OK.... so I need to have 3 LNB's and 6 receivers... (1 Viewer)

[Al_Swanson]

OK, so I have one of the three lnb dishes(that only has two on it now! One is in the garage waiting to go on!) and I need 6 lines off of it (five distinct receivers and a dual-tuner Tivo box). Right now, I have two lnb's plugged in and four lines off the multiswitch.
What do I need to get that third lnb in and send it out to 6 receivers? I know a larger multiswitch, but which one? What have y'all done?
Any help is much appreciated!

 

[Robert_J]

I need a little more info before I suggest anything. Is your mutli-switch bolted to the back of the dish or is it integrated into the LNB mounting arm? Is the third LNB from a Sat-C kit or did you just go to Wal-Mart and buy another LNB?

-Robert

 

[Al_Swanson]

The current multiswitch is bolted to the back. And the dish was set up for three, came with two and I ordered the last one from Radio Shack (to get Showtime HD).

 

[Bill Lucas]

There are several multiswitches abailable. I'd go with at least a 5 X 8. Spaun makes the best by far but they are $$$. Just do a Google search for satellite multiswitch and you'll get all the information you need.

 

[Robert_J]

And the dish was set up for three, came with two and I ordered the last one from Radio Shack (to get Showtime HD).

Did you specifically order the Sat-C kit? A regular LNB will not work. The kits are available from DirecTV for $9 and come with the specialized LNB and a combiner.

-Robert

 

[Al_Swanson]

OK... now I am beginning to feel stupid. I paid $60 from RS, but I did say the C.
But there's no 'combiner' with it - or anything else. When I see the 5x8 multiswitches, they appear to have 4 lnb (two from each of the two I have now) plus an antenna. Won't I need 6 lnb inputs plus antenna? If so.... I haven't seen the multiswitch to handle it yet then.

 

[Robert_J]

When I see the 5x8 multiswitches, they appear to have 4 lnb (two from each of the two I have now) plus an antenna. Won't I need 6 lnb inputs plus antenna?

No. Like I said earlier, it's a single LNB because DirecTV can only broadcast from transponders 28, 30 & 32 at the 110 location. Dishnetwork uses the rest. Since D* only needs even transponders the Sat-C only needs to be a single LNB. DirecTV uses transponders 22-32 at 119. Finally all DirecTV multi-sat receivers can ONLY tune in two different satellites, not three. How does it work? The Sat-C LNB takes the signals from the Sat-C and shifts them to a different frequency so they look like transponders 8, 10 & 12. The Sat-C then connects into one side of the combiner. One output of the Sat-B LNB is connected to the other side of the combiner. This input of the combiner filters out transponders 1-21 (used by Dish). The output of the combiner is connected to the 18V Sat-B input of the switch. When you turn to Showtime HD, the receiver's software thinks the channel is on transponder 8 of Sat-B. That's why you only need a switch with 4 satellite inputs.

-Robert

 

[Mike Rackley]

Robert,

Good info.

I have one other question. Are there any particularly stringent cable length restrictions between the lnb's and the multiswitch? The setup I'm considering would have the dish on my chimney and the multiswitch inside the house with about 75 feet of coax between. Is this OK?

Mike

 

[Robert_J]

75 feet shouldn't be a problem with quality RG 6 and good connectors.

-Robert