dishpro switches

[cindysue19473]

I have a 301 receiver and two dishes,one is a dish 500 and the other dish is pointed at 61.5,and they are connected with a sw21 switch. I want to get the 721 receiver and I want to know if I will have to replace the lnbf on the 500 dish with a dishpro twin lnbf? And if a dishpro 34 switch would work with this setup? I will not be keeping the 301 once I get the 721.

[xgrep]

Both the 301 and 721 are able to use either DishPro or "legacy" switches and LNBFs (this is right out of the installation manuals). The only restriction is that you can't mix; the system must be either all DishPro or all legacy, both LNBFs and switches.

As to the DishPro 34 switch, you won't need one, but if for some reason you want to use one (such as for adding more receivers), you would need to change your LNBFs to DishPro, and any additional receivers would have to be DishPro-capable.

[Big D]

cindysue:

I had the same set-up you had, two dishes and a SW-21 when I decided to add my 721. Since I wanted to keep my 6000 receiver after adding the 721, I needed 3 RG-6 cables coming in to my receivers and I also knew that I would probably be adding a 921 somewhere down the road to replace my 6000, so I went with all new DishPro LNBFs and a DishPro 34 switch. Now I have 4 cables ready to go, 3 of which I am currently using and 1 ready for the 921 (plus the one from the 6000 which I will retire). One thing I will caution you about if you decide to go with the new DishPro stuff, your RG-6 cable HAS to be 2.25Ghz cable, I had to replace my Belden 9114 RG-6 which is 1 Ghz cable with Belden 1829A which is 2.25. My setup is now completely been replaced with new LNBFs, cable and switch which did not cost that much and makes me feel better about being ready for the future. If I had gone the other way, keeping the legacy equipment, I would have to add a SW-64 and that would have been nearly the same cost. The one added cost I was not happy about was adding the required legacy adapter for the 6000 receiver to work with DishPro at $49, I will just have to get my investment back when I sell the 6000. I guess it boils down to if you want to invest now for your possible future additions or not.

[Jacob S]

I thought I had heard that the legacy receivers would only work with legacy switches and lnbf's but dishpro receivers would work with both dishpro or legacy switches and lnbf's on the technical chats.

[drjake]

Jacob S, Legacy receivers will work with DishPro switches if you use the $49 Legacy adapter. You need one for each legacy receiver though.

[scooper]

drjake - where did you find the legacy adapters for only $49 ? dishdepot has them listed (just now) for $69.

xgrep - you're wrong - cindysue19473 WILL need the DP34 switch AND a Dishpro single (for 61.5), as well as a DISHPRO TWIN (119/110) and converting all cable to the higher spec.

IMHO, cindy would be better off keeping her present setup (add a SW21 for the other 721 tuner).

[xgrep]

Originally posted by scooper
...
xgrep - you're wrong - cindysue19473 WILL need the DP34 switch AND a Dishpro single (for 61.5), as well as a DISHPRO TWIN (119/110) and converting all cable to the higher spec.

IMHO, cindy would be better off keeping her present setup (add a SW21 for the other 721 tuner).

These two paragraphs seem to conflict with each other. The configuration described in your last paragraph is what I was recommending. If she(he?) does this, why would she need to change everything to DishPro, as you suggest? Both the DP301 and PVR721 can do either legacy or DishPro (but not a mix).

x

[xgrep]

Actually, without more info, it's not clear that adding an SW21 for the 721's second tuner will be possible, because we don't know if the LNBFs she currently has have dual outputs (a legacy Twin on the Dish500 at 110/119, and a Dual on the Dish300 at 61.5).

If she doesn't already have legacy Twin and Dual, then obviously some sort of upgrade is going to be necessary. The choice is either upgrade to legacy LNBFs with dual outputs (a Twin and a Dual), with two SW21s, as you suggested (which is, as a matter of fact, the configuration I have, with a DP301 and a 2700), or replace everything with DishPro (which I didn't want to do, since I have a 2700).

In the long run, it's probably better to go DishPro than legacy, since, although it might cost a bit more initially, it will allow additional receivers much more easily (in fact, it will allow some configurations that aren't possible at all with legacy switches and LNBFs).

x

[drjake]

I may be missing something here, but she must have a twin and a dual or single, since double cascading of Switch 21s won't work. Therefore, she must have a twin connected to a single or dual with a Switch 21. Therefore all she will need is another Switch 21 and a dual if she only has a single on the 61.5 Dish.

[scooper]

drjake put exactly what I was thinking - she has a TWIN cascade with SW21.

My 2 paragraphs aren't in conflict at all - 2 different subjects. #1 was a correction of what xgrep said she would need if going Dishpro. #2 is my recommendation assuming she is ONLY going to have the 721, with no upgrade potential for extra receivers in the future. If she DOES need more, well there are several routes to go there too...

[xgrep]

Originally posted by scooper
drjake put exactly what I was thinking - she has a TWIN cascade with SW21.
That much is clear. What we don't know is whether the Dish300 pointed at 61.5W is a single or dual LNBF. If single, it will need to be replaced with a dual for a second SW21 to work. I don't know how many Dish300 systems were installed with dual LNBFs. Mine wasn't.

x

[drjake]

I stand corrected on pricing. It is $69.