[RxMan1]

I want to subscribe to DISH, but I need to connect 8 tvs. What are my options? I have 2 HD tvs and would like DVRs on those and then 6 SD tvs. I could pair up some of the tvs on a receiver (i.e. master bedroom same as guest bedroom). Can this be done?

Thanks.

 

[BattleZone]

As a new customer, the max equipment you can get at no upfront cost is a 722 (HD-DVR, 2 tuners, 1 HD output and 1 SD output) and a 222 (HD receiver, 2 tuners, 1 HD output and 1 SD output). You can pay to upgrade the 222 to a second 722. These would be leased.

Dish limits leased receivers to 4 TV outputs. To go beyond that with dedicated tuners for each TV, you'd need to purchase the needed additional receivers at retail, plus any multiswitches, dishes, and installation costs for getting them installed.

With the SD equipment, you can use simple cable splitters to split the output to multiple TVs, so if you can live with shared tuners on some of the TVs, then your costs will go down.

 

[Jim5506]

I'd lease 2 - 722's from Dish and buy 3 - 311's. HDTV's get dual HD tuners, SD TV's each get a tuner.

Check with Claude @ www.dishstore.net, he'll take good care of you.

 

[CABill]

If you aren't in one of the colored areas at the southern tip of TX in http://ekb.dbstalk.com/pictures/Dish1000Exclusions.jpg, you'd probably get a 1000.2 dish that could feed 3 receivers. In the southern tip, you'd probably get a DPP44 and could feed 4 receivers (single or dual tuner). Anything beyond the minimum needed for the leased receivers is your $ as IIP mentioned. Assume you lease two 722s for the HD TVs. If you want to leave them in Single mode where the HD has access to PIP, two tuners (3 with OTA) always available to the HD TV, ... you would be force to watch its "TV1" content on coax going to another room. If you go with Dual mode on the 722, it can feed HD to TV1 and let one or more other rooms watch something else via coax on TV2. The other rooms can also watch its TV1 if desired. The standard DISH Install only involves connecting the 722 up to the dish and HD TV and running coax to "another room" for TV2. If you want to run coax in the house yourself or pay the installer for non-standard stuff, you can put 722 #1's TV1 on channel 21 and TV2 on channel 23, and have 722 #2's TV1/TV2 on channels 31/33 and then run that signal (possibly also combined with other things) to all the other TVs in the house. In the remote room, you change the TV channel to 31 to watch TV1 from 722 #2, etc.

If you aren't in the southern tip of TX and do get a 1000.2, adding a 322 would give you SD to one room and its TV2 output could be added to the coax with the 722s. You would need appropriate remotes in the "SD Rooms" to change the channel, pick from the DVR list, ... of the desired receiver, but you won't have to make a hard choice of room A & B will always watch the same thing. When they want something different, you would have to find (or change) the remote to control a different receiver and change the TV channel in A or B. Any installation of the 3rd receiver would be your responsibilty. Going beyond the dish and switch setup of the initial leased units can get expensive, plus the purchase price of the receivers.

 

[BattleZone]

We could give you more specific options if you can determine exactly what your needs will be at each TV.

 

[RxMan1]

Thank you for the detailed replies. I am starting to understand how this could work. I live in north Texas. My Tvs are as follows:

1. Main Living Room (HD)
2. Master Bedroom
3. Guest Bedroom
4. Theater Room
5. Pool House (HD)
6. Outside sitting area
7. Workout room
8. Work Shop

The workout room is in the work shop which is detached from the house. These could be connected on the same receiver, but getting lines to it may be tricky.

The pool house and outside sitting area which is near the pool house could also be the same. Inside pool house if HD, outside is SD.

The living room has the other HD tv. I'm not sure which combination would be best from that point. I like the idea of having several channels to switch between, but would need more info on the install. I don't have a problem pulling coax myself.

 

[jsk]

There are a million different combinations that you could choose. I assume it's a given that you would want a 722 at both of the HD TVs, you also could add a 322 (non-DVR/SD dual tuner)or 522 (DVR/SD dual tuner) and send it to your home distribution system to the rest of the TVs.


I have successfully sent TV1 & TV2 outputs on the same coax cable to my home distribution system powering 3 additional TVs. At least for the 522, TV1 output is limited to ch 3 or 4, but TV2 output can be sent out on channels 21-69. I would recommend adding an amplifier if you do this. Also, you can buy additional TV2 remotes on E-bay for around $5-6 each. TV1 remotes only work with RF although I think you can get TV1 remotes that are UHF.

One thing you should be concerned about is the UHF remote range. There are tips on this on this board for extending the range. I attached an old UHF loop antenna to the remote antenna input on the receiver and it worked well.

You might want to talk to a local installer about the configuration that is best for you. You could even bring a rough sketch of your home to them (include existing coax wiring) and an idea of how much you are willing to pay per month.