Need help with FTA installation

[scubagib]

Hi guys, this is my first post. I must say this is a great forum. Before I go into the details of my post, I have searched, but I'm still unclear if what I want to do is possible and how to do it, so your kind help would be appreciated.

Currently I have a DishPro Setup with a DP34 combining the 110 and 119 signal which is split to our four receivers. My mother-in-law has just come to stay with us from Thailand and I would like to add FTA into the mix so she can watch Thai television off of Galaxy 25 in her bedroom. I have the dish pointed correctly and I have purchased a Fortec Mercury II receiver for the FTA. The Dish receiver is a 301 receiver.

The problem is that there is only one RG6 cable coming into her room and I really don't want to drill through the brick to add another RG6 for the FTA, nor do I want to have two RG6 cables in her room. So I was wondering if I could combine the FTA signal with the Dish signal destined for her room after the DP34 but before entering the house and then split them out at the receivers.

Also, what would be the best way to connect the recievers given I only have one set of RCA video inputs and a single coax input on the television? I mean I could split the signals and then run the FTA our of the FTA through the TV out as an antenna into the 301. Alternatively I could output using the IF out, but then do I even need to run the splitter? If a splitter would still be needed what is the difference between the IF out and the TV out? Is one better?

If I do the above, could I, in the future, add a multiswitch for the FTA before the combiner so I could have the FTA running to multiple receivers?

Lastly, what kind of splitter/combiner should I use?

Thank you in advance for your help.


Jim

 

[SatelliteAV]

The simple answer is that the FTA receiver could figure out complex switching through a single coax, but the Dish Network receiver would not be very friendly to the combination.

The current DP34 switch would only allow the FTA receiver to receive horizontal signals if the FTA dish is connected to an input, as the DP34 switch is designed for band stacked LNBFs. This would not allow for switching between horizontal and vertical signals, which is required with your FTA LNBF and reciever. The Dish network receiver needs to always be receiving the Dish Network signal or it will go into a switch check mode and may take sometime to reconfigure each time it is "reconnected".

You should run a new coax for the FTA system.

The easiest way to connect both the Dish Network and FTA system to the TV would to connect from the Dish Network TV OUT RF connection to the Fortec ANT IN then Fortec TV OUT to the TV ANT IN connection. Set both receivers and the TV to channel 3 or 4 (which ever is not used for a local channel). Turn off the Fortec power and the Dish Network channels will be displayed on the TV. Turn on the Fortec power and the FTA channels will be displayed.

 

[scubagib]

Brian, thanks for the reply, but I think I wasn't as clear about the set-up as I could have been. I do NOT intend to connect the FTA to the DP34 but combine signals after the TV out on the DP34. So I would connect the Dish500 (110 and 119) to DP34 out to TV but between the DP34 and the TV I would use a combiner to join the FTA signal to the E* signal and the combined signal into the room. With this said, would your advise change?

Also, I'm not questioning your judgment, but why do you suggest the receiver connection you did. Is the reception better this way?

Thanks again for your help.

 

[SatelliteAV]

If I understand correctly.....

DP34 output currently connects to the 301 SAT INPUT and the 301 SAT OUTPUT connects to the TV?

You want to add a 36" dish with FTA receiver and connect to the same TV?

If you want to use the existing coax cable to run from the outside to the inside you will not have good sucess.

EXAMPLE: Insert a 4x2 multi-switch with the 0 (OFF), Horizontal side to the DP34 and the 22 (ON) H and V sides connected to a dual output standard type linear LNBF on the FTA dish, then on the inside of the home connect the coax cable to the DIGITAL IF IN of the Fortec then loop out of the Fortec IF OUT to the 301 SAT IN. Program the Fortec to turn on the 22KHz for Galaxy25 channels. Turn off the Fortec and the 301 will see the DP34, Turn on the Fortec and it will see Galaxy25.

Result: When the 301 loses signal from the satellite connected to the DP34, it will launch a process to reacquire the satellite signal through a switch test, then once the Fortec is powered off the 301 signal will be reacquired, it will then reauthorize and download the EPG.......... Not a fast process!

To connect to the TV you could either follow the connection steps from the previous post or connect one receiver to the TV with the AV cables and the other reciever to the TV with the RF cable. The last method would add one extra step of having to also switch the TV between TV and AV inputs ...... One less step for your mother to have to deal with by looping through the RF connections!

 

[scubagib]

Brian

Thanks for your help. That was most informative. I really appreciate you taking the time to reply....by the way it's the mother-in-law...and keeping her happy...and thus my wife happy...and thus ultimately me happy...is of prime importance. Cause you know I'd never here the end of it if she wasn't happy...in two languages too.

 

[SatelliteAV]

That was the best laugh I have had in a long time!!!

....by the way it's the mother-in-law...and keeping her happy...and thus my wife happy...and thus ultimately me happy...is of prime importance. Cause you know I'd never here the end of it if she wasn't happy...in two languages too.