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Need help with multiple receivers

2K views 14 replies 5 participants last post by  dhall2276 
#1 ·
I am finally getting around to finishing up some home theater and game room wiring and have run into a problem. I have 8 DTV boxes now wired and hooked up and with the SWM and splitter setup the installer set me up with (about a year ago) I cant run more than 6 at a time. There are actually spaces for 7 receivers but when I plug up the seventh I get a message that the SWM can not support another receiver. I have attached a photo of the SWM and splitters. What do I need to add and where is the best place to get it? And yes I know the wiring is pretty messy but once things are finalized I will be trimming wires and mounting everything into an in-wall control box.


The way the installer set things up is that the first splitter feeds to the second splitter and the remaining three slots on that first splitter go directly to receivers. The second splitter has the black coax fed to the SWM power module which in turn feeds to my primary DVR for the whole home system and the two white lines go to the remaining two receivers. You can see that one position is open, that is the one that causes problems when I add the 7th line to it. The final line is the one that comes off the SWM just to the left of the one that feeds the first splitter. That final line runs to a splitter that runs to the DECA box.
 
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#3 ·
Its not boxes, it is tuners. Each port on an SWM16 can have a max of 8 tuners. The port on an SWM8 can have a max of 8 tuners. A standard DVR is 2 tuners, a Genie has 5, and a receiver is 1. Add them up, and make sure no more than 8 are on a port.
 
#4 ·
west99999 said:
You need to balance out no more than 8 tuners on each of the SWM1 and SWM2 ports. I would also get some smaller splitters and not so many if I were you and run the power on the dedicated power port.
Thanks.....I know very little about this wiring so I need all the help I can get. What exact type of splitter do I need and where do I get them without having to get a DTV installer to come (I have had very bad experiences with installers over the years). As far as the power if I run it on the dedicated power port do I still leave the primary DVR cable hooked to the Signal to IRD port on the power module or move it over directly to a splitter. Of the 6 "boxes" that are currently running 2 are DVRs so I guess I am at the 8 tuner limit as is.
 
#5 ·
Yes, I should say its grossly unbalanced;

SWM port 2 is inexplicably feeding an 8-way slitter where in turn only one of its output ports then feeds a DECA?

And does the "DECA" mean a CCK?

In that case SWM 2 has no tuners being used at all since a CCK does not use a tuner.

Recommendation: Ditch the 8-way splitter and connect one 4-way to each SWM port on the -16 with short jumpers, then redistribute all the receiver coax runs onto the splitters careful not to exceed a combined 8 tuners for either SWM leg as the previous posts instruct.
 
#6 ·
dhall2276 said:
Thanks.....I know very little about this wiring so I need all the help I can get. What exact type of splitter do I need and where do I get them without having to get a DTV installer to come (I have had very bad experiences with installers over the years). As far as the power if I run it on the dedicated power port do I still leave the primary DVR cable hooked to the Signal to IRD port on the power module or move it over directly to a splitter. Of the 6 "boxes" that are currently running 2 are DVRs so I guess I am at the 8 tuner limit as is.
Also meant to ask what is the purpose of the splitter that the DECA box is plugged into? Is it a splitter that I can use to run more tuners from the SWM2 port?

 
#7 ·
HoTat2 said:
Yes, I should say its grossly unbalanced;

SWM port 2 is inexplicably feeding an 8-way slitter where in turn only one of its output ports then feeds a DECA?

And does the "DECA" mean a CCK?

In that case SWM 2 has no tuners being used at all since a CCK does not use a tuner.

Recommendation: Ditch the 8-way splitter and connect one 4-way to each SWM port on the -16 with short jumpers, then redistribute all the receiver coax runs onto the splitters careful not to exceed a combined 8 tuners for either SWM leg as the previous posts instruct.
This is what I am calling the DECA and it is the only thing plugged into the 8 way splitter on SWM2 port. From the sounds of things my last installer was even worse than I thought leaving things run like this.

