Finally decided to get a HD-DVR. DTV is sending one for only the 'handling fee' of $19.96, cool. Told the rep I have a three story house, running a new line to the living room was a nightmare and asked if they would be sure to include a SWM. The rep could neither confirm or deny I would get one. They also could not confirm they would be including a AM-21 so I can get the .1, .2, .3 channels. Great
So I decided to get my own SMW, if the tech has one on install day, I'll simply have him give it to me and I'll send that one back and be out no money other than shipping costs. Pre-emptive preparation. If he has a SWM LNB, I'll just sell it some place like here. If I cannot get the AM-21 from DTV, well, I suppose I'll have to pony up for it. Enough of my life story, down to the nitty gritty.
You can get either a SWM-5 or a SWM-8. The 8's seem to be in greater supply and having eight available channels is better than five. So I got a SWM-8. Be sure to get the power inserter, the SWM-5 and 8 require it and are not powered by the receiver.
Install is very easy. First, unplug all your receivers, very important!!! Next, I connected the power inserter into the coax, had to make up a short cable to connect it to the receiver. Be extra careful which connector the Sat line goes to. There is a red insulator, your feed from the multiswitch must go into this. Double, triple check. I then went to my patch panel in my attic, remove the Zinwell switch and placed the new SWM-8 in its' place. There are two SWM ports, #1 and #2. #1 has a red insulator, the feed from the power inserter must be on this line (my living room feed). Be very careful you plug the correct one into the SWM!!!.
Being I have just two activated receivers, #2 went to my bedroom unit. Each output carries four channels, effectively make a single line as if it were four lines. If you have more than two receivers, they sell special splitters. A 1X4 can run two DVR's, a DVR and two non-DVR receivers or four receivers. You can run 2 1X4's. If up to three of your receivers are not SWM capable, there are three legacy ports for them. Total number of outputs cannot exceed 8 though, unless you stack.
Once everything is connected, plug in the power inserter, then plug in the receiver next to it. The instructions tell you to only do a red button reset but I did not have to do anything but to be safe, I still did the red button reset anyways. I went to my bedroom box, plugged it in and did the reset. I went to the signal meter of each. The SWM now shows up at the end of the list of Satellites, my lowest number was a 95, the highest, 100. Took all of 30 minutes to do (neatness counts).
When the installer arrives in a few days, he is going to be happy. He has to do nothing other than drop off the new DVR, plug it in to ensure it works and that'll be it. No roof action, running of new cables. Let's hope he shows.....
BTW, any idea what I should do with my old boxes, they are accumulating (two H10's, a RCA SD box too, possibly a H20)?
So I decided to get my own SMW, if the tech has one on install day, I'll simply have him give it to me and I'll send that one back and be out no money other than shipping costs. Pre-emptive preparation. If he has a SWM LNB, I'll just sell it some place like here. If I cannot get the AM-21 from DTV, well, I suppose I'll have to pony up for it. Enough of my life story, down to the nitty gritty.You can get either a SWM-5 or a SWM-8. The 8's seem to be in greater supply and having eight available channels is better than five. So I got a SWM-8. Be sure to get the power inserter, the SWM-5 and 8 require it and are not powered by the receiver.
Install is very easy. First, unplug all your receivers, very important!!! Next, I connected the power inserter into the coax, had to make up a short cable to connect it to the receiver. Be extra careful which connector the Sat line goes to. There is a red insulator, your feed from the multiswitch must go into this. Double, triple check. I then went to my patch panel in my attic, remove the Zinwell switch and placed the new SWM-8 in its' place. There are two SWM ports, #1 and #2. #1 has a red insulator, the feed from the power inserter must be on this line (my living room feed). Be very careful you plug the correct one into the SWM!!!.
Being I have just two activated receivers, #2 went to my bedroom unit. Each output carries four channels, effectively make a single line as if it were four lines. If you have more than two receivers, they sell special splitters. A 1X4 can run two DVR's, a DVR and two non-DVR receivers or four receivers. You can run 2 1X4's. If up to three of your receivers are not SWM capable, there are three legacy ports for them. Total number of outputs cannot exceed 8 though, unless you stack.
Once everything is connected, plug in the power inserter, then plug in the receiver next to it. The instructions tell you to only do a red button reset but I did not have to do anything but to be safe, I still did the red button reset anyways. I went to my bedroom box, plugged it in and did the reset. I went to the signal meter of each. The SWM now shows up at the end of the list of Satellites, my lowest number was a 95, the highest, 100. Took all of 30 minutes to do (neatness counts).
When the installer arrives in a few days, he is going to be happy. He has to do nothing other than drop off the new DVR, plug it in to ensure it works and that'll be it. No roof action, running of new cables. Let's hope he shows.....
BTW, any idea what I should do with my old boxes, they are accumulating (two H10's, a RCA SD box too, possibly a H20)?
