D* Multiswitch with Starchoice 76cm dish?

[jdcolombo]

Hi everyone.

I just got a Starchoice 500HD system with the 76cm elliptical dish and quad LNB. Unfortunately, I didn't get any kind of switch with the system to connect my receiver to the two LNB's.

I understand that Starchoice uses a 22khz tone system to switch between the two sats. This is also what DirecTV uses for their systems.

So . . . can I use an old D* multiswitch with the Starchoice system? Or do I need to order either a simple 22khz switch or a different kind of multiswitch (I will only have one receiver connected, so I don't really need a multiswitch, but I have the D* unit sitting around here and I don't have a simple 22khz switch available. If I can use the D* switch, I'll save a few bucks).

Also, is there any way to test after installation whether the 500 receiver can "see" both satellites? Or do I need to wait until my unit is authorized before I can switch between sats?

Thanks!

John C.

 

[rkrenicki]

The Quad LNB already has the switch built in. Since the DSR500 has one tuner, it just needs a single coax from any outlet on the LNBF to the reciever.

You will be able to get EbNo readings from the different satellites, depending on what channel you are viewing.. once you connect your reciever for the first time, wait for channel 299 to show up, that will indicate that it has sucessfully downloaded the channel map.

then tune to 284 (one of the HD channels on the second sat) and view the system status, there will be a signal strength and EbNo number as long as the strength is not below 20, and the EbNo is not 0, then your switch is working fine.

 

[Mr Tony]

switch is built in...but if you have 5 receivers you can cascade a 4x8 multiswitch after it (like the DirecTv Phase III do)