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Last reply · posted in DIRECTV General Forum
I am having a new home built and we are a couple weeks away from wiring. I plan on having direcTV with many receivers across multiple locations in the house. I have a moderate amount of experience running cable for directv, so I think I know what I want to run where, but hoping others can chime in and tell me what you think.

Here's what I want to accomplish:


  • One major TV viewing area that will house my home theater, plus multiple other smaller screens (I'm a sunday ticket junkie). I'm not sure how many total screens will be in the room, but I'm planning for a maximum of 7 (which includes the large home theater screen). A closet will house all my components and DTV receivers.
  • There are apporoximately 15 other areas in the house/garage/deck that I want to wire for possible direcTV. Yeah that sounds like a lot but I am wiring every room, plus workshop, plus screen porch. Probably will never have them all running at once, but you never know.
  • I will be using an rooftop antenna for HD locals - they are not carried by DTV in my area (yet)
  • Will have one DVR (main home theater viewing area) and want to utilize DTVs whole-house access to the DVR through other receivers
  • I already own two 4x8 multiswitches, and I have run them in series before so I know that works. By "in series" I mean I had 4 coax running from dish into the first multiswitch. First multiswitch outputs ran to rooms in the house (4) and fed the other multiswitch (4). I then used the 2nd multiswitch to feed about 5 TVs

My tentative plan:



  • Run 5 coax from the dish/antenna location to a central hub in my utility room. 4 for the dish, and 1 for the antenna
  • at the hub, utilize a 4x16 multiswitch (I think these exist, never used one?)
  • run 5 coax from the hub to the Home Theater closet. One of these will be for antenna. 4 of these will be used to feed a 4x8 multiswitch in the closet. That will give me 8 DTV sources for my home theater room. 7 for the 7 max receivers, and 1 extra for the DVR. Home theater closet will also have at least 2 cat6 runs, maybe more.
  • All other non-home theater TV locations will get 2 coax and 2 cat6 runs to be used as needed down the line. extra coax can be for HD locals if desired, or redistribution of video signal. Cat6 will be use for connecting to home network, hard wired phone, or redistribution of audio/video (I think)
  • the 4x16 multiswitch in the utility room will have 12 outputs left. use these to supply DTV signals to 12 other locations in the house. This is short of my max, but if necessary down the line I'm guessing I can add another multiswitch to the hub in the utility room.

Here's my concerns and unknowns:



  • generally, will this work? I know I've done the two 4x8's to feed about 10 TVs at once, but I dont know if I'm pushing the limit. is there a better way to do this?
  • Is 5 coax from the roof enough? I know it was with my prior setup?
  • will I be able to utilize the DTV whole-house DVR with all these multiswitches in the "path"?
  • Am I right that I should be able to use extra coax/cat6 runs to redistribute audio or video (assuming I would get the correct hardware to so such a thing). By redistribute I gess I am thinking 2 main things: using one receiver to feed 2 TVs in sepearate rooms. and taking music playing on my home theater and sednign it to another room/receiver/speakers elsewhere (this is not a high priority however)

Any input would be highly appreciated.
17 Replies · 4474 views
E
What is RG-45?

You might also want to ask about cabling here: Home A/V Distribution & Networking - AVS Forum.
jtwex
What is RG-45?

You might also want to ask about cabling here: Home A/V Distribution & Networking - AVS Forum.


That's what my ATT guy said he was spooling if my memory serves me correctly.

Edit: Sorry, it was RJ.
E
That's what my ATT guy said he was spooling if my memory serves me correctly.

Edit: Sorry, it was RJ.
RJ-45 is the connector used with CAT5/6 twisted pair cable, mainly used for networking.
H
All right, after doing a lot of internet research and hitting several forums, here is where I am at. I know not all of this is DirecTV related, but I thought I would include it all:

