How many short cables do I need for the AT9 Dish going to the switch?

[bertbarndoor]

Hi, I am doing my own install of the AT9 dish. I received the dish today, but there are no cables. Should there have been any? My switch is coming in a few days. I'm wondering, how many cables will I need to go to the switch? Is there some kind of cable set that I can buy that has all the required cables? Thanks?

-Rob

 

[al]

Rob:

You will need to run 4 RG6 cables from AT9 to switch. Do you have more than 4 tuners? You can connect up to 4 tuners direct to the AT9 dish. If you do need the switch, my suggestion is that you run 4 cables from the dish to inside your home (or to a central point out of the elements), and connect to your receivers at that point. I would not put the switch at the antenna itself without some type of weatherproof enclosure.

No offense intended, but by the nature of your question, it appears you have no experience with the AT9 dish. My suggestion would be to have a technician install this for you. Believe me, it will save you alot of hassles.

In any event, best of luck to you.

Al

 

[bertbarndoor]

Rob:

No offense intended, but by the nature of your question, it appears you have no experience with the AT9 dish. My suggestion would be to have a technician install this for you. Believe me, it will save you alot of hassles.

Al

No offense taken. I don't have any experience with the AT9, but I have done multiple installs for myself and friends of other dishes. This one doesn't look that difficult. I was just expecting to see some cables in the box with the dish is all. Question though, how can I hook up my 1 receiver to the dish directly? Don't I need to combine the 4 lines into one line somehow??? Is their a built in switch in the dish that I don't know about? Thanks,

Rob

 

[bertbarndoor]

I just realized that the AT9 appears to have a 'combiner' or switch built in and has 4 outputs. The diagram confused me as I thought those 4 lines had to be combined, but it appears as though they will go to 4 independednt receivers if need be. So, if I had one dual receiver, I guess I'd only have two lines out of four used.

-Rob

 

[al]

Yes you are correct. The AT9 has a built in switch. If you need more outputs than 4, the only switch that I know of that will work with the AT9 is still the Zinwell WB68. This will give you 8 hookups.

I could tell from your previous posts that you have aimed a dish before. But the AT9 is a completely different animal. If you do not allow for the more precise aiming of the Ka band, it is possible to have great signal strength on 101/110/119, and have next to nothing on 99/103. We discussed the dithering process in your post regarding the SF95 meter. Follow the instructions precisely, and be very patient. Check your 99/103 strength following your install, and try again if it is not suitable.

Good luck with your project!

Al

 

[bertbarndoor]

Yes you are correct. The AT9 has a built in switch. If you need more outputs than 4, the only switch that I know of that will work with the AT9 is still the Zinwell WB68. This will give you 8 hookups.

I could tell from your previous posts that you have aimed a dish before. But the AT9 is a completely different animal. If you do not allow for the more precise aiming of the Ka band, it is possible to have great signal strength on 101/110/119, and have next to nothing on 99/103. We discussed the dithering process in your post regarding the SF95 meter. Follow the instructions precisely, and be very patient. Check your 99/103 strength following your install, and try again if it is not suitable.

Good luck with your project!

Al

Yeah, I have a few posts up here and have specific instructions on how to aim the dish. I have a meter on the way which should help, albeit not very much (apparently) due to its cheapness. Anyhow, I am a pretty methodical guy (read: accountant) with a lot of first-hand home reno experience under my belt, so I'm not anticipating too much trouble. Besides, I usually over-engineer all my projects, so I don't see why this one will be any different. (My backyard shed could probably withstand a direct strike from a short-range tactical nuke.) ha ha :up Besides, after reading a lot of horror-story posts up here where installers don't use concrete with polls or support arms for other installs, I'm not sure if going with a 3rd party is any guarantee of no-hassles.

-Rob

 

[Bob Nielsen]

You may want to look at these installation videos

http://www.solidsignal.com/satellite/at9_install_videos.asp