1997 installation upgrade

[pbillings]

I built my house in 1997 and got DirecTV as it was just coming out (I think). I currently have the very large 5 lnb dish on my roof (feeding an H20 in my media room) and a 1997 Sony dish feeding a 8 port multiswitch of some type. From the multiswitch, I have 2 old Sony AD-2 boxes connected to various TVs, and a Phillips DSR6000 DirecTivo connected. The feed to the DirecTivo requires 2 lines because of the 2 tuner ports.

I know my equipment (except for the H20) is ancient. I have DirecTV coming out to my house tomorrow afternoon to install an HD DVR in the location where my DirecTivo is presently.

My wiring setup is a little unusual. At all my existing tv locations, I have coax for cable or antenna and coax for Satellite. I have a large Channel Master antenna in my attic and also subscribe to basic cable through Comcast. Everything is homerun to a "stoop to work" wiring closet off my home office, where the phone KSU is also located. I only own 3 HDTV compatible TVs, and only the media room TV (which is fed by 1 coax line from the new 5 lnb dish) is the only one that has Directv HDTV. When I want to watch ota HDTV at the other locations, I push an A-B switch in the wiring closet, and lose my default basic cable feed.

The 2 Directv dishes on the roof are within 4 feet of each other. I'm hoping that the Directv installer can remove the old Sony single LNB dish, take the feed, run it over to new 5 lnb large Directv and give me 2 home run feeds to my wiring closet.

If I consolidate the feeds as outlined above, won't that give me the most flexibility? What do I need in the way of multiswitches, etc.? I plan to move the DirecTivo to another location, and realize that I may lose 1 of the tuners. I plan to put to put the HD DVR in the location near the wiring closet, as I have 2 coax feeds available to feed it (if that is necessary, like it was for the DirecTivo).

Thanks in advance for any tips.

[BattleZone]

Because you want to keep "legacy" receivers active, you'll need 4 lines coming in from the dish to your wiring closet. From there, the 4 lines will feed into a multiswitch (or be split to feed more than one switch), and to your receivers. For more than 8 lines, DirecTV normally uses a pair of WB68 multiswitches, using splitters to split the 4 lines from the dish, to feed the 4 inputs on each switch. That gives you 16 outputs.

[pbillings]

I don't think there is any way to get 4 lines to my homerun wiring closet, so that won't work. The only legacy receiver I care about keeping is the DirecTivo, but I'm willing to put up with using only 1 tuner.

With the two dishes I have now, I have only 2 coax runs coming from the dish area to the wiring closet. There is no easy way to run additional lines.

So is there any new equipment that will work of a 2 cable feed? I will never have more than 4 or 5 STBs operating in my house.

[houskamp]

I don't think there is any way to get 4 lines to my homerun wiring closet, so that won't work. The only legacy receiver I care about keeping is the DirecTivo, but I'm willing to put up with using only 1 tuner.

With the two dishes I have now, I have only 2 coax runs coming from the dish area to the wiring closet. There is no easy way to run additional lines.

So is there any new equipment that will work of a 2 cable feed? I will never have more than 4 or 5 STBs operating in my house.
SWM8 mounted at the dish would allow you to have one splittable line for up to 8 new tuners.. then you could use the remaining line for your tivo (running only one tuner)..

Directv installers will not have a SWM8.. you would have to puchase this yourself..