Hello,

Quick question for any of you installers. How many lines do I need to run to a 3 LNB or 5 LNB dish? I am very familiar with the 2 LNB dishes, running the A and B feeds to a multi-switch, even using a diplexer for OA content, please don't be afraid of being technical. I am simply trying to make sure I am wired in advance for an upgrade to HD.

I purchased a new HD TV (Toshiba 56MX195) and was waiting for DirecTV to announce local HD channels in the Miami market so I could upgrade to a 5 LNB amd MPEG 4 hardware now (rather than a 3 LNB dish followed a few months later with the 5 LNB dish). I beleive they now incorporate the multiswitch into the antenna, meaning I need as many wires as I have satellite tuners (2 for each DVR with dual tuners) but I may be wrong.

Can anyone tell me if I need 5 wires run to a new 5 into 8 (or whatever the new hardware is) or does the dish now handle the indivuidual outputs (multi-swtich built in)?

Thank you,

Jack

Oh! And I forgot to add...

I already have the need for 6 outputs (2 stand-alone DTV tuners and 2 Ultimate TV tuners) so if you know the number of feeds necessary to run to a 5 LNB dish, also explain how to split them up into 6 (or 8). Am I right in that a 5 into 8 multi-switch will do the trick (I wouldn't use the OTA input)?

Thanks again,

Jack

Both the 3-LNB and the 5-lnb dishes have multiswitches built-in and have four coax connections. This allows you to connect four tuners. To go above four you need a cascadable multiswitch - for example a 4x8 (or 5x8) for the 3-lnb dish, connect all four inputs to the multiswitch and then you will have 8 outputs. The new 5-lnb dish needs a new type of additional multiswitch to go above four connections - the only one I have seen is a 6x8. Again, the four cables from the dish connect to the multiswitch. The two additional input ports are for people with additional dishes pointed to the 72.5 (some locals) and 95 (international programming) satellites

Thank you for the prompt reply!

So would a 5 x 8 multi-switch wrk if I didn't need an addition dish for locals or care about the international programming (assuming I only used a 5 LNB dish)?

Tank again,

Jack

You need one of the new multiswitches for the 5-lnb dish - the only one I have seen so far is a Zinnwell 6x8 (model wb68). The old 5x8 multiswitches will not work with the 5-lnb dish.

I have a sam 6802 from zinwell, has anyone had any luck getting it working, works for a, b, and c (101, 119, 110) but not for 103 and 99.

Won't work for 103 and 99, you need a wb68....

thanks I figured that out after waiting for THE technician to get back from lunch.

Get this... I call Zinwell, ask for tech support, and the girl says call back in a half hour he's out to lunch....

Well then I did some digging elsehwhere and figured out what you just posted, thanks anyway for sonfirming, wb68's only.

I hope it is okay to use this post for this question. I understand that it is too difficult to mount the new 5 LNB dish on the side of a building because of the weight. Also, because this new dish requires the main mounting point plus 2 stabilizing arms, you cannot mount on a pole.

I live in a townhome and cannot mount on the roof. Does anyone else know of how I can mount this dish?

I thought of building a small wooden platform to mount the dish. Does anyone know what the minimal surface dimension is I need to mount the dish that will accomodate the main mounting point and the two stabilizing arms?

Thanks in advance.

Mounting on a pole is actually the preferred method....

Thank you Texasbrit. I have not actually seen the dish yet, but I understand there are two stabilizing arms. I guess they are needed because the dish is so heavy now and they are needed to make the mount more stable.

You mention that the pole is the best method. Do you know how those arms are attached when using a pole? Also, do you know what the outer dimension of the pole needs to be to use a pole mount?

I appreciate any information you might have. Thanks again.

Here's a link to the installation manual. The site also has an installation video.

[Link: solidsignal.com]

Actually, the mounting arms are optional, I found mounting the plate with 4 bolts was more than sturdy. The hardware is over-sized (both the plate and arm are larger than the old hardware) and when that thing is tightened down, it doesn't budge (and I live in south Florida where I do have to consider strong winds very seriously). unless you are mounting to something soft with no structural framing or band to tie into, there is no issue with mounting this using the plate and 4 bolts only (as packaged).

JFetter

I have reviewed the installation pdf, and a couple of points are important for all of us:

Four RG-6 are shown leading down from the new 5-LNB dish. These are multiswitch outputs and can feed four receivers.

Just as happened with the first generation of receivers, which could be connected to multiswitches to feed multiple receivers NOTHING in the manual addresses doing so. I don't see how it is possible for four cables to fully bring the signal down to a downstairs multswitch for feeding more than four receivers, as four cables can use high voltage, low voltage, and presence and absence of a tone to distinguish four different signals, but there HAVE to be additional bits of data to enable the built-in multiswitch to select the proper of five LNBs, and those additional bits of data would require additional cables.

It looks like DirecTV's engineers are selling their products short, acting as though nobody will want more than four receivers in each home. I have an account with more than twenty -- can you imagine converting to the new dishes? Hopefully they will figure out that this initial concept will serve many viewers but that the higher-priced and higher-profile customers will end up having ugly dish farms if they can only feed four receivers from each dish.

Four cables it is - the signal from the new satellites use a different frequency band, which is why you can no longer diplex OTA signals onto the sat signal, the frequency bands overlap. There is also a new 6x8 multiswitch into which you connect the four cablkes from the dish if you need more than four receivers (the multiswich is cascadable for more than eight outputs) - the additional 2 inputs are for those people who need additional dishes for locals/international, so most people can ignore them.