You are correct that I am currently not in the field. QC rules have probably changed since I installed DISH Network or anything else, but then again so has the equipment. I never got gigged back in the day for protecting a switch from the elements under an eave (not to be confused with "at the dish" or "on the dish"). Of course, at the time it was more about using the least amount of cable for a clean install rather then running lines down the house and then back up. It just never made sense to do it that way and I personally think it looks worse then mounting the switch higher and running shorter leads to their destinations. The only time that ever made me nervous was covenant controlled communities where anything mounted on the back side of the house had to be below the fence line, and there could be nothing mounted on the front. I know there are still neighborhoods like that out there, at least there are here in CO and I assume we are not so different then anywhere else. I always thought that QC was looking for form and function within reason (no house wraps or spaghetti bombs). I did not know that there was a written policy regarding where the switch had to be located in order to pass a check. That information would be useful so if you can find it in writing I can add it to the library we have here.
There are always small twists to what QC gigs for, from my experience with satellite and cable. Satellite wise, customers should all have single dish solutions. That sometimes has to go by the wayside to provide service for some customers. QC might even throw a limit of two dishes at a residence max, but I have actually had to order a tech to provide a third dish to a patron of this website just to get service to 100%. Did that tech get gigged due to "going outside of the suggested norm" or did he get a pat on the back for handling a customer concern? I would hate to think I set him up to fail, but you would think he would have said no if he would get gigged for it.
I asked my question after reading the current materials I have at my disposal, rather then going off what I did way back when. I see nothing about where the switch can or cannot be mounted (simply indoors or outdoors), even when used as a grounding point so long as it meets NEC and state grounding requirements. NEC says the ground must be 10 gauge for the 820 (coax) and 14 gauge for the dish (810). From the coax ground it can be no longer then 20 feet and there is no provision for the dish. You can meet that from under some, if not all eaves, providing its not a three story house. I guess there is no explanation for why, it just isn't done. That works for me.
To Popcorn: Harshness mentioned the insertion loss and I feel that is important too. I honestly never knew it was called that, but the consideration of what it is was there in every type of system I installed, whether it was cable or satellite. If I were you and thought plans may change as to setup and number of boxes, I would keep the DPP44 and make sure that the feeds were home runs and not combining cables to make the length, if it is possible. If you have to run a barrel (which I did for my loft) make sure it is a rated barrel (they actually list 3.0GHZ on the packages at some places). I went so far as to run solid backfeeds and eliminated the diplexers in my home, something a drop ceiling basement helped to complete. It benefits me mainly because the wiring is good for any system and I can interchange between the cable internet and DISH pretty easily depending on my needs as the house changes. It has changed a couple times since I rewired and its easy to change things and keep it looking nice.
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