Do You Use Any Diseqc 1.1 Switches? You Should Be.

[Pixl]

Thought I'd bring this up for discussion since Manhattan is getting closer to getting this working. Early on some posted that not many use these. But I have been using two Diseqc 1.1 switches for some time. I find the brand I'm using, Digiwave 1x8 a very solid switch with no problems of ports going bad or mis fires on switching. A friend blew out two of his 1.0 switches, presumably from nearby lighting strikes. One was a Coolsat four port, known to be a cheap giveaway switch. The other was a popular Chieta four port. I suggested he try the Digiwave 8X1 even though he only has three dishes. Been in service for over a year with no problems. If you have switch problems and your receiver has support for Diseqc 1.1 you should give one a try even though they cost a bit more I think they are worth it.

 

[Keith Brannen]

Thought I'd bring this up for discussion since Manhattan is getting closer to getting this working. Early on some posted that not many use these. But I have been using two Diseqc 1.1 switches for some time. I find the brand I'm using, Digiwave 1x8 a very solid switch with no problems of ports going bad or mis fires on switching. A friend blew out two of his 1.0 switches, presumably from nearby lighting strikes. One was a Coolsat four port, known to be a cheap giveaway switch. The other was a popular Chieta four port. I suggested he try the Digiwave 8X1 even though he only has three dishes. Been in service for over a year with no problems. If you have switch problems and your receiver has support for Diseqc 1.1 you should give one a try even though they cost a bit more I think they are worth it.

I definitely agree with the above.

Of course, the most important aspect of a 8x1 switch in this hobby/addiction.... EXPANSION! At one time I had my EMP Centauri switch (using its function to appear to be a motor) on port 1 of a 4x1 switch, and had a total of 22 LNBs running into my Pansat (don't know how I could ever be limited to only 8 satellites!).

Currently the EMP Centauri is on the AZBox with 15 satellites (using the combination committed/uncommitted, as my switch will only function as a motor, or as committed/uncommitted, there is a version 2 EMP Centauri which can also be a straight uncommitted switch, as well as the other two functions). With the AZBox, I can also go to the same configuration as I had on the Pansat any time I want.

Definitely worthwhile to have a 8x1 (EMP Centauri also has a 16x1!). But, as Pixl notes, make very sure your receiver has the support for the switch. For example, the Pansat did not have 1.1 (at the time) so my switch had to be used as a motor, and not all 8x1 can be used as such. Later, Pansat did add 1.1 support, but only as uncommitted, so my switch still had to be used as a motor.

 

[kodaz]

i may be misunderstanding, are you saying that you
can you put a ecoda 22k in front of it to get 16 lnbs like the 4 bys?

 

[Anole]

Check our equipment reviews for more info, but the only one I'd use, based on the comments, is the Digiwave.

review by Iceberg: Digiwave 8x1 uncomitted switch

review by Keith Brannen: EMP Centauri 8 x 1 (GOTO nn switch)

review by Linuxman: Review DMSI 8X1 Diseqc Switch

 

[Skyscanner]

Thought I'd bring this up for discussion since Manhattan is getting closer to getting this working. Early on some posted that not many use these. But I have been using two Diseqc 1.1 switches for some time. I find the brand I'm using, Digiwave 1x8 a very solid switch with no problems of ports going bad or mis fires on switching. A friend blew out two of his 1.0 switches, presumably from nearby lighting strikes. One was a Coolsat four port, known to be a cheap giveaway switch. The other was a popular Chieta four port. I suggested he try the Digiwave 8X1 even though he only has three dishes. Been in service for over a year with no problems. If you have switch problems and your receiver has support for Diseqc 1.1 you should give one a try even though they cost a bit more I think they are worth it.

You're right Jim, I've been on the same Digiwave 8X1 for just short of 3 years without issue. Replaced all my Chieta switches when I finally discovered they're afraid of the cold [at least mine were].

SS ><>

 

[Dee_Ann]

i may be misunderstanding, are you saying that you
can you put a ecoda 22k in front of it to get 16 lnbs like the 4 bys?

I have one of those ecodas in front my my digiwave and it allows me to have the 8 way on one side and a C-band and Gbox on the other side.
I don't see why you couldn't do what you say. Being that I wouldn't know any better not to try that, I probably would try that and probably will soon..

Thought I'd bring this up for discussion since Manhattan is getting closer to getting this working. Early on some posted that not many use these. But I have been using two Diseqc 1.1 switches for some time. I find the brand I'm using, Digiwave 1x8 a very solid switch with no problems of ports going bad or mis fires on switching. A friend blew out two of his 1.0 switches, presumably from nearby lighting strikes. One was a Coolsat four port, known to be a cheap giveaway switch. The other was a popular Chieta four port. I suggested he try the Digiwave 8X1 even though he only has three dishes. Been in service for over a year with no problems. If you have switch problems and your receiver has support for Diseqc 1.1 you should give one a try even though they cost a bit more I think they are worth it.

I have one of these Digiwave 8 way switches and it works just fine for me on a home theater pc. I have 7 dishes hooked up to it at the moment.

I can verify that it's Ijjit proof.

 

[WTguy]

I read Ice's review and he made a comment about motors but I am not sure exactly what he tried. So my question is can you feed a motor into one of the ports and the receiver will still be able to run/control the motorized dish?

