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Thread: VAST and Austar simultaneously same dish

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    Default VAST and Austar simultaneously same dish

    Hi there,

    My company has been asked by several different people whether we can utilise their existing Austar dish for the new VAST service. The reason for this is because we are in remote SA and almost every house already has an austar dish. After reading through some posts on here it seems that it is a possibility. I have some questions however:

    1. Firstly are we legally allowed to use the existing Austar dish to do this - would Austar have issues with us providing this service to our customers?

    2. I am assuming that VAST works with the existing Austar dish, LNB etc but can we run both Austar / Mystar HD and Vast decoders simultaneously off of the same dish?

    3. If we can run them simultaneously I am assuming that I would be able to simply use a two way splitter rated for use with sat frequencies and simply plug an extra coax into the new Vast box. Is that the case?

    4. Does anyone know a number for Austar technical support so that I can ask them direct about legalites etc? It is hard to get anything from the call centre staff usually.

    Hopefully this can be done as it would make my installs easier as well as it means that all of our customers won't have to have two dishes for the same reason....

    We are looking like we may be the sole installation company for our area so it could mean a lot of unnecessary work if we install the secondary dish....

    Any help / info or phone numbers of who I should be talking to would be very very appreciated.

    Cheers.
    Last edited by phatal; 26-01-11 at 02:26 PM.



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    You only reach Austar Technical support after wasting 10 minutes with some Asian person in an off shore call centre and after they have completed their runaround, you get elevated to the SECOND level.
    God knows how many dish's I have seen in the tips, damaged by fires etc and NONE were branded with any sort of identifiable marks.
    You wouldnt ask question 2 if you know about the incompatibilty of trying to run Vertical and Horizontal on a single input LNB.
    This goes back to when people had both Aurora and Austar or multiple STB's and Austar started the first of many changes by adding Horizontal to their transmissions which stuffed up the show considerably.
    I am running both VAST and Austar on the one dish with a Dual LNB but I have THREE standard STB's and a Multiswitch splitter/combiner that allows this to function.
    One MyStar and one Dual LNB wont allow you to add VAST as the Mystar uses TWO cables to the Dual LNB, one for each tuner.
    I am sorry but I dont think I would like to paying your company for this as they dont seem to be very technicaly able or competent.
    Last edited by gordon_s1942; 26-01-11 at 03:32 PM.
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    Thanks for the advice. At least your honest about the technically able part - hence why I am asking the questions and getting training beforehand....

    I look after an accomodation village which utilises many austar decoders to distribute channels around the rooms. These decoders are just using sat splitters to distribute the incoming coax between all of the decoders. This is why I thought that it might be possible to add a third output for the FTA decoder. I have only seen a multiswitch once before and was unsure of its purpose because of the above situation.

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    Yes VAST will work with an existing Austar dish - I don't know about asking Austar, I didn't bother.

    If the dish has only a single LNB you need to fit a twin LNB.

    However, if the customer has a twin tuner Austar box, or more than one Austar box you only need to add a Multi Switch, not a simple splitter, because there will be a twin LNB fitted to the dish.

    You connect the two coax leads from the LNB to the satellite multi switch - (Mine switch is a SPAWN brand with 8 outlets - purchased on eBay - they are also sold by most satellite dealers.).

    The Multi Switch has two inputs from the LNB and 4, 8 or more outputs (depending on the type and size of the switch) - these outputs go via a short coax to each sat box, (or two coax leads in the case of a twin tuner box like the HD Mystar). The Multi Switch automatically supplies Vertical or Horizontal - whatever the box tuner requires.

    The only problem some have experienced is that the VAST box is more fussy than the Austar boxes re signal quality. You may need to tweak the dish / LNB to make sure you have a maximum signal

    Splitting the signal between multiple boxes does not seem efffect the signal quality
    Last edited by earlsdon; 26-01-11 at 04:00 PM.

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    Wink Austar and VAST off one dish.

