addition to FTA setup

[willie8605]

I was just thinking about an 18" Dish Network dish that is mounted on my roof (from previous house owner) and realized that my receiver came with a 4x1 DiSEqC switch so why not put that Dish Network dish to use since it will just be sitting up there otherwise. I wouldn't mind picking up the NASA channel with it on 119W.

However, the Dish Network dish is on top of my house, and my FTA dish is on the opposite side of the house on a mast. I would suspect, at minimum, 50 feet of coax will be needed to connect the Dish Network dish to the 4x1 switch, which will be next to my FTA dish, and from there into the house (through another 50 feet of coax). If I have somewhere between 50-75 feet of coax between the Dish Network dish and the switch, will I still be able to pick up 119W? I'm just not sure how close dishes need to be to each other when you are using a switch.

What do you all think?

:EDIT:
I know that there are very few FTA channels available through an 18" dish, according to Iceberg - http://www.satelliteguys.us/fta-mpeg2-faqs/34131-what-can-i-get-18-dish-dish-500-a.html, but I figured might as well use it for at least one channel since it isn't being used for any right now

 

[turbosat]

I have one dish 125' from a diseqc switch and it works fine. Its not a circular feed/dish but that shouldn't make any difference.

 

[DishDigger]

Willie, I believe the signal from 119W will probably be strong enough for decent reception at the distances you mention. I think the NASA channel and White Springs (or sump'n like that) is on the 119W. I also believe you'll be more satisfied to get the quad-shield or at least double-shield RG6 cable, this will suppress some of the noise that may "attack" the signal through lengthy coax. It seems you'll be approaching 100' plus the insertion loss of the switch, but even with that I think you'll get satisfactory results. Like you say, there's no need "wasting" a dish...

Bill

 

[willie8605]

Willie, I believe the signal from 119W will probably be strong enough for decent reception at the distances you mention. I think the NASA channel and White Springs (or sump'n like that) is on the 119W. I also believe you'll be more satisfied to get the quad-shield or at least double-shield RG6 cable, this will suppress some of the noise that may "attack" the signal through lengthy coax. It seems you'll be approaching 100' plus the insertion loss of the switch, but even with that I think you'll get satisfactory results. Like you say, there's no need "wasting" a dish...

Bill

Well, according to Iceberg's thread on what you can get with an 18" dish, on 119W you can get NASA, Angel One, and a few other PPV previews and stuff like that (of which NASA is the only one I am interested in). The last update was January of 2008, so I don't know if it is any different now.

Where is the best place to buy quad-shield coax and how much does it normally cost?

Of course I'm not gonna waste a dish! It's just sitting up there already mounted and waiting on me to put it to work. And the girlfriend is gonna be gone all next week so it should give me a chance to dedicate a few evenings to this without getting heckled

Another thought I had was that I am using the 4x1 switch that came with my receiver, but only going to be connecting it to 2 LNB's. Is this okay or would it be better if I used a 2x1 switch? If it is okay to use the 4x1 switch, where can a find some caps to put over the 2 unused coax inputs on the switch to protect them from the environment?

 

[Anole]

keep it simple; keep it cheap:

The quad-shield cable usually takes a different model connector.
Not to mention the proper tools to apply.
While it's certainly fine, I don't think I'd go to the effort 'n expense.
Hook up your dish and see if you get Nasa & Angel One. Ya should if it's a single LNB, and aimed at 119°.
Just remember to set the receiver for the proper diseqc switch port, and the correct LO: 11250

While you're rescuing little old dishes, and if you want Whitesprings @ 129°, you might outfit another small dish with a Standard (or Universal) linear LNB.
It's one more free station, and the cost 'n effort is minimal.
Get some use out of that 4x1 diseqc switch! - :up
Just remember - WSTV low bit rate often requires manual transponder entry.

For more ideas on wiring your switches & LNBs, see our Switch FAQ.
Post #6, dwg #4 has a good example showing eight LNBs connected to one receiver.

