combine FTA receiver RF output and and OTA into one cable

[sunelec]

I have a motorized FTA system which is working great. I also have a Dish system completely seperate with a 921 HD DVR receiver and an OTA coming into the antenna input of the 921 for HD locals. Right now the FTA receiver composite out leads feed into one of the composite inputs on my tv and the RF connections are unused. I have the component leads from my 921 Dish receiver going into a component input on the same tv. The problem comes in because my wife can never figure out how to switch inputs on the tv and so she just starts pushing buttons and gets it all screwed up. I am wondering If I can take the RF output ( ch 3 ) from my FTA receiver and combine it with the OTA signal and then go to my OTA input on my Dish 921 receiver and thus treat the FTA signal or channel like an antenna channel 3( there is no local OTA ch. 3) ? IF this works then we could merely tune to channel 3 on the Dish receiver to get the FTA channel. Then we would only have to tune in channels and no more changing tv inputs.

 

[SatelliteAV]

Use a combiner with a channel 3/4 filter or a combiner (reversed splitter) to combine the rf output with the OTA signal.

 

[mastermesh]

just be careful if you buy a channel 3 or 4 combiner on ebay. I bid on a cheap set of them a while back and never got them. Luckily, after a complaint about it at paypal that seller never responded back to, Paypal gave me my money back.

 

[sunelec]

They make a small box called a ch.3 signal combiner which I think is a filter and a splitter placed together in a box. Should I use one of these or can I use just a plain ole splitter, and if I do this is a seperate ch. 3 filter necessary?

 

[Anole]

You might squeak by with a splitter, but that's not the right way to do it.
The combiners are readily available, and inexpensive.

I looked on the DishStore site and didn't see anything close.
The Sadoun site didn't carry the above filter either, but did have some interesting UHF modulators.
Check out items 14 & 15 .

Buddy of mine managed to merge three UHF modulators with his cable, by getting a UHF low-pass filter to strip off cable-noise above channel 80, then combined that with modulators on 81, 83, & 85. *
Not sure where he got the UHF filter, but it was relatively cheap.

*I forget the exact channels, but you need to leave a few blank channels between modulators.

 

[sunelec]

Thanks for the info. I checked Soudoun and our other sponsers first but didn't find what I needed. However Solid Signal has a number of different models available including one made by Aspen. So I think I will order one of these. Thanks Guy's for putting my mind on the right track.

 

[Pittsville]

You might have to declare your independence and get a divorce because sometimes during the course of human events, in order to achieve more perfect reception it becomes necessary to have wires running across the floor and all through the house.

 

[sunelec]

I already did that once in my lifetime and thats enough. I don't want to do it a second time. My first wife told me to choose between her and my electronic toys. I thought I might miss her but I didn't. My second wife I would miss though.

 

[sunelec]

I tried a ch 3 signal combiner. However my Dish 921 receiver would only let the ch.3 RF output from my FTA receiver go through as an analog signal even though I know it was originally digital. The resulting picture was a bit snowy . The OTA signals were still all ok. I also discovered that the Dish 921 has a composite input for an external video source such as vcr , game or camcorder and the picture displays through ch. 0 (aux. input ). I hooked my FTA composite outputs to those terminals and got a strange display on the tv. The picture was nomal on the top halve but the bottom halve was filled with horizontal white lines with kind of a transition in between the the two halves. Was I overdriving the inputs or was there some kind of a mismatch? Anybody have any ideas on either the RF signal or the aux. inputs.

 

[Tron]

The RF out (channel 3 or 4) from your FTA receiver is analog, as are all other outputs except the digital audio. Only the satellite signal from the dish is digital, the receiver converts that to analog.

 

[sunelec]

Thanks, that explains the ch 3 output part and thats why the picture could be a bit snowy because its analog. I suppose then I could use an amplifier to get rid of the snow.

 

[Tron]

Thanks, that explains the ch 3 output part and thats why the picture could be a bit snowy because its analog. I suppose then I could use an amplifier to get rid of the snow.

You should be able to, however the output from the FTA box shouldn't really be snowy. Are all of the connections clean and tight? Is there a local TV station (or even a distant one that comes in somewhat) on either channel 3 or 4? If so, be especially careful to inspect the connectors, since ingress can cause problems.

 

[sunelec]

OK! now I got the picture so it isn't snowy but it looks like the combiner distorts a little bit. The combiner is a non-amplified ASKA ASC-3 which cost about $12. So now that I have the method could I improve on it by using a high quality rf modulator with a standard splitter/combiner instead ? I don't want to invest in one if it is not going to be better. If so are there any recomendations?