  • Master hub in basement utility area. Will be the house distribution center of all the RG6 coax, and cat6 networking cable. No phone cable - Cat6 will cover this.
  • At coax Hub will be a SWM16 for my DirecTV receivers (eliminates need for my old multiswitches)
  • Entering utility room from outside will be 6 RG6 coax leading to roof location. 4 for DirecTV dish, 1 for OTA antenna, and 1 spare.
  • "Standard" media drops of 2 RG6 and 2 Cat6 to nearly every room. Some rooms will get two of these placed on opposite ends of the room for additional flexibility in arranging the room (for example, the office). Media drops include garage/workshop, deck, and screen porch.
  • Larger drop running to Home theater media closet. 10 RG6 Coax and 4 Cat6. 10 coax will cover my maximum Sunday Ticket needs with 7 DirecTV receivers for 7 screens. That will eat up 7 of the RG6. 1 RG6 will be for OTA antenna. 2 spares.
  • Conduit run from utility room hub to key locations in the basement, and up to the attic. This includes most rooms, and of course the media closet. Attic run should cover anything upstairs as I could drop down through any wall (I think). Conduit also run from Media closet to Home Theater TV wall as means to connect TVs to anything in the closet.
  • Will plan ahead to allow a single DirecTV receiver to share signal with multiple TVs at key locations. For example, run connection between master bedroom and master bath to share one signal. Not quite sure how I want to do this.
  • Home theater room speakers will be wired to the media closet and to a 7.1 wall plate. Sub will get wired to media closet with RG6. Upstairs living room will have 2 ceiling speakers with speaker wire running to built-in cabinets in the room (the location of that room's media drop). I'm not sure what I want to do with these speakers yet. At a basic level, I'd just have a radio/mp3 shelf unit on the cabinets and have that be the source through the speaker wires. I'm guessing since I have a media drop there, that should cover anything I come up with as far as accessing music remotely from elsewhere in the house?
  • All RG6 will be solid copper core quad shield 3GHz. Cat6 specs are unknown. Speaker wire I figure I should just go 12 gauge (I wont be the one running it, so not concerned with ease, just performance).

Outstanding questions and lingering thoughts:

  • Unsure at specs I should be insisting on for the cat6 cable
  • How to handle the DirecTV receiver sharing. I'm torn between running HDMI vs Component between the locations. DirecTV receivers have both outputs, both active, but only one of each. Running component in-wall I *think* might be more reliable to run, but requires big ugly wall plate with 5 jacks on either end, and may be obsolete down the road due to copyright technology. HDMI is a more elegant solution, but requires either (a) using component for the local TV near the receiver or b) utilizing an HDMI splitter in order to feed both TVs. From what I've read HDMI splitters are mini-landmines as far as reliability. If I knew I could reliably split the HDMI signal (even if it was spendy) I'd go ahead with running HDMI in the walls for signal sharing. Thoughts???
  • Sort of related to the prior bullet, two locations I am running media drops to are the deck and screen porch...both obviously exposed to the elements (I am in Minnesota). How is this typically done? With the media drop I'd have 2 RG6 and 2 Cat6. Plus these are locations that I may just share a signal from a inside receiver, so they may have a Component or HDMI run as well. Is there outdoor rated jacks and cables?
  • Should I run more than 4 Cat6 to media closet? With the ever-growing list of internet capable devices, who knows how many of these I need. Is there any disadvantage of just planning to put a small cat6 hub in the media closet if I ever need more than 4 jacks?
H
OK, it was pointed out to me on another forum that I could just do one of my 1x8 splits in the media closet itself..although that would commit 8 of my SWM16 slots to just that closet, which only feeds one room. That would leave 8 for the rest of the house from the other side of the SWM16.

My current plan sketched in my head has potentially 10 active receivers in the house. Not sure I will get that many, but its possible. 3 of those would permanently reside in the media closet feeding the home theater/sunday ticket room. That leaves 7 receivers scattered about the rest of the house... which means the 8 remaining runs from the other half of the SWM16 can feed the rest of the house.

(on football sundays I just would move whatever extra receivers I need from various house locations to the media closet)

SO yes I think I can cut down the runs to the media closet. perhaps 1 for direcTV, one for OTA antenna, and 2 spares is enough. I'd probably go with 6 just for the heck of it.

Only issue would arise is if I ever exceed 8 active receivers in non-media-closet locations. Then Id have to completely split the SWM to 16 at the hub on "standard" days, and move some wiring around and split at the media closet on "sunday ticket days"

My hub in the utility room (with the SWM16) as about 50 feet away from the media closet. Will that be a problem with that long of run prior to the splitter?
jtwex
RJ-45 is the connector used with CAT5/6 twisted pair cable, mainly used for networking.

