[CarZin300]

I posted a question not too long ago, but had a few facts confused and only received one response. I am really hoping you guys can give me suggestions so I dont have to pay some installer to rip me off...


I am going to have 5 receivers with a total of 6 connections needed (two on a Tivo). I just moved, and as part of the movers package, they sent me a Channel Master (it may have been a winegard) satellite which was installed.


At the time, I only had need for 4 inputs (I had 1 tivo, and 2 receivers). Well, in a months time I have purchased an HDTV receiver and about to buy one more regular receiver.


The problem:

This satellite has the multiswitch BUILT-IN. It is not a separate box mounted on the side of my house. There are actually 4 RG6 lines coming out the back that go straight into the house (connected each by one cannon connector to the internal house RG6).


If you know the type of satellite I am talking about, how on earth do I expand it?


Would it be better to chunk it, get a new satellite without the built-in switch and buy 8 port switch?


If you have any model numbers, equipment manufacturers, apx cost, anything, I would be very appreciative...


Please also keep in mind that the multiswitch has to switch SAT-A,B, and C. I dont know if that makes a difference in the multiswitch I have to buy, but I have 3 arms on the satellite (sat c for showtime).


BTW, DirecTV is no help. After 2 calls, they still say I have to call an installer. I dont want to pay them money to come out and change something as simple as a switch if you can point me to where I need to go.


Thanks!

Ryan

 

[John G]

Just to clear up a few things on your post, what you're referring to (I think) as a 'satellite' is actually commonly referred to as the dish. Not to nitpick but the satellite is the thing in the sky, when you use that term for something else it just confuses most people. Secondly, I've never seen a dish with a multiswitch built-in. Many elliptical dishes have a place where the multiswitch can be mounted on it, but it is not built-in. What you will want to do is run 6 cables (7 if you're running a rooftop antenna by the dish) from the LNBs to your homerun/distribution point. Mount the multiswitch there at the distribution point, and feed out to the different rooms. You will also need a sat-C kit if you're using the C LNB. The multiswitch you will need is called a 5/8 or 4/8 multiswitch. The sat-C kit should come with what you need to interface with that multiswitch. JVI makes a piece that should work for you (35-TR5822). I'll leave it to someone else to point to links for purchase.

 

[CarZin300]

Sorry about the satellite thing. I actually managed to find the owners manual at the bottom of the box last night. It was hidden under one of the flaps. The dish is a winegard, not a channel master. According to the manual, the multiswitch is 'integrated' into the dish, and will have to be deleted in order to run more than 4 keys. I will need to delete the multiswitch, put in a LNB attachment, and add a powered multiswitch somewhere else to power more than 4.


So, this does have the multiswitch built in. I am a little pissed this is the one that was given to me because now I have to spend more money to upgrade...

 

[pyro383]

Here is what I did to overcome your dilema. I did however experience 1 problem so your milage may vary. I have the same intergrated dish. 4 lines come out. I then routed 3 of the 4 lines into my powered 5x8 multi switch. For some reason my sony hd100 did not see a signal on 119 for hd when the line came from the 5x8. So i took 1 of my 4 lines coming from the dish and connected directly to the hd receiver and worked fine, hence 3 lines into my 5x8 (2 lines into 101 and 1 line into 119). Any of my 8 lines coming out of the 5x8 switch did carry both signals.

 

[gsr]

Quote:

Originally posted by pyro383 Here is what I did to overcome your dilema. I did however experience 1 problem so your milage may vary. I have the same intergrated dish. 4 lines come out. I then routed 3 of the 4 lines into my powered 5x8 multi switch. For some reason my sony hd100 did not see a signal on 119 for hd when the line came from the 5x8. So i took 1 of my 4 lines coming from the dish and connected directly to the hd receiver and worked fine, hence 3 lines into my 5x8 (2 lines into 101 and 1 line into 119). Any of my 8 lines coming out of the 5x8 switch did carry both signals.

Based on my knowledge of how multiswitches and LNB's work, I don't see how routing more than 2 outputs from the integrated switch into a 5x8 switch will get you anything other than the sat 101 signals (unless you have a 5x8 multiswitch which passes the tone for sat 119). I see 2 problems with your configuration:


1) You only have 1 line going into your multiswitch for the 119/110 sats. This will only allow you to see odd OR even channels from those sats.


2) Even if you plug all 4 outputs from the integrated multiswitch into your 5x8 multiswitch, you would only see sat 119/110 signals if your 5x8 multiswitch passes the 119 tone. Otherwise, the integrated multiswitch will see everything as a request for sat 101.


These reasons are why you couldn't get the HD channels on your HD100. There are a couple of options available to you:


1) Remove the integrated multiswitch from the LNB mount on your dish and run all 4 LNB lines to the appropriate inputs on your 5x8 multiswitch. I've read other threads where some people have found this easy to do.


2) Replace the LNB mount on your dish with one that doesn't have an integrated multiswitch. See the thread " Newbie Cascading Multiswitch Question (Multiple Receivers) " for info on a source for this.


Either option will give you 8 outputs with access to all sats. If you need to expand beyond 8 outputs, you could:


Replace your 5x8 multiswitch with a switch with more outputs (Spaun makes 5x12 and 5x16).


Buy a second multiswitch and use it in conjunction with your existing multiswitch:


1) Buy some splitters rated for satellite signals (2GHz)

2) Split each LNB line before it goes into a multiswitch.

3) Connect the output from each splitter into matched inputs on both multiswitches. This is important, as a given LNB feed should only be used for odd or even signals, not both.

 

[John G]

Could someone post a model # and mfg. or a picture of this dish with an integrated multiswitch. As I mentioned above, I've never seen one of these. Thanks.

 

[gsr]

The Terk TRK-S23 and TRK-S24 are 2 examples, but from what I've heard, just about all the oval dishes currently available have the integrated multiswitch. I just spent a few minutes trying to find a picture for you - if I come across one, I'll post a link here. But picture a Y adapter on the LNB arm with 4 coax wires coming out of it with male F connectors on them. Where the LNB's plug in, there are female F connectors which are the inputs to the integrated multiswitch.

 

[gsr]

Here's a picture of an integrated multiswitch:

Eagle Aspen Integrated Multiswitch