"B" Band Converters...

correct, HDtivo doesnt need them but on the new receivers, to see the new satellites, you must have them installed.

the are installed right at the receiver then plug the sat. line into the bbc

 

.. unless you have a SWM module (mine should arrive in the next day or two). With an SWM you don't use BBCs.

 

but that's not available to the public is it?

 

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It is now. You just have to find a dealer selling them. They're not cheap.

 

See http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=114457 for a SWM source.

 

Without an intimate knowledge of Ka, let me take a stab.

Ku frequencies are downlinked in the 11-12 GHz range, and the "B" part of the LNB converts that directly to L-band (950-1450), which is what the receiver needs to see (an LNB is a low-noise amplifier or LNA with an L-band heterodyne block converter (hence the "B") tacked on the output, and an LNBF is one that also has frequency-controlled polarity switching). Ku to L is a simple conversion, because the bandwidth or spectrum size is the same size for each.

Ka doesn't translate or convert directly to L-band, as the spectrum is wider (hence the need for wideband multiswitches). After the conversion, there are still some channels that live below 950 MHz. The B-band converter is switched in and out (the signal either processed directly through or converted up) so that when the receiver needs a channel in this range, it converts it back up into L-band.

At least I think that's what's going on. My only question is why this circuitry wasn't incorporated directly into the IRD. Maybe there is some incompatibility if you try to use a HR2x with legacy multiswitches or 3-lnb antennae, in which case the B-band converters are dispensed with. Or maybe there would be an incompatibility with upcoming technology expected to be used with the HR2x, such as signal stacking.

 

$300

 

Bingo. I expect them to slowly phase out the current multiswitches with SWM technology. This allows them to only use one line from the satellite and use conventional signal splitters.