I could test this by climbing up into my attic where my "utility closet" had to be (pick a better location for your new home) but are the pin assignments "mix & match" regardless of whether you use it for phone or Ethernet. I believe the Ethernet has more pins connected but can you simply use the same configured cable for phone if desired?
HeavyC
As was stated above. I'd only run one Cat6 cable to each room. Then you can just place a 1 Gig Ethernet Swtich in any of the rooms where you have more then one connected device. There's certainly nothing wrong with multiple drops to each room, but it's just a bit of an overkill.
E
I could test this by climbing up into my attic where my "utility closet" had to be (pick a better location for your new home) but are the pin assignments "mix & match" regardless of whether you use it for phone or Ethernet. I believe the Ethernet has more pins connected but can you simply use the same configured cable for phone if desired?
The inside two pins (blue pair) are the only ones that are consistent through each wiring scheme, whether it be a phone jack or a network jack. In a network jack, pins 4/5 and 7/8 (blue and brown pairs) are the ones consistent. The orange and green pairs (pins 1/2 and 3/6) swap places. In residential settings, ANSI/TIA/EIA calls for pinout 568A, which has the blue pair on pins 4/5 and the orange pair on pins 3/6, the same as a regular phone jack.
SuperDish_Fan23
· posted in DISH Network Support Forum
Why are ViP922s So rare? like its crazy how ebay has none, i checked everywhere, also, i got a ViP222k now, which is actually activated!
0 Replies · 2 views
Former member 208119
Last reply · posted in SiriusXM Satellite Radio
My year was almost up and we got the new bill for a year of service for $ 360.00 insane sat radio is becoming like cable!!! i logged into my acct and hopped onto chat and told the rep that i wanted to cancel. she understood my concern and went quiet for a few minutes. i figured that she was canceling my service. she comes back and said that she seen that i have been a sub since 07 and then offers me the same package for a year for 120.00 with taxes and fee's!!! i grabbed it. after almost having a stroke :biggrin
237 Replies · 10978 views
B
What i noticed with my last renewal XM is now billing me $4.99 monthly instead of one time yearly payment.
Jimbo
What i noticed with my last renewal XM is now billing me $.99 monthly instead of one time yearly payment.
Did you accidentally get on the wrong plan ?
I still do the once a year plans.
B
Did you accidentally get on the wrong plan ?
I still do the once a year plans.
I have to think maybe more people dont keep track of the monthly XM bill. Every time i renew i put a reminder on my calendar week before its time to renew. My wife told me the other day not to renew her and then i told her you are not going to be able to listen to XM at home. Then she changed her mind...!!
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TRG
TRG
I have to think maybe more people dont keep track of the monthly XM bill. Every time i renew i put a reminder on my calendar week before its time to renew. My wife told me the other day not to renew her and then i told her you are not going to be able to listen to XM at home. Then she changed her mind...!!
I get an e-mail every month reminding me that X amount will be charged to my credit card. If I see it go up I get on chat or pick up the phone. But I also remember that my year is up in December.
B
I get an e-mail every month reminding me that X amount will be charged to my credit card. If I see it go up I get on chat or pick up the phone. But I also remember that my year is up in December.
yea i don't understand WHY, like you I get a notice each month. Mine is also up in December.
Jimbo
yea i don't understand WHY, like you I get a notice each month. Mine is also up in December.
You get an email every month to let you know they are billing you for the next month.
Foxbat
Mrs. Foxbat reminded me it's that time of the year to do the Cancel Tango💃🏽

The A.I. agent appears to be better than in the past. It got to the acceptable price quicker than previous years, no human operator involved. $5/mo and I still have over $50 in SiriusXM credit from my FordPartner benefits.
Scott Greczkowski
Staff member HERE TO HELP YOU! Cutting Edge
Last reply · posted in The Chit Chat Club
Sometimes a thread gets so many posts in it that is can cause issues for the server so that why today we introduce The Song Name Game Part 3!

So let the game continue!

The last song was added by Bobby who posted...

One Meat Ball - Andrews Sisters

CONTINUE ON AND HAVE FUN! WELCOME HOME TO SATELLITEGUYS.US!

Here are the original rules for the game as posted by WebbyDude back in 2006. http://www.satelliteguys.us/threads/68645-Song-Name-Game

Just name a song title and the band who performed it. The next person does the same thing, but needs to list a song title or band name which includes a word from the previous entry. Pick songs from any genre.

Example:

Long Live Rock and Roll -- Rainbow

Rainbow in the Dark -- Dio

Another example:

Ride the Lightning -- Metallica

Lightning Strikes -- Ozzy Osbourne


Get it?


