Complicated and impossible installs of 322/522's

Joeydutton

Member
Original poster
Apr 25, 2004
14
0
Purely from an installer point of view, I must say I really don't care for these 322 and 522 receivers. They are very difficult to install and consume a massive amount of resources (cable, connectors, etc). They are extremely time consuming and seem to be full of complexities and puzzles. It is frustrating and makes me consider going to work for Directv.

Worst of all, though, is how these 322/522's seem to often inflict a major amount of rewiring and hacking on the customer's home. When I first arrive at a house, the customer is usually excited and glad to see me. But quickly their excitement turns to apprehension as I tell them about having to drill several new holes and run a bunch of new cable. And if there isn't a phone jack nearby, well I will just have to hack into your existing phone wire or you'll have to go out and purchase a wireless phone jack. It is at this point that I usually hear the phrase, "Wow, they didn't tell me about all this on the phone...!"

So time and time again...usually when I'm sweating in the attic over my 3rd or 4th wall fish...I ask myself "What on earth was Dish thinking?"

The first thing I have to wonder is why Dish invented a receiver that is so remarkably incompatible with the vast majority of home in America? I haven't been to a house yet that is as 'plug-and-play' as the 311's or nearly every other Dish or Directv receiver. These 322/522's are even totally incompatible with the most modern homes that are being built 'satellite-ready'. Well, they aren't satellite ready anymore! I still have to run a half-a-dozen extra cables throughout the house just to get these clunky obtuse receivers to work! Didn't Dish think about these things when before they hoisted them upon the public?

The second thing I wonder is if these 322/522's are actually causing Dish to lose potential customers. Since we've started installing these things, the number of times we've had to tell customers that we simply can't install this sytem in your home has increased dramatically. This usually happens at apartments where we aren't allowed to drill any new holes. Or perhaps it is impossible to wall-fish a first floor apartment. It also happens quite often in homes where a 322/522 could be installed, but the customer is frightened or annoyed by all the extra construction and wiring that has to be done. I lost a job just yesterday that would've profited me about $150.00, but the guy simply wasn't impressed with the 322, and wanted just the standard 311's installed in four already-wired rooms. But as we tried to change the workorder, the idiots at SBC kept argueing with the man and refusing to give him the 311's! (that's not the first time this has happened to one of my customers). Eventually, the guy just got so frustrated he cancelled the whole thing. This wasted about 2 hours of my day and profited me nothing.

So, anyway, I would like to hear other people's opinions about install issues with these 322/522's. I would especially like to hear from someone at Dish as to why you have made a receiver that is so obtuse. What on earth were you thinking?

PS. To throw in a positive suggestion, these 322/522's would be enormously easier to install if BOTH tuners had UHF remotes. Then the receiver could be installed just about anywhere...especially somewhere close to the existing cable junction (back room, closet, etc). It would be less invasive to the home, less frightening to the customer, less time-consuming and exasperating to the installer, and easier to troubleshoot for Dish. That would be an excellent improvement!
 
Amen, brother installer!

P.S. You can get a UHF remote for TV1 - it's an add-on kit. And for a lot of houses, that takes care of the dual satfeed problem - you can even combine the 2 outputs onto a single coax cable and feed the whole house. :)
 
Do you think that the 344 and 544 will make your life easier or harder?
 
rtt2 said:
Do you think that the 344 and 544 will make your life easier or harder?
:eek: :no :shocked !protest :what :yikes :river :river :river

In other words, it's gonna be pure HELL - and the customers are not gonna like them either. To use composite output, the box has to be near the "good" TV, so the other 3 outputs (all RF as opposed to if they were separate boxes!!!) have to have 'outgoing' feeds - maybe just one coax if they're smart. No, this is from Dish - the poople that brought you the 921. So, anyway, this TVout coax then has to be combined with the OTA antenna - in a fashion that won't re-broadcast the Dish signals. Could they possibly be smart enough to build the combiner into the x44? No, this is from Dish - the poople that brought you the 921. Did I say that already?

You get the idea - if they don't build a MTU-like system into the box it's gonna be worthless. The good installers won't do 'em because they'll be losing money - even more so than now with the x22's. So, the crappy installers (no shortage of them!) will be doing these installs, and Dish's reputation will get even worse.

Doesn't anyone at Dish have a CLUE ????????????????

Saving $20 or so on the damn hardware just ain't worth it!
 