 

[willie8605]

The quad-shield cable usually takes a different model connector.
Not to mention the proper tools to apply.
While it's certainly fine, I don't think I'd go to the effort 'n expense.
Hook up your dish and see if you get Nasa & Angel One. Ya should if it's a single LNB, and aimed at 119°.
Just remember to set the receiver for the proper diseqc switch port, and the correct LO: 11250

While you're rescuing little old dishes, and if you want Whitesprings @ 129°, you might outfit another small dish with a Standard (or Universal) linear LNB.
It's one more free station, and the cost 'n effort is minimal.
Get some use out of that 4x1 diseqc switch! - :up
Just remember - WSTV low bit rate often requires manual transponder entry.

During my lunch break I went home and took a look at that Dish Network dish. Turns out it has dual LNB's aimed at 119W and 110W, so all I need to do is get on the roof and run some coax and I should be good to go! I also have an old Directv 18" dish laying around somewhere so I may use it for White Springs, as you suggested.

 

[DishDigger]

Thanks Anole, Angel One is the channel I was trying to think of, my thinker don't function too well sometime and it's hard to search some of the postings to get reminders when your in the "reply" mode :rant:.

I bought some of the quad RG/6 at Wally-World (Wal-Mart), maybe not the best stuff, but seemed to be ok. It cost about twice what the regular RG/6 did.

Willie, Anole had about the best idea, if it isn't a LOT of trouble, hook up the ol' DN dish and see what happens . You can probably get by fine with one of the LNB's hooked up (119) since there isn't anything FTA on 110.

I use a 4X1 DiSEqC with two LNB's connected -- no problem, just don't asign the #3 and 4. I figure if I mess up, or one of the switch outlets scrap out, I can move to another before having to replace the switch . You might have to get inventive to get protective caps for the unused connections. Maybe old pen caps? How about a real short piece of old coax with a connector on it? No, I'm not going to recommend the red-neck solution using a piece of duct tape even if I am in the Mississippi Delta--ha.

I'm glad Anole mentioned the WhiteSprings @129, I'll have to search that as soon as I figure out the wierd happenings on sats west of 123 on my system.

 

[willie8605]

So White Springs can be picked up with a Dish Network dish? I guess I thought you needed a bigger dish to pick it up...

Whoever lived here before me had cable service at one point and the coax was still wrapped around the side of the house with a ton of cable clamps so I took them all off and snagged the coax for myself (since I don't plan on getting cable anytime soon , thanks cable company! ). Probably have somewhere in the 75-100 ft. range of extra coax now so I'm gonna try that first. Also, when I moved in I took the coax connected to the Dish 500 and attached it to my OTA antenna on the roof. I'm just going to move that coax back to the Dish 500 and use the coax I took off the side of the house for my OTA antenna.

And about the caps...I think we have a box at work with a ton of all different size dust caps for all kinds circular connectors so I'm sure I could ask for a couple without a problem.

 

[Tron]

The DishPro dual LNBFs on more modern Dish Network dishes have a built-in DiSEqC switch... and are bandstacked. A couple of things to consider...

 

[willie8605]

The DishPro dual LNBFs on more modern Dish Network dishes have a built-in DiSEqC switch... and are bandstacked. A couple of things to consider...

If it has a built-in DiSEqC switch will it only have one output? The one I have has 2 coax outputs. I'm still not exactly sure what bandstacked means...how will it affect my usage of it?

 

[Mr Tony]

The duals do not have a switch. These see only one satellite.
The Twin does have a switch and sees two satellites

Bandstacked takes the H transponders and "stacks" them above the V transponders. V frequencies are the same but H will be off. Depending on receiver you may not have to do anything different.

Or just set the LNB LO to 14350 and scan V side only. Everything will be off frequency wise but it works

 

[willie8605]

The duals do not have a switch. These see only one satellite.
The Twin does have a switch and sees two satellites

Bandstacked takes the H transponders and "stacks" them above the V transponders. V frequencies are the same but H will be off. Depending on receiver you may not have to do anything different.