 

[Keith Brannen]

Check our equipment reviews for more info, but the only one I'd use, based on the comments, is the Digiwave.

review by Iceberg: Digiwave 8x1 uncomitted switch

review by Keith Brannen: EMP Centauri 8 x 1 (GOTO nn switch)

review by Linuxman: Review DMSI 8X1 Diseqc Switch

Since I did my review, the main pain (and a bit time consuming) was setting up of the EMP Centauri when using it as a motor. With the AZBox able to use the committed/uncommitted function, it was very easy and fast. As well, I discovered that if I want to change the switch on the AZBox to the motor function, it is very easy, as I just have to change the switch setting to motor and save the position, as it already knows the correct port/location for the LNB. As well, version 2 of the switch (as I stated above) can also do the straight uncommitted setting. So it does have great versatility in various settings that other switches do not have.

Has also been working for over 4 years (all my many switches are all indoors).

 

[Pixl]

(all my many switches are all indoors).

Wow Keith, did you have 22 runs of coax going out into the yard?

 

[Pixl]

I have one of those ecodas in front my my Digiwave and it allows me to have the 8 way on one side and a C-band and Gbox on the other side.

Dee,

That is a very neat looking installation. I especially like the blue coax.

Your use of the ecoda 22k switch up front reminds me to mention another switch choice almost forgotten about. SW21 switches used by the DBS people is a very tough switch. Using serial commands sent down the coax it is quite different from other switches and can be cascaded in any order with other switches. They will pass all other switch and motor commands. I used one of these to create the first two branches of my system freeing up 22k to be used down line at the dishes or lnb's that use 22k band switching. I had SW21 support in my GeoSatPro that had a very generous switch menu with support for most any switch ever made. Too bad it is not supported in the OpenBox or Manhattan, but many other receivers do. If anyone has SW21 support also known as legacy this can be a useful alternative. They can easily be found from older Dish or DTV installs and are still sold by several vendors usually less than $5.

 

[Keith Brannen]

Wow Keith, did you have 22 runs of coax going out into the yard?

Actually, have 25 runs of coax (four are not in use)! All my dishes are mounted on the house, all but one are on one side of the house in a 10x10 foot or so area. The coax "highway" runs from the basement, up a wall, across a doorway, and to the dishes, not a long run of coax. You must remember (and I am sure everyone can relate!) that when I started this hobby, it was with one dish, and sort of exploded from there! I made the decision early on (when I didn't have many dishes or coax) to have all switches indoors, having experienced outdoor switch problems with our Star Choice system (up a ladder, with a hair dryer, at night, in the winter!).

 

[markbone100]

How do you have your switch setup for that many?

 

[brentb636]

Using Diseqc 1.0 combined with Diseqc 1.1 uncommitted switches you can have 32 lnbf's on One Diseqc 1.0 4x1 and FOUR Diseqc 8x1 switches. Add a 22khz switch and you can bring in another array of 32, on the 22khz ON side of THAT switch. 64 lnbf's can be switched this way. Sounds pretty crazy, but it works !!

 

[Keith Brannen]

Using Diseqc 1.0 combined with Diseqc 1.1 uncommitted switches you can have 32 lnbf's on One Diseqc 1.0 4x1 and FOUR Diseqc 8x1 switches. Add a 22khz switch and you can bring in another array of 32, on the 22khz ON side of THAT switch. 64 lnbf's can be switched this way. Sounds pretty crazy, but it works !!

My setup (when 22 LNBs on the Pansat) was 4x1 switch, port 1: EMP Centauri 8x1 plus 8 22KHz switches (16 LNBs), ports 2-4 each had 2 LNBs per port (either through 22KHz switches, or Star Choice Dual Satellite LNBs - which has a built-in 22KHz switch).

 

[brentb636]

My setup (when 22 LNBs on the Pansat) was 4x1 switch, port 1: EMP Centauri 8x1 plus 8 22KHz switches (16 LNBs), ports 2-4 each had 2 LNBs per port (either through 22KHz switches, or Star Choice Dual Satellite LNBs - which has a built-in 22KHz switch).

Now that Linuxman has broken up his system, you may be the current record holder. How sad that my wife doesn't understand !!!

 

[linuxman]

Now that Linuxman has broken up his system, you may be the current record holder. How sad that my wife doesn't understand !!!

I was just trying to count them up in my head Brent, but IIRC, I think I had 36 at the peak of my system.

That was only using 5 ports on the Digiwave 8x1 switch, and I had those 36 running to 3 different receivers, so figure that system times 3 for coax runs.

 

[Keith Brannen]

Now that Linuxman has broken up his system, you may be the current record holder. How sad that my wife doesn't understand !!!

22 LNBs was at my peak on the Pansat, now it is only 15 on the AZBox, and 8 on the Pansat (and some are duplicate LNBs on both systems). Of course, I do have room to expand on the AZBox. I am sure there are others with a much higher count than me!

 

[Mr Tony]

I just went with 2 motorized setups...much easier to remember

 

[Cadsulfide]

I've had an EMP 8x1 on my Fortec MercII for 2+ years and never a hiccup....good switch

 

[sergei]

I just went with 2 motorized setups...much easier to remember

Myself since I really don't care for the switches, less to go bad I just install more dishes.dedicated to the receivers.