Splitting the Signal for Dual tuner Tivo

[gvino]

I recently starting using DirectTV and their Tivo receiver with two tuners. I am using a Dual LNB, Round Dish,(single satellite). Currently one cable runs to the Tivo unit and the other cable runs to a receiver in our bedroom. Since the Tivo unit has two tuners, and I would like to be able to take advantage of the two tuners so I can watch one show and record another. The distance from the dish to the Tivo unit is about 20 feet. Is there a way to acheive what I want to do without having to run another cable into the Den which would be very difficult. I was wondering if the signal can be split inside the den?

Thanks for your input.

Greg

 

[TYORK]

no you will need to run a new line and put in a multi-switch to carry all 3 lines or upgrade your dish to the oval that has 4 outputs.

 

[Hogarth]

I agree with TYORK.

I would suggest upgrading to a Phase III dish. It has an integrated 4x4 multiswitch so that you can run an additional line to the Tivo.

You might even be able to finagle a CSR into getting you a free / cheap installer to do the upgrade.

You could also use that single line with a stacker / destacker, but would still need a multiswitch which can handle three outputs. (The Phase III oval dish has this built in.)
http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_display.asp?main_cat=204&CAT=&PROD=SD575

However, it costs way more than it would to pay an installer to wall fish another line into your den. ($50-75.)

 

[MRTRIPOD]

I have a dual lnb circle dish with a Vision somthing 8 way multiswitch.

I have a dual tuner tivo in my kitchen.

It is 1 of 8 receivers that I have.

Can I use that splitter you linked to, and split the signal at the wall jack and plug the 2 "out" cables into the dual tuner on the tivo I have?

Is that possible?

 

[dishrich]

I have a dual lnb circle dish with a Vision somthing 8 way multiswitch.

I have a dual tuner tivo in my kitchen.

It is 1 of 8 receivers that I have.

Can I use that splitter you linked to, and split the signal at the wall jack and plug the 2 "out" cables into the dual tuner on the tivo I have?

Is that possible?

NOPE - you'll need to run another line to your switch & if you have NO more empty ports, you'll need a larger switch. BUT, in thise case, since you only have a single round dish, you actually could just get another switch (like a cheap 2x4 or 2x8) run 2 of the outputs from your existing switch into the new one, then run the additional outputs off the new switch as needed.

BTW - according to your other thread, I didn't realize you already had 1 D-Tivo. You DO understand that you ONLY have to pay the $5 Tivo fee ONE time to make ALL your D-Tivo's function, right? If you are going to a 2nd unit, I sure can't understand why you wouldn't do this...

 

[MRTRIPOD]

really?

it is not $5 per receiver per month? just $5 per month per plan?

So I could have all 8 of my receivers full functioned TIVO's for a total of $5 a month, not $40 a month?

 

[dishrich]

really?

it is not $5 per receiver?

So I could have all 8 of my receivers full functioned TIVO's for a total of $5 a month, not $40 a month?

Uh, yea...

BUT, you STILL need to pay the $5 mirroring fee per receiver. IOW, you ONLY pay the Tivo fee one-time per month, regardless of how many D-Tivo's you have. And you STILL get a 2nd tuner on each for FREE!

 

[MRTRIPOD]

but I have a huge house with 8 receivers.....I would not want to have more cable run throughout my house......

why cant I put a line amp AND a 2 way splitter onto the line b4 it gets to my receiver, and then plug the 2 outs into the dual tuner?

 

[dishrich]

but I have a huge house with 8 receivers.....I would not want to have more cable run throughout my house......

why cant I put a line amp AND a 2 way splitter onto the line b4 it gets to my receiver, and then plug the 2 outs into the dual tuner?

Because each receiver is doing more than just getting a signal from the switch - it actually is switching between 2 different signal feeds called polarities, depending on which channel you have on a given receiver at any time. The multiswitch performs this function now. Since a D-Tivo is really 2 receivers in 1 box, it has to be treated as if you were putting 2 receivers on the same outlet, which is why you cannot just split the signal like you could on cable TV. BTW, if you were to go to an oval dish, the current switch you have would be incompatable & you would have to get a different one made for multisat use.

Like I said before, you don't HAVE to run a 2nd line to a D-Tivo, but you just won't be able to use the 2nd tuner - you CAN still have the D-Tivo service activated & use it as before; you just won't be able to do 2 live shows at once.

 

[MRTRIPOD]

THANKS FOR ALL THE HELP!

Cable was so nice for the splitting, but I am excited now that you told me that its only $5 per account for Tivo, not per receiver.

I also was not aware that the telephone line was really only needed for setup!

i just always thought the tivo site and the dtv site said the $5 charge was extra per receiver.

so $5 per additional receiver + $5 per tivo per receiver!

 

[PJS]

I have converted my old round LNB DirecTV dish to a oval 4 switch dish, when I upgraded to a second HD DirecTV receiver with DVR. I have a total of 6 units (4 standard DirecTV receivers, 1 HD DirecTV receiver and the new HD DVR receiver. I only connected it via my old RG-6 cables that were previously attached to the old round dish (there were only 2 cables). I run it to a 5 x 8 multiswitch. Previously this had worked with my old setup. But now I can only get half of the channels. When I perform a satellite signal test I am only receiving even numbered transponders from satellite A. From the above comments, it appears that I simply need to run 2 more cables from the dish to my multiswitch to fix this problem. Is this correct???

Also I run my antenna through the switch as well, so the antenna signal runs through the same RG-6 cable as the DirecTV signal. I assume that I need to also get a line splitter to split the antenna signal from the satellite signal at each box. Or will this arrangement screw things up?

I have been on the phone with DirecTV and have gotten alot of misinformation.

Anyone who can help???

THANKS!!!

PJS

 

[fkostyn]

Correct, run the two additional cables and you'll be golden and pickup the odd transponders.

You will just need diplexors to get the antenna signal split off on the box end.

 

[PJS]

Thanks! The technical support at DirecTV assured me that I didn't need all 4 cables (amongst many other miscues).