    G'Day Cobbers,
    Let's set the record straight on the technical aspects.
    All that would be needed is a Twin/ Dual output 10700 LNB, a dual(H&V) input Multiswitch and as many outputs as are necessary, considering many can be daisy chained. Two outputs would be required for each Mystar, not sure yet whether all Vast boxes will require two.
    In other words the technical side is quite feasible, but I would be loathe to advise on the legal requirements.

    Kindest Regards, " The Druid ".


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    Thanks for your reply. After doing some more research on the Multiswitches it seems like it is the best way to go and it will work. I tend to purchase most of my amplifiers etc from Matchmaster so I might order one up from them and give it a shot after I speak with Austar. Basically it all hinges on the legality of it all and whether they are happy for us to do it that way.

    If it was purely for my own house I would be like you and just do it but being that it is customers we need to do things by the book.

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    Quote Originally Posted by beer4life View Post
    G'Day Cobbers,
    Let's set the record straight on the technical aspects.
    All that would be needed is a Twin/ Dual output 10700 LNB, a dual(H&V) input Multiswitch and as many outputs as are necessary, considering many can be daisy chained. Two outputs would be required for each Mystar, not sure yet whether all Vast boxes will require two.
    In other words the technical side is quite feasible, but I would be loathe to advise on the legal requirements.

    Kindest Regards, " The Druid ".

    Thanks for that. We figured that techically it could be done (asked here to make sure) and that it would be the best way to go about it. The problem now like you said is the legal side of things as far as Austar is concerned.

    It just seems ridiculous that a customer may have to have two complete stand alone sat setups when they can just use the one.

    A post on here stated the austar terms and conditions which I have read which seem to state that the dish and infrastructure become the householders responsibility so it may be possible....

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    Austar would be loath to give you or anyone else Carte Blanche to use their dish BUT if you rang them and said it had blown down and wrecked the Roller, I bet they would say 'its Not OURS, read the fine print' etc.
    That accomodation you mention most likely has one of those 'Business/Hotel/Motel' packages and cannot receive all the channels as the STB's are connected by ordinary splitters.
    This is the same system used in multi unit installations when they quote the disclaimer.
    To see which polarity is in use you would need to look at Lyngsat to see what transponders carry those channels.
    They would have to be all Vertical or Horizontal.
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    Austar have very few channels on Vertical, most are on Horizontal.

    All the VAST (and Aurora) channels are on Vertical

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    Use the Austar dish, add the 10700LO dual LNB, run it's twin outputs to the multiswitch you need (multiple outputs available).

    I'd be running four RG6 Quad (or gasp Tri) shield per residence to 4-6 port wall plates; 2 x for Austar PVR's, and 2 x for future VAST PVR's. Blank infill plugs fill in unused wall plate ports.

    If they whinge, buy your own dish, they are cheap (85cm or greater diam) and remove theirs, too many Ku band dishes look ugly on a roof. Gordons approach seems reasonable.

    Many other variations on doing things abound. You could even add another satellite like Optus D2 on this single dish for additional FTA or pay service.

    Building insurance *might* dictate that you use a licensed cabler, or have work done certified.
    Last edited by Keepleft; 27-01-11 at 08:25 AM.
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    Quote Originally Posted by earlsdon View Post
    Austar have very few channels on Vertical, most are on Horizontal.

    All the VAST (and Aurora) channels are on Vertical
    Hence this is the reason for not being able to daisey chain receivers using the LNB out(loop) from one receiver to LNB in on the next receiver. So each box requires it's own LNB connection either via a dual or quad LNB or via a multi switch.

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    One more thought re the dish ownership.
    Those who had 'Select' and went to Austar, was that dish just realigned because that dish would certainly be owned by the householder.
    Any dish currently NOT connected to any service would be fair game to use.
    My Rules for Install would be this.
    1/ for self, use whats available
    2/ for friend, as above but with reservations depending on how good the friendship is.
    3/ for business/commercial install (single or multiple) I would prefer to go with a new everything because we dont know down the track what either (VAST/PayTV) could want to change in time.
    I stand unequivicably behind everything I say , I just dont ever remember saying it !!

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    Mystar HD does not have a loop out for the LNB, can't remember if the SD had one.The RF aerial does.

