HD-DVR Splitter

[jammy]

With only one satellite cable feeding into my HD-DVR receiver, I am fed up having to actually watch the program I want to record. I want the flexibility to record one program while watching another.

Can I just have the satellite cable go into a splitter before going into the receiver and have two short cables feed into both satellite inputs?

If this is possible, it seems relatively simple to do, but is there anything in particular I need to make sure I do and is there a particular make/model splitter that I should use?

Thank you.

 

[aec4]

No, I believe you need 2 lines running from the satellite.

 

[HCI]

You will have to have 2 lines from the dish to the reciever. The reason if you try to watch a channel on one tuner that has a odd transponder "13 volts" and one on the other that is on an even transonder "18 volts" the tuner on the odd transponder will give you searching for signal.

 

[obeythelaw]

right. you will need two. you can buy a stacker/destacker to do what you want to do, but its pretty expensive. will cost you about 400 dollars. most people say its just easier to have someone come and a second line to that room.

 

[LonghornXP]

right. you will need two. you can buy a stacker/destacker to do what you want to do, but its pretty expensive. will cost you about 400 dollars. most people say its just easier to have someone come and a second line to that room.

I wouldn't say easier but cheaper is more the word I had in mind.

On a more serious note this is something that satellite companies need to figure out because as more and more customers go the DVR (aka dual tuner) route we will start to have more ticked off customers about that whole wall fish crap if you catch my drift. I don't mind paying the guy 20 bucks for the wall fish but I had one installer that tried to get me for 175 bucks for a wall fish. I have never done this before but I made one phone call to "one" of the people I know and gave him this installers ID number and name. Lets just say he got called on his radio to return his vehicle and hardware at the end of the day and wait about a week for his last pay check. I actually was suprised because he was pretty much fired while on my job by me. I actually felt bad because I had no idea this would happen but I can't feel sorry when guys try to rip people off like that. He just ripped the wrong person off that day. He knew I had the money but that isn't the point. If he was fair he would have got a nice crisp 100 dollar bill as his tip but nooooooooooo he just couldn't help screwing people over.

Sorry about my vent on this but that was the first thing that popped in my head in this thread. I bet DirecTV loses customers left and right once they are told a wall fish will make that free install cost over 100 bucks. So DirecTV is fine about losing a customer who might pay almost 100 bucks a month over just paying the installer 20 bucks for that wall fish. It just doesn't make any sense to me but that is the way these companies run themselves and its not just DirecTV but all companies. Even BHN told me I needed to have a new jack installed just for the internet because the speed upgrade couldn't run off a splitter anymore. I knew better but they insisted on it. The guy came out and said it would cost 40 bucks to install this jack so I called up BHN in front of the guy and told them you pay the installer that 40 bucks or you can pack up and leave without my 250 bucks a month bill for at least the next 12 months. Boy you had no idea how fast they said yes. I also told the guy to call me if they don't pay you extra for this.

I did get a call later from this tech who said they never did pay him for the extra work nor the cables themselves so I gave him 50 bucks cash the next time he came into this area. I again don't mind paying but I would not let a company get away with this because a free installation should be free and a wall fish shouldn't be extra as pretty much every house in Florida requires a wall fish.

Sorry again for my second rant but I just can't help myself on this. Maybe Verizon will take the hint and include wall fishes which they don't do for free. Most techs who install the fiber though don't charge extra as they lose more money by not doing it than to just take the extra couple minutes and doing it. Plus some of them get paid by the hour and not per job as they are union workers.

 

[bjdotson]

Mr

What's a wall fish?

 

[JamesD]

A fish that lives in the wall. Eats insulation.

 

[Hogarth]

Running new wire through an existing wall to provide new cabling.
Almost always required for satellite DVR installations as they require two lines from the multiswitch / satellite and most people have only one running to each wall plate.

Called fishing because you often have to use a cable puller tool, which resembles a fishing reel, and fiberglass rods to run wire through sheetrock or other rigid locations. Rod + Reel == Fishing

H

 

[DarthDBS]

If that tech was with a HSP, then he isnt allowed to charge for a wallfish anyways, maybe thats why he got fired. Being a independent myself wallfishing can be alot of work and take alot of time. Offering a guy $20 to do it is laughable. I usually charge around $100 depending on the circumstances.

