New house wiring questions and "OTA-only" 811

[ctoddt]

I am building my wife a new house, and I want to plan on the wiring.
Here's what I'd like to have: 4 TVs, one of which would be a PVR. I'd also like to hook up my 811 in the room with the PVR to 'see' the signal but only so I can use it for local HD.

The dual tuner models seem to save you $5/month each, so I guess I should go with them. How do you wire these the best? Does it leave any flexibility for moving the receivers around?

Does anyone have any ideas about hooking up the 811 this way? I don't want to have to change cables to use it.

By then my first one-year committment will be through. Should I be able to sign up for free equipment with DHA then or will I have to get a new account under my wife's name at the new address?

 

[ShadowEKU]

First... new acocunt... existing customers or re-hookups do not qualify for DHA

Now the wiring would be interesting. If you are looking for a free install for the 5 tuners you would likely have to pay for at least 1 switch.

We do need some more information from you as to what to do. however. for the primary 4 tuners you will be using (a 522 is a 2 tuner dvr and the 322 is the 2 tuner stand alone reciever)

What is best to do if you want to move things around is to wire 2 RG6 lines to each location with them all terminated in a central location (aka wiring closet).

For the 811 reciever you will need to run an extra rg6 line to that location from the wiring closet becasue the 811 does need to See the birds (110 or 119 not sure which).

For anywhere you plan on placing a 2 tuner unit you will want to run another line for the output. Diplexors can be used... but generally a clean line is preferred. and if the house is a shell as it is its best to run as much as you can now rather than later.

A question that needs to be asked. are your locals on a superdish setup or a wing setup? if you just have the dish 500 for locals and everything let us know.

Further diagnosis pending

hope this helps

 

[jlhugh]

What is best to do if you want to move things around is to wire 2 RG6 lines to each location with them all terminated in a central location (aka wiring closet).

I would go as far as dropping 3-4 lines at each location because the way these receivers are being made now a days you can never have to many lines dropped at a location. It also adds a little flexibility to your set-up with line loops and whatever else you can think of.

 

[Cyclone]

Don't forget to put phone jacks at each outlet location. You never know where you want the boxes.

Also remember to put a OTA antenna feed for any location where you would expect to have HDTV.

And if you are wiring, run the Antenna/Ground/Rotator lines up to the attic now. Dish might have 4 sats in action for HDTV next year (Superdish plus a wing sat). So run at least 4 RG-6 cables from your Dish location (roof or side of house) to your distribution box. That way you can hook up your DPP44 inside instead of outside.

 

[ctoddt]

And if you are wiring, run the Antenna/Ground/Rotator lines up to the attic now. Dish might have 4 sats in action for HDTV next year (Superdish plus a wing sat). So run at least 4 RG-6 cables from your Dish location (roof or side of house) to your distribution box. That way you can hook up your DPP44 inside instead of outside.

Distribution box, what does that consist of? 4 cables for 4 sats? I thought you ran one cable in for each tuner (or dual tuner) and that took care of multiple sats. Maybe the Superdish is different in that way than my Dishpro 500.

Is a DP44 needed if I don't have Superdish?

If I run 4 cables to each location, do most people then have four connections in the wall with 2-3 of them not being used?

Sorry for the simple questions. I really am smart enough to understand, I'm just trying to get my head around this current thinking for wiring. The last time I did this you didn't have to worry about dual tuners and multiple sats.

 

[ctoddt]

Also, what about a way to hook up the 811 and only use it for OTA along with a 522 on the same TV? Do I just have to run another line from the dish, or is there a way to split off?

 

[ShadowEKU]

Alot of people who run their wires to a central location mount a big metal box and run all the wires into it to make things look better. The reason for 4 wires coming from the dish location is because you will probably want to install the switch in this location if/when you need it. In the event you ever need to look at 4 satellites then yes 1 cable per sat running to the switch then each cable out of the switch will be able to carry all 4 signals (i really hope that made sense).

If you are just using the regular dish 500 (looking at 110 and 119 only) then you would probably still need those 4 lines coming down because your installer will likely hook up a DP quad. However since you will need 5 total lines carrying all the sats (the 811 has to at least look at the sats to be happy) so for a good quality install here is wha tI would do.

If you OTA antenna is going to be indoor and only a few feet from the 811:

Run the 4 lines down from the dish location.
get a DP34 and plug 2 lines into the inputs 1 and 2. Make sure that those same lines get plugged into the Quads ports 1&2 or 3&4 mixing those wont work.
that way you will have 2 lines coming from the dish itself virgin and 2 lines going to the switch

run 4 lines to the location the 811 and 522 will be (3 sat and 1 for tv2 out of the 522)
Run 1 line to the location of "TV2" (from the 522) join that line with the pne coming from the 522 and your tv2 is set.

Run 3 lines to the location of the 322 (the dual tuner plain reciever) (2 for sat 1 for tv2 out of the 322)
run one line for the location of TV2 (of the 322) join this line with the 3rd line of the 322 location.

No you will have 6 places to hook sat wires to in the wiring location. 3 go to the 811/522 combo and 2 go to the 322. you will have one spare for future upgrading and with a little work you can get another in there without buying anotehr dp34


I want to note that you asked if you can split the sat signal. You CANNOT split satellite signal between the dish and the reciever. there are special cases but this isnt one of them.

I wanted to note as well that if you are going to get your OTA from an outdoor antenna you will need another wire run to the 522/811 location totaling 5.

 

[ShadowEKU]

Excuse the crude drawing but i thought it would help

 

[SimpleSimon]

A slightly less expensive solution - because the 811 only needs one bird, is a DP Twin instead of the Quad, and plug the 811 into the #1 cascade output of the DP34 (which should be 119).

And Shadow - one note - it's a good idea to keep dual tuner receivers on "pairs" of switch outputs. It may not matter any more, but why not do it just for 'clarity'? Your drawing shows the 322 on outputs 2 & 3. I would use 1 & 2 or 3 & 4.

 

[ShadowEKU]

A slightly less expensive solution - because the 811 only needs one bird, is a DP Twin instead of the Quad, and plug the 811 into the #1 cascade output of the DP34 (which should be 119).

And Shadow - one note - it's a good idea to keep dual tuner receivers on "pairs" of switch outputs. It may not matter any more, but why not do it just for 'clarity'? Your drawing shows the 322 on outputs 2 & 3. I would use 1 & 2 or 3 & 4.

Absolutely simon... when i was drawing it in paint i didn tthink about that.

One othe rthing. if you are getting the Free install there would be no real cost difference because you would have to buy a dp34 anyway. your installer will probably install a quad. but if he didnt simon is correct you could plug the 811 into the cascading outputs.