Help with vacation home self-install

[jmpellet]

I have a vacation home where I want to bring back and forth my HR24 receiver. I think the extra dish I have is a SWM with the 3 style LNB? See pictures below.

Do I need to buy a single LNB now that I only need one cable in or can I use the existing dish as is? The installer at my primary home said I could use the existing dish but just one cable. If that's the case which do I choose? Or, do I need to buy:

DIRECTV SL3-SWM SlimLine Single Wire Ka/Ku Triple LNB With Built-In Multiswitch

I am also wondering which power inserter I need and if this dish will even work. I need a run in excess of 100 feet so do I need the unit with 29 volts vs. 21?

After reading some of you valuable threads I think I might also need two BBC converters no??



Jo-Ann in MA
Thank you from a newbie!!

 

[Jimbo]

First of all ...

to the site !!!

Ok, now, is the dish in the picture the one your gonna use ?
IF you use that one WITH the LNB you also have pictured, you only need to hook up to 1 of the ports, also DO NOT use a Power Insertor, the recvr should power the LNB.

This dish is a Slimline, but NOT a SWM (Single Wire Multiswitch), so you would run multiple coax if you need more than one recvr.

For a single recvr this is a great way to go.

Hook your coax from one of the LNB post, to a ground block to the recvr and point the dish and your good to go.

Make sure the post/mast is level when setting up the dish.

 

[jmpellet]

Thanks for the super speedy reply. I'm an IT geek but this is beyond my expertise for certain. Yes this is the exact dish and lnb to be used. And with just the one receiver. Even with my 100' plus distance I won't need a power inverter?

 

[Jimbo]

Thanks for the super speedy reply. I'm an IT geek but this is beyond my expertise for certain. Yes this is the exact dish and lnb to be used. And with just the one receiver. Even with my 100' plus distance I won't need a power inverter?

Nope
100 ft is fine.

What I would do if I were you is take a small TV out to the dish location and hook up the TV and recvr out there so you can see the signal strength and won't need someone shouting numbers to you.

 

[dfergie]

Welcome to SatelliteGuys, listen to the good advice.

 

[jmpellet]

So I posed the same question on another site at the same time ( you can tell I'm desperate). That person said I would need a power supply and two cable because of the dvr? Yes or no?

 

[jmpellet]

Love the small tv idea.

 

[jmpellet]

Guess I read wrong the post wrong my bad. No power inverter was actually suggested. So one cable or two? Also RG6 quad shielded?

 

[BobStokesbary]

OK. There are a couple of things you need to consider.

First, the pictures you have are for a conventional slimline HD dish install. The standard LNB is powered by the receiver and does not want a separate power inserter. But, you also mention that you want to put the dish about 100 feet from the receiver. You really need to seriously consider a solid copper center RG6 coax for your installation. Copper-clad steel core wire might have too much resistance to power the LNB for that distance.

Second, to get the full functionality of your HR24 you need to run two wires from the LNB to the receiver (one for each tuner) to be able to record a program while you are watching another form the dish. So, that means two coax runs from the dish to your receiver.

Also, if the dish you have at home is a SWM setup (most common with HR24 installations) you will probably encounter issues changing the dish type settings in your HR24 receiver. Many have reported that they were unable to switch back and forth from SWM to non-SWM setups. I know that the installer for my son-in-law's move was unable to get his HR22 to switch from standard to SWM and consequently replaced his HR22 with a new HR24. So, even the pros have difficulty with this transition.

While not showstoppers, you need to consider these issues in your vacation home installation.

 

[jmpellet]

So I will definitely just leave that receiver there if necessary and deal with one less tv at my other house. Am I best to ditch the dish and just purchase a new one or get the requisite cable and run two lengths? Or do i need it simply because of the distance so no matter the dish its necessary. I can't tell if the cable at the depot is solid or not. Thanks so much for all the help so far!

i keep editing this...can I simply swap out the lnb for a 3?

