With a Hopper 3, do I have to have a Joey for every TV??

[WickedStepMom]

I have a ten TVs in my home, yes ten. Currently I have a ViP722K that is set up so it feeds all my televisions where all but the living room TV have access to two feeds (TV1 and TV2). This works fine except for those rare occasions that someone is staying in our guest bedroom and we are watching TV1 in the living room and recording on TV2 and that leaves nothing but recorded shows for the guest to watch in the bedroom or what we are watching in the living room.

This brings me to the Hopper choice but 1) the Hopper 3 will only support seven TVs and 2) I can't afford seven Joeys. Plus I don't need a Joey for each TV. I am fine with seven TVs to have access to only the shows that are being watched on the main TV, the living room.

Here is what I now in the house: a HDMI cable from the ViP722K feeds to the living room TV and at the same time a coax cable from the ViP722K goes into a splitter that branches out to the remaining nine TVs where all the nine TVs can what either what is on TV1 or TV2. I've read somewhere that with a RF Modulator I can use the same setup by running the coax from the Hopper to the modulator and then to the Joey and finally to the splitter for the other TVs. And then with the remotes being UHF, the viewers in each room with a remote can watch whatever programming they choose. Is this possible? Or am I mirroring to all nine TVs the same programming?

I live in the country (the boonies) so satellite TV is my only option.

 

[osumike]

I have a ten TVs in my home, yes ten. Currently I have a ViP722K that is set up so it feeds all my televisions where all but the living room TV have access to two feeds (TV1 and TV2). This works fine except for those rare occasions that someone is staying in our guest bedroom and we are watching TV1 in the living room and recording on TV2 and that leaves nothing but recorded shows for the guest to watch in the bedroom or what we are watching in the living room.

This brings me to the Hopper choice but 1) the Hopper 3 will only support seven TVs and 2) I can't afford seven Joeys. Plus I don't need a Joey for each TV. I am fine with seven TVs to have access to only the shows that are being watched on the main TV, the living room.

Here is what I now in the house: a HDMI cable from the ViP722K feeds to the living room TV and at the same time a coax cable from the ViP722K goes into a splitter that branches out to the remaining nine TVs where all the nine TVs can what either what is on TV1 or TV2. I've read somewhere that with a RF Modulator I can use the same setup by running the coax from the Hopper to the modulator and then to the Joey and finally to the splitter for the other TVs. And then with the remotes being UHF, the viewers in each room with a remote can watch whatever programming they choose. Is this possible? Or am I mirroring to all nine TVs the same programming?

I live in the country (the boonies) so satellite TV is my only option.

Yeah, the hopper 3 has 16 tuners, but you'd need joeys to access anything other than what the hopper is watching. So like you said, with only the hopper, all ten tv's would be watching the same thing at the same time. With just a few joeys though, you could back feed using rf modulators to the remaining tv's, which wouid give you more options. Also the dish anywhere app on a fire stick acts as a Joey without the monthly cost, but don't forget that's reliant on a good internet connection.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using the SatelliteGuys app!

 

[JSheridan]

But remember that Dish Anywhere only does one stream at a time.

 

[Cheddar_Head]

Internet bandwidth is not used when the TV and Hopper are on the same LAN, well a little bit is for authentication traffic but that is not a bandwidth intensive activity.

 

[darrengs]

To get what you seem to have now I would suggest; A Hopper 3 on living room TV. A Joey 4 connected to an RF modulator (it won't be HD) feeding your other TV's. A FireStick (though I prefer the FireTV) with Dish Anywhere for your guest room (or can be moved whenever/where ever you may want), this iwll give your guests full access to what ever they want to watch.

I had something similar to this at one point, but as my children got older they stopped watching "real" TV, so now I only have a Hopper3 in the master, a Joey 4 in the family room, and a FireTV and Firestick for use as needed.

 

[eddie willers]

A FireStick (though I prefer the FireTV) .

The FireTV is no more. I've bought each version since they were introduced but needed a new one.

That's when I found out they had replaced the 4K "Yield Sign" with a new 4K Stick. I nervously got one and was please to see that, even though it was indeed a 'stick', it was much thicker (comes with an HDMI pigtail if your HDMI real estate is crowded) so I think it has as much 'punch' as the last one. It seems just as fast as as the previous FireTV units and added a fake (but I like it) HDR signal (defeatable if you don't like) and, the remote control now has Volume +/-, Mute and TV Power buttons. It says it can control other equipment, but I use a Harmony and so have not tried to set it up.

Bottom line, I like the new 4K stick ($49.99 reg., but has been $39.99 for weeks.)

 

[WickedStepMom]

Thank you all for your feedback. Now I have more questions.

The main TV for the Hopper would be the living room. I'm currently thinking a Joey for the master bedroom. The fire stick is a great suggestion and with never using one, is it plugged into a HDMI or USB port of a television? That would be great for the downstairs guest bedroom when Mom comes for a visit.

