My brain is scrambled, I can't seem to get a straight answer from any sat installer or any online source for wiring for MPEG4 satellite.

We usually steer folks to cable, so for new home prewires we would run four RG6 quad with a ground to a potential dish location., we have yet to satellite out one of these prewires. We are now doing a home in the sticks that is satellite only. How many wires should be run from the dish location to the distribution location? How many RG lines should be run to each TV location from the distribution point.....we of course want to be sure we are ready for the MPEG4 thing.

Run at least 4 RG 6 plus ground at a minimum, I do 7 or 8 whenever possible. OTA, XM, Sirius, or who knows what else.

I also run 3 coax to each TV location, 2 for TiVo if necessary. And an extra cable for who knows what else. A camera for instance, or even OTA once again.

And dont forget you cant diplex OTA on the newer MP4 dishes, so be sure to run a feed for that as mentioned above

Does this apply to both dishnetwork and directv? We used a diplexor on a dish1000 and a vip211 today with no problems.

No, just the new DTV dish

But you might want to consider that Dish might change some day and make diplexing impossible. Plus, we have been lucky a couple of times that we ran excess cable when the XM was decided on as an afterthought.

I have yet to encounter the situation where I just had one too many wires to a specific loacation. On the other hand the opposite has created quite a quandary. If you think you might need an extra wire, do it while you can is the best advice I can give. Who knows what tomorrow will bring.

My sat guy tells me the new "mega super dishes" do not work in Florida so we need to run at least 6 RG6 solid copper core. Don't forget Wild Blue, Hugesnet and Starband. So let's see...Sat TV 6 + OTA ant. 1 + XM/SIRIUS 1 + Sat Internet 2 + Future cable expansion 2 = 10 To the roof and 2 to the demarc=12 RG6 runs. I am buying Belden or Comscope stock. Better yet I am buying a copper mine.

can u say "vaccuum hose conduit"?

Having finally seen, touched and intalled one of these beasts keep in mind that it is huge. You will have extra roof penitrations due to the mast guides. Also, you will need 1/2 inch socket and 1/2 inch wrench and a 1/2 inch nut driver to properly setup this dish. I used 3/8 inch carriage bolts through the roof to anchor 2x6 to the roof and 5/16x2 lags into the 2x6 to anchor the dish. The folks from Directv ( with really cool blue shirts ) were real nevous about this setup as there will be 16 feeds needed. They also warned against installing the dish on a sloped roof. Something about the mast failing over time. I have no idea. I really thought the way they mounted the extra LNB was really cool. Was it for 119? The only way I ever saw 119 was when I put my meter on the port 1 or 2 LNB.

Alan

The one I saw was CHEEEESY! It was for DTV not Dish but it really did not work with the 4x8 multi-switch. The Dish one as I said will not work at all in the extreme SE.

Compared to what? We used to have guys come out to do a site survey to figure out if and where a dish could be mounted. They then dug a three foot deep by two feet by two feet hole, and mounted a four inch diameter steel pole in it that would make the installation worthless if the pole were not dead plumb.

A few days later, we opened the four foot by seven foot dish carton, and two or three of us assembled the dish and put it in position. We had to align the main axis of rotation with due north, not magnetic north, to ensure that the dish would see all satellites as it levered back and forth on its 36" or 48" long actuating arm.

Compared to that?

Now, now Ernie. It's not a C-Band. I installed a few of those as well. Servicing them in Summer was loads of fun as harnets loved to nest in the LNB. I once had to be an expert witness at a Condo meeting where my client was presenting plans from a master engineer ( and how that differs from a regular civil engineer I have no idea but he was supposed to be "special") for a C-Band dish attached to a Manhattan roof.

No, it is not that big. Nor is it quite as large as my waste ( or mouth ). It weighs about 40 pounds and is larger and heavier than most Ku satellites I ever installed. Put it this way. I would hate to have to lug this up the side of a house on an extension ladder. I'll also say that if the results of my trusty satellite meter are correct ( and D* has not returned with any accessories or IRDs ) then it received 101,110 and 119 at levels I have never before witnessed. It cannot be retrofit on to any existing mast currently installed.

Back in the day, I almost always mounted DBS dishes on poles and trenched into the home. All sorts of reasons but think trees as the primary reason; Something I am told used to exist in LA. But it has been a long time since I lived on New Hampshire and Beaverly Dr. Perhaps a few have sprung up since then. "Magdalene Lane is a red -light domain..............................And [not even] the hotel man knows my name."

Alan

Never mind the fact that you just penetrated the roof and any future water penetration is now you and your companies fault..

Run 4 to make the new dish work. Run more if you want other things to work.