Increase satellite feeds without going onto the roof?

Soarer

Morning all.

I've a Sky dish with quad lnb, only two ports(?) being used to feed SkyHD in the main room.
I'd like to feed a couple of extra freeview boxes around the house, but I'm not one for heights/ladders/roofs!
All rooms are pre-wired for satellite, with all wires ready to be connected up in the attic.

So I'm wondering if it's possible to use the 2 feeds I already have, split them in the attic, and connect them to the other rooms?

I've read a bit about multiswitches, but I don't know if they'll do, or if I'll need something more than that.

Any ideas chaps?

Thanks.
Soarer.

P.S. Anyone know someone cheap and reliable in Cork to do something similar for me, and maybe even throw up an aerial?

MrSneeg

http://www.isaa.tv/features.php?county=cork

John mac

multiswitch should work.

give this guy a ring

more here

Soarer

Thanks lads.

@John. I rang him on Tuesday. He was supposed to ring me back by close of business, but never did. Still haven't heard from him, so I'm not gonna go chasing.
As for the switch, it's good to know I've picked up a small bit!
If I was to get a switch, to futureproof myself could I get a 4 in and only use 2? Or is it a case of all inputs have to be used?
And can they be daisychained? ie. could I get a 2 in/4 out, and then use the 4 outs to feed a 4 in/8 out?

Apogee

Soarer wrote: »

Thanks lads.

@John. I rang him on Tuesday. He was supposed to ring me back by close of business, but never did. Still haven't heard from him, so I'm not gonna go chasing.
As for the switch, it's good to know I've picked up a small bit!
If I was to get a switch, to futureproof myself could I get a 4 in and only use 2? Or is it a case of all inputs have to be used?
And can they be daisychained? ie. could I get a 2 in/4 out, and then use the 4 outs to feed a 4 in/8 out?

The multiswitch must have 4 inputs to work properly - it will not work with 2 inputs. You can then use any number of outputs e.g. 1/4, 2/4, 5/8, 6/8 etc...

"2in/4out" does not work for the full Ku-band frequency range employed in Europe (US is a different matter).

You can get cascading multiswitches, but they are meant for apartment blocks and are of little or no benefit to you.

Soarer

Thanks Apogee.

So I guess my best bet so, since I'll need to connect the 2 spare inputs from the quad lnb for the multiswitch to work, is to swap the quad for an octo, and just run all 8 inputs into the attic and connect up whatever rooms I need?

Is swapping lnbs a hard job? Am I likely to knock it out of line and lose signal?

Apogee

Soarer wrote: »

Thanks Apogee.

So I guess my best bet so, since I'll need to connect the 2 spare inputs from the quad lnb for the multiswitch to work, is to swap the quad for an octo, and just run all 8 inputs into the attic and connect up whatever rooms I need?

Is swapping lnbs a hard job? Am I likely to knock it out of line and lose signal?

Or you could keep your existing Quad and feed it into a 4 input/8 output multiswitch. Means you require a small hole to feed cables into attic. Not sure how cost compares.

If you go down multiswitch approach, ensure that it is compatible with both Quad and Quattro LNBFs - many are Quattro only. A brand popular on here is EMP Centauri.

http://www.emp-centauri.cz/products.php?page=products&id_kateg=5&id_pkateg=11&id=17

You can also share (diplex) your terrestrial signal from aerial onto the sat cables with the above switch.

Soarer

The more questions I ask, the more confused I get!

So if I've gotten this right, and I go for this switch to futureproof myself....
- I'll have to have all 4 cables from the LNB running into the attic
- Connect all 4 cables to the switch inputs.
- Connect all room cables to the switch outputs (12 points if I'm counting right)?

That right?

Also, I'm assuming the 5th input is for the aerial (which I don't have yet), and that can combine that signal with the satellite one and run both down the same cable?

