SWM 16 and DECA

[RandallA]

I got my new HR-24 (bought from Amazon for $180.00 shipped) installed yesterday and because I would go over 8 tuners, the installer setup a SWM16. I had to tell him he needed a SWM 16, he saw some open ports on the 8 way splitter and said that it would work. I told him NO, we need a SWM 16 and he didn't argue and said "I'll just install the SWM 16, my supervisor says we don't need it but I'll install it." I also had to explain to him how to setup the SWM 16 because he had not installed one before. I didn't mind because I know that these switches are new. Very nice guy though, he was honest and told me he was still learning this new MRV and DECA stuff (aren't we all) .

To my minor problem, I have 2 8 way splitters feeding 6 receivers. One comes from SWM 1 and feeds 5 receivers (8 tuners) and the other one comes from SWM 2 and feeds an H24 by itself on this splitter. When I run the Network test, it complains about the H24 on the second splitter with an error code 48-xxx. I know it's because the DECA is on SWM 1 and the H24 is on SWM2 so there's a lot of loss going back to the SWM16 and then coming back to the H24. I checked the signal level for DECA and it was 56 for the H24. All others were fine.

What I'm thinking of doing is:

Run a line to the PI and power the SWM 16 through the first 8 way splitter.
Connect the D12 to the 2nd splitter on SWM2 (I have two lines going to where this receiver is located).
Connect the H24 on the 1st splitter on SWM1, so all the MRV receivers are on the same cloud.

Will this work? I'm thinking the D12 doesn't need DECA anyways so this should work. I guess I just want to hear opinions or a better solution.

 

[RandallA]

Well moving the D12 to the second splitter from SWM2 solved the error message. I guess too much loss between SWM1 and SWM2 but I know I have long cable runs to the rooms.

Here is the new diagram.

 

[jcrandall]

Do you have a band stop filter on the D12, that could be part of the problem.

Also one before the run to the LNB if it is not a green-label LNB.

THough moving it to all on SWM1, it shouldn't have had that problem.

 

[RandallA]

Do you have a band stop filter on the D12, that could be part of the problem.

Also one before the run to the LNB if it is not a green-label LNB.

THough moving it to all on SWM1, it shouldn't have had that problem.

Yes, there is a band stop filter on the D12. I have it in the diagram. I haven't checked the LNB yet because the installer was the one who installed it. I'll check it and make sure that it's a green label LNB.

I was surprised to see how much loss there was between the two. I saw a big loss when I added any receiver to the SWM2. Weird.

 

[jcrandall]

Sorry, didn't look at the diagram till just now.

The BSF for the LNB is only necessary on the SWM LNB. It wouldn't be necessary on a SWM16 setup, I just had a brain lapse.

Only other thing I can think of is how long are the cable runs we are talking about?

 

[Omegabyte]

Hi,

I'm a bit confused about my SWiM setup, and how it will affect my future expansion plans (as well as how SWiM operates in general). Can you take a moment and explain it a bit to me, or show/tell me where to look up answers? (Things were installed about a week ago, and now would be a good time to get some someone back if it is set up wrong...)

My setup: Slimline 5 to 8-way (the installer said the setup was "SWiM 5"). Presently attached is power inserter, HR24, H24, and line to 4-way in future equipment closet for home theater. Presently the only thing attached to the 4-way is the DECA. I plan on running 2 HR24's and the DECA off the 4-way (moving the present HR24 to the closet), keeping the H24 where it is in the living room, and adding H24's in a bedroom and the "game room". If you need more details, let me know. Thanks for any assistance you can provide.

 

[RandallA]

If you have a single line coming from the LNB to the 8-way splitter you can have a max of 8 tuners with that setup. From what I've read in your post you have an HR-24 and H24 and plan on adding another HR-24 and 2 H24s, that will put you at 7 tuners so you're good to go. You still have room to replace one of the H24s with a DVR in the future but that will put you at 8 tuners. Each DVR is 2 tuners.

 

[RandallA]

Sorry, didn't look at the diagram till just now.

