Two satellite signals on home coax?

[SATire]

Here follows a question only the folks on this type of site would know .

I have the usual coax into all rooms of the house. I made the crummy mistake of using splitters in some of the rooms which I think is where my downfall will be.

Wondering if there is a box out there that would let me take one, or two even better, satellite signals (W5 and KU FTA), sending them over the single coax to my office upstairs in the house.

All of my gear is in the basement but I recently bought an HD TV for my office which is upstairs. I'm wanting to get the best signal I can onto the TV so figured maybe a DVI extender or something but most of them need two Ethernet cables. While I did wire two into my office, one is already in use so there's only one available.

Then I thought, what if I were able to bring the receivers upstairs and connect them directly to the TV. Of course, I'd have to find a way to bring their coax signals up to me. Hard to search for something like that, which I have, but now it's time to ask since there are so many who have done similar things here.

Thanks.

Mike

 

[Mikey11]

i have read your post numerous times and still can not really understand what you are asking....can you clarify a bit?

 

[SATire]

Sure.
First, I used splitters when I built the house and ran the coax. I should have used direct runs to each room. My guess is that splitters will ruin any idea of mixing signals over coax.

Second, all of my gear is in the basement and I would prefer having it in my office. However, all of the dish cables terminate in the basement and there's no way to get them upstairs without some serious work.

Third, I was wondering if I could use a switch of some sort that would allow me to mix the C-Band and KU cables onto my house coax, and using a breakout box in my office, be able to extend those two signals.

Finally, I would have the Cband and KU receivers in my office, connected directly to the TV for a much better video signal.

Currently, I am using standard RF modulators to get composite onto the house coax which ends up pretty degraded by the time it gets to the TV.

So question would be... is there a combiner of some sort that would do the trick I'm looking to do?
I basically am wondering if I can still use the individual C-Band and KU signals by connecting them into my house coax.
Of course, I would not motor.

 

[Mikey11]

you talk about some type of dvi extender? what is that all about?

 

[SATire]

you talk about some type of dvi extender? what is that all about?

I'll edit that to mean HDMI. On that, I just meant that I see plenty of HDMI extenders but the audio/video ones seem to require two Ethernet cables and I don't have enough cable to make that happen so need to find another way. Hence, putting the C-Band and KU signals onto the house coax.

Had I been able to simply extend my main output device to my office, then I would not need to do anything else. That might still be an option, I'm looking around.

 

[SATire]

Can't seem to edit original post. I was going to simplify it.

 

[mr3p]

I'm still unclear what you are trying to do but let me ask how many receivers are you trying to connect? If just one, why not use a DiSEqC switch?

 

[Mikey11]

if you are a handy guy and want to use the ethernet cabling you can actually run TWO ethernet devices off of one cable....so doing this would really give you 4 ethernet connections to your office....if you want to go this route i will explain how....

 

[Mr Tony]

I'll answer the one question.....no you cannot combine 2 sat connections over one cable....ok well you could do it if you had some expensive bandstackers and unstackers...so the simple answer is no

For the other folks, I've seen Satire's setup. He has (right now) everything in the basement and from what I read he wants to move the receivers to the upstairs.

Now I forget Satire if you are using the C-Band dish just for W5 and the motorized on your roof is for KU or is everything in one dish? DO you know where the splitters are in the setup? Because you really need straight shots to the rooms. I thought you had a "home run" spot (where the cables all went) in the basement? Or was that just the cables coming from outside?

 

[SATire]

>no you cannot combine 2 sat connections over one cable....ok well you could do it if
>you had some expensive bandstackers and unstackers...so the simple answer is no

IceBerg, always cool to see that you remember so many details considering you saw my setup just once.
Ok, so could be done with an expensive solution but unjustifiable for the casual use I'm interested in.

I've seen the commercial solutions and wondered if maybe I wasn't finding the lower cost stuff.

>from what I read he wants to move the receivers to the upstairs.

Bought an HD TV for my office so want to bring the best signal I can to it. The RF modulators I'm using right now don't cut it.

