RG6 Cabling Requirements for Hopper vs DPP

[sparc]

Am i correct in the understanding that the frequencies that Dish is using for the hopper are even higher than what they've used on the DPP equipment?

The older DPP using somewhere between 950 to 2150mhz and the new hopper RG6 requirements from 650 to 3000mhz (with 50 to 575mhz allocated for future use)?

Will those higher frequency requirements make it even more stringent to use RG6 for the new hopper than the older DPP system? I know in the past some people have gotten away with short runs of high quality RG59 on the older DPP equipment but am wondering how much less forgiving this new hopper system will be.

Of course this is specifically for the hopper requiring RG6 as the joeys only require RG59 as long as you only have 1 tap or less in the system. I attached the week 1 training pdf to this post that shows the frequencies.
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My reason for asking is i have some very very old RG6 cabling for the home distribution, but it's been working perfectly with dish DPP equipment for about 4 years with zero tech visits.

 

[rdinkel]

One thing you may be able to do is to install the Node inside the house, as close as you can to your Hopper(s). That way the higher frequency attenuation will be less because of the shorter runs between the Node and Hopper(s).

 

[navychop]

Wouldn't that be a bummer. RG6 I installed new 6 years ago, needing replacement after a sweep test! Maybe those blue compression fittings.......

 

[rdinkel]

My in-house RG6 is 22 years old. But the climate in Colorado is very dry, and it is moisture that causes the most degradation to coax. I am confident that it will be fine--by having less than 30 ft runs from the Node to Hoppers. And if necessary, I could switch one Joey and one Hopper locations to reduce the Node to Hoppers runs even further.

 

[sparc]

One thing you may be able to do is to install the Node inside the house, as close as you can to your Hopper(s). That way the higher frequency attenuation will be less because of the shorter runs between the Node and Hopper(s).

right now the switch is already inside, so that's definitely not a problem.

My in-house RG6 is 22 years old. But the climate in Colorado is very dry, and it is moisture that causes the most degradation to coax. I am confident that it will be fine--by having less than 30 ft runs from the Node to Hoppers. And if necessary, I could switch one Joey and one Hopper locations to reduce the Node to Hoppers runs even further.

funny... that's pretty close to exactly the same situation with short runs of 20 year old RG6... just different state...

 

[bf3000]

I just checked all of my coax in preparation for Hopper/Joey - the lines coming from the dish into the house to my central distribution point are RG6 3 GHz rated, but the lines that feed throughout the house (to my Hopper/Joey locations) are RG6 rated at 2.2 GHz. Is there any chance that this will work? I am hoping that even though the printed rating is 2.2 GHz, the 'actual' performance of the cable may exceed that limit. It would stink if I had to run additional cable - there really isn't a direct path to route them.

 

[rdinkel]

Just because a cable is rated at 2.2 GHZ does not mean it will not pass signals at 3 GHZ. Probably when the coax was manufactured some years ago there was not a stated requirement to test it to 3 GHZ. Also, what the rating means is that the signal at 2.2 GHZ will attenuate (reduce in strength) at a certain rate per certain length of cable. The higher the frequency, the more the signal will attenuate for a given length. But if your runs are not very long, it should not be a problem.

I am in the same situation with older RG6 within our house. Since the higher frequency signals are generated within the Nodes, the portion of the wiring using the 3 GHZ signals is between the Node and the Hoppers. So install the Node as close to the Hoppers as is practical. Thus you will have less attenuation of the signal than if the Node were mounted outside near the dish/switch.

Certainly worth a try before running new coax in the house.

Your mileage may very..........

 

[bf3000]

Thanks for the reply - the runs from the node to the Hoppers are in the 30-50 foot range, so hopefully it will work. All of the cables were installed at the same time, so I am guessing that the RG6 used to run from the dish to inside the house (the 3 GHz rated cable) just has a higher rating since it is exterior grade cable.

Just because a cable is rated at 2.2 GHZ does not mean it will not pass signals at 3 GHZ. Probably when the coax was manufactured some years ago there was not a stated requirement to test it to 3 GHZ. Also, what the rating means is that the signal at 2.2 GHZ will attenuate (reduce in strength) at a certain rate per certain length of cable. The higher the frequency, the more the signal will attenuate for a given length. But if your runs are not very long, it should not be a problem.

I am in the same situation with older RG6 within our house. Since the higher frequency signals are generated within the Nodes, the portion of the wiring using the 3 GHZ signals is between the Node and the Hoppers. So install the Node as close to the Hoppers as is practical. Thus you will have less attenuation of the signal than if the Node were mounted outside near the dish/switch.

Certainly worth a try before running new coax in the house.

Your mileage may very..........

 

[eddwall]

Help ... Me too !! My RG-6 cables are probably 16 years old. I have checked my cables.. No reference to MHz on them at all. Just 18AWG RG/6 CATV and alot of other numbers that don't ring any bells or searches on the Internet.

 

[navychop]

And to "sweep test" to 3 GHz requires a single purpose device costing 2 appendages?

How would an installer know, if it's not always marked? Is he going to try, and if it doesn't work, then check?

And BTW, we always say "he." Any female installers?

 

[rdinkel]

Help ... Me too !! My RG-6 cables are probably 16 years old. I have checked my cables.. No reference to MHz on them at all. Just 18AWG RG/6 CATV and alot of other numbers that don't ring any bells or searches on the Internet.

Just try the Node-close-to-Hoppers trick. I bet it will work.

 

[eddwall]

Ghz or MHz ??? The Hopper & Joey work on MOCA which is at MHz. Most coax has a MHz rating. Do you guys really have ghz rated coax?

 

[rdinkel]

3000 MHZ is the same as 3 GHZ. Damn metric system...........LOL

 

[eddwall]

Thanks u r right ....says the guy with egg on his FACE. No HZ markings on my RG-6 cables is kinda freaking me out. I ordered my system tonight with my retailer and setup a install date of Friday morning. Could of gotten a Thursday date , but I wanted to be here and I am off Friday.

 

[rdinkel]

Great. Let us know how the "old" cable works out.

 

[eddwall]

Sure I guess I will be the guinea pig....trying to re-route cables to position duo node in the middle to minimize cable runs in attic

 

[rdinkel]

Fortunately for me, when we built our house 22 years ago we had all RG6 into and throughout the house connect straight to a patch panel in the utility room. So there are no splitters in the walls, etc. I will place the Duo Node at that patch panel. It will make connecting the H/J system easy.

 

[eddwall]

I have a panel as well, instead of duo node at panel I will install it in middle of attic and shot homeruns from there to minimize cable lengths. My panel is on one side of house and cable runs are kinda long. My RG-6 cables are old and not sure of the specs and bandwidth that can be pushed through it

 

[Dishman1978]

Here is a pic of the area the higher frequency range runs. Lets hope it'll work for you guys with panels.

I will tell you the installers are not supposed to use it if its not marked, your experience may vary.

And that is only from node to hopper, joeys arent as picky.

 

[John Kotches]

3000 MHZ is the same as 3 GHZ. Damn metric system...........LOL

3000 MHz looks much more impressive than 3 GHz, it has more zeroes in it.