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    I know of many people who had austar and when disconected the dish remained on their roof.

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    Austar might have retrieved the dish way back when but not to my knowledge for many years now but I think Foxtel did for awhile.
    The idea being that it isnt going anyway and maybe that previous customer will reconnect or maybe another resident will plus their not worth the cost of the labour to remove it.
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    On the issue of legality, it is clearly spelt out in the terms and conditions for Austar/Foxtel.
    Foxtel clearly state that once installation is complete the building owner becomes the title owner for everything except for the card, STB and remote (so the dish, cabling, multiswitches, sockets are all yours to do as you please once the installer leaves).
    For Austar things are a little different as their terms and conditions state that all of the installed equipment is their property until such time as your subscription agreement is terminated. Once terminated however they explicitly state that only the STB, card and remote shall be returned meaning that they voluntarily surrender title of everything else (dish, cables, sockets etc).

    So once your subscription is terminated you can do whatever you want with the dish and cabling as they have stated in writing they don't want it and the contractual agreement has expired once they have their card,STB, and remote back.

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    A few thoughts.

    As Leroy points out, a Quad lnb may be the simplest solution (3 x coax runs) to the TV point(s), two for Mystar, one for VAST and one spare for maybe another VAST outlet? However if the LNB failed, a service call would technically result in replacement of the quad with a dual.

    Alternatively, if the multiswitch was mounted after the tv point ie an 'Austar standard' dual lnb and two coax runs; it would be simple plug 'n play to add or remove the multiswitch and VAST connection. This would mean that the actual installation is technically per Austar spec.



    Sams are as cheap as chips. Twud be a nice little earner IMHO.

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    Quote Originally Posted by phatal View Post
    Hi there,

    My company has been asked by several different people whether we can utilise their existing Austar dish for the new VAST service. The reason for this is because we are in remote SA and almost every house already has an austar dish. After reading through some posts on here it seems that it is a possibility. I have some questions however:

    1. Firstly are we legally allowed to use the existing Austar dish to do this - would Austar have issues with us providing this service to our customers?

    2. I am assuming that VAST works with the existing Austar dish, LNB etc but can we run both Austar / Mystar HD and Vast decoders simultaneously off of the same dish?

    3. If we can run them simultaneously I am assuming that I would be able to simply use a two way splitter rated for use with sat frequencies and simply plug an extra coax into the new Vast box. Is that the case?

    4. Does anyone know a number for Austar technical support so that I can ask them direct about legalites etc? It is hard to get anything from the call centre staff usually.

    Hopefully this can be done as it would make my installs easier as well as it means that all of our customers won't have to have two dishes for the same reason....

    We are looking like we may be the sole installation company for our area so it could mean a lot of unnecessary work if we install the secondary dish....

    Any help / info or phone numbers of who I should be talking to would be very very appreciated.

    Cheers.
    Ofcourse its being totally unreasonable to expect that VAST and Austar/Foxtel might cooperate in the development of a box that will be able provide access to both services (in the same way that Austar provide a HD digital terrestrial tuner in Mystar for non remote customers) - or alternatively a twin tuner VAST box with a second CAM that will read an Austar card by arrangement?

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    pc9...commonsense like that will never prevail.

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    Quote Originally Posted by viewer View Post
    pc9...commonsense like that will never prevail.
    While researching this I actually found a pdf that was a letter from Austar to the government (i guess) which was all about them wanting to offer such a box in the future. The issue they had was that the contract was locked down to the one box from the one supplier.

    I contacted Austar the other day about this and the bloke in level 2 support said that he was emailing his supervisor and that he would call me. Still waiting......

    I have ordered myself a matchmaster 3 input 8 output remote powered switch to use for testing purposes anyway.

    I like the idea of installing the switch after the wallplate in the case of an existing MYSTAR HD install and the installation of one new FTA decoder (ie my place). This basically means no change to the infrastructure - all good with legalities. Quick and easy install and no reason to get into the ceiling - it has been mid to high 40s up here for the last 2 weeks and is forecasted for at least the next 6 days. May have to change the LNB possibly but no big deal.

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