I am comfortable with the remaining TVs all watching the same channel as it is rare for someone to use the 2 upstairs bedrooms, the TV in the loft is mainly for the grandkids video games, the kitchen TV would be playing whatever is in the living room since both rooms are open to each, the basement tv rarely is watched, and when I'm in my laundry/sewing room I normally would be watching whatever was on in the living room. I do have a Dish Sling so if I did want something for one person to watch, they could do so with an iPad or tablet but I guess that is not an option if someone is using the Fire Stick.....correct?

Back to the RF modulator that I would need to make one Joey work for the remaining TVs in the house that wouldn't have their own Joeys or a Fire Stick. I see numerous RF modulators out there from less than $10 to several hundred dollars. How do I know which to purchase?

Thanks.

 

[eddie willers]

Thank you all for your feedback. Now I have more questions.

I do have a Dish Sling so if I did want something for one person to watch, they could do so with an iPad or tablet but I guess that is not an option if someone is using the Fire Stick.....correct?

The Hopper 3 has Sling built in (so I guess you can put the stand alone Sling aside). iPad etc. will work as well, but as someone said earlier, only one stream at a time is allowed.

 

[HipKat]

Thank you all for your feedback. Now I have more questions.

The main TV for the Hopper would be the living room. I'm currently thinking a Joey for the master bedroom. The fire stick is a great suggestion and with never using one, is it plugged into a HDMI or USB port of a television? That would be great for the downstairs guest bedroom when Mom comes for a visit.

I am comfortable with the remaining TVs all watching the same channel as it is rare for someone to use the 2 upstairs bedrooms, the TV in the loft is mainly for the grandkids video games, the kitchen TV would be playing whatever is in the living room since both rooms are open to each, the basement tv rarely is watched, and when I'm in my laundry/sewing room I normally would be watching whatever was on in the living room. I do have a Dish Sling so if I did want something for one person to watch, they could do so with an iPad or tablet but I guess that is not an option if someone is using the Fire Stick.....correct?

Back to the RF modulator that I would need to make one Joey work for the remaining TVs in the house that wouldn't have their own Joeys or a Fire Stick. I see numerous RF modulators out there from less than $10 to several hundred dollars. How do I know which to purchase?

Thanks.

First, I love your user name! Now if there are TV's that are rarely used, would you consider Wireless Joeys that you can move from room to room as needed? You can have up to 6 on 1 Hopper 3. Now there is 1 "snag" and that's a $25.00, one time cost per Wireless Joey

 

[osumike]

One of those cheap rf modulators will be fine for you.

 

[HipKat]

One of those cheap rf modulators will be fine for you.

If the cabling is setup to back feed from the RF modulator to a central point to split or daisy chain to the mirrored receivers. Like a TV2 line that was connected to the 722 itself, in lieu of a Diplexer

 

[osumike]

If the cabling is setup to back feed from the RF modulator to a central point to split or daisy chain to the mirrored receivers. Like a TV2 line that was connected to the 722 itself, in lieu of a Diplexer

It sounds to me like the hopper is setup remotely, so if that's the case, the one Joey could be as well, and then she wouldn't need that extra cable ran for a back feed to the splitters.

 

[JSheridan]

When I run across a situation like this with only one wire and no way to run another one for a back feed I recommend a wireless Joey and use the existing wire as the back feed.

 

[HipKat]

When I run across a situation like this with only one wire and no way to run another one for a back feed I recommend a wireless Joey and use the existing wire as the back feed.

Why did I never think of that?? Good stuff!!!!

 

[WickedStepMom]

After reviewing pictures of the back of the Hoppers, I don't see that there is an option to MIRROR as there is only one coax to the Hopper and that is IN. The only OUT ports for RCA and HDMI.

 

[JSheridan]

After reviewing pictures of the back of the Hoppers, I don't see that there is an option to MIRROR as there is only one coax to the Hopper and that is IN. The only OUT ports for RCA and HDMI.

You have to take the audio/video RCA out and wire that to a modulator.

 

[WickedStepMom]

You have to take the audio/video RCA out and wire that to a modulator.

But I won't own the Hopper3 so I can't make any changes to it. I was told that the Hopper with Sling has an OUT COAX but so far haven't found any pics to verify this.

 

[Bobby]

But be advised that using a modulator will give you SD video at your remote location.

 

[Bobby]

But I won't own the Hopper3 so I can't make any changes to it. I was told that the Hopper with Sling has an OUT COAX but so far haven't found any pics to verify this.

You wouldn’t be making any changes to the Hopper 3. You simply buy an inexpensive audio-video modulator and use a red-white-yellow RCA cable between them. Your mirroring coax goes to the modulator.

 

[WickedStepMom]

Hmmmmmm, not crazy about SD on the HD TV'S.
Thanks for these last 2 posts. Always appreciate feedback.

Any idea if the Hopper with the Sling has an OUT coax? The Dish rep I spoke with said it did but he was in a rush for me to sign me up with a two year contract.