Below are two links to a Radio Shack Splitter and a Radio Shack combiner. Does anyone know what the difference is besides price?

A 2 way splitter from Radio Shack:
[Link: tinyurl.com]

A 2 way combiner from RS:
[Link: tinyurl.com]


I have also see Combiners available that advertise combining Sat on one input with OTA TV on the other.

-Don B

By their description, it looks like the combiner is intended for use as both a splitter and combiner, while a splitter is intended only for splitting a signal (not intended to use backwards as a combiner).

Combiners that combine Sat and OTA signals differ and are typically referred to as diplexers. Satellite signals are much higher in frequency and need to be able to pass current.

The correct term for a splitter is a "hybrid splitter". Since it is a passive device it can either split the signal or combine signals. Your links were for 2 set hybrid splitters. If someone wanted to combine 3 or 4 signals then a three or 4 way splitter can be used. The loss to the signal would be identical when combining as with splitting the signal.

Keep in mind that hybrid splitters do not filter any frequencies...so that if channels are near each other then signal levels should be balanced. Also, you can not use hybrid splitters to combine identical channels. Such as CATV and OTA HDTV signals.

Hope this helps,

Dave T.

I always understood that regular splitters were not intended to be used in reverse - hense they are labelled as such (one in, two outs)? I had a problem with cable TV reception a long time ago and a reversed splitter was the problem - put it the right way and everything was fixed.

I know from practice that a splitter CAN be used backwards, but I understood that it hinders the signal, which is what it did in my case...

What would be the difference between the two above splitters then? Only one states it can be used as a "combiner".

Yeah, exactly.


I think they just didn't bother to write it.

I first heard of splitters as being splitters/combiners, and have never heard of any device called a splitter that cannot be used backwards. Devices called taps and drop taps are highly directional, but not splitters.


As for BACKWARDS --

I once had a problem with a splitter that was put in backwards, and putting it in forwards corrected it, too.

But wait a minute -- it's not possible to have it in backwards: it has one input and two outputs! How do you "backwards" three wires? It has, for argument's sake, one input and two outputs. If you hook it up forwards, one cable signal in goes out to two TVs. But if you hook it up "backwards," well, then only one "input" is there, and it will go to a TV; one "output" will bring in the signal from the cable.

So what do you do with the third connector? If you connect it to a TV, then you do NOT have the splitter hooked up backwards. You have it more, say, sideways; one TV is on the input, one TV is on an output, and the cable signal is on an output.

Your problems with this connection arise from the two TVs now being connected almost directly to one another. When I had this problem, one channel was messed up on one TV...until I changed the channel on the other TV. Then the first TV had a messed-up channel, but it was a different one. Also, the TV connected to the "input" had decent signal level but the TV connected to "output" had lousy signal level.

This is all because there is little isolation between the input and both outputs, and there is much more isolation between the two outputs. If you directly connect two TV cable inputs together, the TVs will interact as I describe (this is in the analog world; Lord knows what digitals will do in this case).

With the splitter hooked up sideways, you had little isolation between the two TVs' cable inputs, so they interacted; the cable signal was strong into the TV on the "input" because there is little isolation from output to input; the other TV had a weak cable signal because there is a lot of isolation from one output to another.

Ernie,

Very well said. Your response was precise and very articulate.You may have a future in this business. LOL.

Dave T

That makes sense then - because I had the same problem with the output (being used as an output) getting a bad signal when connecting the input to the other output.

So RS selling the one as a "combiner" at a higher price is just really a marketing gimmick I assume?

The higher price could be due to the increased bandwidth that the splitter/combiner will pass. It can also be due to increased sheilding to prevent ingress of interference to the RF signal. More expensive splitters can also provide more isolation between the legs to prevent one leg from interfering with the other.

Other then that, yes, it is marketing to increase the price.

Thanks for all the answers.

BTW I see the less expensive one although Gold in color does not say that it is "Gold-Plated"

I also see neither say "Monster" - not even the more expensive one.

Kevin- thanks for reminding me that the Sat ones are called diplexers.

-Don B

Thanks! I hope so. In the middle seventies, I was the "answer man" for a chain of hi-fi stores in the Los Angeles area, back when Shell Oil introduced the term "answer man." My main assignment then was to figure out how to ask "Is your tape monitor button pushed in?" without having the person realize what an idiotic basic question that was, especially as it was usually the source of the silence they were complaining about.

I got that explanation from having to figure out how to explain it to the satellite (big dish type back then) engineer, yes, actually, engineer who was doing the dish installation.


You give them credit for doing this on purpose. Have you been to Radio Shack and asked a real technical question in the last ten years? To do so is to see that they are not likely to do much of anything technical on purpose.

Nah, I think they just gave one copy writing assignment to someone with a bit more knowledge than your average Radio Shack employee or even perhaps manager, and that person thought of the word "combiner." And happened to be correct.

Don't kid yourself. Radio Shack employs some good engineers that fully understand what they are buying.

I've met several of their buyers that were quite smart. They do understand cost and performance tradeoffs, and realize many customers buy without ever really listening. As you'll notice Radio Shack continues to sell amps, receivers, etc, yet have no place to perform any critical listening. They know their market, and they're good business people. This is why they're still in business, while many more "capable" chains have closed their doors.

You will note that my comment has to do with store employees. If we could talk to the engineers, we would already have the definitive answer by now.


Completely. But even in a supermarket, you can find people with badges saying "16 years experience" who won't think to tell you that potatoes and onions will spoil one another if you store them in the same container, or that tomatoes will taste better if stored at room temperature. I bet the buyers know this, but they are not available during the store visit.

Actually I thought this was about the difference between splitters and combiners. Your comment was that the person writing the copy guessed the word "combiner" and got it correct. My point was that I bet the person writing the copy, the product line manager, knew exactly what he was talking about.

I don't for a second believe the person manning the store has an engineering degree, heck... I'll bet most couldn't tell you what ohms law was!

Ouch! You guys are scary after I caught the news this morning about RS's CEO stepping down because of a falsified resume.

-Don B