DirecTV, Stand-Alone TiVo And KA

[Alan Gordon]

Since I've been tired of hoping that DirecTV would offer SD-LIL here, and wanting the ability to DVR NBC, FOX & The CW (come Fall) programming in SD (I have CBS and ABC via DNS), I took advantage of Circuit City's free Stand-Alone TiVo (after rebates)... but now I need to figure out how to hook my antenna up to the stand-alone... and wanted some help figuring out if my thinking is correct.

Currently, I have a Channel Master 4228 antenna hooked up to a CM Pre-Amp (I forget if it's a 7775 or 7777) sitting about 13 feet off of the ground... the RG-6 coax goes down from the antenna to a grounding block under the house, and then from the grounding block straight into the Den where it's plugged into a Surge Protector (we've had several antenna rotors get struck by lightning before), and then into a power splitter where it feeds an HD-TiVo, the TV, etc...

I also have a DirecTV Phase III dish hooked up to a 4x8 Powered Multi-Switch... which powers two DirecTiVo's and my HD-TiVo (as well as a single SD receiver which is currently deactivated, and hopefully will stay that way).

After I purchased my Stand-Alone TiVo on Saturday, I hooked it up to my SD big-screen in the living Room, and hooked it up to the phone line. Since my antenna has not been run to this room, I hooked it up to an indoor antenna which allows me to watch two channels with varying degrees of PQ, and a few others which cuts in and out. This week, I'd like to run the line, AND activate service (which I'll do even if I can't run the antenna this week). Here's my plan:

What I'd like to do is cut the antenna coaxial line coming from the the grounding block a little before it comes into the house and to my HD-TiVo, and then put a splitter to to send an additional line to my multi-switch. Now, before anyone brings up the fact that once I need to swap my Phase III out for a AT-9 dish, the diplexing won't work, this is one of my questions. If I take the line coming FROM the multi-switch going TO the (SD) DirecTiVo in the room with the Stand-Alone TiVo, clip it, and put a diplexor on it, will I have issues once I need the AT-9 dish even though I didn't diplex using the multi-switch and the DirecTiVo unit is an SD unit, or am I safe?!

Also, if this works, do I need to use a power splitter to send the new line going TOWARDS the multi-switch and my current line going to the HD-TiVo?

The power supply to my Channel Master Pre-Amp is in the Den near my HD-TiVo. Will the power supply in the Den allow me the reception in the Living Room, or will I need an additional part or item in the Living Room?

If all of this works, can anybody tell me a good brand of cheap Diplexors and where to buy them?!

~Alan

 

[mjones1973]

1) Technically it should work with the AT-9 because the SD receiver will never request the frequencies from the dish that would step on your OTA reception...

2) You'd need a splitter that would block the power from the pre-amp power supply from heading up to your diplexor at the multiswitch.

 

[Alan Gordon]

2) You'd need a splitter that would block the power from the pre-amp power supply from heading up to your diplexor at the multiswitch.

What kind of splitter would that be? Power splitter, or just a regular run-of-the-mill splitter? Will I need to buy anything else to go in the room with the stand-alone TiVo?! I'm going to town tomorrow to get some added supplies, so I need to know what I need to get.

Also, can you reccomend a good diplexor?!

Thanks!
~Alan

 

[mjones1973]

Honestly I don't know if such a beast exists, I was hoping someone else would step in. Basically you need to prevent the DC voltage coming out of the power supply for the preamp from heading up the second line you want to split off. You're probably going to need to split the line somewhere between the pre-amp power supply and your other TV.

As for a good diplexors, no idea, I've used Terk's in the past and they tended to randomly crap out on me. I have seperate runs to my sets for OTA now.

 

[doctor J]

Diplexor

I've read your setup several times and I'm still not sure I visualize what you have (my problem not yours). However consider this. Just run the antenna to a 5x8 multiswitch (Antenna In is the 5th line) which diplexes the antenna signal into all 8of the outputs. You can then use one diplexor at the any receiver to split out ant. and sat signals. If the power inserter for the antenna preamp is a concern it can be place on the antenna side of the multiswitch and should be ok.

 

[doctor J]

AT-9 upgrade

After trying to think about this further you have two options.
I kept my 3lnb dish and added an AT-9 for similar concerns. The 3 lnb dish signals are diplexed with antenna signals to the HR10-250's and SD units. The AT-9 signals are sent only to h-20 and future HR-20 positions.
Another option would be to use a WB 68 multiswitch (AT-9 compatible) and then on the output line of the multiswitch to the HR10-250 place a filter to block all freq. < 950 MHz then place a diplexor in line to add in the antenna signals and a second diplexor at the receiver to take it out.

The power inserter for any of these situations needs to be BEFORE the muliswitches, ie in basement , under house etc. You can run the coax from any plug out of the transformer to the Tee power insertor on the antenna side of the multiswitches.

Doctor j

 

[Alan Gordon]

I've read your setup several times and I'm still not sure I visualize what you have (my problem not yours). However consider this. Just run the antenna to a 5x8 multiswitch (Antenna In is the 5th line) which diplexes the antenna signal into all 8of the outputs. You can then use one diplexor at the any receiver to split out ant. and sat signals. If the power inserter for the antenna preamp is a concern it can be place on the antenna side of the multiswitch and should be ok.

Basically, mine is a very simple setup. I have a Phase III dish going into a 5x8 multi-switch powering one HD-TiVo, two SD DirecTiVos, and an older DirecTV receiver (that's not currently activated). I also have an antenna going on a seperate line to my HD-TiVo. However, I want to feed an antenna line (without drilling another hole) to a Stand-Alone TiVo I purchased which will be sitting in a room with one of the SD DirecTiVos.

BTW, I have gotten replies from people at other sites that I posted my question to also. See here and here to see what they said.

~Alan

 

[doctor J]

Follow-Up

I've read the other posts and do not disagree with anything they say.

You can split the antenna coax with a regular splitter. This will give you a 3.5dB loss on each line of the 2 way splitter. Approx 1/2 power but in most cases this will be un-noticed by either receiver. Take the "added" arm into your 5X8 multiswitch (ant in) and diplexor at the receiver will split out sat & ant signals.

The main issue come with the Amplifier and how you get power to it!
You should not try to get amp power and D* lnb power in the same line.
I have seen posts that use the 13-18 volt D* receiver power to run the preamps but I think its a bad idea. As said before if you can get the power insertor on the "other" side of the multiswitch you should be ok. It has a DC block on the downstream side.

You can always try any setup and see how it works .

Hope this helps

Doctor j