Adding a Receiver - Professional Installation / Upgrading SWM?

[blakex]

Last year, we had DirecTV installed and we got a nice Slimline dish with SWM and we have four HD DVRs in our house. From what I have gleamed from this great site, they probably installed an 8 port switch for the installation. But we want to add a receiver to our service (just standard HD - not DVR) - I figure I can buy a 16 port switch for $130 or so and try to install the receiver myself - or, when ordering the receiver online, I can select professional installation (I don't think there's a cost for that) - so if the professional comes out, will they be able to upgrade me to a 16 port SWM? Or what might happen if we don't have extra ports available?

Sorry, I know it's a lot of questions, but I'm thinking about adding a secondary TV to the main room for uber-awesome Sunday Ticket watching, but don't want to spend too much on new switches or installation. Any ideas?

 

[Davedirectv]

Swm has a maximum of 8 tuners.

Another option would be taking out the swm and going with a 6x16. But that means running extra lines to each room with a hd dvr.

So without setting up another dish and Swm system, I don't know if there's any D* approved way to get more tuners.

 

[ekgermann]

Non-swm lnb, power passing splitters feeding to SWM switches, each supporting 8 tuners (DVR's count as two tuners if you want to use them both).

In theory, this should support about any number of tuners, provided you have the $$$ if you want a SWM single cable solution to each set top box.

I went hybrid. Non-swm lnb to power passing splitters, then it feeds a SWM switch for my DVR's (dual tuners) and my old multiswitch feeds the regular non-DVR receivers.

EKG

 

[twizt3dsist3r]

so your hitting a swm8 and 6x8 without any problems at the same time?

 

[joed32]

In my case they just added another 8 port switch.

 

[RACJ2]

Non-swm lnb, power passing splitters feeding to SWM switches, each supporting 8 tuners (DVR's count as two tuners if you want to use them both)
I went hybrid. Non-swm lnb to power passing splitters, then it feeds a SWM switch for my DVR's (dual tuners) and my old multiswitch feeds the regular non-DVR receivers.

EKG

ekgermann gave you the answer, unless you want to install a second dish.

 

[blakex]

Unfortunately I really have no idea what "Non-swm lnb to power passing splitters," means.

I don't really know what a LNB is - but from what I'm guessing by looking at a couple stores, it's the piece that points at the dish. So I'd have to buy a new one and replace the one on my dish?

And then run that to a power-passing splitter like this - and then from there into my existing SWM switch for the 4 HD DVRs and then buy an additional switch to run the non-DVR receivers?

Or, could I just order a new receiver, have DirecTV come install it and see what they do? Because running additional lines to each of the four receivers is out of the question at the moment, so I need my SWM.

 

[RACJ2]

Unfortunately I really have no idea what "Non-swm lnb to power passing splitters," means.

I don't really know what a LNB is - but from what I'm guessing by looking at a couple stores, it's the piece that points at the dish. So I'd have to buy a new one and replace the one on my dish?

And then run that to a power-passing splitter like this - and then from there into my existing SWM switch for the 4 HD DVRs and then buy an additional switch to run the non-DVR receivers?

Or, could I just order a new receiver, have DirecTV come install it and see what they do? Because running additional lines to each of the four receivers is out of the question at the moment, so I need my SWM.

You might be better off ordering the receiver from D* and see what the installer suggests. One word of caution, in case you get a rookie installer. If you have a SWMLNB and he just adds a cable and its your 9th tuner, one of your tuners will not work after he leaves. It might be tuner 2 on one of your DVR's and you won't notice until you can't schedule 2 recordings at the same time.

The splitter you have the link to won't work because you would have more then 8 tuners. What you need is this:DIRECTV SWM-8 Single Wire Multi-Switch With Power Supply (8 Channel) (SWM-8) | SWM-8 [DIRECTV] In order to use this switch, you would have to change your LNB to this: http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_display.asp?prod=SL5 (The LNB is the part of your dish that protrudes out from the Dish)

If you truly have a SWMLNB, it will only have one coax output coming from it. If it the regular Slimline LNB, it will have 4 coax connectors coming from it. Here is what the SWM LNB looks like: DIRECTV SL5-SWM SlimLine Single Wire Ka/Ku Five LNB With Built-In Multiswitch (SL5-SWM) | SL5-SWM [DIRECTV Slim Line]

Hope this helps!

 

[RACJ2]

I'm thinking about adding a secondary TV to the main room for uber-awesome Sunday Ticket watching, but don't want to spend too much on new switches or installation. Any ideas?

I had another thought. If you are just going to use this on Sundays, you might have a cheaper option. If you have a DVR that is within 75' of where your main "NFL ST watching" TV is, you could run a long HDMI cable. Since you have 4 DVR's already, it would leave 2 DVR's for someone else to watch.

The HDMI cable would run from the DVR in the other room to the additional TV you have in the living room. Then you would have to set the remote to RF, so you could control it from the main room. If its too hard to run an HDMI cable and you are a do-it-yourselfer, MonoPrice sells a setup for about $20 that allows you to run the HDMI signal over cat 5e cable up to 75'. Link: For only $15.73 each when QTY 50+ purchased - HDMI over CAT5E / CAT6 Extender Wall Plate (Pair) - Single Port (1P) - White | HDMI Wall Plate

 

[blakex]

That's a good idea - maybe I can run a long HDMI cable or try that ethernet option since I think I have a lot of spare CAT5e cable laying around. Thanks for the option.

 

[Slick Vic]

Or how about this, pick a dvr that you dont often use to record and change channels and change it to a single tuner dvr. that would eliminate extra equipment, extra wire, and your able to add the 5th reciever and still only use 8 tuners altogether without disrupting a dvr.

 

[RACJ2]

Or how about this, pick a dvr that you dont often use to record and change channels and change it to a single tuner dvr. that would eliminate extra equipment, extra wire, and your able to add the 5th reciever and still only use 8 tuners altogether without disrupting a dvr.

That would work and just put a splitter on the cable. Although he would end up paying a upfront fee and $5/mo for the additional receiver. I guess he could put the splitter on the cable and temporarily move a DVR into the room to watch NFL ST on Sundays.