An additional note: we all know that song titles, sometimes, use profane words. Because this is a family friendly website it is advised that you clean up that title up a bit. This is accomplished by using something like sh!t instead of the real word. Thanks....
68527 Replies · 2672588 views
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dishstaller
Can't You See - Marshall Tucker Band
sdfntx
See You in September - The Happenings
long_time_Dish
You Look Like You Love Me - Ella Langley
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dishstaller
See Me Feel Me - The Who
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long_time_Dish
Take It Easy On Me - Little River Band
Peter Parker
Supporting Founder Lifetime Supporter
Last reply · posted in DISH Network Support Forum
No idea what improvements might be involved.
19 Replies · 803 views
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bookworm370
Has anyone noticed an FF stutter with 713? I used to be able to hit FF a few times and skip smoothly. After 713 (maybe 712), when I skip forward, there is a definite stutter for as many times as I have pressed FF.

Can anyone check on this and report back? Recorded programs and then press skip forward a few times to see if it's smooth? Normally, it just jumps to the right place after the skips.
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N
I'm getting fabulous picture on Ch. 148 4k, but zero audio with H713. This is with a recorded show (Notre Dame game). Anyone else have this? Audio is fine on every other channel.
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R
Has anyone noticed an FF stutter with 713? I used to be able to hit FF a few times and skip smoothly. After 713 (maybe 712), when I skip forward, there is a definite stutter for as many times as I have pressed FF.

Can anyone check on this and report back? Recorded programs and then press skip forward a few times to see if it's smooth? Normally, it just jumps to the right place after the skips.
My wife mentioned that her remote is acting strange this morning. She hit FF and it went to 15x FF.
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Bobby
I'm getting fabulous picture on Ch. 148 4k, but zero audio with H713. This is with a recorded show (Notre Dame game). Anyone else have this? Audio is fine on every other channel.
This has been an ongoing issue. A fix is coming, probably in the next software version.
Foxbat
Wife bought me a t-shirt that has "have you tried turning it off and on again?"
Here's the one I need:
1792365258110.webp
dishstaller
Here's the one I need:
Just ordered one....that's great.
dfergie
Staff member HERE TO HELP YOU!
Last reply · posted in The Chit Chat Club
Stumbled across this ... http://www.gaspricewatch.com/USGas_ZipSearch.asp
I found no local prices, although it did show stations at my location...
Added these to this post...
USA National Gas Temperature Map
State By State Gasoline Taxes
Gas Buddy

Ethanol Free Stations

5552 Replies · 460615 views
Bobby
Regular$5.999​
Premium$6.399​
Diesel$7.999​
at Costco, Rohnert Park.​
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harshness
I wonder if California is getting into the Winter formula.
dishstaller
Regular$5.999​
Premium$6.399​
Odd that out there, Prem is only 40 cents higher. Here it's a full dollar more.

Last night it was about $4.17 gas, $6,19 diesel.
harshness
Odd that out there, Prem is only 40 cents higher. Here it's a full dollar more.
On the West Coast, a 40-cent differential is common. It used to be 30 cents before the prices rose above $3.

A "full dollar more" sounds like it may be boat gas (non-alcoholic), which is a whole different discussion.
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Foxbat
Here in Indiana, the difference between Regular and Premium is usually a dollar, but some charge even more:
1792374072446.webp
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dishstaller
A "full dollar more" sounds like it may be boat gas (non-alcoholic),
Both non-ethanol and prem run about the same....buck more. When we were up in TN it was a buck more up there as well.
jokeworm
Last reply · posted in What's Cooking?
Ok, I'm bored .... actually - to be more precise - I'm bored of eating the same rotation of 9 or 10 meals that are currently my "go-to" meals. My wife works the long hours - I work from home as and when i feel like it ... which means i generally do most of the cooking ... and so by default - i also make out the shopping list ...

We cook at home 5 or even 6 nights a week - but we always seem to fall back on the same old tried and tested "quick and easy but tastes ok" meals. Week in week out.

Pot Roast - mash and Peas.
Spaghetti
Chicken Pasta in cheese sauce.
Curry & rice
(these are some of mine)

Now it's not that I'm not adventurous in the kitchen ... I'll try anything once or twice ... but we all do it. Unless your name is Martha Stewart or Rachel Ray .. we all eventually fall back on our 8-10 favorite "meals"

So i thought - if we shared some of our own go-to meals with each other ... we might be able to add a few "new" ones to our own arsenal of meals.

