Social Feed

Talk to someone about splitters, and they're likely to go one of two ways. (You could say that opinion is split.) Some will say that with digital signals, splitting really isn't that big of a deal. You're introducing some noise as a result of the splitter itself, and you're cutting the signal level down. Both of these can be dealt with by using a low-noise amplifier. Other folks will say that by splitting the signal you are losing something that you are never getting back. They will tell you that you should only use the smallest possible splitter and simplify your installations as much as possible.

Turns out both sides are right

For those who say that splitting isn't much of a big deal, they're right. For those who say you're losing something you'll never get back, you're also right. The point is that with digital signals, it's never important how strong your signal is, except when it is. The only thing that's important with a digital signal is whether you can tell a zero from a one. If the signal level is significantly higher than the noise level, it's easy. If the signal level is close to the noise level, it's hard. It's like the difference between talking to someone in an empty room versus talking to someone in a room full of people.

As long as you have significantly more signal than noise, or as techs like to call it, a "high signal to noise ratio," there's no problem with splitting. However, it's true that every splitter adds some noise that you can never remove.

Here's the bottom line. Splitters are not the enemy when you're running RG6 cable. However, there are some very specific times and places when they should be used.

DIRECTV

If you have a DIRECTV SWM system (which you probably do if you got in installed since 2009) you can use green-labeled splitters to split the cable. You don't want to use splitters if you don't have to though, though, because every time you split the cable, you also split the signal and eventually the amount of signal will get so low that you won't get enough.

If you have an older DIRECTV system, the ONLY time you can use splitters is prior to a multiswitch, and they have to be used in a very specific way. Our White Paper will tell you more about that. You cannot use splitters to add another receiver.

DISH

DISH allows for specific splitters, called hubs, to be used to add Joey clients for a Hopper system. If you have a Wally-only installation, you can use stackable splitters like these to have up to 32 Wallys connected to a single output from a DPH42 multiswitch.

If you are using a non-Hopper system you can't use splitters, and that's pretty much the whole story there. Instead, you'll have to use more than one DPP44 multiswitch, cascaded together, to give you the number of outputs you need.

Over-the-air antenna

If you have an antenna, you can't exactly split an infinite number of times but you have a lot more flexibility. Inexpensive splitters can be used to split the signal, and it's easy to tell if you've over-split… you'll see the picture break up. Just add an inexpensive distribution amplifier and you'll probably be ok.

If you have additional questions, call the experts! We're here for you during East Coast business hours. The number is 888-233-7563. If it's after hours, no problem! Fill out the form below. We'll get back to you, usually within one business day.


The post When is it ok to split an RG6 cable? appeared first on The Solid Signal Blog.

Continue reading...