Installation Question

[george99]

Hi Guys,
I just bought a new house, and it already came wired for came wired for cable TV. The cable TV line comes into the garage, and goes to a 5-way splitter.

My question is instead of running 5 cables from the dish on the roof, is it possible to run just 1 cable, and then use a multiswitch to split up the signal and connect to to the 5-way splitter instead of the cable tv?

If so, would I still need a 5 LNB Dish, or would 1 LNB do the job?

Also, 1 of my receivers will be the HD DVR, so I imagine that since it has 2 tuners, I will actually need 6 lines (4 to the 4 bedrooms, and 2 to my living room with the HD DVR).

Thanks.

 

[Jimbo]

Hi Guys,
I just bought a new house, and it already came wired for came wired for cable TV. The cable TV line comes into the garage, and goes to a 5-way splitter.

My question is instead of running 5 cables from the dish on the roof, is it possible to run just 1 cable, and then use a multiswitch to split up the signal and connect to to the 5-way splitter instead of the cable tv?

If so, would I still need a 5 LNB Dish, or would 1 LNB do the job?

Also, 1 of my receivers will be the HD DVR, so I imagine that since it has 2 tuners, I will actually need 6 lines (4 to the 4 bedrooms, and 2 to my living room with the HD DVR).

Thanks.

IF you use a Multiswitch, you will need 4 lines from the dish to the MS in order for it to work correctly.

Jimbo

 

[george99]

Then obviously I am misunderstanding the purpose of a multiswitch.
I thought that it worked like a splitter.
Please explain.

 

[iwc5893]

You need 4 lines from the dish to the multiswitch due to the way DirecTV sends the signal from the LNB to the receiver. They use a combination of voltage and control tones to tell the LNB which satellite and transponders you need based upon which channel you are on.

There is a 13VDC, a 18VDC, a 13 VDC with 22kHz tone, and a 18VDC with 22kHz tone. Each of these options needs their own input to the multiswitch. If they were on the same line, the 18VDC would overpower the 13VDC signal and all you would see would be your even transponders on each satellite. A splitter would have the same result in that you would be missing over half of your transponders.

The multiswitch takes those 4 inputs and sends them to the appropriate output port based upon what signal the receiver is sending back to the LNB/Multiswtich. Think of it acting like a network router for your TV, and not a splitter.

As to the type of dish you would need, that depends upon your programming choices and your location. If you want HD, then you will need a 5LNB dish with a KU rated multiswitch. If you are SD only, then you can use a 4x8 multiswitch and either a single, dual, or triple LNB dish. The type of dish for SD programming is determined by your location and which satellite your local stations are on.

 

[boba]

Signals come from the dish as 12V or 18V which is a way of selecting polarization it also comes in with or without a 22khz. tone signal so you have 4 ways of getting a signal 12V with or without tone 18V with or without tone so that is 4 lines coming from the dish to the multiswitch. a WB68 has 8 outputs that can select from any of the 4 input formats so it is much more complex than just dividing the signal to a 4 way splitter. Hopefully that will make some sense to a newbie.

 

[Jimbo]

You need 4 lines from the dish to the multiswitch due to the way DirecTV sends the signal from the LNB to the receiver. They use a combination of voltage and control tones to tell the LNB which satellite and transponders you need based upon which channel you are on.

There is a 13VDC, a 18VDC, a 13 VDC with 22kHz tone, and a 18VDC with 22kHz tone. Each of these options needs their own input to the multiswitch. If they were on the same line, the 18VDC would overpower the 13VDC signal and all you would see would be your even transponders on each satellite. A splitter would have the same result in that you would be missing over half of your transponders.

The multiswitch takes those 4 inputs and sends them to the appropriate output port based upon what signal the receiver is sending back to the LNB/Multiswtich. Think of it acting like a network router for your TV, and not a splitter.

As to the type of dish you would need, that depends upon your programming choices and your location. If you want HD, then you will need a 5LNB dish with a KU rated multiswitch. If you are SD only, then you can use a 4x8 multiswitch and either a single, dual, or triple LNB dish. The type of dish for SD programming is determined by your location and which satellite your local stations are on.

Nice explanation IWC :up

Jimbo

 

[iwc5893]

Thanks...:

 

[george99]

So basically, 4 inputs can give me 4 outputs. Can all 5 receivers (6 tuners) work independantly using this setup?

Basically, what I am trying to do is avoid a zillion wires. My house is wired so that there is a cable going to each of the 5 rooms from the 5-way splitter.

Basically, if I understand you guys correctly, you are saying that I would need 4 wires coming out of the dish, down into my garage where the multiswitch would be located. Then I would need to use 5 of the 8 outputs and connect them to the 5 lines that are currently connected to the splitter. Am I correct?
If so, what would even be the advantage of using the multiswitch other than saving 1 wire coming out of the dish? Why couldn't I just take 5 wires out of the dish and connect them directly to the receivers without the multiswitch?

Also, since I really have 6 tuners, I assume that I would need to run an extra line from my garage into my livingroom. Is there any better way to do this?

 

[Jimbo]

So basically, 4 inputs can give me 4 outputs. Can all 5 receivers (6 tuners) work independantly using this setup?
4 inputs from the dish will give you 8-16 outputs, depending on which MS you are using.
Basically, what I am trying to do is avoid a zillion wires. My house is wired so that there is a cable going to each of the 5 rooms from the 5-way splitter.

Basically, if I understand you guys correctly, you are saying that I would need 4 wires coming out of the dish, down into my garage where the multiswitch would be located. Then I would need to use 5 of the 8 outputs and connect them to the 5 lines that are currently connected to the splitter. Am I correct?
YES, except if you have a DVR you will want 2 lines going to that location

If so, what would even be the advantage of using the multiswitch other than saving 1 wire coming out of the dish? Why couldn't I just take 5 wires out of the dish and connect them directly to the receivers without the multiswitch?
The dish only has 4 outputs

Also, since I really have 6 tuners, I assume that I would need to run an extra line from my garage into my livingroom. Is there any better way to do this?
By 6 tuners I think your talking about a DVR the DVR needs 2 lines to access both tuners.

Jimbo

 

[george99]

Thanks for the clarifications.
One thing that I don't understand is why is it a "5 LNB Dish" if it only has 4outputs?

 

[raoul5788]

Thanks for the clarifications.
One thing that I don't understand is why is it a "5 LNB Dish" if it only has 4outputs?

It has 5 lnb's because there are 5 satellites to collect the signals from.

 

[iwc5893]

It has 5 lnb's because there are 5 satellites to collect the signals from.

Technically, it's 5 oribital locations not 5 sats. Currently the dish sees 6 sats (with two of them at the 103 slot).

 

[Jimbo]

The number of LNB's and the number of Outputs are NOT related.

Jimbo

 

[raoul5788]

Technically, it's 5 oribital locations not 5 sats. Currently the dish sees 6 sats (with two of them at the 103 slot).

You are correct, of course. I picked the wrong day to quit LSD.