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View Full Version : install question dp34 vs. quad lnb


chewey
11-15-04, 02:02 AM
My father in law recently had E installed and I had some questions about the way the installer set things up.

He got a 921, 811, and 510. His new house has a great home networking setup. He has 4 coax runs going to the spot where his dish was to be placed. These 4 runs then go to a main box in the house where they can then be fed into the rooms that he wants. Each spot in the rooms then has 2 coax feeds coming into it.

The way the installer then set up his receivers is as such. The installers set up a dish with a dual dp lnb. The dual lnb then runs on 2 coax lines to the main box. Then at the main box the installer had those 2 lines feed into a Dp34 switch. Then the 4 outputs from the dp34 switch fed to the receivers, 2 to the 921 and 1 each to the 811 and 510.

Right next to the dish he also set up an ota antenna. This went to the main box with 1 coax. Then at the box he split the antenna signal and used a diplexor to feed it to the 921 and 811, after those lines came out of the dp34.

While all of the receives worked fined, the 921 and 811 were unable to pick up any ota hd stations. I figured the problem could be from the long cable run plus the use of diplexors. So I ran a cable directly from the antenna and into the 921 and we were able to pick up some hd stations.

My questions was why use a dual lnb and a dp34 rather than simply using a quad lnb. If he was limited to only 2 coax runs coming from the side of the house then that would make sense, but since he had 4 coax lines to work with I was confused by the choice. Plus he could have just as easily used diplexors right there by the dish and antenna to send the antenna signal to the to the two lines going to the 811 and 921.

My father in law said that he was charged like an extra $110 for the switch, so I wondered if maybe that had something to do with the installer's decision making process.

Wouldn't it be cheaper and easier to just use a quad lnb for this setup? Plus, wouldn't Dish give a free quad lnb for a customer setting up an account with this many receivers?

I would appreciate anybody's thoughts or insight into this setup. Thanks.

chewey
11-15-04, 02:07 AM
The only thing I could figure is that maybe the installer figured if he wanted to add more receivers down the road, he could always stack the dp34.

Plus, he is only getting 110 and 119, so the dp34 isn't being fed by 3 sat locations.

SimpleSimon
11-15-04, 02:15 AM
Or, the installer was thinking ahead - like to a wing satellite for CBS-HD?

Or he had a DP34 and didn't have a Quad? Or any number of other reasons.

I do NOT think he should have been charged for it, however.

larrystotler
11-17-04, 12:49 PM
With a dish 500 installation and that many tuners, the installer should have used a DP Quad, which is what the retailer would have been reimbursed for. Sounds like your father got taken for a ride. I would call the installation comapny and complain. E* specifies the use of a DP Quad in a 2 sat config. The DP34 is only for 3 sat configs. The Quad is included in the install. He should NOT have been charged for the DP34.

Unkle77
11-22-04, 10:20 AM
Given the configuration I don't see the installer made a bad decision in using the DP34. Since the 921 is NOT a part of any of the promotions the switch is not included and the retailer is free to charge for either a Quad or DP34.

larrystotler
11-22-04, 10:12 PM
Actually, the 921 is available through the Free Dish promo. It was a $549 upgrade, but now it is a $249 upgrade. You can get up to 3 receivers with it. And, since he got 4 total tuners, he should have gotten the quad. It was included with the commitment, and he should NOT have had to pay for the DP34. The DP34 is ONLY included for 3 locations, like an SD or an install with the wing for the additional locals. Since he was charged for the DP34, he got screwed and needs to complain.

The 921 is not available with the DHA.