I finally took the plunge to get rid of Comcast and order Dish Network instead. However, after reading the forums, I'm somewhat confused/concerned about the cabling required inside my house.

I will be connecting 4 TVs:

Basement, home theater, HDTV/DVR
Main floor, great room, HDTV/DVR
Upstairs, bedroom, SD
Upstairs, office, SD


The current cabling in my house has single homeruns of coax from each room going into an electrical closet in the basement (where Comcast currently comes in and connects to splitters before it goes out to the respective rooms).

As far as I can tell, I will be receiving two 722/622s that should be able to support all four TVs using their TV2 output.

My question is, will my single homeruns of coax from the basement support this, or will they need to run additional cables from the two rooms that host the 622/722s directly to my bedroom and office? The latter might be a showstopper.

Any insight and guidance would be much appreciated, thanks.

The cable going from the satellite dish(es) to the receivers has to be RG6 coax. To connect a tv to the sd coax connection on the receiver, RG59 should be fine. You need to figure out what has already been installed in your house.

The cable from the dish going into the house will be a new run by our friendly Dish install tech, so I assume that will be RG6. I'm pretty sure my internal coax is RG59, but I will confirm.

Assuming that is the case, will it work with just a single run of RG59 to each room? How will the signal from the 622/722 get to the remote rooms if it's sharing the same cable coming from the dish - using switching and diplexers, or what's the deal?

I just confirmed that I've got RG6 throughout the inside of my house, which should be even better than the RG59 - so should be good there.

Anyone on my previous question on whether a coax single run to each location will work?

Depends on what you want to do. Normally, I'd recommend at least 2, if not 3 cables going to the dual tuners - 1 from the dish, one for OTA and one for the TV2 output. You should be able to combine the one from the dish with one of the other two using a pair of diplexers.

I'm not looking for OTA, just the one from the dish and TV2 output. I guess you're saying I should be able to do that on a single coax using a pair of diplexers.

I could be wrong, but I thought there were two cables coming from the dish that were somehow being multiplexed onto a single line coming in - any conflicts with that?

Again, everything is coming into a central location before going out to any of the rooms.

rule of thumb is you need 1 run to each tuner (the DVR has 2) though they do have some newer equipment that can be different as noted in next post.

Yes - but if he is using DishProPlus equipment - he only needs 1 cable for both DBS tuners

With the 622/722 series, it is possible to have a single input cable from the dish to each receiver. There is a connection, a seperator I think it is called, that is connected at the receiver to the input cable and sends the input signal to both tuner inputs.

I don't see how diplexers fit into the set up. Once the satellite signal is present in the receiver, you want to send a picture to a second tv in another room. The sd connection for the second room is a coax out on the receiver that connects to coax in on the tv. Thus, you'll run a coax connection/wire from the room with the receiver to the room with the second tv. It may be possible to send that signal back to the basement and then to the second room, but it won't be on the same line as the input signal from the satellte dish.

You won't be using the cabletv input splitter set up. Each receiver will be directly connected to the dish or a Dish multiswitch. The connections are different than cable that lets you bring one line into the house and then split it among rooms.

So it sounds like my desired setup will not work without extra cabling needing to be run. There's no way I'll be able to run additional coax directly from the rooms with the receivers to the secondary rooms due to the WAF (Wife Acceptance Factor) - no drywall is to be hurt during this project.

I guess that means I need individual receivers in the secondary SD rooms (311s?) - is it possible to run 4 receivers off a single dish, and if so, what's required for that in terms of equipment?

Thanks for all the replies so far.

In the third day of waiting for TimeWarner to come and fix the cable across my street, that was knocked down by a truck, I am considering the switch to Dish TurboHD.

I am looking for a setup similar to the OP. As I understand it, I would need...

1 satellite dish

Two runs of RG6 cable to the first 722/622

One run of cable from the first 722/622 to the first SDTV

Two runs of RG6 to the second 722/622

One run of cable from the second 722/622 to the second SDTV

Now, one of the other posters has indicated that a splitter could be used, so that only one RG6 cable is required from the dish to each 722/621.