>you are using the C-Band dish just for W5

Yes. While it is motorized, I've not moved in since last fall other than to readjust after winds.

>motorized on your roof is for KU

Right, KU is on the roof and I'm looking at converting a starband dish to fixed 97W in another thread.

>DO you know where the splitters are in the setup? Because you really need straight shots to the rooms.

I made the fatal mistake of using splitters and I don't know where some of them are.

>I thought you had a "home run" spot (where the cables all went) in the basement? Or was that just the cables coming from outside?

I brought all of the Ethernet directly to a wiring box in the basement but coax got split up.

 

[SATire]

if you are a handy guy and want to use the ethernet cabling you can actually run TWO ethernet devices off of one cable....so doing this would really give you 4 ethernet connections to your office....if you want to go this route i will explain how....

Yes, I often make my own cables and terminations. I've done this before when I didn't have an alternative.
For long runs, it can introduce noise and weird problems but for short runs, you're right, that should work just fine.
Only 4 wires of the 8 are being used in each cable.

If this would work, it's definitely the simpler solution.
Then I could output HD from my main switcher onto this extender connection to the TV via CAT cable.

 

[Anole]

let's not have the tail wag the dog

I couldn't figure out from when ya first posted, what was going on, either.
Still don't know.
I'm not sure you ever did answer the basic questions about how many
- satellite receivers
- TV sets
I think two satellite receivers
I'll guess two TV sets

If the 410 receiver (you do have one?) has S-video output, then use that into the Svideo input of your HDTV.
Cable run should probably be limited to 50 feet, and will require dual RCA audio cables.
A more reasonable cable run for it would be 12 feet.
What are you going to do about the remote control of that satellite receiver if it's not near your HDTV?

If your motorized Ku receiver has HDMI output, that would be the best way to connect to your HDTV.
Even carries sound that way.
How are you going to connect that receiver to any other TV sets in the house?
How are you going to remote control that receiver from your other viewing positions.

All the discussion about coax in the walls and splitters is just obfuscating the real problems.
Running RF modulators to carry the signals to various rooms is the worst way to distribute quality video.
If you want the best picture for the HDTV, then put the satellite receivers near it.
Maybe in an adjacent room? Or a nearby closet?
That'd mean bringing the satellite signals to the receivers.

How you want to distribute low-grade pictures to the rest of the house, that's a totally different problem

 

[Mr Tony]

IceBerg, always cool to see that you remember so many details considering you saw my setup just once.
Ok, so could be done with an expensive solution but unjustifiable for the casual use I'm interested in.

some setups I've seen for some reason I just remember how they were set up after seeing them just once
Other than not knowing which cable coming into the house went to where it was a very neat setup and not cables running everywhere...now the outputs..well that was different

>from what I read he wants to move the receivers to the upstairs.

Bought an HD TV for my office so want to bring the best signal I can to it. The RF modulators I'm using right now don't cut it.

>you are using the C-Band dish just for W5

Yes. While it is motorized, I've not moved in since last fall other than to readjust after winds.

>motorized on your roof is for KU

Right, KU is on the roof and I'm looking at converting a starband dish to fixed 97W in another thread.

ok...so 2 cables for 2 receivers. The C-Band is "fixed" on W5 for the 410 and the other is motorized. The 97W dish can be tied into the KU motorized. But you still need 2 cables to the room

>DO you know where the splitters are in the setup? Because you really need straight shots to the rooms.

I made the fatal mistake of using splitters and I don't know where some of them are.

shoot. I wonder if a simple cable tester would work. SOmething like this
CABLE TESTER TONER COAXIAL RG59 RG6 AV TRACK TV TRACKER | eBay

I have one and it's a godsend when trying to figure out what cable goes where. Did that at my buddy's house. 4 cables go under the siding to different rooms. Needed to find out which one went where. That cable tester allowed me to test all cables in 10 minutes instead of alot longer

>I thought you had a "home run" spot (where the cables all went) in the basement? Or was that just the cables coming from outside?

I brought all of the Ethernet directly to a wiring box in the basement but coax got split up.

shoot.

