Multiswitches ??

[*fergs*]

Hey all.

I currently have a Spaun 2 in 4 out multiswitch SMS 241F and thats fin for a single dish for H/V.

I now want to add a C band dish into the picture & feed the same 4 outputs.

Whats my next step up in the food chain ??

do they make a 3 in 4 out or does it go to something like a 4 in 8 out ????

OH really prefer to find something close to home..

OH & i realise I will need to add a Diseqc switch to change from Ku to C band dish as required.. (before the multiswitch)

Is it possible to add something like 2 multiswitches together to get the result or is that just wasting my time & create a real hassle when it comes time to add the diseqc commands ??

[LeroyPatrol]

You can add a second multi switch. You'll need a dual out c band lnb and then you will need to use a diseqc switch for each pair of outputs from the multiswitches you want to feed to a receiver.

Leroy

[beer4life]

Hey all.
I currently have a Spaun 2 in 4 out multiswitch SMS 241F and thats fin for a single dish for H/V.
I now want to add a C band dish into the picture & feed the same 4 outputs.
Whats my next step up in the food chain ??
do they make a 3 in 4 out or does it go to something like a 4 in 8 out ????
OH really prefer to find something close to home..
OH & i realise I will need to add a Diseqc switch to change from Ku to C band dish as required.. (before the multiswitch)
Is it possible to add something like 2 multiswitches together to get the result or is that just wasting my time & create a real hassle when it comes time to add the diseqc commands ??

G'Day Cobber,
You will need to use Universal Quad or Quatro LNBs for simplest configurations.
See if these are suitable, if not, I'm sure that I can find something more complicated.



Kindest Regards, " The Druid "........

[*fergs*]

thanks guys..

But wouldnt it be so much easier to use a multiswitch for 4 satellites with 6 or 8 outputs ??

so long as i an get a H/V for the 2 lnb's ( 1 each for C and Ku )

I assume they are availble in Australia.. i will get a mate to look in his list

[LeroyPatrol]

you need one of these puppies



You won't run out of ports now

Leroy

[beer4life]

thanks guys..
But wouldnt it be so much easier to use a multiswitch for 4 satellites with 6 or 8 outputs ??
so long as i an get a H/V for the 2 lnb's ( 1 each for C and Ku )
I assume they are availble in Australia.. i will get a mate to look in his list

Hey, ease up, you've shifted the goal posts. Try this then.
You don't need to use all the inputs and outputs, use for later expansion.

[*fergs*]

I think i'm confussing everyone... (sorry guys)

I have a Ku dish going into the Spaun atm so that takes the 2 inputs for the H/V side & outputs currently to 4 outlets.

thats all good.

I want to add a C band dish to the pile of cables running round the roof now.

So effectively I need 4 in & 4 or better out ( 2 inputs for each dish )

Is that any clearer ???

[beer4life]

I think i'm confussing everyone... (sorry guys)
I have a Ku dish going into the Spaun atm so that takes the 2 inputs for the H/V side & outputs currently to 4 outlets.
thats all good.
I want to add a C band dish to the pile of cables running round the roof now.
So effectively I need 4 in & 4 or better out ( 2 inputs for each dish )
Is that any clearer ???

Hi, Sure it's clear, but what's the LNB with separate H & V?
You've got me at a loss.

[weirdo]

I don't think they exist fergs. You'll have to use another Spaun like the one you already have with a dual C-band LNB. And of course the diseqc switches for each receiver to switch between KU and C-band.

EDIT Just checked Leroy's link and it looks like they do make em. Check out post 25 in that link from blackcrusader.

[*fergs*]

Hi, Sure it's clear, but what's the LNB with separate H & V?
You've got me at a loss.

Dont I need 2 cables from each LNB so I get a H/V from each ??

2 from Ku & 2 from the C band dish that is the proposed addition

so to get H/V from 2 dishes = 4 cables to inputs.. then how ever many outputs to the required decoders...

I think i will find the Spaun manual & scour it,,

thanks for the info , tips & input

[LeroyPatrol]

Dont I need 2 cables from each LNB so I get a H/V from each ??

