New System Setup, Fibre?

dos30

I'm building a house and am looking at the best way to setup FTA and DTT system.
Satellite and Aerial will be on the garage, approx 50m from the control room in the house.

Option 1. Run 5 core(1 core for Aerial and 4 from Quattro LNB on satellite) underground from garage to house. Connected to Multiswitch.
Option 2. Fibre LNB and DTT Aerial connected to ODU sidecar. Fibre cable from ODU on garage to house. Virtual Quattro(Sat & DTT) to Multiswitch.
Option 3. Fibre LNB and DTT Aerial. Sat: Fibre cable from LNB on garage to house, DTT: Coax cable from Aerial on garage to house. Virtual Quattro(Sat) & Coax to Multiswitch.

To allow for ups and downs I'd probably be looking at 70m of cable runs.

Option 1 Total cost - €270
70m 5 Core approx €250
Quattor LNB €20

Option 2 Total cost - €627
Fibre LNB & ODU €385 http://www.tektica.com/triax-range/fibre-optic-solutions/triax-fibre-optic-lnb-tou-232-triax-odu-kit.html
Virtual Quattro LNB €170 http://www.tektica.com/triax-range/fibre-optic-solutions/triax-fibre-optic-virtual-quattro-tlq.html
75m Fibre optic cable €72

Option 3 Total cost - €407
Fibre LNB €140
Virtual Quattro LNB(Sat only) €155
75m Fibre optic cable €72
100m TX100 for Aerial to House €40

Option 1 is obviously cheaper but are there any advantages to going down the Fibre route, future proofing, signal quality etc?

Ronnie Raygun

Have you spoken to anyone who might actually be interested in doing the work or is this your 1st attempt to get a professional opinion? (I'm not a pro in this area but I'll provide an opinion anyway.)

I wouldn't be considering optical systems or 70m coax. runs for domestic setups unless there were good architectural or structural reasons for not having the dish & aerial on the house. Another reason would be screening, usually by trees, that would necessitate siting at a remote location.

A compromise with the dish on the house & aerial on garage would be another possibility.

dos30

This is my first attempt to get a professional opinion.
Reasons for putting the dish and aerial on garage are architectural and aesthetic.
The house has a lot of glazing so don't want to be looking out at a satellite.
Have no attic and don't want to put the aerial on the roof.
Also don't want to be breaking the airtightness membrane with cabling.

Ronnie Raygun

There's no reason it can't be done the way you want, either with coax. or fibre. It wouldn't be a DIY job though, or even a local "aerial man" job in a lot of cases.

I don't think the fibre setup offers any advantages over a properly done copper system in terms of signal quality, or for expansion later on within a single dwelling. Its main advantages are in big systems, where the savings & convenience on long cable runs (cables themselves & also amplification) really come into their own.

There were a couple of installers with experience of fibre posted here before. A search might turn something up.

excollier

If you don't want to break the airtight membrane, how will you get a cable inside? Fibre will run for miles without loss, but you need the correct dish, not expensive in itself (a Triax TD 78 will suffice) and a meter to align the dish and a run of coax to the dish to power the fibre lnb. Cleanliness with the fibre cable terminations/connections is crucial, but essentially it is fairly simple to set up, though very expensive. Fibre can be split and extended a multitude of times with practically no loss.

dos30

We've ducting in underground from the garage to the house for mains power cable, eircom cable, network cable and this.
Not sure if it's one or two ducts, but if its a single duct this could necessitate going for fibre due to its immunity to electromagnetic interference.

The fibre LNB looks like it's powered from a plug to the F-connector.

I'd be buying the fibre cable preterminated http://www.tektica.com/triax-range/fibre-optic-solutions/triax-75-m-pre-made-fc-pc-fc-pc-tfc75.html

I was hoping to do all of this myself and was thinking once the satellite is aligned correctly the rest should be plug and play.

Ronnie Raygun

You would source the fibre lnb power from the garage.

Ronnie Raygun

excollier wrote: »

... essentially it is fairly simple to set up

This based on personal experience?

excollier

dos30 wrote: »

We've ducting in underground from the garage to the house for mains power cable, eircom cable, network cable and this.
Not sure if it's one or two ducts, but if its a single duct this could necessitate going for fibre due to its immunity to electromagnetic interference.

The fibre LNB looks like it's powered from a plug to the F-connector.

I'd be buying the fibre cable preterminated http://www.tektica.com/triax-range/fibre-optic-solutions/triax-75-m-pre-made-fc-pc-fc-pc-tfc75.html

I was hoping to do all of this myself and was thinking once the satellite is aligned correctly the rest should be plug and play.

That's pretty close, but you may need an attenuator in line as the signal may be too high, and you need a special meter for that. Whoever aligns the dish should have one. Also, even with pre-terminated cables, you will still need to clean the ends before coupling to ODU etc.
Check out this link for parts and equipment
http://www.gionlineshop.co.uk/home.php
The theory, though is very straight forward. Good luck, and let us know how you get on.

excollier

Ronnie Raygun wrote: »

This based on personal experience?

Only in that I took a short course run by Global Invacom, and got a little hands on experience. There's a lot to remember, but like anything, practice make perfect. I'm just passing on caveats and some small details that I learned. Try to give a clearer picture, if you like, so he can decide which way to go.

Ronnie Raygun

excollier wrote: »

Only in that I took a short course run by Global Invacom, and got a little hands on experience.

Certainly more than I can lay claim to. Anyhow it was really a question for the OP to ask, no need for me to be nosey.

excollier

No, you are right to ask. I am hoping that someone with plenty of actual installation experience will answer. They will be aware of all the pitfalls and workarounds that can only be learned with experience. I want to learn more about fibre too.
Edit: I should add I have read that many people align the dish with a conventional lnb, then swap out for the fibre version, or a conventional meter can be used on the fibre lnb via a GTU to give a coax output. An optical power meter is also needed, to check the fibre, and see what attenuator is required.

homelink

dos30 wrote: »

We've ducting in underground from the garage to the house for mains power cable, eircom cable, network cable and this.
Not sure if it's one or two ducts, but if its a single duct this could necessitate going for fibre due to its immunity to electromagnetic interference.

The fibre LNB looks like it's powered from a plug to the F-connector.

I'd be buying the fibre cable preterminated http://www.tektica.com/triax-range/fibre-optic-solutions/triax-75-m-pre-made-fc-pc-fc-pc-tfc75.html

I was hoping to do all of this myself and was thinking once the satellite is aligned correctly the rest should be plug and play.

If you have the ducting to accommodate coaxial cabling and your total cable run is no more than 70-80 mtrs, I would go for this option due to cost.You haven't mentioned how many outputs you want in the house. You would have to factor in an IRS multi-switch with the amount of outputs you need.
I would be inclined to get 2 rolls of wf100 coax (250mtrs ) and tie 5 runs together,(far cheaper than a 5 core cable).

If you don't have the ducting & can't put the dish & aerial on the house, then fibre may be your only option. You would need to make sure that you get an IRS virtual quattro to convert back to an IRS multi-switch.
The Installation would be far easier & cheaper if you could install the aerial on the house and use fibre only for your satellite feeds. You would only need a standard fibre lnb (much cheaper than an ODU 32 kit) with a single fibre cable running to the house feeding a virtual IRS Quattro and on to an IRS multi-switch.Before we got optical satellite meters, we used to align the dish using a standard coaxial quattro, lock down the dish & then replace with the fibre lnb.The power for the lnb is ran through a standard coax cable from the lnb to a transformer using standard f connections (12v supply).this can easily be run from the garage. You can buy attenuators if you find your fibre signal strength is too strong, (about €12).Armstrong Electronics in Dublin are suppliers for Global Invacom & Triax products & may be able to give you advice. But for what it's worth if you need to go the fibre route, try to install you aerial either on the house or in the attic if you can & go for a simpler fibre install.It will save you money & hassle in the long run.

Ronnie Raygun

The aerial is always the more likely objectionable feature, as it will usually have to go up high & be outdoors for optimum signal. It's why I mentioned dish on the house & aerial on the garage as a possible compromise. OP here doesn't have an attic anyway.

Also, the aerial signal can be sent to the house on 1 run of coax & won't be attenuated as much as the higher frequency satellite IF would.

OP, I presume you realise a satellite dish can be sited at any height, as long as it has a view of the relevant part of the sky? (Elevation angle for the satellites at 28 degrees east is around 20 degrees in Ireland.) You might be able to site the dish nearer the house, if not actually on it. Again, there's nothing wrong with the garage, but it's handy to be aware of all options.