921 Installation Question.........

[BobMurdoch]

I currently have a dual LNB Dish 500 looking at 110/119 as well as a second dish looking at the 61.5 bird with a 721 and two Dishplayers hooked up to a SW64 switch.

Thanks to the 721 I installed last year, I am now all out of free outputs on the SW64.

If I install the 921 in my home theater and move the 721 to my bedroom, what do I have to do to make it all work? Also, in about 6 months my then 4 year old daughter will be getting a small TV in her room, where I plan on moving the second Dishplayer, so I will need to account for the one extra port needed by the 721 which will need a second feed for the dual tuners, and the Dishplayer.

I hear that I can cascade the SW64 with another one, but what is involved with that? Is it just adding a 2nd SW64 switch in my basement or do I have to run additional cables besides the new ones I am adding?

I will be having a professional do the install for me, but I am curious as to what will be involved.....

[BobaBird]

Parallel SW64 diagram:
http://www.dishnetwork.com/downloads/pdf/technology/installation/install-5.pdf

Photo: http://www.dishretailer.com/ts2000/tradeshow/00000315.JPG

[Kagato]

You might want to consider going Dish Pro. You're looking at about 300 worth of hardware ( 6 DC blocked Spliters, 3 Feed Loads, and another SW 64) + install fee VS about 460 worth of hardware (3 new LNBs, two new SW34s and an adapter for the Dishplayer) + install fee. An extra 160 bucks and you know if you need to add more STBs all you'll have to do is get an other SW34.

[Scott Greczkowski]

I am going to have to upgrade as well when I get my 921, I am out of room now.

[BobMurdoch]

So what is involved with switching to the DishPro? Do I have to swap out both dishes and cabling? What is involved here? Thanks for your patience with my questions..... I'm fairly advanced with the programming content and receiver operations, but I'm clueless when it comes to installation equipment and requirements.

[Bill R]

Bob,

The dishes themselves can stay. The LNBs, and switches are what need to be changed. Cable will likely NOT have to changed as long as your original installation used high grade RG-6. DishPro technology is great as long as you only plan on having DishPro receivers. Also remember that you can NOT mix legancy and DishPro LNBs and switches.

For the setup that you are going to have (721, 921, and one DishPlayer) there are several configurations you can use. The simpliest way would be to replace your 61.5 LNB with a DishPro single LNB, replace your 119/110 LNBs with one DishPro Twin LNB, replace your SW-64 with a DP-34. The DP-34 has four outputs but it also has (3) trunking outputs to allow it to attach to more DP-34s. All you would need to do to attach more receivers is add another DP-34 (each one supports four). The wiring will be a little different too. There will only be ONE wire from the 61.5 dish to the DP-34 (DishPro LNBs carry both even and odd transonders on the same wire so only one is needed). From the 119/110 twin DishPro LNB there will be two wires (instead of the four that you now have) running to the DP-34. The wiring from the output of the DP-34 will be the same as it is now (one wire to each tuner).

You can easily sell you legacy LNBs and switches on eBay.

[Scott Greczkowski]

My Dish would probably need to be changed, I am using a DirecTV Plus Dish with 3 DirecTV LNB's and a 4th I tied on for when I had ExpressVu. :)

[LarryH]

I have a 921 installation question too. I currently have a single-dish system with a legacy quad (not DishPro) and need to add a 2nd dish/switch to get ready for the 921. I only need 4 receiver taps total (two for a 721 and two for a 921). Can I connect the legacy quad outputs directly to the SW64 inputs?

[Bill R]

Larry,

Yes, that configuration will work fine. The signal from the 119 side of the quad LNB should go to SW-64 ports 1A and 1B. The signal from the 110 side should go to ports 2A and 2B.

[Jason]

Larry H & Bill R,

I am going to have to do the same exact install upgrade as Larry. I currently have a 501 and 721 hooked up to my Legacy Quad. But when the 921 comes out, the 501 will go bye-bye and I will only have a 721 and 921.

Obviously, I will have to buy a 2nd dish. What LNB will I need for my 2nd dish? What else will I have to buy to make this setup work? What switch will I need to add to my existing dish? Also, will I have to upgrade my existing cable runs? It is just standard cable that was installed about 3 years ago when I got my 4700s installed...so I doubt it is RG-6. How can you tell if the cable is the older style or RG-6? Is RG-6 required with the Legacy quad or only when using the Dishpro one?

Could someone please give me a detailed setup as to what lines go to what switches and dishes....etc.

