Advice on long irecTV runs from sat -> multiswitch?

[Keeya]

Hey all,

Currently a standard def DTivo user, working on the upgrade to HD. They're moving my locals to another sat, so had some techs come out today to upgrade the dish. I'll run SD until June/July, when I get a HDTV, so for now would still run the DTivo until then, and likely keep it on another SD TV elsewhere int he house after that.

Problem is, for the new satellite I'd need to hit, there's no line of sight available from my house without cutting about the top 30' off of a tree in my yard... or one in my neighbor's yard. There's one other spot-- in the far back corner of my yard-- that'd work, but would have been a run of ~150ft of cable from there to the house. The techs that came out advised against it to to the length's possible affect on PQ, and they left me to figure out what I wanted to do.

SO... anyone have experience with longer runs, good or bad? How did it work out for you? I'm considering picking up some theoretically higher quality cable (wired the inside of my house with Belden 1694A from Blue Jeans Cable) which is rated for runs of up to ~300ft, again in theory. Or could try some thicker RG-11 from the same source if that'd further help with signal loss.

Any advice / opinions appreciated. Thanks,

--Keeya

[JimSpence]

The main problem with long runs is the reduction of the signal voltage to the LNBs. This is why the RG11 cable is used as it has less loss per foot. I think the 150' length you mention should work just fine, as it will also reduce the loss of the digital signal itself.

I would also suggest that you put a powered multiswitch where the cables enter the house.

[Keeya]

Thanks for the quick reply. Apologies for the novice question, but how many cables are needed from dish -> multiswitch? I believe the 5 LNB dishes have 4 wires out... are all of those hooked up in a typical setup?

Quickly doing the math, 4 x 150 ft x (cost per foot of good quality RG6 or RG11) = $$$$

--Keeya

[phox_mulder]

Thanks for the quick reply. Apologies for the novice question, but how many cables are needed from dish -> multiswitch? I believe the 5 LNB dishes have 4 wires out... are all of those hooked up in a typical setup?

Quickly doing the math, 4 x 150 ft x (cost per foot of good quality RG6 or RG11) = $$$$

--Keeya

Yes, all 4 outputs of the dish have to be hooked to the 4 inputs on the switch.


phox

[cramer]

If it's a SWM LNB and multiswitch, ONE is all it takes. (in theory)

I suspose the best setup would a SWM-SWM sort of "one man MDU"... a 4in-1out SWM at the dish leaving one RG11 run to the house where it's reversed to a 1in-4out (de)SWM into a wideband multiswitch (WB8/16) and on to the rest of the house. (again, in theory)

I've not seen anyone selling DTV amps for many years -- not that it's really possible anymore. But it'd be nice to have here.

[JimSpence]

If it's a SWM LNB and multiswitch, ONE is all it takes. (in theory)

I suspose the best setup would a SWM-SWM sort of "one man MDU"... a 4in-1out SWM at the dish leaving one RG11 run to the house where it's reversed to a 1in-4out (de)SWM into a wideband multiswitch (WB8/16) and on to the rest of the house. (again, in theory)...There's no such thing as a 1 in 4 out de-SWM. There are splitters for use with SWM setups, but they won't support legacy equipment.

What could be used is an SWM8 connected to the four outputs of the dish. This has legacy outputs.

[Keeya]

Thanks again for all the replies. Sadly, there doesn't seem to be a tenable solution... running that amount/number of good RG6 or RG11 cable I'd need to provide would be excessively costly, and I'd need the SWM8, if I were to use one, to be indoors (at least the power supply) which is the problem in the first place-- long runs of cables through yard to house. Not to mention trying to get buy-in for 4x150' of cable running through the back yard.

Looks like I'm destined to be Comcastic (which is pretty much craptastic).

--Keeya