If it is not hard to run the two cables to each 722/622, would it be a good idea to do so?

Or would it be split up somewhere anyway, so it doesn't really matter if there is another cable all the way to the device?

Is this about what it would take? Is there another splitter that goes near the dish, or would I need two dishes?

I want to have everything set up so that it would get set up right, without compromising the system, and without having some yahoo (not all are yahoo's, but that has been my luck... ) drilling holes and running cables willy-nilly.

Thanks,
Doug

It should be able to work the way you want.

My brother just had Dish installed at his house last month. He got 2 - 722's and a 211. He has the second outputs hooked up on all three of them. Every room in his house has a single run of RG6 homerun to the basement.

There are three cables coming in from outside. Each one goes into its own "backwards" splitter. One output of a splitter goes to a Sat box, the other output goes to a secondary TV. At each sat box, there is one cable that comes out of the wall. This goes into a splitter. One output goes to the RF2 connector, the other output goes into another splitter which then feeds the 2 tuner inputs.

Hopefully you can follow that, as I don't fully understand how parts of it work.

One thing to be careful about is the type and directionality of the splitters. They are more than just a "splitter". They must have diodes or something in them because they need to be hooked up in a certain direction for everything to work properly.

I'll try to take some pictures next time I'm over there.

Michael

Michael, thanks for the insight. I'd be curious to see pictures/diagrams when you have a chance.

Meanwhile, it seems Dish somehow lost my installation order for this Friday (not the best start...), the good news is it ended up being $5/month cheaper when I reordered - and I am rescheduled for Thu 8/28 installation. I'll make sure to report back at that point.

Over two weeks for installation? I am glad that I did not go ahead and cancel the cable already.

The service tech finally got here and fixed my cable.

I believe I will switch, though.

Doug

I ended up going over to visit my 2 yo niece tonight, so I took some pictures of his cabling.

Here is the wiring going from the wall to the back of the Sat receiver.
http://img391.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img2094sz1.jpg
http://img391.imageshack.us/img391/3488/img2094sz1.th.jpg (http://img391.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img2094sz1.jpg)

Here is a closeup of the splitter
http://img378.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img2097iw2.jpg
http://img378.imageshack.us/img378/6302/img2097iw2.th.jpg (http://img378.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img2097iw2.jpg)

Here is the wiring in the basement
http://img241.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img2100mj6.jpg
http://img241.imageshack.us/img241/3225/img2100mj6.th.jpg (http://img241.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img2100mj6.jpg)
The cable on the upper left of each splitter goes outside to the dishes (a 500 aimed S SE, and a 1000 aimed SW - I didn't get any pictures of them tonight, and I haven't been up there to see how the cabling is connected). The cable on the upper right goes to the secondary SD tv's. The cable on the bottom goes to each of the Sat boxes.

Here is the switch that is just hanging from the ceiling not connected to anything.
http://img241.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img2102xw5.jpg
http://img241.imageshack.us/img241/6136/img2102xw5.th.jpg (http://img241.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img2102xw5.jpg)
Michael

Michael,

Thanks so much fo rthe description and the pictures.

So running the Dish system is possible with only one RG6 going to each room. That is too easy. :)

In the third picture, I am thinking that the blue connectors on top came from the satellite, that the two red connectors hooked up to the "VHF/UHF" ports go to secondary TV's. and that the three red connectors hooked up to "IN/OUT" go to the 722/622/221 boxes.


Maybe i have the SAT and IN/OUT hookups backwards, but in any case, that makes for a very easy install, and for the most part, I am already wired for it.

Thanks again for the great description and pictures.

Doug

After digging around online some more, I think I'll end up with something like the attached diagram...

After digging around online some more, I think I'll end up with something like the attached diagram...

Great find. Thanks for sharing.

Doug

The one reservation I have about using this system would be that I doubt you can watch a program on each TV and record a program.

For example, if I am watching the Olympics in the theater on HDTV, and one of the kids is watching SpongeBob in his room on the SDTV that is "slaved" to that 722, I doubt that we could be recording football.

