FTA Amplified Coax Cabling Routing

[rogerxx]

EQUIPMENT / SCENARIO
I have an Edison OS mio satellite receiver
GeoSat 1.2m (4 ft) dish
C/Ku Band Combo Universal LNBF
Ku Band LNBF
~100 ft distance w/ 2 inch conduit between house and pullbox next to dish
Crawl space for installing coax line amplifier
Planning multiple Ku LNB and/or an additional satellite dishes in the future

TONE SPLITTER / DISEQC
I have a Edison OS mio satellite receiver & a C/Ku Band Combo LNBF on a GeoSat 1.2m (4 ft) dish.

I have a two (2) tone splitter for controlling the C/Ku combo LNB, but I am guessing from my brief research, if I'm going to be mounting more multiple Ku LNB's onto the same dish support arm, forget about using the two (2) tone splitter and use either a 4x1 or 8x1 Diseqc switch and allow the receiver to select between the multiple LNB's and the combo C/Ku LNB.

From diagrams posted here, the two (2) tone splitter seems to be still useful if having a second separate dish installed, although not sure how this would work-out, if at all with this receiver.

COAX CABLING
The currently installed (one) dish is ~100 feet from the house with a planned large PVC/NM pull box next to the dish.

As far as the cable runs for the lowest loss, I will run the least amount of cable needed and place all the splitters/Diseqc switches inside the PVC pull box? Then run the required ~15 feet of multiple coax cables from the large pull box switch(es) to each LNB on the dish? Or do people mount the splitter/Diseqc switches on the dish support arm exposed to weather?

Guessing the amplified line would be amplified from the amplifier to the next device on the cable, or amplify through the splitter/switch to the LNB?

Toss an inline coax Sonora LA141R-T (150ft) amplifier near the receiver.
Figured-out, if I'm going over the 150ft, then get the Sonora LA281R-T. Took quite sometime to figure the differences was power/distance between these two amplifiers!

Any reason to pull more than one or two ~125 feet RG-11 cables from the house to pullbox, aside from installing one or two dishes? I would presume let the Diseqc switch(es) handle everything? Only reason to run more than two RG11 cables would be for backup? Although likely not ever needed as I have two inch NM conduit in the ground, and with the thicker cable will likely never fail in my lifetime.

 

[comfortably_numb]

My first concern would be the C/Ku combo LNB. Most people (including myself) have not experienced good results with those on a 1.2m dish. That LNB is really intented for use with a large C-band dish.

I have experienced good results using either one C-band LNB, one Ku LNB, or multiple offset LNB's on that dish.

 

[Titanium]

Agree 100% with Comfortably Numb on the C/KU LNBF mounted on a 1.2m dish.

Also, clarify the make and model of the C/KU LNBF. If it is a "universal" KU type with LO 9750/10600, it has an internal 22KHz tone switch for high/low KU band switching. This type of universal type LNBF would not be compatible to be used along with an external 22KHz tone switch. A universal KU band LNBF would be used with a DiSEqC switch.

You will probably find that an inline amplifier will degrade the satellite signal instead of improve it. It should not be necessary for <200 foot runs of quality copper core coax. RG6 copper core quad shield should be fine in the 100-200 foot range.

RG-11 coax will be lower loss, but more difficult to work with and requires different connectors and tools to install. Once again, use copper core, not copper on steel if you want to power multiple devices, switches or motors.

If running multiple receivers or motors, I would recommend using a powered switch instead of a passive one. Location of the switch is not too important. It is usually place where it is most convenient. Location may become important when using motors or with the availability of power.

 

[primestar31]

My .02: ALWAYS run a few extra coax runs right from the start. It's easiest to do it right then, and you'll likely need them eventually anyway if/when your needs change in the future. One could be used to power a switch, and maybe you'll eventually put another dish near that one. Or, perhaps you'll have a coax go bad in some way, etc.

 

[rogerxx]

I'll keep an eye-out for 2-tone splitter compatiblity issues with the combo universal C/Ku LNB. (NOTE: This C/Ku combination LNB has individual coax outputs for C and Ku bands. I believe the problems noted above are for combination C/Ku LNB's already having an internal tone switch.)

Didn't realize solid copper plated steel core coax/RG cable would be much of a problem with line voltage/amps for powering multiple switches/devices. Guess I'll re-pull solid copper, once everything is connected!

From the over-the-air TV (passive) antenna side, I tend to find degrading signal after ~75-100 feet. However, I readily understand amplifiers always induce or amplify noise, so likely will have to test with satellites. Thinking on the ball here, guessing the satellite receivers are already applying a line voltage with the LNB devices, making 100-200 feet OK. Guessing, the Sonora amplifiers maybe for those running RG-6 copper plated steel core cables.

Thanks everybody for their time reading and responding to my lengthy posted scenario. I'll try to following-up in another month or so.

 

[Titanium]

I'll keep an eye-out for 2-tone splitter compatiblity issues with the combo universal C/Ku LNB. (NOTE: This C/Ku combination LNB has individual coax outputs for C and Ku bands. I believe the problems noted above are for combination C/Ku LNB's already having an internal tone switch.)

If the KU section of the C/KU combo LNBF is Universal, meaning that it has two LO frequencies (typically 9750 and 10600), the KU port output has a 22KHz switch built in for KU band switching. This is a separate function than switching between C-band and KU-band output ports.

Good Luck with your project.

 

[rogerxx]

If the KU section of the C/KU combo LNBF is Universal, meaning that it has two LO frequencies (typically 9750 and 10600), the KU port output has a 22KHz switch built in for KU band switching. This is a separate function than switching between C-band and KU-band output ports.

Good Luck with your project.

Using a SatMaximum YL-CKU-4200; specification, "Ku-Band (port) L.O.: 9.75 and 10.6 GHz."

No wonder the satellite receiver was acting funny when tuning/testing with a two-tone splitter attached!

Thank you so much for the clarification!