 

[HCI]

Has anyone tried the magnapull. Since I got that for the same price a set of rods I can do a will fish in 10 minutes "no lie". Some customers I dont even charge for the fish if its on an inside wall with no insulation and I can get above easy.

http://www.mccartenco.com/products/wcpd/index-1995_1964.html

 

[turnerd]

I haven't heard of a magnapull - does it only work on cable - or could it be used on speaker wire? Just thinkin' of another project I need to finish

 

[HCI]

It will work on anything. All you have to do is hook it to the end of the magnet and use the roller to run it down the wall and out the hole. Very quick and simple.

 

[LonghornXP]

If that tech was with a HSP, then he isnt allowed to charge for a wallfish anyways, maybe thats why he got fired. Being a independent myself wallfishing can be alot of work and take alot of time. Offering a guy $20 to do it is laughable. I usually charge around $100 depending on the circumstances.

Well my wall fish was going into the attic and dropping the cable down. He had a part of my wall drilled beforehand so all he had todo was exit the attic and put his finger in the hole and pull the sucker out. This took a matter of minutes and most of the time spent was getting from the attic back to the room. This wasn't complex at all.

Now when Verizon had to install the ethernet jack and replace all my phone jacks (phone jacks just weren't any good for some reason) for my FIOS internet installation I had to pay about 800 bucks in both cables and installation charges. But keep in mind that my house wasn't easy. They had to run fiber over a mile underground from the start of my driveway to the back of my house where the ONT goes and that just isn't a free install. Now all of my phone jacks were upstairs and required a lot of wall fishing and I mean a lot. The three phone jacks took almost three hours to replace with four techs and they weren't lazy that is for sure. The ethernet jack took almost two hours as I wanted this jack in a certian spot. I chose to pay for this because they would install it for free in anothe room and give me a wireless router but I couldn't have it this way.

In simple terms my installer took about 18-20 hours spread out over two days not counting the almost two days it took to run the fiber the mile underground from my street curb to my house. This was a very big job. Now I was only charged about 450 bucks for everything which is quite fair by the way for what was done as much of it was at my request. The rest was paid out in tips as they spent so much time and actually skipped lunch.

With all that said I know that some jobs will cost an extra 100 or more bucks but these techs at least in this area are known for ripping people off. If the customer is over 60 years old that customer should just bend over and take it all at once. They are that bad because the companies in this area are so frickin cheap on everything. But that is Florida for ya.

 

[turnerd]

It will work on anything. All you have to do is hook it to the end of the magnet and use the roller to run it down the wall and out the hole. Very quick and simple.

Many thanks - I have some Bose speakers I'd like to mount - and easy access from the basement. This should help

 

[HCI]

No prob!

 

[dragon002]

Well my wall fish was going into the attic and dropping the cable down. He had a part of my wall drilled beforehand so all he had todo was exit the attic and put his finger in the hole and pull the sucker out. This took a matter of minutes and most of the time spent was getting from the attic back to the room. This wasn't complex at all.
Now when Verizon had to install the ethernet jack and replace all my phone jacks (phone jacks just weren't any good for some reason) for my FIOS internet installation I had to pay about 800 bucks in both cables and installation charges. But keep in mind that my house wasn't easy. They had to run fiber over a mile underground from the start of my driveway to the back of my house where the ONT goes and that just isn't a free install. Now all of my phone jacks were upstairs and required a lot of wall fishing and I mean a lot. The three phone jacks took almost three hours to replace with four techs and they weren't lazy that is for sure. The ethernet jack took almost two hours as I wanted this jack in a certian spot. I chose to pay for this because they would install it for free in anothe room and give me a wireless router but I couldn't have it this way.
In simple terms my installer took about 18-20 hours spread out over two days not counting the almost two days it took to run the fiber the mile underground from my street curb to my house. This was a very big job. Now I was only charged about 450 bucks for everything which is quite fair by the way for what was done as much of it was at my request. The rest was paid out in tips as they spent so much time and actually skipped lunch.
With all that said I know that some jobs will cost an extra 100 or more bucks but these techs at least in this area are known for ripping people off. If the customer is over 60 years old that customer should just bend over and take it all at once. They are that bad because the companies in this area are so frickin cheap on everything. But that is Florida for ya.

longhorn ,the price he tried to charge for one wall fish was outrageous. ill give you that. i have three contracts in place , one is MSP. in all three a wall fish is $ 75.00 per wall fish. and he got in an attic for free?? nope $30.00 and both are paid CASH, i do give a reciept. no stopped checks for this old tech. cash is king.

