Directv and RG-59

[cwayne]

My house is wired with RG-59 cable and I can not get a signal to my directv receivers. I understand RG-59 cable is not recommended. I have searched the internet and found a few instances where the use of rg-59 seems to have worked. Question - Is there a device that I could purchase so that I can use the internal rg59 cabling in my house with my Directv. Rewiring the house does not appear to be an option.

Regards...

 

[caeyathompson]

My house is wired with RG-59 cable and I can not get a signal to my directv receivers. I understand RG-59 cable is not recommended. I have searched the internet and found a few instances where the use of rg-59 seems to have worked. Question - Is there a device that I could purchase so that I can use the internal rg59 cabling in my house with my Directv. Rewiring the house does not appear to be an option.

Regards...

It depends. Is it a "home run" system? Meaning. does each cable for each room go back to the same spot and is THEN connected to the main cable via a splitter?? Or is the cable run from room to room with splitters?

If it 's room to room , you will have major problems. If it is home run, then you should be able to do it. If it's more than 30' of RG59, you can try an inline amplifier (Radio Shack carries them for around $7). This needs to go as close to the dish as possible.

Hope this helps
Casey

 

[boba]

You should be able to use the RG-59 if it is home runs. From the Dish run RG-6 to the common point usually in the attic or basement where all existing cables terminate. The RG-59 cannot pass through any splitters it needs to be a continous run from the receiver to the connection point with the RG-6 from the dish.

 

[cwayne]

boba:
thanks!....the problem was the splitters.
regards,
cwayne

 

[branchbouncer]

Be careful! a friend of mine who we installed the Directv dish had RG-59 from cable tv we went ahead and used the existing cable to avoid playing around in the crawl space,within 9 months both stb's had burned out.We installed RG-6 when this happened and he has had no problems since,there is no real way to tell if the wire was at fault but it seems strange that both boxes went within a short time of each other.Make sure that not only is the dish grounded but that the RG-6 is also grounded where it enters the house

 

[cwayne]

an update:
I went to best buy and purchased both Dynex multi-switches (3x4 and 5x8). In the end, these two swiches were not the solution. While I could get some of the channels on some of my receivers, I could not get ALL the channels on all the receivers. For some reason, 1 of the 4 receivers hooked to the multiswitch gave the "searching for satellilte" message. I did learn that in order to have "polarity", two satellite signals (or 4 with the 5x8) must "feed" the switch. I also used inline amps, but to no success.

My final (and least cost) solution was to buy another dish. I direct connected the dish to the individual RG 59 runs in my house and now have all the channels to all my receivers.