I hope it's ok to ask this here. And yes, I have been to DBSTalk, just trying to get as many resposnes as quickly as possible. Decision to be made today....

Wanting to change from cable to DBS (likely DirecTV). Townhouse prewired some 13+ years ago w/ RG-59 - and hard for me to know how long these runs actually are.
Main room will have HD DVR & no problem running RG-6 outside to this room & punching through wall. Other 2-3 rooms would only have SD receiver. WOuld it be ok to access these rooms through existing in wall RG-59??
Or better question - at what length of run does RG-59 become undoable for DBS??:cool:
Hope this makes sense & thanks for any help....

How do you plan to distribute the signal to the other rooms? I'm thinking it'd be easier to just make new punch-through runs of RG6 from the multiswitch on the dish than to run four lines into the main room and go from there. It's a pretty big hole.

This is where it gets to be PITA.
Main room that would have HD DVR is downstairs front of house.
Dish is gonna be back. 2nd room SD is upstairs back.
No good spot to split inside & distribute. Way too much wiring to try to run & hide.
So I figure easier to punch through for each of these receivers. Then deal w/ distributing to other 2 locations through video out of receivers at some point. Don't ever forsee need for "4 signals"....
Thanks

Sounds like a better plan. Use the RF modulator off of one of the SD receivers to feed the 4th and 5th locations. They'll all be getting whatever one channel that receiver is tuned to, but I figure you already know that.

Don't forget that, in order to watch one channel while recording another one on the DVR, you'll need TWO lines run from the multiswitch in the dish.

Single Wire Multiswitch completely solves this problem.

You can use your existing RG59 and splitters and have a high likelihood of getting HDTV signal through your house without running new cable.

Only problem? Availability is tight. Check www.dbstalk.com.