The Big Switch

[GregH]

I recently switched from cable to sat because of changes in sports coverage. I was amazed at the difference in picture quality of sat vs cable. I am building a new house and chose to have it pre-wired for cable. I now want to switch to sat in the new house. The builder wants to charge me a $500 penalty for making the switch plus $90 per cable to add enough cables for sat. The builder will not let me on the property to add cables myself before the wall board goes in. The cable pre-wire includes one RG-6 going to seven TVs via panel in a closet. I will have a quad LNB, one 522 and one 322. Can anyone suggest how to make the conversion after the walls are in place?

 

[DarrellP]

Who's house is it anyway? Fire the bastard. You better get it done before the wall board goes in or it will be a nightmare.

 

[GregH]

Unfortunately, until closing, the house belongs to the builder. I hate the idea of paying the $500 penalty, but I want it done right. I've been told that the cable pre-wire can be used, but this will require the used of diplexers., which will probably degrade the signal. How many RG-6 cables per TV and reciever will be needed to connect 4-6 TVs?

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

The answer depends on what kind of receivers you want installed, however the solotion is a simple one of using a DPP44 switch this way you only one 1 cable to each TV no matter if you are using a single tuner receiver or a dual tuner receiver. The RG6 cable is perfect for satellite so thats not much of a problem.

 

[GregH]

Currently I have one 522 and one 322 (quad LNB). In the new house I will need to add a HD receiver. I will probably replace the 322 with an HD receiver. Will Dish Net allow the switch? How many TVs can be connected with these receivers nad the DPP44?

 

[BFG]

If you just signed up, you might possibly be able to switch your equipment, but you'll have to talk to someone higher up.

If you wanted to add tuners past the 4 you have with the quad now, you'd only need the DP34 which will give you six outputs, 2 on the quad and 4 on the switch.

The DPP44 has the same 4 outputs but the differences are that you can feed a dual tuner with a single cable and then a separator for two outputs at the receiver. so this can feed 4 receivers whether they are single or dual, plus you'd still have the same two ports still open on the quad. The other main difference is that you can connect 4 lnbs to the switch. This is a new switch and it probably wont be used for standard installs when it's not needed.

 

[DarrellP]

It's weird he won't let you in to wire your own stuff. A buddy had his house built and he ran all of his Cat 5 and coax himself prior to the wallboard going up. I guess it just depends on the ego of the builder.

 

[bavaria72]

Is there any type of penalty if you said "adios"? I would tell him that you will pay a reasonable sum for the extra cable but he could go pound sand for the change charge. At a minimum I would threaten to walk away.

 

[ajohnson]

You can probably just put the receivers in the wiring closet and run from there, assuming the UHF remotes will work at that distance. There are threads here about modifying the antenna to get more distance if needed. That way you are fine. You'll have to run 4 RG6 from the Dish to your closet and thats about it.

If you do get a HD receiver, that receiver will need to be next to the TV and not in the closet, but unless you get the 921 dvr you only need a single line to feed it the satellite signal. You might decide to diplex in a UHF OTA antenna at that point if you can get HD locals that way.

If you did get the 921, then the dpp44 switch is the only way to keep a single run to the tv room.

 

[GregH]

This builder is starting 5-6 houses per week. They don't want to waste time with changes. Its easy for him to say no because there are more buyers than houses in Phoenix right now. Anyway, doesn't the receiver need to be close to the TV in order to use S-Video or component video? Is the DPP 44 available?

 

[ajohnson]

Yes the receiver does need to be near the TV for s-video or composite, which is why I said that for HD that was exactly the case. The 522 and 322 are not HD so you can use RF and leave them in the wiring closet, but I can see where some might prefer to use s-video or composite on TV1 for better quality.

The DPP44 is available, but it's not cheap. It retails for $199.

The DPP separator works with the DPP44 and 322, 522, 721, and 921 receivers to let you use a single line from the switch to the receiver location. Theoretically you can also diplex a VHF (ch 3 return from 322 or 522) and/or uhf (ota HD for 921) signal into the same line, but people have had mixed results with this. It can become a real pain to troubleshoot if problems occur.


You asked how many TV's the DPP44 supports. Basically it supports 4 receivers, and the number if TV's will be determined by the receivers, unless you don't mind some of them watching the same program at the same time. If you replace your 322 with a HD receiver (811 or 921 dvr) you'll have 2 TV's off your 522 and one HD TV with 2 unused outputs off the dpp44. If you keep the 322 then you'd have 4 SD TVs, one HD TV, and one unused output off the dpp44.

 

[GregH]

That sounds great. So, it appears that I won't have to climb around the attic dropping more RG-6 after all. Right?

 

[ajohnson]

Well, you still have to run the two or four RG-6 lines from your Dish to your wiring closet. That should be about it. Only two need to go to the dpp44, but since you have 7 tv outlets you may as well pull the other two in also just in case something happens down the road.

 

[larrystotler]

I recommend 3 RG6 lines and 1 phone line to each location. And, dropping new lines in interior walls is not hard. Exterior walls are a pain.

 

[Mike500]

I do a lot of total "in wall" installs in all sorts of high end homes.

No matter how well you plan, as I did in my own two story home, built 8 years ago, I've had to add numerous cable runs. I just built a wire way from the attic to the first floor and crawl space trough a truss first/second floor platform and two insulated outside walls. Having had over 30 years experience as an "old work" total "in wall" electrician helps.

If you are in Phoenix and it a house on a slab with a fully accessible attic, and additions would be a piece of cake. To those well experienced, insulationed outside walls are a minor inconvenience, as are tray and cathedral ceilings. We work with those all the time, as well as running cable to ceiling fans between floors on finished ceilings.

 

[SimpleSimon]

Larry's right - but barring that, the DPP44 solution is good.

Note that each dual-tuner receiver being driven by a single cable from the DPP44 will need to have a DPP Separator. They don't cost much.

The separator is a 1-in, 2-out device. It takes the single cable from the DPP44 and gives you one cable for each tuner input.