Or just set the LNB LO to 14350 and scan V side only. Everything will be off frequency wise but it works

Thanks Iceberg, this helps a lot. I was using the wrong terminology and it was confusing me. I have a Dish 500 Twin LNB. When I was saying 'dual' I meant it had 2 LNB's in one assembly, but forgot about 'dual lnb' meant something else.

 

[Mr Tony]

Below is the Twin...the dual is 1/2 the size

The Twin has a diseqc (sort of...dish's proprietary switching) switch in it. You **Might** be able to use it for 119 if you hook the left (if looking at the LNB coax connections) coax to a diseqc...but with those Twins it can screw up

best to use a dual LNB. The old DirecTV ones work the best

 

[willie8605]

Below is the Twin...the dual is 1/2 the size

The Twin has a diseqc (sort of...dish's proprietary switching) switch in it. You **Might** be able to use it for 119 if you hook the left (if looking at the LNB coax connections) coax to a diseqc...but with those Twins it can screw up

best to use a dual LNB. The old DirecTV ones work the best

Yeah, the Twin is definately what I have. For some reason I thought there was only 2 outputs on it, not 4, but I haven't been able to get up on my roof and check it out. I will tomorrow, though. I also, have another old D. Network dish that has a dual LNB, so maybe I'll swap the two if the twin doesn't work. Tomorrow I should be able to get all this figured out! Now.....if only I could somehow make today go by a little faster....

 

[Anole]

clarification:

Those two-satellite Dish LNBs come in a number of versions.
And, they may have two, three, or four coax connectors.
More importantly, they may come in regular, dishPro, or dishProPlus versions
Without knowing which you have, it's hard to give advice on how to use it.
But, if you can find the connector that puts out the 119° signal by default...
... withOUT any switch commands, you might be good to go.

While you're rescuing little old dishes, and if you want Whitesprings @ 129°, you might outfit another small dish with a Standard (or Universal) linear LNB.
Just remember - WSTV low bit rate often requires manual transponder entry.

See the links. You need to change the LNB; Whitesprings is not circular.

 

[willie8605]

Those two-satellite Dish LNBs come in a number of versions.
And, they may have two, three, or four coax connectors.
More importantly, they may come in regular, dishPro, or dishProPlus versions
Without knowing which you have, it's hard to give advice on how to use it.
But, if you can find the connector that puts out the 119° signal by default...
... withOUT any switch commands, you might be good to go.


See the links. You need to change the LNB; Whitesprings is not circular.

So if I get a linear LNB and stick it on an 18" dish I should be able to pick up White Springs? Tomorrow I'll be able to get up there and get a part number so I will know exactly what LNB I have. Last night I sat down and started a Visio flowchart that includes all my electronics by the TV (game systems, DVD, etc.) and also have my FTA and OTA setup connections included. I'll be sure to post updates and pictures when I get it all done!

 

[Anole]

Tomorrow I'll be able to get up there and get a part number so I will know exactly what LNB I have.

You can tell by looking at the D-500 dish:

- two independent one-bird LNBs
(very old, useful, what's called Legacy)

- double bird LNB, no apparent markings (ignore the molding on the front side)
(old, useful, legacy switch you probably cannot control. 2 or 4 coax connectors)

- double bird LNB, with big "dp" sticker on front side (Dish Pro)
(newish, useful, bandstacked. 2 or 4 coax connectors)

- double bird LNB, with "dpp" sticker on front side (Dish Pro Plus)
(newest, maybe useful, draws lots of current, THREE connectors - one is input for expansion)

All the Dish Pro or Dish Pro Plus respond to diseqc commands.
If you plug into the correct connector, and do NOT command the units, you can probably get by just fine.
The plain jane units respond to some archaic command protocol, which isn't worth discussing in this thread.

Last night I sat down and started a Visio flowchart that includes all my electronics by the TV (game systems, DVD, etc.) and also have my FTA and OTA setup connections included.

You might want to make the FTA equipment on a separate page.
It's likely to get changed often. -