Satellite HD Distribution in Apartment Building

[Jimzo]

Here is my situation:

I live in a large apartment building that allows you to be a D* subscriber. I recently upgraded from the R10 to a HR10-250. I was able to receive both tuners on my R10 using a Sonora dual destacker. When I upgraded, I believe the people in the building hooked me up to a different multiswitch that allowed me to receive HD signals as well. I also have an OTA antenna hooked into the box.

The problem is that I am now only able to receive signal on one tuner on the HR10-250. The signal now comes straight from the wall and doesn't use any destacker. I have tried using my dual destacker and a high frequency splitter (there is a small chance that the splitter is not working correctly) to get signal working across all transponders on both tuners, but it won't work.

I have tried working with the people who manage our satellite system to get both tuners working, but they do not seem that interested in helping any further. The guy that did the initial said I would need a destacker, but wasn't sure and would have to ask someone else. They seemed unwilling to drop another line from their multiswitch to my unit.

Is there anything I could do on my end to redistribute my signal to get both tuners fully operational? I was thinking maybe add a multiswitch to the fully functional signal, but don't have any real idea if that would work and wanted to get your feedback before I bought one.

Thanks for the help,

Jim

 

[Doctor Bob]

Because this is a Sonora System, you have to have the Tech bring in another line, and you will probably have to pay for the extra line etc.

Any multiswitch, needs to have two or more lines going into it, in order to operate properly. I would be very careful hooking up anything to their lines, because if you do any damage to their system, it could cost you a lot of money...

 

[Jimzo]

Because this is a Sonora System, you have to have the Tech bring in another line, and you will probably have to pay for the extra line etc.

Any multiswitch, needs to have two or more lines going into it, in order to operate properly. I would be very careful hooking up anything to their lines, because if you do any damage to their system, it could cost you a lot of money...

Thanks Doc. I actually doubt the system in the building is a Sonora system. I bought the Sonora D575D dual destacker on my own. When they came to install my R10 about a year ago, they had never heard of such product.

I suppose there is a reason that simply splitting the functional HD feed won't work? Is the feed they are sending down here now a stacked signal that is being destacked by the HR10? Would my situation be any different if I used the HR20 instead of the HR10?

I appreciate advice anyone has.

Jim

 

[SmityWhity]

I'm not familiar with the DirecTV equipment, and if you are using some sort of QAM system; but if you need two lines from a swtich, hopefully there are already two lines going from the outside equipment room to a distribution panel in your apartment. And then two lines going from the distribution panel to each room.

I had DirecTV awhile back in an apartment complex through QWEST and serviced by a QWEST subsidiary. I had 2 plain single tuner receivers. By the 2nd day, one receiver quit working and another tech came out to correct. He put a destacker on the receiver and it started to work. He told me that since they amplified the signal a lot to get it to all the units, they needed the destacker to reduce the strength. He also said the receivers had it built into them, but these particular receivers would often malfunction and they would have to add the destacker to it.

Also, the destacker would separate the OTA signals from the satellite receivers for those customers that just wanted OTA signals, since there is virtually no TV signals inside the complex. I then feed my TV from the destacker for the very few rain and snow days we had.

I don't know if he knew what he was talking about or not. But the original tech left the 2 shipping boxes and inside were twonew destackers, I don't remember the brand, but a couple of months later the 2nd receiver went out, I pulled out a destacker, added to it, and that receiver worked. The destackers here, had one input, then a single satellite output, and a single VHF/UFH output.

 

[Doctor Bob]

Begging your pardon Jimzo, I was under the impression that sonora was the equipment of choice... LOL

The destackers can be a variety of different "Combiners/De-Combiners" that have been developed to split different signals, and or attenuate a signal... What Smity has experienced, is unique.