Need install advice. Thanks!

[qposner]

I just bought a new house that is prewired for CAT-5, cable and satellite in every room through a USTec box. The side of the house (exterior) has a box where 4 lines of RG6 terminate for the D* installer to tap into and mount the dish (no need to run any lines inside). Here is my question:

I have 1 HR10-250, 1 HR20 and 1 HDVR2. That means I will need 2 lines to each box. Now, the prewire from the USTec box to each room only has 1 sat line to each room, but also has 1 cable line. I assume the installer can use the cable line and the sat line to a particular room in order to have the required 2 lines for the dual tuners?

Also, since there are only 4 lines coming into the house and heading to the USTec box, what will the installer need to do?

I want to make sure he doesn't mess with anything in the interior of the house if at all possible.

Thanks for your help!
Quinn

[Jebberwocky!]

assuming he installs a switch with 8 outs as long as your cable is direct to each room from the switch there should be no problems. No splitting.

[bpratt]

The new MPEG4 dish requires RG6 cable with a solid copper center and must be rated to handle at least 2.5 ghz. I also had 4 RG6 cables running from my roof into the house. When I checked the cable, I found a number on it. I then searched the internet and found my cable was only rated at 1 ghz, so it all had to be replaced.

[qposner]

The new MPEG4 dish requires RG6 cable with a solid copper center and must be rated to handle at least 2.5 ghz. I also had 4 RG6 cables running from my roof into the house. When I checked the cable, I found a number on it. I then searched the internet and found my cable was only rated at 1 ghz, so it all had to be replaced.

Lets hope that is not the case! The low voltage company that installed the lines said I should be good to go. Of course, that doesn't mean they installed the correct cables.

[cjandura]

You will be fine using the cable that was installed by the builder as long as there are no cable splitters in the lines as far as the rating of the cable goes i hav'nt had any problems with using (copper clad vs. solid copper) the only real thing to watch out for is the use of RG-59

[TyroneShoes]

You will be fine using the cable that was installed by the builder as long as there are no cable splitters in the lines as far as the rating of the cable goes i hav'nt had any problems with using (copper clad vs. solid copper) the only real thing to watch out for is the use of RG-59

Copper vs. copper-clad only very-slightly increases loop resistance, which is only a factor in very long cable runs.

You are correct about typical hybrid splitters being a potential problem if in the middle of a DBS cable run, especially is there is power blocking or it is rated to a lower frequency. It will still usually work, but it is also a very good idea to eliminate stuff in the run that is not needed. Obviously, you cannot split one source to multiple receivers, so a hybrid splitter has no business in a DBS cable run anyway.

Cable rated to a frequency means it is swept to that frequency using a sweep generator and spectrum analyzer. Obviously a higher frequency means a better cable loss ratio at higher frequencies, but does not mean it won't work. The nature of cable roll-off is gradual, meaning that if the cable lengths aren't too long, frequencies typically much higher than the frequency it is swept to will still pass with enough level to drive the front end of the receiver, even if they don't pass an arbitrary manufacturer's spec.

Bottom line, don't worry about replacing cable until it is proven not to work, and there is a good chance you would not have to resort to that.

RG-59 will work just fine for runs less than 75% of the distance rating for RG-6, as it is electrically identical except for having 1/4 more cable loss at frequency. RG-6 is spec'ed generally to avoid installers using it at all and causing call-backs when they run it too far, and it is hardier and resists environmental degradation better, so lasts longer, but it will still work just as well as RG-6 under most circumstances.

So the rule of thumb is install only RG-6, but if the cable is RG-59 and is already in place, you can still use it without worries if the length is not too long.

I was a head-end and cable TV trunk tech and plant designer, and I used to pre-sweep trunk cable for cable TV plant installs, so I am pretty familiar with that process, not to mention the other issues.