Technical Advice Requested-118 sat

[nlk10010]

This probably HAS been touched on in general somewhere in these forums but my situation is a bit different so I thought I'd create a separate thread.

My neighbor and I both have DN. We live in connected townhomes sharing a common chimney on which we each have dishes mounted. I have a 110/119 and a 61.5 (in the NYC area, BTW) and she has the same, although I think she's just using the 61.5 and is interested primarily in Internationals.

A Dish tech came to me today to tell me that Internationals were moving to 118 and that my neighbor needs a "Superdish" I think he called it (for 110/119/118) but that one of my dishes was blocking her LOS. He asked my permission to remove my 110/119 and for him to mount the Superdish with a special switch (44? and a multiswitch mounted outside) which would allow us to share the single dish. As well, he would have us share a single 61.5 dish. I might have some of my details mixed up but I think you get the drift.

Currently I have four lines coming into my home from my dishes but only two are used: one going to a 622 via a separator and one going to a 211. Will what the tech suggest work? Is there a problem with the multiswitch, being outside, getting wet and failing? Can a 61.5 be shared this way? Will Luke marry Laura?(Oh, sorry, that's another topic ).

I have the right to refuse but I want to be a good neighbor; besides, my 61.5 is not mounted well and is probably misaligned so I thought this might be a good time to rectify that situation.

Any thoughts/pointers would be appreciated.

 

[topcat0399]

This probably HAS been touched on in general somewhere in these forums but my situation is a bit different so I thought I'd create a separate thread.

My neighbor and I both have DN. We live in connected townhomes sharing a common chimney on which we each have dishes mounted. I have a 110/119 and a 61.5 (in the NYC area, BTW) and she has the same, although I think she's just using the 61.5 and is interested primarily in Internationals.

A Dish tech came to me today to tell me that Internationals were moving to 118 and that my neighbor needs a "Superdish" I think he called it (for 110/119/118) but that one of my dishes was blocking her LOS. He asked my permission to remove my 110/119 and for him to mount the Superdish with a special switch (44? and a multiswitch mounted outside) which would allow us to share the single dish. As well, he would have us share a single 61.5 dish. I might have some of my details mixed up but I think you get the drift.

Currently I have four lines coming into my home from my dishes but only two are used: one going to a 622 via a separator and one going to a 211. Will what the tech suggest work? Is there a problem with the multiswitch, being outside, getting wet and failing? Can a 61.5 be shared this way? Will Luke marry Laura?(Oh, sorry, that's another topic ).

I have the right to refuse but I want to be a good neighbor; besides, my 61.5 is not mounted well and is probably misaligned so I thought this might be a good time to rectify that situation.

Any thoughts/pointers would be appreciated.

if your relationship is good with your neighbor, i say why not? but: what happens if your good relationship sours and one or both of you has a service issue?

i would just make sure that all YOUR stuff works before your neighbor signs off that his works.

 

[nlk10010]

if your relationship is good with your neighbor, i say why not? but: what happens if your good relationship sours and one or both of you has a service issue?

i would just make sure that all YOUR stuff works before your neighbor signs off that his works.

Oh, absolutely, making sure my stuff is OK before the guy leaves is a given.

You certainly bring up a valid point regarding my relationship with the neighbor; I guess it's just that I try to think how I'd want them to act if the positions were reversed. As long as I still get my stations with no problem I'm not averse to sharing.

The issue I had was, technically, if it would work. When I first had my Dish install in June '06 two DN vans showed up, one with a supervisor, and they ended up trying to hook me up to the very same neighbor's 61.5 dish (ironic, isn't it) so that they could avoid mounting a new one. However, that wouldn't work; for some reason they needed to realign the dish a bit to get me a signal and that took away the neighbor's signal!!! When a tech came out to rectify the situation he explained that it had something to do with the LNBs, but I still can't figure out why there were problems sharing a dish originally and there wouldn't be now. So my skepticism that this will even work technically.

In any case, thanks for taking the time to post a reply.

 

[garys]

For the setup described, you both would be getting the signal from the same side of the lnb, so one of you would not loose the signal in order to give it to the other.

 

[topcat0399]

Oh, absolutely, making sure my stuff is OK before the guy leaves is a given.

You certainly bring up a valid point regarding my relationship with the neighbor; I guess it's just that I try to think how I'd want them to act if the positions were reversed. As long as I still get my stations with no problem I'm not averse to sharing.

The issue I had was, technically, if it would work. When I first had my Dish install in June '06 two DN vans showed up, one with a supervisor, and they ended up trying to hook me up to the very same neighbor's 61.5 dish (ironic, isn't it) so that they could avoid mounting a new one. However, that wouldn't work; for some reason they needed to realign the dish a bit to get me a signal and that took away the neighbor's signal!!! When a tech came out to rectify the situation he explained that it had something to do with the LNBs, but I still can't figure out why there were problems sharing a dish originally and there wouldn't be now. So my skepticism that this will even work technically.

