Hi-frequency Splitters?.....

[psb1013]

While trying to bring in another line in preparation of installing my 921, I found out that I have to drill a half a dozen holes in my house going into my room due to the configuration. My Dish installer sugggested as an alternative to try looking into something called "hi-frequency splitters" which can make 2 feeds from 1. Does something like this work? (I thought Dish makes one but won't be available 'til Spring?) What other choices do I have?

[Mark Lamutt]

You don't have any other choice - you'll either have to drill the holes and run the cables, or wait for the DPP44 switch and the DPP splitter that will work with it.

[Inaba]

Can someone give me a technical reason why traditional splitters don't work for DBS? I know they don't... but why is that?

The more technical the better.

[Mark Lamutt]

Not terribly technical because I don't have a lot of time at the moment, but with legacy lnbs and switches, the receiver tells the lnb (or the switch) whether to look on the odd and even transponders with a voltage of 13 volts or 18 volts sent up the coax line. So 2 receivers on one cable could only be set to either even or odd transponders, not both.

With dishpro, it's a different because odd transponders are in a differnet frequency range than the even transponders, but once again, confusion would reign between 2 receivers trying to use the same line to the switch.

There's a lot more detail posted on the board, and I'm sure someone else can give a more technical explanation.

[Slordak]

Even ignoring electrical problems with two different receivers trying to drive the control signals on the line... The fundamental issue is that, even with DishPro technology, one wire still only carries the channels for one satellite. If two receivers (or two inputs on one receiver) want to look at two different satellites, the cable can't simultaneously supply the data for both. Of course, DishPro "Plus" makes some changes to this, but as with all data streams, there's always the question of how much data one can shove across a cable at once.

[retiredTech]

While trying to bring in another line in preparation of installing my 921, I found out that I have to drill a half a dozen holes in my house going into my room due to the configuration. My Dish installer sugggested as an alternative to try looking into something called "hi-frequency splitters" which can make 2 feeds from 1. Does something like this work? (I thought Dish makes one but won't be available 'til Spring?) What other choices do I have?

Coax is cheap ....

compared to exotic switches, amps, and the like
(that weren't specifically designed for your E* system).

A few "well drilled" holes is really not that difficult with the proper bit.
And "well placed" coax is really not that obtrusive.

Yes, it can be time involved ,
but if you do it yourself, it's just another weekend project.

[Inaba]

Ahh ok, that makes it clearer. It makes sense that the coax is functioning as a two way conductor as opposed to traditional cable which uses it as a one way.

Now I understand! I wasn't aware that the receivers actually talked back to the LNBs. :)