2 from Ku & 2 from the C band dish that is the proposed addition

so to get H/V from 2 dishes = 4 cables to inputs.. then how ever many outputs to the required decoders...

I think i will find the Spaun manual & scour it,,

thanks for the info , tips & input

beer4life and his semantics.... he know's how to complicate a relative simple question.

Leroy

[beer4life]

Dont I need 2 cables from each LNB so I get a H/V from each ??

2 from Ku & 2 from the C band dish that is the proposed addition

so to get H/V from 2 dishes = 4 cables to inputs.. then how ever many outputs to the required decoders...

I think i will find the Spaun manual & scour it,,

thanks for the info , tips & input

Hi fergs,
The point I'm getting at is mentioned in that other thread.
The LNBs commonly called "dual" are in fact " Twin LNBs with Dual output (H & V on each output) for feeding Twin tuner STBs or two separate STBs.
Effectively the same as two separate LNBs.
You need Quad LNBs for four STBs or Quatro LNBs with separate H & V via multiswitches for multi STB installations.
The only reason that you can feed four STBs with a single Twin LNB is if the Sats are single Polarity, H or V. Otherwise there is conflict with 13/18V.
As I posted in #3, that is the simple solution.

[LeroyPatrol]

Hi fergs,
The point I'm getting at is mentioned in that other thread.
The LNBs commonly called "dual" are in fact " Twin LNBs with Dual output (H & V on each output) for feeding Twin tuner STBs or two separate STBs.
Effectively the same as two separate LNBs.
You need Quad LNBs for four STBs or Quatro LNBs with separate H & V via multiswitches for multi STB installations.
The only reason that you can feed four STBs with a single Twin LNB is if the Sats are single Polarity, H or V. Otherwise there is conflict with 13/18V.
As I posted in #3, that is the simple solution.

I'm not using a quad lnb with my multi switch! I'm using a dual output (Sharp like what Austar use) which you like to call a twin output with a Spaun SMS281F. I think you are over complicating the issue.

Leroy

[beer4life]

beer4life and his semantics.... he know's how to complicate a relative simple question.

Leroy

Leroy, if you weren't so recalcitrant, you would search, and come to the same conclusion as I have. The thread you quoted, mentions Quad LNBs.

[vk6xlr]

Hey *fergs*
I got an 8in 8out multiswitch here if you wish to buy

This will enable you to have 4 dual lnbs on 4 dishes for upto 8 STB's

[vk6xlr]

beer4life and his semantics.... he know's how to complicate a relative simple question.

Leroy

For once I have to agree with you.

I have 4 dishes, all with dual LNB's that did feed an 8x8 multiswitch. So very simple.
This quatro/quad LNB caper per dish is nonsense!!

[vk6xlr]

This will enable you to have 4 dual lnbs on 4 dishes for upto 8 STB's

This is how it's done.

[Saintaholic]

Ok, my next step in my setup is to add as much as I can with (Blonde) user friendly control. An impossible task, I know.

Reading the previous posts doesn't answer a question I've had about multi switches. Also, I have been to the spaun website and not found my answers there. So here goes......


Lets say I have a spaun multi with 4 in and 8 out.

Now to the untrained eye that would mean I could hookup 4 LNB's and 8 receivers.

Now all of my LNB's have H/V going to one output. So then I hook up 4 LNB's all with H/V.

Now LNB1 is at C1 watching a 'Horiz' channel via output receiver one. Can receiver two, watch a 'vert' channel from C1 ??

I dont believe this is possible. At the end of the day, a LNB is an LNB and works with 2 different voltages to set horiz or vert. So I cant believe switches, Diseqc, Tones etc can change any of that. I HOPE I'm WRONG.

I would love to have 3 of my dishes which have 7 LNB's going to a bunch of switches etc and allowing 4 of my receivers to watch whatever satellite and channel they like.

[beer4life]

Ok, my next step in my setup is to add as much as I can with (Blonde) user friendly control. An impossible task, I know.

Reading the previous posts doesn't answer a question I've had about multi switches. Also, I have been to the spaun website and not found my answers there. So here goes......


Lets say I have a spaun multi with 4 in and 8 out.

Now to the untrained eye that would mean I could hookup 4 LNB's and 8 receivers.

