Combining VCR and DirecTV over one coax cable?

[imekul]

Hi guys,

I have been searching around for this, and so far I haven't been able to find anything that has really covered my question. Here's what I'm trying to do.

I have DirecTV, and the coax cable from the dish is going into an Eagle Aspen 3x8 multiswitch. I notice this switch as an antenna input, and I'm assuming that that is to allow me to hook up rabbit ears to receive broadcast (over-the-air) channels.

Now, what I am hoping to do is to hook up something like a VCR to the antenna input on the multiswitch and have it essentially broadcast to all of the receivers in the house. So, for instance, I can watch regular DirecTV programming on my TV, and then if I hit the "Antenna" button or whatever, it switches to whatever is being played on the VCR.

So I guess I'm wondering, first of all, if this is possible with only one coax cable. If so, what kind of equipment do I need? I know there are diplexers, multiswitches, and other pieces of hardware, but I'm not sure what I would need in order to achieve this.

I hope this makes enough sense! Basically, I'm trying to find a way to preserve my regular DirecTV programming, while also allowing any TV in the house to switch to what is being played by the VCR.

Thanks in advance for any guidance you can provide!

Luke

 

[Brewer4]

Yes you can hook the VCR feed into the OTA connection on the Eagle Aspen multiswitch and it will work. You will need a diplexer near the receiver to split it back out again. You can pick one of those up at your local radio shack. So any coax line from VCR to Aspen and any ones when you have to break it back up again with the diplexer. Piece of cake and very doable.

Only caveat is you cant do this if you upgrade to the 5 LNB dish which does not allow coupling signals unless you use the SWM method which is not officially supported just yet.

 

[imekul]

Terrific! By the way, I have an old RadioShack 2-way coax splitter. It says "5-900 MHz" on it. That wouldn't do the trick, would it?


Thanks for the response and the welcome!

 

[Brewer4]

No. You need one that looks like a splitter but its a sat and OTA combiner.

 

[jdspencer]

Diplexer.
Eagle Aspen Single Port Power Passive Diplexer (D2200) | Eagle Aspen [D2200] PVDP2 DP2 duplexr duplexer D2200

 

[Brewer4]

Here is Radio Shacks. But as you can see, you are better off going somewhere like Solid Signal which has better prices.

RadioShack.com - Home Entertainment: Accessories: Satellite TV accessories: Satellite/TV Antenna Diplexer

 

[imekul]

I tried it out, and it seems to work. Thanks for all of the info, guys!