In any case, thanks for taking the time to post a reply.

what you are saying WILL work provided everything is physically as you say it is.

also, how many and what type of recievers does your neighbor have?
how many dishes does your neighbor have right now? 2???


how this would work is they mount a new "500 plus" Dish (sometimes referred to as a superdish on work orders) on her side (or somewhere with line of sight). this gets 110/119/118.7 and one of your 2-61.5 dishes would get you - you guessed it, 61.5.

all 4 sats would be wired into the new DPP 44 switch (must use!), and then all of your recivers in both homes connected to that one switch.

in one of the 2 homes there must be the "power inserter" plugged into switch output port 1, and connected to 110Volt AC outlet that is ON all the time. probably in your neighbors house. if your neighbor ever removed the power inserter or turned off that AC circut, you will lose YOUR sats, as well as she. so some understanding is needed between you all.

then you could remove the unused dishes from the townhouse. its not a bad way to do this at all, as long as everyone is cooperative.

 

[nlk10010]

what you are saying WILL work provided everything is physically as you say it is.

also, how many and what type of recievers does your neighbor have?
how many dishes does your neighbor have right now? 2???

Good question, I'll ask her about the receivers. She has two dishes up there (110/119 and 61.5) but the tech that came today said the former is disconnected she's only using the 61.5 (I guess for Internationals).

how this would work is they mount a new "500 plus" Dish (sometimes referred to as a superdish on work orders) on her side (or somewhere with line of sight). this gets 110/119/118.7 and one of your 2-61.5 dishes would get you - you guessed it, 61.5.

all 4 sats would be wired into the new DPP 44 switch (must use!), and then all of your recivers in both homes connected to that one switch.

in one of the 2 homes there must be the "power inserter" plugged into switch output port 1, and connected to 110Volt AC outlet that is ON all the time. probably in your neighbors house. if your neighbor ever removed the power inserter or turned off that AC circut, you will lose YOUR sats, as well as she. so some understanding is needed between you all.

then you could remove the unused dishes from the townhouse. its not a bad way to do this at all, as long as everyone is cooperative.

Another good point, I'll mention this to her. I'll query the tech as well when he comes to see if he knows what he's doing!

As I say, no one knows what's coming down the road but as of now we are on good terms (after all, when the DN techs screwed things up and cut off my neighbor's signal for days they never said a word, just had it fixed). I'll take my chances that everything will work out and, if it doesn't, then I can reassess. By that time I might be with FIOS, for all I know. Plus, I'm on the Board so she'd better watch her step or I'll rip all her dishes out.

Thanks very much for the help.

 

[nlk10010]

For the setup described, you both would be getting the signal from the same side of the lnb, so one of you would not loose the signal in order to give it to the other.

OK, thanks, that makes sense and jibes with what the second tech told me.

It's just that I still have that horrible memory of the botched install floating around in my mind and I didn't want to be taken advantage of....yet again.

 

[Mr Tony]

this part confuses me

My neighbor and I both have DN. We live in connected townhomes sharing a common chimney on which we each have dishes mounted. I have a 110/119 and a 61.5 (in the NYC area, BTW) and she has the same, although I think she's just using the 61.5 and is interested primarily in Internationals.

A Dish tech came to me today to tell me that Internationals were moving to 118 and that my neighbor needs a "Superdish" I think he called it (for 110/119/118) but that one of my dishes was blocking her LOS.

if you both have dishes set up for 110/119 & 61.5 the "Dish500+" would REPLACE the existing dish 500 (that is used for 110/119).....so unless it truly is blocking "her" dish, there shouldnt be a line of site issue

 

[nlk10010]

this part confuses me

if you both have dishes set up for 110/119 & 61.5 the "Dish500+" would REPLACE the existing dish 500 (that is used for 110/119).....so unless it truly is blocking "her" dish, there shouldnt be a line of site issue

Either my 110/119 is blocking her 110/119 now or it would block a "Dish500+" installed in place of her 110/119. Most likely the former (i.e. it is already blocking her dish) as her 110/119 was disconnected. So the Tech wants to either put the new Dish where my old 110/119 is or remove my 110/119 entirely and put the new Dish where her existing 110/119 is.

Phew.

I think it makes sense but I do appreciate you chiming in here so if I'm still not making sense just let me know and I'll try to get some more info.

 

[topcat0399]

Either my 110/119 is blocking her 110/119 now or it would block a "Dish500+" installed in place of her 110/119. Most likely the former (i.e. it is already blocking her dish) as her 110/119 was disconnected. So the Tech wants to either put the new Dish where my old 110/119 is or remove my 110/119 entirely and put the new Dish where her existing 110/119 is.

Phew.

I think it makes sense but I do appreciate you chiming in here so if I'm still not making sense just let me know and I'll try to get some more info.

if a tech shows up that you dont think can handle this, find an excuse to reschedule and hope for someone better. experiance is all over the place out there and GOOD techs are becoming more rare as the bs increases in the industry. just a word of caution.

 

[topcat0399]

ps: its ok to mount the DPP 44 outside at the dish, they are designed for that, but the power inserter portion of the switch will likely be inside where there is 110V available. Sometimes its placed near a receiver in an entertainment center.

personally I always try to put a 44 inside near the demarc, but that might complicate wiring all recievers in your two households.

also, things might get creative with dish grounding.