I sure am glad the Directivo doesn't require the second tuner be hooked up. Even though I had both tuners installed it was a painless setup.
 
Neutron said:
I sure am glad the Directivo doesn't require the second tuner be hooked up. Even though I had both tuners installed it was a painless setup.

I used to think Tivo was a pain in the butt because it needed two lines, but now it seems like a breeze compared to putting a 522 and 322 into one house. I miss my days with Directv!
 
remember, Dish is soon to be coming out with a Dishpro plus diplexor...

we're testing this setup today.. I had a brainstorm this weekend

Two lines in, dual bushing, dual wallplate... into the 322, diplex (using off air diplexors)the TV2 output into the existing input line outside... run that line to your second TV

when the DPPDiplexor shows up, you can use a dual bushing and dual wallplate, diplex your two input lines and run your TV2 out on the other wallplate port.

I've heard of some installers taking a second UHF remote they have lying around from DOA 322's and installing the rcvr in the basement, then running the two lines up from there.
 
I would like to get a 522 or a 721 but until they make the diplexor available I will just wait. I do not need more lines installed in my house. My wife likes the idea of a 7 day guide. She can have the TVGuide until. I have 4-301's and two of them with DVD recorders on them. I have had my service with Dish for about a year now with two installs different times and two repeat trips to correct problems with the installs.Not to mention the dedicated phone lines I ran myself. Enough is a Enough. I do feel for Joey and agree with him in principle.
 
Unh. Last 2 posts here are confusing. Not quite sure what you mean by diplexers here vs. switches or whatever.

In any event, you can push the TV2 output onto either satellite feed using inexpensive standard diplexers as long as they have a high enough rating - 2GHz is needed. You would do this to avoid running another coax cable in some area that's not easy to do. Somewhere on the satellite feed cable that's easy to tap to get where you want, you simply install the other diplexer, and "T" the TV2 out to wherever.

Have I helped, or just confused matters more? :)
 
I was told if I was to install a 522 or a 721 I would have to run another line from my switch to the dual tuner. I dont want or need the DVR,PVR to control an additional television. I was also told that Dish was coming out with a Dish Pro Plus Diplexer some time in the future so an additional line would not be needed. I dont know what a dishproplus whatever is. I like the pip be able to watch one program and record another at the same time. Sorry about the confusion but believe me I am more confused than you are.
 
I used to think Tivo was a pain in the butt because it needed two lines, but now it seems like a breeze compared to putting a 522 and 322 into one house. I miss my days with Directv!
How is a 522+322 install harder than DirecTV's standard 3-room setup with a DirecTivo and two SD receivers? And I bet a number of customers are now ordering two, three, or more DirecTivos -- now that they are only $99/ea.

I assume you are using cable with two RG6 lines bundled together, so you only have to deal with pulling one cable through the wall.
 
Well, doesn't DirecTV only require one satellite? And splitters are allowed? That makes the satellite side much easier.

Yes, dual-RG-6 is the way to do it, and sometimes it goes pretty easy. It's just when the house is pre-wired and the customer gets ticked because his expensive pre-wiring ain't worth much.

Until the DP44+ and it's so-called 'splitter' is available (don't hold your breath), the x2x receivers need to have separate RG-6 all the way from 'close' to the dish or switch.
 
These switches are due out at the end of the Month according to the tech chat. The splitter I believe is the one listed on the Dishstore website. I even talked to the man who runs the site since I ordered the splitter through him. He said it would be used with the dishpro44 switch. It is only like 7.00 on the website. He said many people had ordered this switch like me ,who thought it was going to split the single coax into two connections. I told him they ought to list on the website that this is not for splitting a single coax into two unless you have the dp44 switch . He said he would do that since he was doing so many return credits due to the way the wording was listed on the website. He also said that when the dishpro44 did become available it would work with the dishsplitter to do just what I wanted it to: Split the single coax into two for dual tuner recievers like the 721/522/322/921. Check it out for yourself. I would e-mail him and ask for yourself or call and talk to him . The dishstore is listed on this very website.
 
Let me clarify my post

bcshields said:
remember, Dish is soon to be coming out with a Dishpro plus diplexor...

