the experts is will I be able to put the Superdish output into one of the 921's inputs and the other dish/wing dish output into the 921's second input or will I be forced to run a second cable from the Superdish?

As TuxCoder said you need the DPP44 switch. But first verify that your wing dish at 61.5 has Dishpro series LNB. If you have the legacy series it won't work. I'm in the same situation where I had legacy series LNB but now just got a Superdish which now makes my old stuff incompatiable. Therefore I'm reluctant to pay $50 for a new LNB and $200 for the DPP44 switch until I know there's something worthwhile on 61.5. Perhaps by then dishnetwork might pay for the upgrade if it involves buying more programming (that's how I got superdish).
Also there may be a slight danger in using some coax switches for swtching inputs because the receiver sends a DC voltage to power the DP34 and LNBs. Sometimes switches cause spikes. Same applies with your OTA antenna if you have a preamp installed and were to switch it another amplified OTA antenna. Depends on the quality of the coax switch.
As far as placing one tuner on 61.5 and the other on superdish I would imagine it could invite problems because of differences in the switch test portion of the software. You might have to manually perform a switch test each time you manually start a recording and would probably fail with the auto record features or ever worse never come up until the switch test passes for both tuners. I've even heard complaints on this forum with people who have 4 satellite locations and the proper DD+44 and still having to run switch checks on an occational basis.
 
On eBay, you can get a DP+44 shipped for less than $75 and a DishPro Dual for $15.
 
FLee1936 said:
i do not have the 921 yet. I am using an 811 and the A-B switch has worked fine. I have to do a check switch when changing from A to B and vice versa.
Does only one of the 921 inputs provide LNB power? If that is the case then the DP+44 switch is the only option.

Both tuners in the 921 are identical. Also two separate coax are required unless you have the DPP44 (with a separator added). The DPP44 requires more voltage than what's normally supplied to the LNB and switches but it comes with a power inserter that you plug into your AC near the receiver.

PS: If you have the DP plus series of LNB's (not just dishpro) then you can also use a separator (for both tuners) but you'll still need the DPP44 because you have 4 satellites.
 
jergenf said:
... PS: If you have the DP plus series of LNB's (not just dishpro) then you can also use a separator (for both tuners) but you'll still need the DPP44 because you have 4 satellites.
There's only one DPPlus LNBF, and that's the DPP-Twin. You can think of it as having a DPP32 switch built-in for most purposes.

It's a waste to use a DPP-Twin to drive an external switch. For one thing, you can NOT use the extra input of the DPP-Twin, and it won't have any of the Plus stuff enabled - although if it's driving a DPP44, THAT will have Plus A-OK.
 

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