Questions: multiroom satellite distribution using a multiswitch

martind

Hi,

First off, Merry Christmas everyone! Hope it's going well for you all.

I'm a newbie to the whole satellite field but have been browsing the forum here for a few months, various web sites and picking up the magazine Tele-Satellite International when I see it in the shops (btw for anyone who is interested, they have now made the past several copies of the magazine freely available as PDFs on their website: http://www.tele-satellite.com/eng/ ) in an effort to understand things a little better - but I know I'm still going to make mistakes due to mistunderstanding various terms or aspects of the technology, so by all means correct any errors in the following...

I'm out on the Blanchardstown/Clonee border in Dublin. There is a 60cm Sky dish on the front of the house. It has a twin LNB - that is, an LNB that has two independent outputs as the tenants before us had two Sky boxes - one downstairs (sitting room) and one upstairs (main bedroom).
I currently use an old Sky box as an FTA (there is a lapsed card to keep the Irish EPG on the system so I can use it to see what's on when I don't have a TV guide - I have also tried the box without the card to let it default to the UK epg and it works).
I have previously tried a borrowed a non-Sky FTA tuner on the connection in the main bedroom and it worked fine.

I have been considering putting a multiswitch into the attic in order to allow me to pull the cables from the Sky dish/LNB into the attic and then back to the multiswitch so I can then drop cables through to other rooms in the house (apparently easily done upstairs through the parition walls, not so easy to run downstairs).
I also want to do this to tidy up the cabling - one cable runs down the front wall of the house and then through the sitting room wall and across the floor in FRONT of the fireplace to the sky tuner; the other cable runs up the wall and over the roof, then enters the house through the main bedroom wall, neatly tacked along the top of the bedroom and into the wardrobe where the 2nd Sky box had been).
I'm also thinking about putting up an external antenna for terrestrial analogue tv (and hopefully future DTT - heard an interesting story about someone in Donabate putting an antenna into the attic and picking up RTE1, RTE2, TG4 and TV3 being broadcast in digital!).
I'm *hoping* to get the attic 'converted' in the first quarter of the new year for use as an office/computer room so I need to plan the relevant cabling in advance and pull the cables into place before the work begins (the conversion of course depends on the price - two quotes coming in the new year).

So to the questions:

1. The multiswitch - any recommendations? Any particular brand? I'm thining of a 5/8 (four sat in, one terrestrial antenna in / 8 out - but only using 4 of the ouputs - 6 at most) - possibly a Spaun or EMP-Cantauri.
2. With everthing going back to the multiswitch and the signals for both the analogue and the satellite going down each output cable, am I correct in thinking that I will need some kind of signal seperator at the end of cable to break out the analogue and digital satellite seperately? Do these have to be ideally from the manufacturer of the multiswitch or does it matter?
3. Is a multiswitch something that an interested newbie can install, or it's really a pro tool? (I've a technical IT background and am a bit of a technology geek).
4. Do you have to get a secific HD capable multiswitch? Don't have an HD capable box, but just thinking of the amount of futureproofing I might be able to build into the system if I'm going to invest the time...
4. Bonus question - is anyone aware of a multiswitch that might allow me to add a security camera? Thinking of putting a camera at the front of the house, and if possible, one at the back. It's be great if I could view these on the TVs in the house and (eventually) hooked into a PC for capture...but not critical - I can always look at it seperately at a later point - just thought if I'm running cables, I might as well do it all in the one go...

While I had been considering putting up a bigger dish (80cm) at the back of the house in order to pick up the Astra/Hotbird combo (I don't want to put a larger dish one the front of the house as IMO they don't look very nice), it does not appear to be very practical (with the route that the cable would have to run from the LNBs to the attic), is there anything I can do with the existing dish for more flexibility?

I look foward to your thoughts!

Cheers,

Martin

Zaphod

martind wrote:

1. The multiswitch - any recommendations? Any particular brand? I'm thining of a 5/8 (four sat in, one terrestrial antenna in / 8 out - but only using 4 of the ouputs - 6 at most) - possibly a Spaun or EMP-Cantauri.

Spaun have good reputation but Centauri switches can operate with Quad LNBFs, although it would be advisable to do the job right and use Quattro LNBFs. Don't use either passive or receiver-powered multiswitches - don't work well with Sky boxes.

martind wrote:

2. With everthing going back to the multiswitch and the signals for both the analogue and the satellite going down each output cable, am I correct in thinking that I will need some kind of signal seperator at the end of cable to break out the analogue and digital satellite seperately? Do these have to be ideally from the manufacturer of the multiswitch or does it matter?

A diplexer wallplate. Different brands should be interoperable.

martind wrote:

3. Is a multiswitch something that an interested newbie can install, or it's really a pro tool?

Should be straightforward.

martind wrote:

4. Do you have to get a secific HD capable multiswitch? Don't have an HD capable box, but just thinking of the amount of futureproofing I might be able to build into the system if I'm going to invest the time...

No. Or at least not until they start transmitting in the Ka band which is a few years off yet in Europe.

martind wrote:

4. Bonus question - is anyone aware of a multiswitch that might allow me to add a security camera?

Not aware of a specific switch, but a kludge might be possible. Someone with more experience of security cameras might know.

martind wrote:

While I had been considering putting up a bigger dish (80cm) at the back of the house in order to pick up the Astra/Hotbird combo (I don't want to put a larger dish one the front of the house as IMO they don't look very nice), it does not appear to be very practical (with the route that the cable would have to run from the LNBs to the attic), is there anything I can do with the existing dish for more flexibility?

Its "best practice" to use a larger than normal dish (e.g. 80cm+) with multiswitches so you might consider using an 90/100cm+ dish out back for 28E with 19e/13e offset.

http://www.satellites.co.uk/satellite/tutorials-how-guides/41947-multiswitches.html

See especially 3 PDFs "Satellite Distribution Systems"
http://www.wrightsaerials.tv/articles.html

watty

The EMP Centari Multiswitch has a terrsetrial in, can be used for secutiy camera with RF modulator on UHF