If all that's right, I've one final question.
How are the aerial and satellite signals split at the far end? Does something need to be added to the line, or would the receiver do it?

Apogee

Soarer wrote: »

The more questions I ask, the more confused I get!

So if I've gotten this right, and I go for this switch to futureproof myself....
- I'll have to have all 4 cables from the LNB running into the attic

Yes

Soarer wrote: »

- Connect all 4 cables to the switch inputs.

Yes

Soarer wrote: »

- Connect all room cables to the switch outputs (12 points if I'm counting right)?

You can connect up to 16 tuners with that switch. (Standard receiver = 1 tuner, Sky+ or PVR = 2 tuners)

Soarer wrote: »

Also, I'm assuming the 5th input is for the aerial (which I don't have yet), and that can combine that signal with the satellite one and run both down the same cable?

Yes

Soarer wrote: »

If all that's right, I've one final question.
How are the aerial and satellite signals split at the far end? Does something need to be added to the line, or would the receiver do it?

You use an inexpensive diplexer to separate (or uncombine) the terrestrial and satellite signals.

Soarer

Ah that's mighty, nice one. Definitely have the confidence to have a cut off this now! Will start from the tv points out to the dish though, as ladders aren't my strong point!:o

Was only talking to Mrs. Soarer at lunchtime, and we were talking about getting Sky multiroom for the ease of things. This is definitely a viable alternative now.

The switch is available on Amazon.de for €93.26 delivered incase anyone's interested!

Thanks again.

Soarer

Hi Apogee, I'm back again.

A quick question about the switch. I thought it wasn't possible to split a satellite signal? So can this switch take the 4 inputs from the lnb and make 16 individual feeds from them?

Apogee

Once you have 4 inputs, the multiswitch can provide any number of outputs.

On your dish, the LNBF can switch between 4 "modes" i.e. Low band, horizontal; Low band, vertical; Hi band, horizontal; Hi band, vertical. As long as the multiswitch has each of these 4 combinations as inputs, it can reproduce the 4 of them multiple times over.

So when Receiver 1 requires a channel on 'Low band, vertical', the multiswitch re-transmits that input down the cable. Meanwhile, receiver 6 might require a channel on 'Hi band, Horizontal' and the multswitch re-transmits that down the requisite cable to Receiver 6.

Soarer

Thanks Apogee.
So basically the signal sent down each output is detmined by whatever channel the receiver at the far end is tuned to?

What about this scenario...I've all 16 outputs connected to Ariva 120's, and everyone at the same time is looking to watch BBCHD. Can the switch handle this, or can it only handle maybe 4 of each of the modes?

Sorry for all the stupid questions. I just don't want to go away, buy this switch along with a few combo boxes and half a dozen diplexers, only to find out that it doesn't work the way I want it to.

Apogee

The multiswitch gives you 16 fully independent outputs (equivalent to 16 independent LNBFs or a "sexdeca" 16 output LNBF).

If your 16 receivers are all tuned to BBCHD, the multiswitch will handle that.

If the 16 receivers are tuned to 16 different channels, all with different polarisations/bands, the multiswitch will handle that too.

The multiswitch can handle every permutation and combination of channels on the 16 receivers.

If the multiswitch couldn't do the above, there wouldn't be much point selling them...

Soarer

Magnifico!

Was thinking the same. I rang a fella the other day to get an aerial put up, and explained to him what I planned on doing. He put the frighteners up me then saying that the signal can't be split, and that the "switch thing" that I planned on using wouldn't do what I was hoping.
He then went on to explain how he could do a few things to get what I want done working!

Gonna get ordering things straight away so....obviously depending on what Mrs. Soarer says!

Thanks again.

Apogee

Soarer wrote: »

I rang a fella the other day to get an aerial put up, and explained to him what I planned on doing. He put the frighteners up me then saying that the signal can't be split, and that the "switch thing" that I planned on using wouldn't do what I was hoping.

He's a fool - Get someone else!