 

[lou_do]

On a more serious note this is something that satellite companies need to figure out because as more and more customers go the DVR (aka dual tuner) route we will start to have more ticked off customers about that whole wall fish crap if you catch my drift. I don't mind paying the guy 20 bucks for the wall fish but I had one installer that tried to get me for 175 bucks for a wall fish.

I hear you there, a friend of mine had an installation done and it looked like hell. This guy had a big drill and just ran through the block wall into the house. Good thing he never hit any electrical or water lines. Then when he got into the house he ran the cables under carpets, around door casings and along baseboards. He cracked the door and window casings where he tacked the coaxial cable to them. He was told that was the only type installation they did. Two days later the two of us pulled out all the wiring from the installation and ran everything in the walls.

Then, when I moved here, I had an installation scheduled. The installer told me he wasn't allowed to do wall fishes. Just drill straight through the outside wall into the house. I instantly had a flash back of my friend's butcher job installation. I told him to leave the wire and let me run the lines and I will leave the ends at the dish and wall boxes for him. He agreed and came back the next day. That worked good, he was happy because I made his job easier and I was happy because everything was in the walls. But, I used diplexers and now with the new MPG4 receivers they can't be used, so last weekend I reran all the wiring again, so when they come to do my MPG4 install all the coaxial wire will be in place.

I would use BHN, but they refuse to put Fox Sports Florida on their system, so I will stick with satellite.

 

[dragon002]

A fish that lives in the wall. Eats insulation.

and craps sawdust

and costs $75.00:devil:

 

[HCI]

Some companys charge for wallfishes and some do refuse to do them. Alot of jobs are done by drilling from the outside in. I am not a fan of it if I have to run wires around a house. I will do it however if the TV or computer is on an outside wall and the dish is going to be right above the unit. If it is on the other side of the house on an outside wall I will run the wire in the attic and out above the unit from the outside.

I will normally do a inside wallfish for free, You dont want my price for an outside wall fish.

 

[AntAltMike]

Late last year, I did the installation of two, customer-owned DirecTV HDTV recorders into a rack which required exceptional wiring, to say he least. I charged $850 for that installation If you subtract the retail price for the two destackers, the 5x4 multiswitch and two high frequency splitters, I charged maybe around $500 to $550 for the labor.

Two years ago, someone wanted a receiver on the kitchen counter of their $2 million dollar condo with no wiring showing. I charged about $600 to fish that wire. If they could have found someone to do it for less, I'm sure they would have. I didn't even make any money at that price, because it roughly reflected my standard hourly labor rate, but the job didn't include any markup on components.

A lot of residential customers have been spoiled by the DBS providers "single price" basic installations. They may not realize how labor intensive and risky fishing coaxes is. Thirty years ago, the telephone company fished all of its post-wiring and could do so because it was a regulated monopoly and just passed all unexpected costs through to all the customers.

When someone quotes a flat price to fish a wire in a wall, how much money will the customer pay him if the fish is unsuccessful? Probably nothing. So if the customer demands a firm price quoted in advance, the installer can quote him any price that he feels will make it worth incurring the risks that the job will take longer than expected or that he will occasionally wind up failing and not getting paid at all.

LonhornXP thinks he was getting screwed by DirecTV or the installer but he wasn't. The DirecTV employee who took his order was not authorized to include a fished wire in that installation and, last I knew, had been instructed to tell him the each receiver wire could include just one wall penetration.

I was not aware that DirecTV now had a rule against some classes of its installers doing extra wiring jobs on the side, but that probably is because there are certain "thankless jobs" like wall fishing where too many customers will believe they got screwed and so DirecTV doesn't want in any way to be associated with such jobs. If the installer got fired because of the complaint by the customer, he has my sympathies because he wasn't screwing anyone. LonghornXP could have either settled for the single wall penetration or cancelled the entire job as not do-able.