[BobaBird]

LarryH and Jason,

You can get by without the SW64 unless there is something from 61.5 or 148 that you want to get on your non-HD receivers. Get a legacy dual output LNBF for the 61.5 dish and 2 SW21 switches. Each input on the SW21 will be connected to a Quad output and one of the side dish outputs. This will get you 3 slots on the HD receiver. Your non-HD 721 will remain connected directly to the Quad getting only the 2 core slots. It will be like this diagram for legacy Twin + side dish (http://www.dishnetwork.com/downloads/pdf/technology/installation/install-4.pdf) except that your Quad has 2 more outputs.

[Bill R]

Originally posted by Jason
Will I have to upgrade my existing cable runs? It is just standard cable that was installed about 3 years ago when I got my 4700s installed...so I doubt it is RG-6. How can you tell if the cable is the older style or RG-6? Is RG-6 required with the Legacy quad or only when using the Dishpro one?

Could someone please give me a detailed setup as to what lines go to what switches and dishes.

Jason,

Your existing cable is most likely RG-6 (ALL satellite installations require RG-6 cable). Because DishPro LNBs stack the even and odd frequencies on one cable the cable does need to be rated for 950-2150 MHz. Cable that is not rated that high may cause signal loss. Unless you have the package that the cable came in is hard to tell if the cable has that rating but I would just use go ahead and use the cable you have.

As for what you need and how the cables need to be run it depends. As Charles pointed out there is more than one way to hook up things. First, you have to decide if you are going to hook up all three slots to both of your receivers. If you are (and I especially recommend that you do if some of your locals are on a "side" satellite) and you are considering more than four tuners I would recommend that you go with DishPro LNBs and switches. As for wiring, look at my post to Bob. If you go with DishPro LNBs and switches your wiring will be the same as Bob's but you will not need a second DP-34 (unless you add more receivers).

[LarryH]

Originally posted by BobaBird
LarryH and Jason,

You can get by without the SW64 unless there is something from 61.5 or 148 that you want to get on your non-HD receivers. Get a legacy dual output LNBF for the 61.5 dish and 2 SW21 switches. Each input on the SW21 will be connected to a Quad output and one of the side dish outputs. This will get you 3 slots on the HD receiver. Your non-HD 721 will remain connected directly to the Quad getting only the 2 core slots. It will be like this diagram for legacy Twin + side dish (http://www.dishnetwork.com/downloads/pdf/technology/installation/install-4.pdf) except that your Quad has 2 more outputs.

BobaBird,

Great idea! That saves me the $150 for the SW64, plus I already have two dual LNBFs and two SW21s left over from when I upgraded to the quad. The only piece that I'm missing is the dish itself with the mounting gear. Any ideas where I can pickup just a dish and mounting hardware (no LNBFs)?

Thanks,
Larry

[angiodan]

Originally posted by LarryH


Any ideas where I can pickup just a dish and mounting hardware (no LNBFs)?

Thanks,
Larry

I'm sure you could find it on Ebay.

[angiodan]

Larry, heres one that ends in 3 hours.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3005247421&category=15071

[angiodan]

Originally posted by LarryH


Any ideas where I can pickup just a dish and mounting hardware (no LNBFs)?

Thanks,
Larry

I'm sure you could find it on Ebay.

[angiodan]

Sorry about the repeat message, I hit back a couple of times and it reposted.

Duh!

[cjvergara]

What receivers work with the DishPro equipment? I have my 61.5 and 110/119 feeding into the legacy sw64. I have a 6000, 501, 301, and 4700. If my 921(replacing my 6000) is going to require another feed then I'm going to either have to scrap my 4700 or upgrade to Dish Pro to get 5 outputs. But even if I upgrade to DishPro, I will have to replace my 4700 with a 301, right? the 921 better be reasonably priced... its cost seems to going even higher after all the equipment upgrades I'm going to need and I hadn't factored that into my budget yet.

[BobMurdoch]

The DishPro designation includes all of their 3 digit receivers only. Any 4 digit receivers require a legacy adapter.

Therefore your 301, 501, and 921 will be fine, but your 6000 and 4700 will require adapters to work with the Dishpro. Someone told me those adapters run $75 each, but I have not checked it myself.

[scooper]

$70 each.

[Cyclone]

or a $140 for two

[Nick]

Buy two and save! ;)

[pjboud]

My current setup is two dishes feeding two receivers, a 6000 and a 301. What will I need when I get a 921 to replace the 6000?

[BobaBird]

We need to know what you have now. Which switch is in place? Does your Dish500 have a Twin or 2 dual LNBFs (http://ekb.dbstalk.com/82)? Welcome to DBSTalk:hi: