Quick wiring question

[GeorgeS069]

I have 2 3x4 multiswitches on the roof at the dish
they are cascaded(I think that's what it's called) so I lose 2 of the 8 total outputs
I was wondering if I could use splitters right off the dish and free up 2 of the outputs from the first multiswitch
in other words have the 2 lines from the dish/LNB's go to 2 1x2 splitters and then into the 2 3x4 multiswitches and have 8 outputs instead of the 6 I have now
can this be done?

thanks for any help

George

[John T Smith]

As far as I know (I think this is in the FAQ) you may not use a splitter on the feed line from the LNB at all

[GeorgeS069]

Thanks for such a quick reply John
I read the FAQ and I do understand that using just a splitter doesn't work
my idea is that I split the lines off the LNB and run those 4 lines into multiswitches
like 1 "high" line split to go into the "high" line on both multiswitches and and the same idea with the "low" lines
so each multiswitch would be able to access both parts of the dual LNB


George

[JimSpence]

Actually, this is one case where splitters can be used. You use power passive on one leg splitters on each of the dish outputs. Then connect the outputs of the splitters to the corresponding inputs on the two switches. The reason this works is that the receiver connected to the power passive leg locks down the LNB to odd or even. Then the other switch has the proper signals as well. I'm assuming a dual output round dish.

[GeorgeS069]

Actually, this is one case where splitters can be used. You use power passive on one leg splitters on each of the dish outputs. Then connect the outputs of the splitters to the corresponding inputs on the two switches. The reason this works is that the receiver connected to the power passive leg locks down the LNB to odd or even. Then the other switch has the proper signals as well. I'm assuming a dual output round dish.


yes...that's exactly what I have and it worked perfectly :)
I found some diagrams on another site that showed the splitters setup in the lines
one caveat before anyone tries this....you need SATTELITE splitters....not cableTV splitters.....they should say 40-2150mhz on them somewhere
RadioShack has them...get catolog # 12-2568
some shacks might even have real multiswitches!
no idea if this will work for HDTV systems...all my stuff is standard def
dish is a round one with one dual LNB on it
this wiring is gonna be a freakin nightmare when we switch to HD!

good luck and thanks for the info guys

George