3rd receiver setup question

[Lancruiser]

Hello everyone, I am new here and really appreciate all the advice that flows freely.
My current setup is this:
-Dish 500 with DPP Twin for 110 and 119
-Dish 500 with DP Dual for 129 (feeds into the input connector of the Twin)
-722 reciever on a Samsung 40" LCD and a 211 receiver on a Hitachi 50" LCD
-2 cables coming from the dish' into my closet where I have all the coax home run cabling throughout my home. (I am a telecom guy by trade)
-HD Turbo subscription

A simple question to begin-
I keep reading that the 722 needs to have a seperator installed. My original installer did not do this. Instead, he used a diplexer to back feed TV2 to another room where I had an old 27" JVC. The 722 only has 1 cable feeding into it and has worked fine for well over a year. I also read that the TDPP Twin acts a s a switch (?) which makes sense since the 3rd coax on the roof is fed into it and only 2 coax cables come out. My question would be why the seperator is necessary when apparently it's not always the case. Am I missing something? The system info screen shows good signal on all 3 satellites.

Secondly-
I have purchased a 222k for my MBR and another Samsung LCD. From what I gather, I need a switch, possibly a DPP33 or 34 (?) but apparently there are compatibility issues with the DPP Twin and I may need to go with a DP Twin.
Can someone shed a little light here. I am trying to stay away from the whole "Dish'n it up" scam as they insist that I sign up for another 24 months.

Thanks

 

[TheKrell]

I'll take a stab at that. Yes, your DPP twin only has two DP outputs, so you cannot add a 3rd receiver without additional equipment. What a separator does is allow you to feed a dual-tuner receiver with a single cable. I think your 722 has one of these on the back with 3" stubs connected to each tuner. A 222 should also come with a separator.

If you want to do this yourself, the cheapest way to do it is to replace the DPP twin with a DP twin, and then take 3 cables down to your closet where you would hook them into a new DPP33 switch.

 

[Lancruiser]

Thanks for the input, I was pretty sure that was the case on the new hook-up, but it always helps to get an informed opinion.

However, crazy or impossible as it may seem, there is no separator on my 722. The new 222 does have one in the box, but i can promise you there is not one on my 722. The cables from the dish in are only 25 feet long and I helped the guy pull them in. He terminated the cables outside while I was in the attic feeding them down into my wall box, so i know there is nothing in the attic. My understanding is that it "separates" the 2 signals and would normally feed into the 2 inputs at the back of the unit. Makes perfect sense, but my system is working without it. I wonder if it's working at full capacity...I wouldn't know because it's all I have ever seen.
Regardless, I will pick up another seperator and install in on the 722 when I make the big switch.

Thanks again,

 

[TheKrell]

However, crazy or impossible as it may seem, there is no separator on my 722.

Huh? There are two sat tuner inputs on the back of a 722. If one of them is disconnected, the receiver complains so much it's barely usable via the tuner that is connected. Therefore, I'm almost certain that you have two cables connected on back. Where do they go?

The separator is very likely hiding somewhere behind that 722. An alternative is that it's in your closet and two separate cables are going to the two tuners. But with only 2 cables coming from your DPP twin, and one of them going to each of two receivers, you absolutely positively must have a separator somewhere for the two tuners in the 722.

 

[Lancruiser]

I've recently had the whole thing apart a few times for new furniture and to move it to paint the walls, there is only 1 cable into the 722. Perhaps because it is running in dual mode and we are using the TV2 output, the installer knew I couldn't use the 2nd tuner anyway...(PIP)? I know it probably doesn't work that way, or isn't supposed to work that way, which is why I am wondering if I have been missing programming or functions that I don't know about. The 722 hasn't had a hiccup or complained since the original install.
I'm hoping to get the original installer to call me when he gets back from vacation. to see If I can get an answer.
Anybody else out there ever see a 722 work on 1 cable?

 

[TheKrell]

Most of us run our 722's off a single cable. That's not unusual. The question is, "Does anybody run their 722 on a single cable without a separator?"

Try a MENU 6-1-3 and see what it says. Edit: No, memory fading. The Menu 6-1-1-Check Switch will tell you more about the two satellite tuner inputs.

 

[harshness]

When you order up a third or replacement receiver, DISH should install the appropriate switchgear. In your case, it would probably be a DPP44 (the DPP33 isn't compatible with the DPP Twin).

You can install the separator on your ViP722 to make both tuners fully functional. Any installer who didn't do that on your behalf should be shot in the butt with a rock salt load at close range. This assumes, as TheKrell suggests, that there aren't cables already connected to the both satellite inputs already.