Need help...Cabling question from HD dish

[CoastalRAP]

I’m thinking about adding HD to my DirecTV subscription. I have a 3 LNB dish installed now and I’ve read that with mpeg4, it will use a 5 LNB dish. I currently have 4 cables available to the dish and have no way of getting a fifth from the dish to the distribution panel.

Will I be able to connect the new 4mpeg receiver with the cabling I currently have?

 

[qidon]

if you want more than 4 lines to the phase 3 dish you will need to get a powered 4x8 or 5x8 multiswitch.

 

[CoastalRAP]

So that means that you do I fact need 5 wires for the 5 lnb dish, however you can make 4 wires work with the multiswitch...correct?

 

[cr0mag]

So that means that you do I fact need 5 wires for the 5 lnb dish, however you can make 4 wires work with the multiswitch...correct?

From what everyone is saying on this board, the new 5 lnb dish will have a switch built into the lnb housing, like the current ones do. There will be 4 outputs on the new lnb, also like the current 3 lnb dish. You take those 4 lines and run them into the sat. inputs on a 5x8 multiswitch and you are all set. (I just installed my 5x8 yesterday.) Your install should be 'future-proof' that way, but you may want to run a few extra coax lines from the dish location to the switch location for future use. All that will need to be done when the new equipment rolls out is to swap the dish using the existing wiring, and switch out the recievers.

Good luck!