Hopefully the splitters are few and far between and maybe you'll luck out.

 

[SATire]

Yup, I've got a toner. I'm going to find a way to extend the output to my office. That's the simplest possible solution. Then I can keep all that stuff where it belongs.

 

[SATire]

>Still don't know.
>I'm not sure you ever did answer the basic questions about how many

I didn't get into the minutia because it didn't seem to matter. If I was able to put the two signals onto the single coax and break them out at the other end of that cable, that would have been one route to go. I originally liked the idea of simply taking my final output (in the basement) and extending it to my office upstairs. Just didn't sound like it would be possible but now it does after all.

>If the 410 receiver (you do have one?) has S-video output, then use that into the Svideo input of your HDTV.
>Cable run should probably be limited to 50 feet, and will require dual RCA audio cables.
>A more reasonable cable run for it would be 12 feet.
>What are you going to do about the remote control of that satellite receiver if it's not near your HDTV?

Man, I'm sorry, but yeah, you misunderstood my question .

The hardware is all in the basement, it's all hooked up, everything works fine. I have a projector I use in the family room for when we want to watch a movie or some other HD. No problems down there.
As for low res modulators, what I said is that those are what I've been using for many years and they are fine for low res like my house cameras and other such things but since I'm now replacing my regular TV's with HDTV's, it's time to find a way to get HD to those TV's as well as the projector.

I'm going to give the dual Ethernet wiring though a shot and see if that works out. It won't solve the other rooms but it'll solve my current problem if it works.

 

[Dishman Dan]

Running RF modulators to carry the signals to various rooms is the worst way to distribute quality video.

I have both the good and bad in your post!

My main TV is a SONY and it is the closest to sources and has the best connections. I

use a ChannelPlus modulator to distribute to the rest of the house. I would say the

through the modulator picture looks better than pizza and my unit is mono but I am

happy overall with the setup. The picture quality on the modulated end of things also

depends on the TV set. The cheaper TVs in my house have the worst picture quality

even if I set up a DVD player and hook it up direct the picture still is not super.

 

[SATire]

I don't understand why my original post sounds like I'm talking about using modulators as a solution, I'm not .
What I said is that for many years, I've been using RF modulators to output some 10 channels onto my house coax. That's done the job just fine for everything, including even DTV when we had it but times have changed. The modulators are still just fine for the low res stuff I have, but for the upgraded TV, RF doesn't cut it.

I do get some HD to the new TV in the form of streaming content over Ethernet from HD stuff I've recorded but would prefer to get better from the other devices.
The DSR410 doesn't even have S-VHS but even if I were to eliminate the RF to get it's composite to my TV, I'd still get a better picture.

As for remotes, I've been using wireless repeaters for years and they work great. I simply have a remote in each room and point to the repeater to switch channels, inputs, etc on what ever I want in the basement.

So basically, if I can simply extend the output of one of my HDMI/Component/Composite switches in the basement to connect that directly to the new TV, that will do the trick just fine for now.

Sorry for the confusion, thought I explained it ok but can't edit that first post.
I'm not the best writer, I often write the way that I would communicate with someone face to face which doesn't come across the same way and can be confusing.

 

[Larry1]

If you have the old style forced air heating, you can always run an extra cable through the heating ducts. Its and easy way to get a cable to another room.

***Please note it may be against code to run your cables through the ductwork

 

[SATire]

I built the house in 2001, not sure if it's old style or not but it is forced air.
I've run all sorts of cable in weird places, just didn't want to get into it in this house because it's a split level.
I could try pushing a plumbing wire down there and see if I can get to the basement.

Thanks for that idea. If that works, not only does it solve this problem but I'd run a bunch of other stuff I've been wanting to.

 

[Larry1]

not sure if it's old style or not but it is forced air.

Some of the new style forced air use small diameter pipes and high velocity air. Also look out for flexable ductwork like what is used for dryers. If it is the formed metal ductwork, then you have lots of space to feed your cables through. Just remember they are there if you ever have someone clean your ducts.


***Please note it may be against code to run your cables through the ductwork