So again - I ask you ...

What's for dinner tonight ?

Please give me something new to add to my rotation ... its our weekly shop tomorrow - so i want to pull together a few idea's and try and eat a meal each day next week that I've never had before .. or at least something that is not on my current "go-to" meal plan.

What meal do you always seem to fall back on in your house ? Maybe its something that I've never tried or not had in a while. I need inspiration !! I've got a blank shopping list in front of me - and nothing sounds good .. HELP !
4332 Replies · 331154 views
TRG
TRG
Beef and vegetable stew with buttermilk biscuits. Water.
It seemed appropriate on an unusually cold and wet evening in New Mexico.
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Bobby
Chili Cheesebugers, Tater Tots.
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TRG
TRG
I made shrimp parmesan with spaghetti and a salad.
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S
venison lasagna
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dishstaller
Smoked some salmon on the grill while enjoying some Blue Moon beer. Kinda cool tonight so I fired up the heaters. Here in FL, we fire up heaters once the temps get below 60 :cool As for the salmon, I seared them first, then flipped them off to the side not over the coals and brushed on some lemon pepper marinade followed by some salmon seasoning. Threw some hickory chips on the coals and then closed the vents to about 10% airflow. Yum.
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osu1991
Pub Member / Supporter
Last reply · posted in The Chit Chat Club

The number-one US state for EV growth, according to the June 22 Yardi report?
Oklahoma.


:eek


It has no ZEV mandates and "minimal" incentives, Yardi says, but also has cheap electricity, high multi-car household rates (so, for example, a non-Lightning Ford F-150 pulls their trailers), and a consumer base willing to switch.
112 Replies · 901 views
navychop
Servant's problem.
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meStevo

Never realized that Tesla is losing to BYD at manufacturing too, which IMO is Tesla's biggest accomplishment and area of innovation. Nice writeup about the state of play and how we got here though. I have no faith that we're moving any productive direction though sadly, most changes and efforts feel reactionary rather than rooted in making use of the time being bought by tariffs, with few exceptions.

So: how are the cars so cheap, and what is being cut to get there? The best public accounting comes from the Rhodium Group, which compared BYD, Geely, and Leapmotor against Tesla's Chinese operation, a fair comparison because it removes labor costs and shipping from the equation entirely. Their estimate is that BYD builds a car for about $4,700 less than Tesla builds a Model 3 in Shanghai, roughly 15 percent of the Model 3's price. The breakdown is the interesting part. Direct government grants account for about $292 per vehicle, which is 5 percent of the gap. The biggest single factor is vertical integration: BYD makes about 80 percent of its top-tier components in-house, against 37 percent for Tesla, and that eliminates roughly $2,369 per vehicle in supplier markups. Lower overhead, meaning cheaper engineering talent and administrative cost spread across enormous volume, accounts for another $1,719. And BYD pays its suppliers on 155-day terms, against Tesla's 60, which is worth about $214 per car in float. When people say the Chinese advantage is subsidies, the per-vehicle number says otherwise. When people say it is slave wages, the Tesla Shanghai comparison says otherwise too. The advantage is mostly that BYD decided, twenty years ago, to make its own batteries, its own motors, its own power electronics, and its own semiconductors, and Western automakers decided the opposite.​
harshness
The EV company to watch out for is SAIC. They seem likely to take over Government Motors at some point.

GM originally struck a JV deal with SAIC to gain access to China. Now SAIC has taken China back with the substantial library of technology GM shared and they're looking to export to Mexico, South America, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific.
osu1991
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TWiT Tech Podcast Network
· posted in TWiT Tech Podcast Network
0 Replies · 17 views
Ham Radio 2.0
· posted in Ham Radio 2.0
0 Replies · 13 views
Ramy
Supporting Founder
Last reply · posted in The Sports Section
Really excited for this season with Kentucky having a new coach and some really exciting recruits. Probably won't last long, but here's hoping this season is great.
148 Replies · 1742 views
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Foxbat
They ought to have fun with this… :devilish
osu1991
They ought to have fun with this… :devilish
Was thinking same thing. It should be a good week for sec shorts and roll call
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R
A lot of upsets yesterday, but my LSU Tigers won.
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Foxbat
Best fan sign I saw during the ND-BYU game: "Bear ate your Lucky Charms!" (Bear being the Cougars' QB). I was going to suggest, "Have you or your team been involved in a Carr crash?"
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