splitting to multiple TV's

Broeux · May 19, 2004

I'm preparing to sign up for Dish Network, and I confess ignorance and confusion after my "research" through many sources, including posts here. I want to use one Dish 322 dual tuner receiver with 4 TV's. What I'd like to do is have 3 TV's on one tuner and the 4th TV on the other tuner (independent viewing in 2 rooms--that is, whatever is on one tuner could be watched in 3 rooms, while the 4th room could watch a different channel).

(A) Dish Network rep tells me I can run the 3 and 1 combination but will have to pay the installer 59.99 to wire the 1 TV that is not wired now. VMC also says I can only split the UHF tuner, and splitting to more than 2 TV's on one tuner will will degrade the signal. Is that a fact?

[Note: Dish Networks web site description of the 322 states: “ 'Agile modulated mono output' can send the second tuner’s signal to multiple televisions via home distributions." (Nothing about degrading the signal.) I assume that means it can be split to more than 2 TV's provided you use the proper splitter/wiring. Am I wrong?]

[Note also: VMC's web site states: "You can have up to 6 TVs on one account. Your first four rooms are installed FREE. If you need a fifth or sixth TV set up, you must pay $149 for a special SW64 switch and $99.99 each for the receivers for the extra TVs to be connected. Installation for each extra TV will cost $59.99." - I realize it doesn't state you can have the 6 TV's running off one dual tuner receiver, but it doesn't state how many/what kind of receivers you need either.]

(B) Currently I have 3 TV's running off one RCA receiver with DirectTV, so the wiring is in place for 3 TV's--or can Dish Network use the same wiring? If the same wiring is used, it seems to me VMC could wire the one TV not already wired, without additional charge, considering they will totally install 4 rooms free.

(C) Dish Network told me I could have 4 TV's on two dual tuner receivers for just an extra 5.00/month, giving me independent viewing in four rooms. I assume that is accurate? I thought I had read something contradictory to that somewhere.

(D) SuperDish: Is this is a 3-LNB dish? DirectTV tells me they will have to come out and install a multi-sattelite dish for me to get local channels. VMC rep told me local channels could be viewed with their standard dish, and their SuperDish is provided only if my signal strength is too weak with the standard dish. What's the deal with SuperDish?

I really would appreciate some clarifications before I put in my order. Thanks in advance.

Mr Tony · May 19, 2004

Broeux said:
I'm preparing to sign up for Dish Network, and I confess ignorance and confusion after my "research" through many sources, including posts here. I want to use one Dish 322 dual tuner receiver with 4 TV's. What I'd like to do is have 3 TV's on one tuner and the 4th TV on the other tuner (independent viewing in 2 rooms--that is, whatever is on one tuner could be watched in 3 rooms, while the 4th room could watch a different channel).

(A) Dish Network rep tells me I can run the 3 and 1 combination but will have to pay the installer 59.99 to wire the 1 TV that is not wired now. VMC also says I can only split the UHF tuner, and splitting to more than 2 TV's on one tuner will will degrade the signal. Is that a fact?

It depends on how many feet away from the receiver you're going. I have 3 TV's off my 508 and the 2 bedrooms the picture looks good for running through the RF cable

[Note: Dish Networks web site description of the 322 states: “ 'Agile modulated mono output' can send the second tuner’s signal to multiple televisions via home distributions." (Nothing about degrading the signal.) I assume that means it can be split to more than 2 TV's provided you use the proper splitter/wiring. Am I wrong?]

yep. You might need an amplifier if the signal does look bad

[Note also: VMC's web site states: "You can have up to 6 TVs on one account. Your first four rooms are installed FREE. If you need a fifth or sixth TV set up, you must pay $149 for a special SW64 switch and $99.99 each for the receivers for the extra TVs to be connected. Installation for each extra TV will cost $59.99." - I realize it doesn't state you can have the 6 TV's running off one dual tuner receiver, but it doesn't state how many/what kind of receivers you need either.]

They mean receivers. You can have up to 6 receivers on an account.

(B) Currently I have 3 TV's running off one RCA receiver with DirectTV, so the wiring is in place for 3 TV's--or can Dish Network use the same wiring? If the same wiring is used, it seems to me VMC could wire the one TV not already wired, without additional charge, considering they will totally install 4 rooms free.

If you already have the wiring there, they shouild be able to tap into that

(C) Dish Network told me I could have 4 TV's on two dual tuner receivers for just an extra 5.00/month, giving me independent viewing in four rooms. I assume that is accurate? I thought I had read something contradictory to that somewhere.

