ExpressVu MDU Installation

[KawZoom]

Good day all,

I'm looking for someone in the know with MDU installations for Bell's EV. Long story short I went from a home dwelling with Bell TV to a condo that Bell pre wired when it was built in 98. I was told from the prior owner that they had Bell tv currently with HD. So I thought it would be a simple move of my one reciever & plug n play and waved to have an installer come. To my surprize when I plugged in my reciever and run the check switch test it only detected 91, and could only locate odd transponders.

I've done the basic trouble shooting steps that one in my position would do, to no avail. I then was lucky enough to meet someone else in the building with Bell tv and the same reciever as I (6141), and allowed me to plug in my box to their setup. When running the switch test in system setup it found both 91 and 82 and detected a switch type as SCD-2P3. So I know there is nothing wrong with my box.

I've done some digging and found out that the condo building has one dish on the roof and the singals from that go into a telecom room somehow merged to one coax and distributed to the units. Which somewhat makes sense as there is only one coax connection coming from my wall and my new neighbor as well. I beleive the term is "stack".

My question is, what peice of the puzzle am I missing to detect both signals from my wall to my Bell box? I've called Bell and they said they could send an installer to check it out. Unfortunetly this requires me to take some time off, which I can't do at the moment. I was hoping that someone here would know what am I missing so I could go out and purchase this mystery hardware myself. Or am I SOL and have no choice in having a installation tech come in?

Thanks for any input.

 

[QCK]

I asked your question to an installer who is familiar with these setups and is answer is:

In all MDU setups, there is a small unit loated between the wall plate and the receiver called a down converter or de-stacker, without this you will only see Odd transponders. These units are NOT available to buy and must be supplied by Bell by an installer.

At this time there is no way around this.

If you can give me your postal code I can find out if 82W is avaiable to you. You can post it here or PM me if you wish.

 

[digiblur]

He just said he can get 82W in another condo.

 

[QCK]

He actually posted it two days ago, but it would not hurt to check. It would be more believable if he had a picture come in on an 82W channel.

 

[KawZoom]

QCK,

First off thanks for asking on my behalf and your reply that followed.

To answer your question, yes in my neighbor's unit after doing the check switch test I could view both 91 & 82 stations w/picture and sound. I did not however notice the down converter or destacker device. Mind you i wasn't really in a position to snoop around the wiring setup.

Makes sense as I, myself have stumbled on wiki sites talking about down converter or destacker units. I just needed someone out there to confirm what I needed, as my dealing with local Sat shops all look at me like deer caught in the head lights after I explain what I think my setup is like.

If what your saying is true, then it looks like I'll have no choice in setting up a installer date in the far future. Little bit of a bummer as I kind of assumed it would be a simple job once I figured out what was needed.

Thanks again for the reply,

Karl

 

[QCK]

You're welcome, glad to help.

 

[QCK]

Here is some more helpful information for you KawZoom:

Yes, it is sad to say that the Down-converter is a piece that Bell will NOT make available to anyone other than a Bell Installer.

The good news is that as Spring approaches, there should be an option for an evening appointment, up to 8pm, in most areas anyway.

Also remind him that Bell has a 7 day Installation operation, so a Sat or Sun install should be easy to set up.

Just for your info, if the building has the newest equipment, his sounds older, if it has been in for 8 years, then you can actually split the signal inside the suit to run upto 3 Tuners. So on the newer installations, a customer can have a 9242 & a 6141 with no problems all from the single line into the suite.....

They will require a Down-converter for each tuner though but at least it works....

 

[KawZoom]

QCK,

Yes that is helpful information for me. I am aware of the 7 day installation that Bell offers, its just unfortunate for me that I am slated to work over the next three weekends. Would of been great if the late hour services started now. Also knowing the task at hand is small I would of opted out to coming home during a lunch hour, but the window that Bell offered to me is 3 hour gap ex: from 9am to 12pm time of arrival. Also at no fault to Bell I don't see it possible for me call and get same day service if a week day/weekend project cuts out early by chance.

Not the end of the world as at least now I have an answer, thanks to you and your connection. I do get some channels on TV. I only feel its my god given right to come home in the evening, pop my feet on the coffee table, drink my beer and critic my local hockey team on missed plays and bad goals in HD .

So the only finger I can point at, is myself as I did have the time before this mess started. On the bright side it has been a learning experience for me, as I had no clue on MDU installations. Also to be quite frank no else seems to be up to speed on the subject as well. As the people I've talked to act as if I'm trying to reinvent the wheel of satellite installations. So a big thank you for taking time out of your day and replying to my question, as when I posted my question here I was at my wits end.

On a side note I've been searching the net on destackers and came across a product made by Sonora called D575. Claims to work for Direct TV, but stacking signals should be the same for every supplier across the board. Seeing as it will most likely be three weeks before I can have the time for Bell. I very might well take a stab at ordering this. At the price its not like it going to break the my bank if it fails.

Cheers!

 

[QCK]

Cool, good luck! Let us know how it works out.

 

[Slartibartfarst]

Do not waste your money on a D575, it will NOT work on Bell's system. The way Bell stack the signals is different to Direct, so it will not work.

To prove that your receiver will work, ask your neighbour if you can borrow his Down Converter. At least this way you will be 100% ready for when bell do arrive......

 

[KawZoom]

Thanks for the FYI Slartibartfarst. I kinda got that impression after more digging for info on it. Yes, already one step ahead of you in trying to see if I can borrow my neighbor's down converter or destacker thingie. She a pilot, and from what i gather rarely around. Either way she's smokin and I'll take whatever excuse to knock on her door.

Worse case if at least I can get a model name or tag ID to help in my search. I think its truley baffling that this item is so hard to come by. I tried calling NAS products today seeing as they supply hardware for ExpressVu MDU installs. I swear I think I spoke to the soup Nazi from Seinfeld. All got out of him was, "No! No part for you!. Call ExpressVu.".

Right now I continue my search at the sheer stupidity of it all. Feels like I'm on a quest for the holy grail, and the RCMP are going to knock down my door after key words I used on google trigger alerts. "SIR we have multiple hits from IP 216.23.43.10. Destackers, ExpressVU, Down Converters were used!".

Thanks for the tip off.

 

[Slartibartfarst]

You have discovered that Bell do not and will not supply these to the general public, neither will NAS. This is to keep their monopoly of carrying out the installations.

I can see there point somewhat, if these were readily available there could be implications, as and when the Piracy issue raises it's head again...Maybe..

NAS will not even sell these parts to the Installation Companies, they have to go through Bell, no way around it that I know of, yet......lol

 

[KawZoom]

Well while i agree some things should be restricted to the general public.

Say..I don't know.. I was in the market for weapons grade plutonium.. Then I would hope this would be hard to purchase. But a satellite destacker that works for expressvu? I think thats a little harder to swallow to keep from the public.

So far not impressed with MDU EV installs.

 

[KawZoom]

Just to complete the circle, and finish off the thread. I finally tracked down a person with NAS products that was willing to sell to me. I didn't ask where and how he was supplied, but 10 bucks later and a 5 second install of screwing in the coaxes. I now have all the channels I've paid for.

For anyone else that finds themselves in this spot, I purchased a NAS SCD-2P3E.

Thank you to QCK & Slartibartfarst for all your input.

 

[QCK]

Great news KawZoom! Thanks for letting us know. :up

 

[Slartibartfarst]

Indeed, thanks for the update.