 
#8 ·
dhall2276 said:
Thanks.....I know very little about this wiring so I need all the help I can get. What exact type of splitter do I need and where do I get them without having to get a DTV installer to come (I have had very bad experiences with installers over the years). ...
Don't think you need any new splitters. Just use the two 4-ways as I explained in my previous post.

... As far as the power if I run it on the dedicated power port do I still leave the primary DVR cable hooked to the Signal to IRD port on the power module or move it over directly to a splitter. Of the 6 "boxes" that are currently running 2 are DVRs so I guess I am at the 8 tuner limit as is.
To the splitter, and the IRD end of the PI when connected to the external power port may be then left open or simply place a dust cap over it.
 
#9 ·
dhall2276 said:
This is what I am calling the DECA and it is the only thing plugged into the 8 way splitter on SWM2 port. From the sounds of things my last installer was even worse than I thought leaving things run like this. ...
Yes that's a wired Cinema Connection Kit or "CCK," which functions the same as a receiver DECA, but specifically designed for the CCK role. I'm using one of those here.

And yes, unfortunately your installer was poorly trained as the CCK uses no tuners. Thereby your SWiM-16 was way oversubscribed on leg 1 with no tuners at all being used on leg two.
 
#10 ·
dhall2276 said:
Also meant to ask what is the purpose of the splitter that the DECA box is plugged into? Is it a splitter that I can use to run more tuners from the SWM2 port?

Its an 8-way SWiM splitter, and is senseless setup up that way other than to needlessly reduce the signal level to the CCK.

Remove it and suggest you only use the two 4-ways as I explained earlier.
 
#11 ·
HoTat2 said:
Its an 8-way SWiM splitter, and is senseless setup up that way other than to needlessly reduce the signal level to the CCK.

Remove it and suggest you only use the two 4-ways as I explained earlier.
I think I understand how I need to run it now thanks. However with only the two 4 way splitters I would be maxed out at 10 total tuners (I have 2 DVRs 6 single tuner receivers) That covers me for now but if I were to add another run in the future I would need to add a splitter correct? The reason I ask is I would like to add another run out to my deck permanently where I occasionally set up a backyard theater for big games and movies.
 
#12 ·
dhall2276 said:
I think I understand how I need to run it now thanks. However with only the two 4 way splitters I would be maxed out at 10 total tuners (I have 2 DVRs 6 single tuner receivers) That covers me for now but if I were to add another run in the future I would need to add a splitter correct? The reason I ask is I would like to add another run out to my deck permanently where I occasionally set up a backyard theater for big games and movies.
OK, I see you have 8 receivers total. Thought it was 7. My bad. :)

You're going to need the 8-way splitter on one leg then with a 4-way on the other leg of the SWiM-16 since you will need extra splitter ports for the CCK coax run as well as the future run out to the deck.
 
#13 ·
HoTat2 said:
OK, I see you have 8 receivers total. Thought it was 7. My bad. :)

You're going to need the 8-way splitter on one leg then with a 4-way on the other leg of the SWiM-16 since you will need extra splitter ports for the CCK coax run as well as the future run out to the deck.
Thanks I got it all swapped over and going through checking all my tuners now. Looks like all but two are working and the two that aren't are saying there is no network connection. I am going to reboot them and then run the setup again and see if that solves the issue.
 
#14 ·
dhall2276 said:
Thanks I got it all swapped over and going through checking all my tuners now. Looks like all but two are working and the two that aren't are saying there is no network connection. I am going to reboot them and then run the setup again and see if that solves the issue.
What are the model numbers of the two that aren't getting a network connection? They might need their own DECA adapter.
 
#15 ·
One is an H25 and I forget the other ones model but it is older and has its own Deca converter box (white box that splits the coax to Cat5 and coax). They both worked before the splitter swap around last night. I haven't had time to reboot them but will when I get home.
 
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