I am thinking that I might want to just get an SDTV box for each of the kids rooms, instead of slaving them off of the 722's.

I don't see how to do this in the online "Dishbuilder" section, though. It would be nice to know the difference in price.

Maybe that is because it would be outside of the "TurboHD" plan already selected?

Doug

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you guys. Tuesday, the forecast was for Fay to be a hurricane and be over the top of my house a couple of hours ago. Needless to say, I've been busy. Now it's stalled and won't turn left like it is supposed to do. Looks like another day or so of wind, rain and another hurricane party.

I'm not sure I understand the need for all the splitters. The switch in the photo looks like a dpp44. With the switch, you can connect 4 satellites off of one or more dishes, to 4 receivers with a single coax cable to each receiver. If you have more tvs or want to run 2 cables to a 622/722, the you connect a second switch to the first one.

In the top picture I see a blue splitter connected to a silver seperator by two short cables. The seperator is a Dish product. It takes the signal from a single cable off the switch and seperates it for input into the two tuners in the receiver. For the 622/722 there is no need for an input splitter that I can see. For the 211 there is no need for a splitter because the receiver has only a single turner.

You can slave off a 211 by running a coax from the receiver to a second tv. Odds are the remote won't work in the second room ,but you can use a ratshack rf extender.

The switches are powered by a power inserter connected inside the house to a the receiver one line. Tip: although the switches can be installed outside, my experience is that they fail more often. Put the switch inside (garage?) somewhere near the cable entry point and try to minimize the cable lengths. Easy access is also important in case of a failure.

Pay close attention to what the installer does. I have yet to see a "professional" installation properly grounded. The dish needs to be grounded to a cold water pipe or a grounding rod.

The coax output on a 622/722 to a second sd tv is an independent output, not a slave. You can watch different channels. I'm not sure how using the second output affects the ability to combine watching/recording on the primary tv. You might ask the question in the Dish Network correct receiver forum at dbstalk.com. The second remote that comes with the receiver has to be set properly, but it is also independent.

Well, the new forecast is for our worst weather to be tomorrow morning. Looks like another day off work and another hurricane party. Since it is high tide, guess Ill walk down to the beach and watch the dunes getting destroyed.

Good luck with the installs.

Ward.

Thanks for the info and good luck with the storm.

Hope you stay high and dry.

Doug

The one reservation I have about using this system would be that I doubt you can watch a program on each TV and record a program.

For example, if I am watching the Olympics in the theater on HDTV, and one of the kids is watching SpongeBob in his room on the SDTV that is "slaved" to that 722, I doubt that we could be recording football.

I am thinking that I might want to just get an SDTV box for each of the kids rooms, instead of slaving them off of the 722's.

I don't see how to do this in the online "Dishbuilder" section, though. It would be nice to know the difference in price.

Maybe that is because it would be outside of the "TurboHD" plan already selected?

Doug
You are correct on the watching 2 programs and recording a third. Each box has 2 tuners so you can watch 2 different programs on the 2 TVs or watch one program and record a different program. I have no idea of the price difference however.

Thanks for the info and good luck with the storm.

Hope you stay high and dry.

Doug

Thanks for the info and good luck with the storm.

Hope you stay high and dry.

Doug

Everything is good. It is nice to be back at work where I get to sit in a chair and think.

I wanted HD at both locations so got two Muxlab baluns to send component video and coaxial digital sound to the living room via ethernet cabling:

http://www.mcmelectronics.com/content/ProductData/Spec%20Sheets/33-10060.pdf

PQ is fantastic 300 ft away. IR extender allows control of the VIP622 located in the basement.

Just a quick update: The installer (finally) came out and completed the installation Friday 9/5. My setup is exactly like what Michael described from his brother's house in an earlier post (btw, those are diplexers, not splitters in the pictures).

My two 722s are serving two HDTVs and two SDTVs, no extra cabling was required since I already had the RG6 homeruns from the wiring close to each room.

So far, I'm a happy Dish customer. I'm especially happy about the $50/month I'm saving compared to my previous Comcast service.