Combining sat signals

[zamar23]

I feed my Pansat receiver on channel 4, my 4DTV on channel 16 and my Zenith digital converter box on channel 3. This is all mixed with the OTA antenna. Then fed into a distribution amp and sent throughout the house. Then I can pull anything I want up in any room, very convenient.

Can someone decipher this for others to learn? Where and how these signals are fed from? Does a Multiswitch allow to assign channels to signal sources? Is RF modulator required for this? Any other equipment? Any info link for this?

I now watch signals from several sources via an AV Receiver and its Composite & Component & HDMI Out ports, but this is totally different.

 

[willie8605]

Some kind of flowchart or block diagram would be very helpful, too.


And I will go ahead and PM tvropro this thread...

 

[guapoharry]

PM... Dude, why not do some searching... ?

Check out this post and the thread.

http://www.satelliteguys.us/fta-shack/164268-digital-modulators.html#post1697055

You can do that stuff using a combiner, directional taps and agile modulator(s).

And this thread is good too. tvropro talks about his setup. That stuff is over my head...

http://www.satelliteguys.us/fta-shack/158962-equipment-drawings-post-yours.html

Hope this helps...

 

[zamar23]

Nice links!
However, no detail info on tvropro's setup there. Would be nice to have her answer posted in this thread with more details and schematics.

 

[willie8605]

I feel that it is just as easy to ask. Of course a lot of topics have been repeated, I see them every day, but there are so many off-topic convos in threads that it can be very time consuming to filter through them. For general questions I have, searching the forums is where I start...but if there is a direct quote from someone like the one above, I'd rather just ask them to explain and save the time It's easier to interact with a new thread then post a question on an old thread. And chances are members that have been on the forum awhile will remember old threads and post links to them that new members may not have ever found searching

All that being said...they are good links. Thanks!

 

[Phottoman]

I have to partially agree with willie on this one, HOWEVER, I search first, then look at responses.

Some of the threads mentioned are several months or years old, and I am a relative newbie to this end of the world.

Plus, I read a heck of a lot more than I post, but I learn something new and exciting every day.

(Guess that's the nice thing about alsheimers, eh?)

Photto

 

[guapoharry]

Fine, fine...

Don't think anyone will fuss about asking in the forum.

Repeated like, can't get audio on AMC21 - PBS or Retrojams (RIP) ?

If you sPaM about stuff that, it should go unanswered in to the round file.

Where is there to live in NW AZ? Kingman?

 

[willie8605]

Guapo I noticed you have a pretty big setup. Do you happen to have any kind of flowchart or diagram of your setup that you can post? We might as well post this kind of stuff in this thread since that what it was originally about!

I am working on a Visio flowchart of what I hope to have in the future (it helps a lot when deciding on what equipment to buy). Right now I am doing a lot of reading about SMATV. Your links above to old threads really sparked my interest in that type of stuff. It looks really cool.

 

[guapoharry]

It's out of control...

My back end distribution system is not setup yet. Have agile modulators and combiner. Need directional taps. Still getting parts. Still figuring out what I'm doing. Trying to understand how to do design so I avoid wasting time and money. Concentrating on efforts to finish multiswitch network on front end.

Right now, I have three standalone systems, two single dish and one multi dish. Want to integrate them.

Here is an old pic of my dishes. It's not beautiful. But I'm renting, so it can't be permanent.
http://www.satelliteguys.us/fta-shack/131140-pics-dish-farm-post-yours-too-6.html#post1571252
Got to update that. Stuff added since then is: a fixed dish for RTN, another fixed C-band dish, and a 1 m fiberglass dish.

Currently, the multi dish setup is like this:
http://www.satelliteguys.us/fta-mpeg2-faqs/134124-switch-setups-simplified.html#post1344311
except that on mine there is a motor between the receiver and the 22khz switch. Also, there is a PC DVB card on the loop out of the receiver.

I am actively working on a setup like this:
http://www.satelliteguys.us/fta-mpeg2-faqs/134124-switch-setups-simplified.html#post1344316
except my multiswitches are powered. Also, instead of the 4X1 DisEqC switches, I will have some 8X1 DisEqC 1.1 uncommitted switches for receivers that can support them.

