Can somebody clear this up?

[loknload]

Every time I think I get a handle on this, I find conflicting information. I'm scheduled to have a 5 LNB dish installed on 02-03-07 to replace my existing 3 LNB dish. I have an HR20 in the living room, an SD Tivo unit in the bedroom (only using one tuner) and an older Sony Sat-A50 in another room. This is four lines from the dish.

I read on here that I need to make sure that the installer runs all four lines from the new dish into the WB68 multiswitch and then out to the receivers. I then read elsewhere that the AU9 dish already has a multiswitch in it and, unless I need more than four runs, I don't need a multiswitch.

What is the real scoop? Can somebody clear this up before I call D* an demand that they list a multiswitch on my work order so that I don't have some of the problems I've been reading about on here.

As a side note, now I see I'm going to have to check all my RG6 runs to see if they're copper core or not. If they're not, then I'll have to ask the installer what to do. This sucks because all of my runs were put in while the house was being built and I don't especially want cable running all over the outside of my house.

[carl6]

First, if you want to stay hooked up the way you are, with only 4 lines being used, they can be wired from the dish and it will work just fine.

However, I would highly recommend that you have the multiswitch installed. That way if you grow in the future, you've got the necessary connections.

If your cable runs are not too long (total dish to receiver around 100 feet or less), whatever coax you have should work okay.


Carl

[loknload]

Thanks for the reply, I really appreciate it. Curiosity got the best of me so I yanked some wall plates off and the core wire of my RG6 runs looks like it's copper so I think that should be OK...I don't think they're over 100 feet anyway.

I called D* and they said it showed a multiswitch on the work order so I'll just have them install it. The only bad thing is that I'll have to figure something out for one of my RG6 runs.

I added the line myself after getting the SD Tivo because I wanted to use both tuners. The two original lines enter the house on the side of the garage so, when I installed the original two line dish, I ran two short RG6 runs down the roof and then down the outside wall of the garage to where the two original lines entered the walls of the house. I installed a two way grounding block there.

For the new run, put the line through a roof vent right where the dish is mounted and it's a continuous run straight from the dish to the wall plate in the livin room. I may have to end up helping the installer crawl a new line to replace that one so it terminates where the original two line do on the outside garage wall.

Are the multiswitches supposed to mounted indoors or can they be mounted outdoors?

[carl6]

A multiswitch can be installed outdoors, however it is best to have it where there is at least some protection from direct rain or wind driven rain. Also, if it is outside, you want to make sure that each of the connections has a rubber boot around it.

Carl

[paulman182]

Page 2 of the WB68 book says "Mount the WB68 in a protected environment where it is shielded from rain and other water (sprinklers, etc.)"

[HLSteves]

My multiswitch is presently mounted on the post formerly used to mount the 3LNB dish. That means it is totally exposed to all of the harsh environment that we experience here on the western slope at 9200 feet. So far there have been no glitches not experienced by everyone else but I plan to remount it beneath the deck as soon as the spring thaw allows as the installation will be a lot tidier. Snowdrifts of five ande six feet in depth made such a compromise expedient.