DirecTV House Wiring

[Hilbe]

I recently had lightning hit my house and start a fire on my 2nd story. I am taking this opportunity rewire my house. Here is my layout described:

2nd Story:
Ceiling is gone and attic is exposed, so I can drill down into studs to put in wall jacks. I have 4 rooms on the 2nd story I would like to wire for DirecTV, most likely with 2 coaxials per room (for Tivo).

1st Story:
No damage to this floor. Would like 1 or 2 rooms to be hooked up. I can drill from basement to put in wall jacks.

Basement: Unfinished basement with possible location for 1 jack, possible location for a multiswitch and wiring.

The problem I'm going to have is running all the wires to 1 location for a multiswitch right? If I put the multiswitch in the basement, that means I'll have to run all 4 of those siamese cable connections from the 2nd story to the basement. I'm not sure that'll be an easy task since I don't have an exposed wall on the 1st floor I can use to guide those cables to the basement. I'd hate to have to run it outside over my siding, I think that looks ugly. Suggestions on solutions greatly appreciated.

P.S. Anyone have a good store to buy a spool of good quality siamese cable for my situation?

 

[chrisexv6]

I recently had luck using my chimney chase (the gap between your chimney and the wooden framing around it) to get wires from my attic to the basement. My house was originally a single story, and when they added the second story the only thing that has a straight run out is the chimney. Even the HVAC ducts have an offset in the middle somewhere (that of course I cannot see because they are behind drywall).

Ive read on the net the chimney chase is a fairly popular place to use simply because its almost always a straight shot to the attic. I checked with our furnace on just to be sure, but the masonry itself doesnt get very warm, so I dont have any fire worries.

As far as where to get the cable, I decided against the dual-coax runs because its a lot easier to find spools of single coax cable locally, and a couple installer-friends of mine said they prefer the single because its easier to fish thru tight spots. I actually bought mine at Home Depot, its by Carol Cable, swept to 2.3GHz and it was fairly cheap too (especially considering you dont have to pay to ship a fairly heavy spool). It took me a little extra time, but it didnt bother me much (tip: attach nylon twine to the first coax you pull, pull the coax and twine together, disconnect the twine in the attic, and then attach the next coax to the twine in the basement, then just pull the twine. you can keep one big long piece of twine intact each time and the next wire will be that much easier to run. a lot better than trying to send down the wire fish over and over again).

Since you seem to be wanting to do this the right way the first time , I highly suggest using compression fittings on the coax ends instead of the standard crimps. Its well worth the extra $$$ ($25.00 for 50 fittings at HD, you can get the cheap compression tool for 12 bux, or the good one for $59.00). No more worrying that when you screw or unscrew a connector it will fall off the wire completely. And you dont waste any because its always a perfect connection.

Good luck!
-Chris

 

[uboatcmdr]

I recently had lightning hit my house and start a fire on my 2nd story. I am taking this opportunity rewire my house. Here is my layout described:

2nd Story:
Ceiling is gone and attic is exposed, so I can drill down into studs to put in wall jacks. I have 4 rooms on the 2nd story I would like to wire for DirecTV, most likely with 2 coaxials per room (for Tivo).

1st Story:
No damage to this floor. Would like 1 or 2 rooms to be hooked up. I can drill from basement to put in wall jacks.

Basement: Unfinished basement with possible location for 1 jack, possible location for a multiswitch and wiring.

The problem I'm going to have is running all the wires to 1 location for a multiswitch right? If I put the multiswitch in the basement, that means I'll have to run all 4 of those siamese cable connections from the 2nd story to the basement. I'm not sure that'll be an easy task since I don't have an exposed wall on the 1st floor I can use to guide those cables to the basement. I'd hate to have to run it outside over my siding, I think that looks ugly. Suggestions on solutions greatly appreciated.

P.S. Anyone have a good store to buy a spool of good quality siamese cable for my situation?

Which type dish are you using? Round single LNB or oval three LNB? If you are using the round dish I can tell you a way to do the wiring where you will only need to run one double coax to the basement and another double coax to the attic. If you have vinyl siding the coax going to the basement can easily be hidden under the edge of the corner piece or trim.
The set up for the round dish is easy, take the two coax from the dish and put a "power pass" splitter on each wire (the splitter needs to be power passing on both sides and should be labled as such). Run one coax from each splitter to one 3x8 multiswitch for the attic and do the same (one coax from each splitter) for another multiswitch (can either 3x4 or 3x8) to cover the first floor and basement. This method can also used to make a 3x8 multiswitch from 2-3x4 multiswitches (when a 3x8 is not on hand) or to make a 3x16 if you have 2- non powered 3x8's. I have used this setup many times (the company I used to work for stopped buying 3x8's and had us make them using this method). This method can only be used with the round single LNB dish, it cannot be used inplace of a second line for a Tivo.

