combine signal from two dishes

[BengalFan]

I'm new here so I apologize if this has been covered before...

After spending a whole day in trees and on the roof of my house, I've found two locations where I can mount dishes and get some signals.

The first location can only get the 101 and 110 sats but not the 119. The second location can get the 110 and 119 sats but not the 101. Both dishes are Phase III triple LNB's. I also have access to a couple of old round single LNB dishes.

I'd like to combine the signals from the two locations so I can get all three sats on one input. Do I need to replace one or both the Phase III dishes with older models and feed them into a multiswitch? Whats the best way to wire this? Does anyone have a diagram detailing a workable solution?

[SimpleSimon]

I know almost nothing about D* gear, but if the Phase III dishes you're talking about are fully integrated (like an E* Twin/Quad), something else is needed.

I seem to remember seeing older D* setups that used 2 dishes and an external switch, so I'm pretty sure you can make it happen. Wiring will be easy enough - but there's a caveat about "Sat C" - it needs to be a special LNB to be combined with the rest of the stuff. Sorry - not up on the details, but someone should chime in here soon.

[samrs]

Its sad that some areas of the country need more than one bird for their tv viewing. Down here in rural North Carolina everythings on the 101 except HD and Spanish don't have it yet and don't speak it. I tried to look for the parts you need but down here in rural North Carolina we don't have high speed internet access yet, some politicians been promising that but a reckon thats a subject for another thread.

Prior to those integrated phase three dishes we used a dish with three lnbs two duals and a single Sat C. The switch was mounted on the back of the dish and there was also a combiner. When trees became a problem it was possible to set up more than one dish and run the feeds to were ever you decided to place the multiswitch. The key componets being the multiswitch and the combiner. Three round dishes would work. Radio Shack used to sell a Sat C kit which included the correct lnb and combiner, not sure if they still do, it also contained instalation instructions. You need a multiswitch with satellite A and B inputs. I don't know if you can still buy that old channel master dish or not. Hope this helps some.

[DarinC]

You WILL need a cascadable multiswitch to combine the signals from two dishes. The easiest thing to do would be to put a Phase III dish at the second location to get 110 & 119. You will connect two cables from the dish to the two 22khz inputs on the multiswitch. The other two inputs on the multiswitch will go to a dish at the location that can get 101. That dish can be a simple single-sat dish (with a single dual output LNB), or another phase III. It doesn't really matter, though the single sat dish may look a little better, since it's a little smaller.

[larrystotler]

If you have some standard 18 inch dishes, put them where you can get the best signal. Or, you can use a Dish 500 for the 101/110 and a regular dish for the 119(or a D500 in the 110/119 and a single on the 101). Regardless, the 101 and 119 use standard LNBs. The 110 uses a special Sat C LNB and requires a speical combiner to tie it into the 18V side of the 119. Using a phase 3 dish, while possible, is kinda a waste in this situation. You can use 2 Phase 3 as descriped below as well. You just need an old stuf multiswitch. But that would need 3 switches, which could be better used else where if you have access to the other stuff. Personally, I prefer the older Plus dish to the Phase 3.

[chelsea]

Seperate 18 inch dishs are the solution to improve signal stregnth.
I have a tree issue also. Every two years I had to adjust. Went to the ground. It sits only a slight distance away from the house. Sat signals shoot at a 28 degree angle on the dish.

Go to a ground mount location, using a 2 or 3 inch piece of 1 & a quarter
PCV pipe. I've gotteen away without having to concrete it in, because my
dirts firm.