 

[vegassatellite]

If she is only getting internationals and needs only 118.7, then have the tech wire that LNB directly to her system and then put in a DPP33 for you so you can get 119/110, and 61.5 if you want it. That way, there is no power inserter for future issues with one of you cutting power to the switch since the DPP33 doesn't use external power except what the receiver supplies.

Also, if you have two wires available from the dish to the 622, then he could even put in a DP34 switch if he had to for you.

In any case, the power inserter for the DPP44 would be the biggest concern because whoever has that power inserter controls reception for both of you.

Ask the tech if she's going to need 61.5 anymore, if she doesn't then advise him to just connect her direct to 118.7 without a switch and just use a high-frequency single port power passing splitter for distributing 118.7 to multiple receivers. It will work and the check switch result will say 118.7 DP FEED for all receivers.

Whatever dish and switch you use, have the tech edit the equipment list on your account to include those parts so they are covered under DHPP if you have the protection package. Otherwise, if the DPP44 goes bad and you schedule a service call, DISH won't swap it out unless it shows one installed under your account.

 

[nlk10010]

If she is only getting internationals and needs only 118.7, then have the tech wire that LNB directly to her system and then put in a DPP33 for you so you can get 119/110, and 61.5 if you want it. That way, there is no power inserter for future issues with one of you cutting power to the switch since the DPP33 doesn't use external power except what the receiver supplies.

Also, if you have two wires available from the dish to the 622, then he could even put in a DP34 switch if he had to for you.

In any case, the power inserter for the DPP44 would be the biggest concern because whoever has that power inserter controls reception for both of you.

Ask the tech if she's going to need 61.5 anymore, if she doesn't then advise him to just connect her direct to 118.7 without a switch and just use a high-frequency single port power passing splitter for distributing 118.7 to multiple receivers. It will work and the check switch result will say 118.7 DP FEED for all receivers.

Whatever dish and switch you use, have the tech edit the equipment list on your account to include those parts so they are covered under DHPP if you have the protection package. Otherwise, if the DPP44 goes bad and you schedule a service call, DISH won't swap it out unless it shows one installed under your account.

Oh, boy, I'm going to need a PhDish to get this straight.

The first tech asked me explicitly if I was going to need internationals (that may be a clue to something) and also mentioned a DPP33 but said they're were very new and he hasn't yet seen one yet so he wasn't considering it. While I DO have two extra wires coming in to the home run, one of the lines up to the location of the 622 is occupied by cable so I can't get two lines to the 622.

Are your suggestions in the first paragraph and fourth paragraph the same setup or are they different ways of attacking the problem if she doesn't need 61.5?

I am printing out all of these suggestions (thanks again topcat and everyone else) and seeing if I can distill a common thread.

BTW, does the 44 in DPP44 mean 4 satellites/4 outputs (and DPP33 mean 3 sats/3 outputs)? Just curious and thanks again.

 

[topcat0399]

BTW, does the 44 in DPP44 mean 4 satellites/4 ouputs (and DPP33 mean 3 sats/3 outputs)? Just curious and thanks again.

yes

 

[vegassatellite]

Find out if she just needs 118.7. If that's all she needs, she doesn't need a switch, she can be wired directly to the LNB. She can use high frequency single port power passing splitter rated to at least 2150mhz to split that LNB to multiple receivers. Since it is bandstacked, she can do fine without a switch to multiple TVs.

You, on the other hand, would need a switch to get 110 and 119 off that 500+ dish. Ideally, a DPP33 would be best, but a DPP44 will do it but you will want the power inserter portion of it installed in your home. Even a DP34 will do the job but it will require a second line to the 622.

 

[nlk10010]

Find out if she just needs 118.7. If that's all she needs, she doesn't need a switch, she can be wired directly to the LNB. She can use high frequency single port power passing splitter rated to at least 2150mhz to split that LNB to multiple receivers. Since it is bandstacked, she can do fine without a switch to multiple TVs.

You, on the other hand, would need a switch to get 110 and 119 off that 500+ dish. Ideally, a DPP33 would be best, but a DPP44 will do it but you will want the power inserter portion of it installed in your home. Even a DP34 will do the job but it will require a second line to the 622.

Gee, VS, I do believe I'm beginning to get this.

I understand what you're saying, the first Tech said he had to reschedule (thus the second Tech) because he didn't have a DPP44 so my guess is that the second guy won't have a DPP33 (or DP34 but I can't get two lines to my 622 so it's an academic point). If she only needs the 118.7, however, I WILL make the point that I'd really prefer a DPP33 if he has one.

My plan is to INSIST that the power inserter reside with me or it's a no go. Just in case I'm going to be sure that they put the new 500+ on her old 110/119 pole, which sits behind mine (looking towards the SW) so that if ANYTHING goes wrong I'm going to have someone remount my 110/119 and 61.5 dishes and block the cr*p out of her.

Again, appreciate the time you all are taking to give me this information.