The multiswiches and DisEqC's are mounted on a board. That part is almost finished. I will post a pic sometime.

Then I will have to run a whole mess of cable between the dishes and the board. :!:

 

[zamar23]

I'm intrigued by tvropro's dead silence on this matter. Her old post doesn't have any schematics or equipment details. Beautiful avatar or picture though, but how a teen become a lady overnight? I noticed she also installed modified Yagees. I wonder, why and how she modified them? Totally lost...

 

[guapoharry]

Maybe he has other things to do.
Nothing personal, I imagine.

 

[tvropro]

Sorry about not getting back to you guys been busy with all kind of things the last few days.

I feed Channel 3 RF (from my Zenith DTT-900) into a combiner and that into a Truespec Channel 4 combiner feeding RF Channel 4 from my Pansat. I use a Frequency Agile UHF RF modulator being fed AV signals from my 4dtv (modulating now on channel 54) This is also combined into the above using a combiner. My Local OTA antenna is fed through channel 3 and channel 4 negative traps I built and tuned for each. (this nulls out the OTA signals for noise and E-skip) Then it's combined with the 3 modulated channels using another combiner. Then it is fed into a Winegard distribution amp and sent to all tv's in my house.

To draw up schematics would take some time. It's basic SMATV, Google it, read and learn. Been learning all my life, a schematic of my system would probably confuse quite a few so it's better I don't post it. You have to understand how to mix, balance and filter signals to come up with good results. Start by combining a antenna with a RF modulated signal from a device and build from there. Use a simple 75 ohm coupler combiner to couple the two together.

 

[tvropro]

I'm intrigued by tvropro's dead silence on this matter. Her old post doesn't have any schematics or equipment details. Beautiful avatar or picture though, but how a teen become a lady overnight? I noticed she also installed modified Yagees. I wonder, why and how she modified them? Totally lost...

My Modified Yagi info:

TvroPro Electronic Lab

BTW can anyone guess who my avatar is?

 

[mikelib]

Nice web site, I'm an old 6 & 2 meter ham radio op and there is nothing better then e'skip. Happy hunting.
Mike Lib

 

[tvropro]

Nice web site, I'm an old 6 & 2 meter ham radio op and there is nothing better then e'skip. Happy hunting.
Mike Lib

Thanks for the roses on the website. E skip can be allot of fun but massive tropo can be cool too since it tends to last longer. Sometimes band openings can last for days.

 

[zamar23]

tvropro

How so many combiners affect signal losses? And after so much effort all you get is analog only signal reproducible via a CRT TV only? What about ATSC HD after all these modulations - what remains from it?

What are you doing at the music workshop, if not a secret? I thought, you work on a TV station.

 

[tvropro]

OTA HD ATSC signal are still there with no problems. If you have any signal losses you need to pre amplify the leg where it's at. My system gets more in depth then my synopsis I posted here. Your looking for a 14dbmv signal at each tv for best picture. This is where you have to balance each branch that feeds into one another.

I just added a schematic to my website to build a single low band channel trap. If your using channels 2-6 to inject a signal and are having problems with an over the air signal or electrical impulse noise etc picked up by your antenna on these frequency's you can build this to remove the offending signal. Have fun experimenting it's half the fun.

TvroPro Electronic Lab

 

[tvropro]

My Diagram

Ok, I keep getting PM's to want to see my diagram so here is a sketch. Have Fun

 

[glater]

@tvrpro "BTW can anyone guess who my avatar is."

Don't have a clue! Tiger Woods wife? By looking at your avatars in the past, I figured you might be a fashion photographer.

 

[tvropro]

By looking at your avatars in the past, I figured you might be a fashion photographer.

Don't I wish.

The cutie is, Shandi Finnessey

Shandi Finnessey: Miss USA 2004, Lingo, GSN, Chuck Woolery, Maxim Magazine, Florissant Missouri, St. Louis Miss Missouri, McCluer North High School, Lindenwood University