A Dish Pro Plus Diplexor, will, in theory, combine two satellite tuner feeds into one wire using stacking, one tuner on the lower frequency and the second on the higher.

bcshields said:
we're testing this setup today.. I had a brainstorm this weekend

Two lines in, dual bushing, dual wallplate... into the 322, diplex (using off air diplexors)the TV2 output into the existing input line outside... run that line to your second TV

It worked. One hole using a dual bushing into one dual wallplate. We diplexed TV2 (which isn't High frequency, so it worked just like off air) into a tuner line and ran it to the second tv, no problems so far.

bcshields said:
I've heard of some installers taking a second UHF remote they have lying around from DOA 322's and installing the rcvr in the basement, then running the two lines up from there.

They were putting the X22 in the basement, closet, wherever was easy, and running the two outputs to the televisions, and with 2 UHF remotes, it worked fine.
 
Question on the 322

Hello all
I am a new-be here, but I do have a question.

1) Where would you find the upgrade for the 322 so that you could use two (2) UHF remotes instead of the IR style for TV1. I am thinking about buying a 322 and take my chances on activating. I am going to put the 322 in the basement where wiring it into the house cable system would not be as big of a deal.

2) Is there a good A/B or A/B/C switch out there that does not cause problems with the DP equipment ? I am going to be switching one of the outputs of the 322. I want to be able to temporarily divert one of the outputs to a PC or a VCR for recording from the dish in the basement.

Please let me know what you all think. Thanks............
 
You would have to purchase the second UHF remote, as the IR remote comes standard.

I was just saying some installers are using spares to install in the fashion, you would have to ask them to install it that way and buy the second remote.
 
Neutron said:
I sure am glad the Directivo doesn't require the second tuner be hooked up. Even though I had both tuners installed it was a painless setup.
thye do tell you the truth about phone and how many wires i mean it should not be that hard for you i think your probally just a normal lazy installer who wnats to come in and use the cable company wires whitch by the way i took out so you would have to run new lines a lot of times the wires may not be good quality anyway so i want new stuff and if you were installing all single tuner you would still run a wire for each one direct tivo does require two inputs and a phoneline
 
I am considering a setup with a 522 and a 322 receiver. All this talk about difficult installations has me worried. The 2 rooms that I plan on putting the receivers both have 3 rg6 cable runs to them (the rest of the rooms have 2 runs to them). If I understand the 522/322 setup correctly, this is how they will be wired:

- 4 cables from dish into the basement where the house cables converge.
- route 2 cables to room1 and the other 2 cables to room2 (runs 1 and 2).
- a 3rd cable from each room goes back to the basement (run 3).
- 3rd cable routed from basement to whatever rooms I want.

Do I have enough cables in my house for this 522/322 setup?
 
NHDishOwner said:
Hello all
I am a new-be here, but I do have a question.

1) Where would you find the upgrade for the 322 so that you could use two (2) UHF remotes instead of the IR style for TV1. I am thinking about buying a 322 and take my chances on activating. I am going to put the 322 in the basement where wiring it into the house cable system would not be as big of a deal.
I've attached the details in a PDF - you should be able to get it from your local retailer of directly from Dish. The price was the same as any extra remote if I remember correctly.
NHDishOwner said:
2) Is there a good A/B or A/B/C switch out there that does not cause problems with the DP equipment ? I want to be able to temporarily divert one of the outputs to a PC or a VCR for recording from the dish in the basement.

Please let me know what you all think. Thanks............

The RF OUTPUT of a receiver can be 'split' using any standard $2 splitter you might have lying around - no issues other ordinary distance limitations which shouldn't be an issue in a house.
 

Attachments

  • TIB130316.pdf
    45.4 KB · Views: 229
pitbull2 said:
I am considering a setup with a 522 and a 322 receiver. All this talk about difficult installations has me worried. The 2 rooms that I plan on putting the receivers both have 3 rg6 cable runs to them (the rest of the rooms have 2 runs to them). If I understand the 522/322 setup correctly, this is how they will be wired:

- 4 cables from dish into the basement where the house cables converge.
- route 2 cables to room1 and the other 2 cables to room2 (runs 1 and 2).
- a 3rd cable from each room goes back to the basement (run 3).
- 3rd cable routed from basement to whatever rooms I want.

Do I have enough cables in my house for this 522/322 setup?
It sure sounds like you have enough, and that you grok the plan.
 
***

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Total: 1, Members: 0, Guests: 1)

Who Read This Thread (Total Members: 1)

Latest posts