Combining Signals

geomark

Active SatelliteGuys Member
Original poster
Dec 2, 2004
18
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Is it possible to combine both the satellite dish network signal and OTA antenna into one coax? I currently have Dish installed and have a Winegard OTA antenna from a previous voom install. I have a plasma with a built in hd tuner and want to get my local hd channels using the Winegard antenna.

Is a duplexor used for this purpose? I want to have both of the signals going to a single coax to my tv.
 
Yep this is where you would use a pair of diplexors. One to combine the satellite and antenna signal into one cable and another to separate them.
 
Agree that a diplexer will work, but there are some things you need to consider. First, everytime you go through any splitter, there is a minimum of 3db loss (Half the signal strength). This may be OK for the Dish signal because the S/N is usually significantly higher than what is required for the Dish receiver...but the OTA signal may not be as strong, unless you are getting signals above the 75% range. If they are in the50-60% range, you will "probably" not be able to get these stations.

Having said that, since you apparently can't or do not wish to run a second coax, you can not simply put a pre-amp on the OTA antenna, because most of them require a DC path to power them up, and MOST splitters do not pass the DC. There is a work around, but it does require a little patience and knowledge. Best solution if you find the signal to be weak is to use an antenna with a higher gain. I do not know what kind of OTA antenna you are using, but I suspect it is a simple one attached to the VOOM dish. If that is the case (and if you can accept a bigger antenna), you will see significant improvements with a high gain directional antenns.

This general information may not apply to your needs. It might help others that are considering the same thing. I have the same situation with one of my HiDef monitors being fed with an 811 and the other TV with a built in tuner being fed with a 501 and an external antenna directly to the TV. That way, when I get tired of paying for the HD fees and want to receive only the locals in HD, I will migrate to a less convenient method (no guide and having to use the TV remote to change from video to antenna) of receiving the signal.
 
OK. Currently I have the OTA antenna connected directly to the tv tuner via the coax on the back of the tv. The dish is connected seperately with the satellite. I can only view my local HD channels by using the TV's tuner and changing with the TV remote.

What I want to accomplish is combining the signals of the OTA and satellite on the roof into one cable (via diplexor) and feeding the single cable into my satellite dish so that I can receive both satellite and off air hd channels using my dish box.

Questions is:

- Once I used a diplexor to combine into one cable, MUST I use a diplexor on the other end to split the signals or can I keep them on one cable. I am not concerned with saving cable runs as I have it already dual coax-ed to the satellite.

:confused:
 
Diplexers must always be used in pairs. Diplexers are not like splitters that cut the signal in half, the antenna signal is only about a .5 loss at each one. The satellite signal loss is more but it's level is higher to begin with.
 
JWC; " Having said that, since you apparently can't or do not wish to run a second coax, you can not simply put a pre-amp on the OTA antenna, because most of them require a DC path to power them up, and MOST splitters do not pass the DC. There is a work around, but it does require a little patience and knowledge. "

There is a Diplexer - JVI SDX-100DC, 40-2150 MHZ - that has Power Pass on both sides. You can find them at Dishstore.net
 
geomark said:
What I want to accomplish is combining the signals of the OTA and satellite on the roof into one cable (via diplexor) and feeding the single cable into my satellite dish so that I can receive both satellite and off air hd channels using my dish box.
NO!. You cannot input both satellite and RF (OTA TV) into the same input on the back of your sat tuner.

Depending on the model, some sat tuners have an OTA antenna input on the back. If yours does, simply unplug the OTA antenna from your TV and connect it to the OTA input on your Sat tuner box. It should be labeled "TV antenna/cable in". there should also be a "Satellite in" and a "TV set out".

If your sat tuner does not have these inputs, you will not be able to accomplish what you want.
 
geomark said:
Is it possible to combine both the satellite dish network signal and OTA antenna into one coax? I currently have Dish installed and have a Winegard OTA antenna from a previous voom install. I have a plasma with a built in hd tuner and want to get my local hd channels using the Winegard antenna.

Is a duplexor used for this purpose? I want to have both of the signals going to a single coax to my tv.
yes it is..The device is called a diplexer..And in its name is the obvious clue that diplexers work in pairs......Satellite goes to the port marked "SAT" and antenna goes to the ports marked "TV/VHF".real simple...
 
Combining CATV and SAT

I have a question along the same lines but I think it's in a larger scale. It goes something like this...

I have three tv's in which I plan to keep my Cable service and I also want those three tvs to have satellite as well. Now I only have 2 boxes from satalite, and I only have 2 Diplexers installed outside where the satellite dish is.. With this configuration., is it possible to have all three tvs set up to what I desire, and if so, how would I go about configuring the diplexers and the CATV splitter.

IF I could be pointed to a diagram that would probably be helpfull.

Thanks
 

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