The BSF for the LNB is only necessary on the SWM LNB. It wouldn't be necessary on a SWM16 setup, I just had a brain lapse.

Only other thing I can think of is how long are the cable runs we are talking about?

That's what I'm thinking, the runs are long but not that long. I'm going to guess estimate here, from LNB to SWM 16 the run is about 20 ft. From SWM 16 to splitters the run is about 35 ft. Total of 55 ft from LNB to splitters.

From splitter to DECA the run is 100 ft. For the SWM2, from splitter (shortest run) to H24 that was on second splitter 50 ft. When I checked the loss was 56 db on that receiver.

 

[RandallA]

I've been playing a little more with this and figured out that the loss on the 8 way splitters is pretty high, 18 db. So I removed the 8 way splitter and used a coupler to run a line directly to a receiver from SWM2 and now the diagnostics passes with no errors.

My question is, can you use any 2 or 4 way splitter rated to 2.3 Ghz or do you have to use the green splitters from Directv? I have a couple of 2.3 Ghz splitters that I can use.

 

[wildbill129]

I've been playing a little more with this and figured out that the loss on the 8 way splitters is pretty high, 18 db. So I removed the 8 way splitter and used a coupler to run a line directly to a receiver from SWM2 and now the diagnostics passes with no errors.

My question is, can you use any 2 or 4 way splitter rated to 2.3 Ghz or do you have to use the green splitters from Directv? I have a couple of 2.3 Ghz splitters that I can use.

You need green labeled splitters for MRV/DECA.

 

[RandallA]

You need green labeled splitters for MRV/DECA.

Thanks. I found out that the green label splitters have some special circuitry inside for MRV/DECA.

 

[JAG72]

Just wondering why you have the PI running into the 8 way splitter and not just right into the SWiM 16? I wonder if this might be why you were seeing some of the issues going between SWiM1 and 2.

 

[RandallA]

Just wondering why you have the PI running into the 8 way splitter and not just right into the SWiM 16? I wonder if this might be why you were seeing some of the issues going between SWiM1 and 2.

According to information I've gathered and instructions from the installer's supervisor, it could be run either way. I'm trying to avoid a 3rd cable run. I do have long cable runs to the rooms and the 8 way splitter has way too much loss.

So you think that I'm getting higher loss by combining the voltage and signal on the same cable? That's definitely a possibility. I'll use 2 4 ways to continue the testing and I'm positive that the loss will drop even more. I guess what I'm getting at is that the combination of 2 8 way splitters and long cable runs don't play nicely with MRV and DECA.

I have just one receiver going directly to SWM2 and if I do that I don't see the warning when running the network test, loss is down about 10 db. The loss on a 8-way is 18 db and loss on a 2 way is 8 db, so the 10 db I'm getting by going directly to the SWM2 is about right. It's working fine right now but I will continue to test just to confirm my findings.

 

[RandallA]

I ran a third line to the SWM16 just for power and get the same exact readings as powering through the SWM1 port. Signal reading for the receiver on the SWM2 is 57 db. It must be the 8 way splitter. My next test is to get a 4 way and a 2 way and will report back.

BTW, everything is working fine now I'm just doing more testing to confirm the high loss with the 8 way splitters.

 

[RandallA]

I replaced the 2 8-way splitters with 2 4-way splitters. Signal loss is a lot better now but I have an interesting problem now.

The problem: If I move the HR24 going to the 2 way splitter from splitter 2 to splitter 1, I lose all satellite signals on splitter 2 (H24 and HR24 show 0s in the signal meter and the 771 message). If I just disconnect the HR24 receiver but don't connect it to splitter 1, splitter 2 continues to have satellite signal.

I have disconnected all runs to the splitters and disconnected the PI from the wall hoping to reset the SWM configuration but that didn't work. I have also connected a receiver directly to SWM2 (bypassing the 4 way splitter) and no satellite signal on SWM2 if I connect the HR24 to splitter 1. If I move that receiver back to splitter 2, everything is fine.

What could be causing this? I'm still learning Directv new technology but this one got me puzzled.