T90 Installation Question

[glen4cindy]

I have been thinking about how I am going to install all of the wiring and switches and such for the T90 and have come to the conclusion that it would probably be better to wire each dual LNB into the basement, and put all the switches in the basement.

I would bury the wires in a PVC or ABS pipe to provide protection and would also put a string into the pipe for future wiring and replacements. I know this would mean bringing 16 wires to begin with into the house in 1 pipe, but, it is the only way I can see to avoid a rats nest of wires at the dish. I don't have a table to put it under like Ice has, and my wife is not going to like a mess of wires and switches at the dish.

Will be about 10 feet from dish to house.

What do you think?

 

[Mr Tony]

that would work just fine.
(by the way...the table is to clear line of site for the roof)

Just make sure to label the cables when they come in so you know which cable is for which LNB

 

[Anole]

alternatives

The alternative is some sort of outdoor enclosure, perhaps weather proof (or at least weather resistant).

Or, you might fabricate something which is the logical equivalent to Ice's table.
Perhaps a 1x6 running behind the dish, with the switches on the bottom of it.?

If you do come up with any such plan, it'll save a lot on cable.
In the end, the 10 foot run to the house doesn't sound that bad...
... but get a darned big pipe... or two !

edit: wait a minute!
How many receivers were you going to support in the house?
Four, perhaps?
That'd be four cables from dish to house if the switches were outside...
...something to think about!

 

[USDownlink]

... but get a darned big pipe... or two !

I was curious, so I worked it out: Taking RG6 diameter as .332", and a packing efficiency of around 80% (forget what the exact number is, but it's likely somewhere in that area), 16 cables will fit (tightly) in a 1.45" ID conduit. Not so bad.

 

[Mr Tony]

edit: wait a minute!
How many receivers were you going to support in the house?
Four, perhaps?
That'd be four cables from dish to house if the switches were outside...
...something to think about!

yep. Good point. I have 8 lines coming in to the house
-motorized
-fixed G10 in basement
-3 from T90
-StarChoice
-Dish 811
-OTA

and you can clean the cabling up too to make it nice

 

[glen4cindy]

The alternative is some sort of outdoor enclosure, perhaps weather proof (or at least weather resistant).

Or, you might fabricate something which is the logical equivalent to Ice's table.
Perhaps a 1x6 running behind the dish, with the switches on the bottom of it.?

If you do come up with any such plan, it'll save a lot on cable.
In the end, the 10 foot run to the house doesn't sound that bad...
... but get a darned big pipe... or two !

edit: wait a minute!
How many receivers were you going to support in the house?
Four, perhaps?
That'd be four cables from dish to house if the switches were outside...
...something to think about!

I'm going to start with 3 receivers with the possibility of a forth sometime in the future.

One of the things I was trying to avoid other than a virtual rats nest of wires is exposing the switches to rain, snow, extreme cold and extreme heat. I'd hate to end up with switches full of water like I did with my last switch. I just won an EBay auction for Zinwell 4x4's paid .99 each, but, $10 shipping! so, I want those switches to last! I don't think any sort of outdoor enclosure that will be big enough for 7 switches total would work out very well. I want things to be neatly organized so I can switch things up if need be in the future. With all that wiring and the switches jammed into some sort of enclosure, I think it would be difficult. When they built my house, they ran all the coax wires outside to a house box. Getting the necessary splitters and such is a real cram job! Wanted to avoid that with the T90.

I'm going to leave my motorized up for now so I can at least get 123 and 119, I'll just have to switch cables in the house at the receiver. Don't have any other way to do it right now, and the wire is already there so, why not.

Thanks for the ideas.

16 cables, approx 10 feet each is only 160 feet, give or take so that really isn't much wire. With 8 LNB's I'm sure there is going to be a fair amount of mess to start with. I plan to leave service loops in each wire and use good qulaity connectors and the like.

Another question I had was looking from behind the dish, is the left most LNB the western most satellite? I'm going to have to really take care of which LNB feeds to which switch port and keep track of 22kHz on and off with each LNB. I plan to do what Ice said and run port 1 from 1st multiswitch to the DiSEqC switch port 1 and so on and so forth.

 

[Mr Tony]

Another question I had was looking from behind the dish, is the left most LNB the western most satellite?

correct

when working with multiple LNB"s they get set up backwards from how they are in the sky

 

[rv1pop]

I was curious, so I worked it out: Taking RG6 diameter as .332", and a packing efficiency of around 80% (forget what the exact number is, but it's likely somewhere in that area), 16 cables will fit (tightly) in a 1.45" ID conduit. Not so bad.

As I figure the pipe size a 3" pipe would be a good size! Cramming doesn't work with co-ax, or for pulling in more wires. A 12X12X6" PVC J-box on top on a 3" pipe (or 2) run into the basement, using long sweeps (90* elbows) would give you room and counting the elimination of frustration, the value is worth the cost! Put 1/2" 45* elbows into the sides of the J-box to make entrance heads - drip loops etc. 2 or 3 cables through each 2" long 45* el would be OK.

That is my plan, and I am probably going to go with dual output (H/V) lnbf's so will have lots of cable to run.

ENJOY!
POP