DIY - new HD box hook up question.

cjwohlre · 03-29-2005, 11:20 AM

Gents and Ladies.

Just purchased the Direct TV HD receiver. I currently have a dual turner TIVO in my main room and a regular hughs SD box in the bedroom. I also have the HD eliptical dish. I am assuming I need to do one of the following to hook up the new box; either run new RG-6 cable(s) from the dish, or get a multiswitch.

Does my current dish have outputs for a fourth (and hopefully a fifth, should I upgrade to a HD DVR) RG-6 cables? And, how difficult is it for a handy individual to run the wires. Or, do you think a multiswith is the answer. If so, can that be installed in my basement where the feed comes in?

DirectTV wants $100.00 to come out and do the work. Seems steep.

Thanks all
Cjwohlre

**rbinck** · 03-29-2005, 11:59 AM

You should have 1 connection left on your dish, so you could run a new RG6 to the HD receiver location. If you feel like running the cable is something you can do, you could save the money. Just remember you have to get the cable which will cost you some $, so I'd look into that.

Also I'd check the signal strength on the three satellites to make sure the dish is aimed properly. SD channels are all on the 101 sat and the 110 and 119 sats have the HD channels. It is possible that whoever installed the dish originally did not peak the signals on all three sats since only SD channels were to be received. If D*'s tech comes out, he would fix this also if required, so bear all of this in mind.

Adding a multiswitch would not do you any good. If you were thinking of adding a 2x4 multiswitch on the two cables currently feeding the Tivo unit, that would work for another SD receiver, but that will not work for a HD receiver. Here's why. The 101 sat uses +13v and +18v to select the Left Hand Circular Polarization (LHCP) and Right Hand Circular Polarization (RHCP) see this thread for more info: Multiple Directv Receivers - Hook up

For HDTV on sat 110 and 119 in addition to the LHCP and RHCP voltages a 22Khz tone is required to the LNBs. This means that the input to any multiswitch that feeds a HD receiver will require 4 input feeds:

101 sat LHCP
101 sat RHCP
110/119 sat LHCP w/22Khz tone
110/119 sat RHCP w/22Khz tone

03-29-2005, 11:20 AM	#1
cjwohlre chicago Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 9	DIY - new HD box hook up question. Gents and Ladies. Just purchased the Direct TV HD receiver. I currently have a dual turner TIVO in my main room and a regular hughs SD box in the bedroom. I also have the HD eliptical dish. I am assuming I need to do one of the following to hook up the new box; either run new RG-6 cable(s) from the dish, or get a multiswitch. Does my current dish have outputs for a fourth (and hopefully a fifth, should I upgrade to a HD DVR) RG-6 cables? And, how difficult is it for a handy individual to run the wires. Or, do you think a multiswith is the answer. If so, can that be installed in my basement where the feed comes in? DirectTV wants $100.00 to come out and do the work. Seems steep. Thanks all Cjwohlre

03-29-2005, 11:59 AM	#2
rbinck Administrator Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Katy, Texas Posts: 12,337	You should have 1 connection left on your dish, so you could run a new RG6 to the HD receiver location. If you feel like running the cable is something you can do, you could save the money. Just remember you have to get the cable which will cost you some $, so I'd look into that. Also I'd check the signal strength on the three satellites to make sure the dish is aimed properly. SD channels are all on the 101 sat and the 110 and 119 sats have the HD channels. It is possible that whoever installed the dish originally did not peak the signals on all three sats since only SD channels were to be received. If D's tech comes out, he would fix this also if required, so bear all of this in mind. Adding a multiswitch would not do you any good. If you were thinking of adding a 2x4 multiswitch on the two cables currently feeding the Tivo unit, that would work for another SD receiver, but that will not work for a HD receiver. Here's why. The 101 sat uses +13v and +18v to select the Left Hand Circular Polarization (LHCP) and Right Hand Circular Polarization (RHCP) see this thread for more info: Multiple Directv Receivers - Hook up For HDTV on sat 110 and 119 in addition to the LHCP and RHCP voltages a 22Khz tone is required to the LNBs. This means that the input to any multiswitch that feeds a HD receiver will require 4 input feeds: 101 sat LHCP 101 sat RHCP 110/119 sat LHCP w/22Khz tone 110/119 sat RHCP w/22Khz tone Last edited by rbinck; 03-29-2005 at 05:13 PM.*