I am sure it's simple, but ...

[NickNortham]

Hello All,
What is probably a very simple issue - hopefully someone can help me to resolve.
I live in SW France. I have a satellite dish with a twin lnb head. Use it to receive free to view UK channels.
One lnb cable runs to one room and one receiver. Works fine.

The second lnb cable is combined with an aeriel signal (for French TV) and through one cable is run to 2 rooms in the house. In one room (the nearest) it is split to a french TV and a receiver for the UK channels. Works OK - although the signal for the UK channels seems a little weak.

In the second room the cable is run to another receiver for the UK channels which I cannot get to work. No reception.

Spent some time reading posts here and am starting to think the issue is that I am trying to run three receivers to a satellite with only a twin head. Can someone confirm?

If so - possible solutions? I really want to avoid running additional cables if possible.

Thanks ...

Nick

 

[satelliteman]

Welcome,

Ideal solution is to install a quad LNb, giving you the three required switched satellite feeds to the rooms/receivers. If you can't run another cable feed from the dish then consider the Stacker De-Stacker system along with the quad of course.

_http://www.globalinvacom.com/products/pdfs/StackDestackW.pdf

 

[NickNortham]

Satelliteman,
Thanks. Makes sense.
Assuming the quad LNb and the stacker / de stacker - couple of questions ...
1. Will there be an issue running 2 "stacked" dish feeds and the aeriel feed down the one cable? (apologies if the terminology is inaccurate - hopefully you understand what I mean);
2. Will I lose signal strength? It is a long run for the cable - even with the "stacker plus" option would you think I'll need to amplify the signal?

Thanks again ...

 

[Topper]

I would keep it simple and get the quad then just run the extra cable, but then that is me

 

[satelliteman]

You can use 2 stackers if you wish to give you 4 feeds (if that's what you mean), although if the cable runs are longer than the recommended length, the losses will be far to high to consider.

 

[PaulR]

You're already up to three satellite receivers so fitting a quad will only give you the capacity for four in total. In addition, if you decide to get a PVR (personal video recorder) such as a Freesat HDR or $ly+ these require two feeds from an LNB so suddenly you've used all your feeds!

It might be a better idea to use a quattro LNB and a multiswitch. A multiswitch combines the satellite signal with a terrestrial signal and then, depending on how many outputs the mutiswitch has, can be piped round the house to all your rooms. They are available with varying numbers of outputs, (8, 12, 16, 20 etc) so you should find one to suit.

I supose that theoretically you could use a stacker/destacker to combine two of the multiswitch ouputs down one cable but frankly I'm with Topper on this and would dive in with extra cables around the place. I would also put double cables to your salle de sejour just in case you do decide to go the PVR route.

 

[NickNortham]

All,
Thank you for the prompt and helpful advice.
Last question - as I look at multiswitches - any pitfalls to avoid? As I understand it, I get a quad (or higher for expansion) LNb then a multiswitch to combine those signals with the terrestrial and send (ideally down independant cables) to each room.

Will all multiswitches be OK to combine the various sugnals? Is it just a matter of input/output connections?

Nick

 

[satelliteman]

All,
Thank you for the prompt and helpful advice.
Last question - as I look at multiswitches - any pitfalls to avoid? As I understand it, I get a quad (or higher for expansion) LNb then a multiswitch to combine those signals with the terrestrial and send (ideally down independant cables) to each room.

Will all multiswitches be OK to combine the various sugnals? Is it just a matter of input/output connections?

Nick

If you go this route, you require a quattro LNb to feed a multiswitch (although there are some switches that can be used with quads).

5 input switches allow 4 satellite feed inputs (normally fixed) and a UHF/VHF feed. The multiswitch will deliver switched signals to each port/output.

Normally used if you require several Sat/UHF outputs. You can of course use upto an octo (8 port LN and diplex the uhf on one or two of the feeds along the line