- Satellite set up

[SeattleLion]

My setup as provided by the Directv installer:

Slimline 3 Dish
SWM LNB
One connector on the LNB
One wire to the single input on the 4-way Directv MSPLIT4R1-03 splitter in the UDC.
4 output wires to various locations, 2 of which are connected to receivers.
A Directv Power Inserter is inline for wire going to the living room receiver. It sends power thru splitter connection #1 to the LNB.
A single coax line to the living room DVR supports both tuners in the DVR.

No switches are involved, although I'm sure if you wanted to, it's possible to construct a more complicated solution.

Before this setup, I had a Slimline 3 Dish with a much older technology using a Multiswitch LNB having 4 outputs. Each output could be connected to a separate receiver. But since the UDC has 2 connections, only 2 of the 4 could be used until I ran extra coax to the living room. With the Multiswitch LNB, I needed 2 coax lines to the DVR to support 2 tuners.

Dan,

The power inserter (SWM) powers a device in the LNB that shifts frequencies so that both polarities are available on the coax all the time. It also add the 90 deg sat signal as well. Our LNB at home has 4 outputs that go to a true, solid-state, multiswitch that does the same thing the LNB does for smaller installations. I am unclear why that is necessary if the LNB does that work as well. The installer said it had to do with signal strength. You have to wonder why the original design didn't include this feature. I suspect it was because the size of the circuits needed to do all this manipulation were too large to go into the LNB and now with better IC's it is much easier. This is all an exercise in frequency shifting without hurting the quality of the digital content.


Off topic: Thanks, Dan for the tip that older DVR's can handle RF tuners. Both older receivers that we move into the trailer have the capability and it allows us to hide the receivers without worrying about IR signals.