If you plug the receivers into the phoneline, the 1st dual tuner would be free. The 2nd dual tuner would be $4.99 extra. That would be accurate

(D) SuperDish: Is this is a 3-LNB dish? DirectTV tells me they will have to come out and install a multi-sattelite dish for me to get local channels. VMC rep told me local channels could be viewed with their standard dish, and their SuperDish is provided only if my signal strength is too weak with the standard dish. What's the deal with SuperDish?

SuperDish sees 3 satellites..110, 119 (the 2 main Dish satellites) and either 105 or 121. Some local areas are on Superdish and some International programming is too. Since you didn't list your location, I don't know if you would need SuperDish or not. Most larger cities use the regular Dish500. If you list your general location, then I could tell you if you need SD or not.

JohnDoe#2 · May 19, 2004

The TV2 modulated RF output is 10db higher than a "normal" RF output so splitting it to 3 TVs should not be a problem unless the cable run(s) is excessively long. Yes, you will have to pay something to hook up the TV that isn't currently connected but if there is an existing run to that room it shouldn't cost $60.

And, yes, if you get a 2nd 322 and keep the phone lines connected there will only be one a/o fee.

Broeux · May 19, 2004

Thanks for the replies, folks.

My location is Baton Rouge.

Wiring from the receiver to TV #4, via the attic, would be no more than 25'. In fact all of the TV's are within that range.

Mr Tony · May 19, 2004

Baton Rouge locals are not available right now on Dish, so they would give you a Dish500

SimpleSimon · May 19, 2004

Everyone posting above is giving good info. The point to remember is Dish doesn't care how many TV SETS you've got, just how many receivers. It's not even hard to tie the satellite receiver's outputs together so you can pick which tuner on which receiver you might want to see. Remote controls become an issue, but the point I'm making is to go ahead and get installed.

Don't say anything about extra TV wiring to the dispatcher. Mr. Installer Guy knows that you're gonna want 4 TVs hooked up if you're getting 2 dual-tuner receivers - it's part of the basic work order. If you need some extra stuff, be nice to him, and the fact that he might be 'getting off easy' by using chunks of existing wiring means you'll probably be able to get set up the way you want. If it gets to really special or hard work, bring out your friend Andrew Jackson

to help and everybody comes out ahead.

The key point is to treat the guy nice - installers take so much crap that some pleasantry goes a long way.

Broeux · May 19, 2004

I really appreciate the responses here. Thank you much.

Iceberg, DirectTV told us local channels will be available here in June. I guess that doesn't necessarily mean Dish will have them, does it? If Dish knows they are coming very soon I imagine they would go ahead with the SuperDish.

SimpleSimon, you're point is well taken. It is my thought also that the installer would not likely make an issue of the 4th TV, considering my situation; a little kindness most always goes a long way.

JD#2, my electronics man was here today hooking up a new TV to the home entertainment system, and he agrees if the RF output is 10dB we should be able to split to 3 TV's, though just barely. For the extra $5, though, the 2 dual tuners sounds like a deal to me.

I'm going ahead with the Dish order and let the technicians worry about the installation. My biggest issue may be the dish location. The new one's azimuth is 217, which, if the dish is placed where the old one is, will point directly into a nice size crape myrtle! All the other available locations on the back side of the house likewise will have, now or soon, tree interference, unless the dish is mounted much higher toward the peak of the roof. Our roofs here in southern Louisiana are very steep, and I wouldn't ask anyone to risk their life working up there. With all the modern technology we have how come those birds can't see through a few tree branches!?

Thanks again to all for your advice. If you can think of anything else I should consider, feel free to share it.

SimpleSimon · May 19, 2004

Broeux said:
... JD#2, my electronics man was here today hooking up a new TV to the home entertainment system, and he agrees if the RF output is 10dB we should be able to split to 3 TV's, though just barely. For the extra $5, though, the 2 dual tuners sounds like a deal to me.

The extra tuner of a 522 is quite useful anyway.

Broeux said:
Our roofs here in southern Louisiana are very steep, and I wouldn't ask anyone to risk their life working up there.

The installer should know how to handle these situations.

Broeux said:
With all the modern technology we have how come those birds can't see through a few tree branches!?

Actually, it IS the modern technology that lets it work at all.

Ten years ago we needed 6-8' dishes and $1000 just to get basic TV. Major channel surfing was out of the question - it took forever for the dish to move to another bird, so you limited yourself to just a few channels.

But besides all that, the absolutely amazing thing is that we can use nearly disposable hardware to grab microwatt levels of electromagnetic energy from 23,000 miles away and turn it into moving pictures in the living room. Wow.

Sometimes, it can be useful to reflect on such things.

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