 

[Hilbe]

I'll plan on having Tivos in at least 3 of the rooms. 2 on the 2nd story, 1 on the 1st story. I also will probably have the oval, as that is what they gave me at my temporary housing.

 

[directvfreak]

Where to find parts?

I heard above you mentioned copression fitting which is what the sat. installers use. Where do I find them? I bought a hex crimp and it sux! I'l probably buy a compression setup.

Matt

 

[boba]

I'll plan on having Tivos in at least 3 of the rooms. 2 on the 2nd story, 1 on the 1st story. I also will probably have the oval, as that is what they gave me at my temporary housing.

Do you need the phase 3 (oval) dish is all of your locals and basic programming coming off the 101 satellite? If you only need 101 basicall follow uboatcmdr's suggestion but instead of splitters just run two cables from phase 3 to attic and another two to the basement.

 

[Mike500]

As I noted in another post, as a profession who does in-wall wiring every day for a livig, I prefer the open work method;

Run all cables drilled through one inch holes through the top plate or the sill plate centered in the width of the stud and right next to it. If doing new work, use nail on electrical boxes, but cut off the nail holders along with the nails. Cut two 3/8" holes on one side of the box spaced 3 inches apart and 1/2 inch back from the lip. Using a 2 inch hole saw cut 2 inch holes at the top and bottom of the box where the cable entry holes reside. When installing the boxes in new work, drive 1-1/4" dry wall screws through the sides of the plastic boxes into the studs. The reason for this preparation will be clearly seen, if you will ever have to upgrade. Run all of the cables necessary. Apply clips or staples in the attic or in the basement to lightly tension the cables. It is important that the clips or staples are only in areas accessible after the walls and floors are finished. After installing all of the cables, tape the front of the box and all of the cables in place with blue masking tape.

If you never staple the cables onto the studs inside the wall, you will be able to take off the accessable staples and use the existing cables to pull new ones. The side of the studs will also direct push rods and guide any new cables you need to pull.

By preparing the box as stated above, a screwdriver can be used to remove the two dry wall screws holding it to the studs. Since the nail holding protrusions are gone, the box will also come out the front hole in the dry wall without making the hole larger. It can also be easily replaced.


Using this method, I can run and replace wiring anywhere.

 

[Hilbe]

Do you need the phase 3 (oval) dish is all of your locals and basic programming coming off the 101 satellite? If you only need 101 basicall follow uboatcmdr's suggestion but instead of splitters just run two cables from phase 3 to attic and another two to the basement.

How do I know? Is there some way to check? I'm new to the DirecTV scene

I just know the installer came with the oval. I have 1 HD Tivo and 1 SD Tivo....if that makes any difference.

 

[chrisexv6]

I heard above you mentioned copression fitting which is what the sat. installers use. Where do I find them? I bought a hex crimp and it sux! I'l probably buy a compression setup.

Matt

I was surprised to see that Home Depot actually carried the supplies. The connectors they had are Ideal-branded, but are made by PPC (good brand connectors). Lowes also carries a setup, but their connectors arent as good, and their tool is the same as the cheap version at Home Depot. I supposed if you had no qualms about a return policy, you could buy the good tool, use it and return it. Thats what I planned on doing, but just like any other good tool I buy, I find that I want it around just in case I ever need it (and I know a "good" version will work whenever I need it) so Ill end up keeping it.

If your HD doesnt have them, Ebay has a bunch of them. Stick with PPC, Thomas and Betts (they are called "Snap n Seal") or Digicon (I hear these are some of the best because they are swept up to 2.4GHz and have a built in swivel, but the PPC ones have the swivel too). As far as the tool, youll know when you are looking at a good one. The cheap ones are bundled with XXX connectors for like 40 bux, the good tools themselves cost about 40.00 on Ebay.

-Chris

 

[damaged]

Somewhere on here, an installer mentioned that the use of "Snap n Seals" were the culprit in alot of repair calls.

 

[al]

If you can, run all of your cables to the basement. As you will have some wall/ceiling exposure, you have one chance to do it the correct way. Also, do not forget to run phone wire, as the Tivo's will need them. My suggestion would be to run two Cat 5e cables to each location at the same time you run the 2 RG6 cables. You can use one for phone, and the other for a network, either for now or in the future.

Al

 

[dslchiphead]

I heard above you mentioned copression fitting which is what the sat. installers use. Where do I find them? I bought a hex crimp and it sux! I'l probably buy a compression setup.

These worked very nicely for me:
http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_display.asp?PROD=WMFDIGI-SQ or http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_display.asp?PROD=WMFDIGI-S depending on your cable used. I have the RG-6 Quad connectors.