SWM distances and amplification

[easyrider]

A maiden post by a newbie with several questions.

The installer was out on Saturday, and it looks like with a some tree trimming, the dish will work as a pole mount, about 225' from the house. The install has been rescheduled for 2 weeks from now so that I can do the prep.

I'm planning to use 1.5" (1.9" od) rigid steel conduit (RSC) for my post - will the diameter be OK?

Moving on, what about the distance? Let's call it 225' to the house attic and power inserter, and then another 50' to the DVR/receiver (1 HD DVR, 2 other HD receivers). The dish will be a SL3-SWM LNB with built-in SWM, and I will bury quality flooded RG-6 with messenger from the dish to the house. I was thinking that b/c of the distance and voltage drop, that I should use the SWM-PI 29V power inserter rather than the PI-21 21V. Does this seem reasonable?

Will this sort of distance require amplification (like the Sonora LA141R)? If so, does it go at the dish or in the attic just before the PI? Of course, I'd rather avoid it all together, but if it is needed, then OK.

Finally, what about grounding? Do I need to ground at the post and at the house? If I need to ground at the post, can I just use the post (4' in ground) as a grounding rod? At the house, I will be a long way from the central ground and don't really have anything to bond to. Can I sink a 8' copper grounding rod, tie it to the grounding block and call it good?

Thanks in advance for your patience with my questions.

[Mertzen]

Few things:
- The ka/ku dish uses 2" OD. But I am sure 1.9 shouldn't be a problem.
- The SWM LNB can use the 29V PI so no worries on frying it.
- I'd go with the lowest setup. ie 21V and no amp and see if it works. Then add when things don't work. Start by adding 29V then amp.
- I've run solid copper for longer runs then that without amps so I thinh you'll be good.
- Ground at the house.

[Mike Bertelson]

Welcome to DBSTalk easyrider. :welcome_s

Mertzen has pretty much covered it all.

Let us know how it goes. It'll be interesting to see how longer distances will workout.

Mike

[easyrider]

OK guys - thanks for your input. I think that I have a plan now. I'll let you know how it turns out in a couple of weeks.

[lake 660]

Belden cable salesman gave me these about 6 years ago.
RG 6
solid copper 305 ft
solid copper Quad 340 ft
copper clad 120 ft
RG 11
solid copper 621 ft
copper clad 220 ft

[BattleZone]

I strongly recommend using a 2" OD pole (you can get the proper pipe at nearly any muffler shop), as the collar on the dish has a very small range of adjustment.

Also, you need to ground at the house, as near as you can to the house ground (at the power meter). Do not drop an additional ground rod unless you intend to back-bond it to the house ground with 6 gauge solid copper wire.

Definitely use solid copper center conductor cable to minimize DC voltage loss.

[easyrider]

This project is finally done and the results are good - I ended up with a 275' run of direct burial RG-6 between the swm and the power inserter, then probably another 50' or so to the receiver.

I trenched 225' or so by hand with a spade, just making a slit to shove the cable into the ground. On average, it's probably 5" deep. I might do this part differently if I had to do it again.

Thanks for your advice.

[bobnielsen]

That's great. Thanks for sharing the results.

[David MacLeod]

This project is finally done and the results are good - I ended up with a 275' run of direct burial RG-6 between the swm and the power inserter, then probably another 50' or so to the receiver.

I trenched 225' or so by hand with a spade, just making a slit to shove the cable into the ground. On average, it's probably 5" deep. I might do this part differently if I had to do it again.

Thanks for your advice.

in your area you might get rock "slices" during frost movement on unprotected cable.
just an fyi, soil might be ok for it.