 

[Jimbo]

So I posed the same question on another site at the same time ( you can tell I'm desperate). That person said I would need a power supply and two cable because of the dvr? Yes or no?

My bad, I forgot you were using a HR, so Yes you would need 2 lines brought to the back of your HRxx in order to fully use the functions of the recvr, also, you'll want 2 BBC's, they are used with that dish you showed, but Not with the SWM set up.
Yours is a Slimline set up.

 

[Jimbo]

OK. There are a couple of things you need to consider.

First, the pictures you have are for a conventional slimline HD dish install. The standard LNB is powered by the receiver and does not want a separate power inserter. But, you also mention that you want to put the dish about 100 feet from the receiver. You really need to seriously consider a solid copper center RG6 coax for your installation. Copper-clad steel core wire might have too much resistance to power the LNB for that distance.

Second, to get the full functionality of your HR24 you need to run two wires from the LNB to the receiver (one for each tuner) to be able to record a program while you are watching another form the dish. So, that means two coax runs from the dish to your receiver.

Also, if the dish you have at home is a SWM setup (most common with HR24 installations) you will probably encounter issues changing the dish type settings in your HR24 receiver. Many have reported that they were unable to switch back and forth from SWM to non-SWM setups. I know that the installer for my son-in-law's move was unable to get his HR22 to switch from standard to SWM and consequently replaced his HR22 with a new HR24. So, even the pros have difficulty with this transition.

While not showstoppers, you need to consider these issues in your vacation home installation.

Bob,
Nowhere in the OP's posts does it say what dish they are currently using at the 1st home, SWM or SL ...

Changing the Sat Set Up is no nessasary IF they are the same dishes.

 

[jmpellet]

Here's what I have. At main home new install with multiple receivers. Oddly the brand new dish has three booms but just one cable is used. Power inverter in basement but no bbc converters. This was installed one month ago. Brought older dish pictured above to vacation home and has three booms with four outputs so I guess older style non swm. Have an hr24 (just one receiver tgat I am willing to leave there) to be used at vacation home. Should I simply buy a sl3 lnb and if so can I use quad shielded copper clad rg6 that they sell at Home Depot or do I need solid copper core? My run is more than 100'. Also I assume I then need an inverter but no BBC(s). Also just one run needed at that point right? Thanks for all the expert advice. I will get this done!

 

[texasbrit]

Here's what I have. At main home new install with multiple receivers. Oddly the brand new dish has three booms but just one cable is used. Power inverter in basement but no bbc converters. This was installed one month ago. Brought older dish pictured above to vacation home and has three booms with four outputs so I guess older style non swm. Have an hr24 (just one receiver tgat I am willing to leave there) to be used at vacation home. Should I simply buy a sl3 lnb and if so can I use quad shielded copper clad rg6 that they sell at Home Depot or do I need solid copper core? My run is more than 100'. Also I assume I then need an inverter but no BBC(s). Also just one run needed at that point right? Thanks for all the expert advice. I will get this done!

I think this post clarifies things.
If you are going to leave the DVR (don't call the HR24 a receiver, that just confuses things) at the vacation home, you have two choices.
Choice 1: At the vacation home, you currently have a non-SWM dish (I assume it is a slimline). Run two cables from the dish to the HR24, get two BBCs from DirecTV (just call) and connect these to the back of the HR24 between the HR24 and the cables.
Choice 2: Get an SWM LNB for the vacation home. Your home dish is an SWM5 SWM so you should probably get that LNB (Note: you might not need the 5LNB but without knowing your zip code and what channels you subscribe to we can't tell you). So an SL5 SWM LNB, with it's associated power inserter. Replace the LNB in the vacation home dish with the SL5 SWM LNB. If you are careful you will not need to do a realignment. Run one cable from the dish to the HR24 (the dish will only have one output) No BBcs needed.

At 100ft+ you should use Solid Copper Core RG6 not CCS. Shop around on the web to find suppliers. You do not need quad shield.

 

[jmpellet]

Thank you so much for all the excellent help figuring this out. The existing dish is a slimline. Home zip is 02726 and vacation is 04061, about three hours apart. We don't subscribe to anything extra beyond the HD service. So if you had your druthers which choice is the best long term and simpler for a non-satellite person, although I'm an IT person and can do ok usually?

 

[texasbrit]

OK, at home you have a slimline 5 (three "eyes") because your SD locals Providence DMA)come from the 119 satellite and a slimline 3 does not see 119.
Your locals (both HD and SD) are carried on "spotbeams", think of them as flashlight beams pointed down from the satellite aimed at Providence. Once you travel outside the spotbeam, you will not get any locals. That means at your vacation home, you almost certainly will not get HD locals (HD spotbeams are much narrower than SD) but you MIGHT be just inside the spotbeam for SD locals. So you will need a slimline 5 either SWM or non-SWM. If it were me. for simplicity I would get a slimline 5 SWM LNB and power inserter for the vacation home dish even though it's a more expensive option, then you can take any of your receivers/DVRs to the vacation home without having to switch between SWM and non-SWM.
Note if you can't get your SD locals because you are out of the spotbeam you won't be able to get ANY locals, or the national channels of ABC/NBC/CBS/Fox, at your vacation home. If you were there for six months, you could get DirecTv to switch your service address to the camp and then you would get whatever locals are available there, but you can't do this switch if you go to and from the vacation home several times a year. You might be able to get them using an antenna connected directly to the TV but I am not sure if reception at the vacation home will be acceptable.

 

[Jimbo]

OK, at home you have a slimline 5 (three "eyes") because your SD locals Providence DMA)come from the 119 satellite and a slimline 3 does not see 119.
Your locals (both HD and SD) are carried on "spotbeams", think of them as flashlight beams pointed down from the satellite aimed at Providence. Once you travel outside the spotbeam, you will not get any locals. That means at your vacation home, you almost certainly will not get HD locals (HD spotbeams are much narrower than SD) but you MIGHT be just inside the spotbeam for SD locals. So you will need a slimline 5 either SWM or non-SWM. If it were me. for simplicity I would get a slimline 5 SWM LNB and power inserter for the vacation home dish even though it's a more expensive option, then you can take any of your receivers/DVRs to the vacation home without having to switch between SWM and non-SWM.
Note if you can't get your SD locals because you are out of the spotbeam you won't be able to get ANY locals, or the national channels of ABC/NBC/CBS/Fox, at your vacation home. If you were there for six months, you could get DirecTv to switch your service address to the camp and then you would get whatever locals are available there, but you can't do this switch if you go to and from the vacation home several times a year. You might be able to get them using an antenna connected directly to the TV but I am not sure if reception at the vacation home will be acceptable.

If I were him, I woiuld try and see what he gets locally, probably nothing as you mentioned and if thats the case, an OTA antenna would be the way to go directly to the TV or with an AM21 added to the HR24 using the D* service allowing him to record them, provided he can get them.

So, depending, he has options.

 

[jmpellet]

Thanks so much for the great explanation. Now I get it. Ironically enough we don't watch the locals. Well I say we but my hubby probably does for local sports stuff but we are wanting just something up here and already knew going in no locals. If we decide to leave the hr24 dvr here at the vacation home would your suggestion change? Is swm vs non swm easier to align especially for this newbie. I think it might be nearly a wash with cost since I would need more cable for the non swm. The lnb was about $50 I think on amazon.

For the other poster, he's a she

 

[texasbrit]

The SWM and non-SWM LNBs align the same way; they are in fact identical except for the SWM electronics.
I think I would go the SWM route. It has the advantage that if you ever need to bring a different receiver/DVR from the house, the house and vacation home would be using the same system so need to change the setup.

Don't forget for the SWM LNB you need the power inserter. But no need for BBCs.

 

[jmpellet]

Sold! I think that's the best route. I do know I need the inverter. Is the 21v ok even over 100 feet? I'm sure I will have questions when I actually go to do the work but thanks so much for the help! Do you have preferred ends. I have a crimp tool from work.