Now all of my LNB's have H/V going to one output. So then I hook up 4 LNB's all with H/V.

Now LNB1 is at C1 watching a 'Horiz' channel via output receiver one. Can receiver two, watch a 'vert' channel from C1 ??

I dont believe this is possible. At the end of the day, a LNB is an LNB and works with 2 different voltages to set horiz or vert. So I cant believe switches, Diseqc, Tones etc can change any of that. I HOPE I'm WRONG.

I would love to have 3 of my dishes which have 7 LNB's going to a bunch of switches etc and allowing 4 of my receivers to watch whatever satellite and channel they like.

"Now to the untrained eye that would mean I could hookup 4 LNB's and 8 receivers."

That is incorrect. You have 2 H (18V) and 2 V (13V) inputs for 2 Satellites.
To do 4 Satellites with Normal (not universal) LNBs you would need 8 inputs.
Offhand I don't have an image of what you need, but this will give you an idea. For one Sat, you need 2 inputs for normal LNBs and 4 inputs per sat for universal LNBs. You can get them with separate Terrestrial input as well.

[gw1]

Those switches are really designed for receiving two satellites, using dual output LNBs for both, but it's possible to use them with three or even four satellites depending on the polarisation of the services you're interested in.

For example all the SelecTV transponders are on Intelsat 8 Horizontal polarisation, while all the transponders are on Telstar 18 Vertical, a C-band service.

Here's how 4:4 (or 4:8) multiswitches work. Suppose they have four LNB inputs 1, 2, 3, 4. It drives 13V on 1 & 3, 18V on 2 & 4, and 22kHz tone on 3 & 4. Each of the connected receivers can then select any of the inputs using the polarisation and 22kHz tone options in its LNB setup.

So for example you could have three satellites using the four inputs:
1 Optus C1 Vertical - Aurora, Al Jazeera
2 Optus C1 Horizontal - Austar
3 Telstar 18 Vertical - ISkyNet
4 Intelsat 8 Horizontal - SelecTV

And the LNB setup on the receivers would look something like:
Optus C1: 11300Mhz LO, H/V polarisation, 22kHz Tone off
Telstar 18: 5150MHz LO, Vertical, 22kHz Tone on
Intelsat 8: 11300MHz LO, Horizontal, 22kHz Tone on

One or both of the Ku band LNBs might have 10700 MHz local oscillator instead of 11300MHz.

You don't actually need to set the above to Vertical or Horizontal; you can leave them on H/V if you want. But when you scan Telstar 18 only the vertical transponders will work, and on Intelsat 8 only the Horizontal ones will work.

For you to receive both polarisations of Optus C1 in this situation you need a for Optus C1 and run two cables from the outputs to the multiswitch. That's how you can have several receivers in your house receiving Aurora at the same time as your Austar box is running. If you only had a single output LNB on a multiswitch like that you could only get Aurora or Austar depending on whether you had the LNB attached to input 1 or input 2.

What if you wanted to get, say, Canal+ from Horizontal instead of ISkyNet in the above example? The problem is the multiswitch voltage will drive the LNB to Vertical. You can still receive the Canal+ 11610H transponder, but you do it by editing your transponder entry - changing it to 11610V - and then rotating your Intelsat 701 LNB by 90 degrees.

There are a couple of things to bear in mind when using multiswitches. Firstly they don't use DiSEcC. DiSEqC uses 22kHz pulses to select either A or B input, or one of A,B,C,D inputs. You should turn DiSEqC off when configuring LNB setup menu for satellites received via a multiswitch.

Secondly you are restricted when using Universal LNBs in conjunction with multiswitches. Universal LNBs select between one of two local oscillator frequencies depending on whether they're being fed 22kHz tone or not. When you run a cable from a Universal LNB to a multiswitch you are committing yourself to either 22kHz tone ON or OFF depending on which multiswitch connector you choose. That means you're committing yourself to either its high band or low band. That's fine, so long as you understand what's going on. If you want to tune to a Ku service that's on a low frequency (below the lower limit of 10600MHz LNBs) your only option is to use a Universal LNB, and because you'd need to use its lower band you'd have to connect it to one of the 'Tone Off' multiswitch inputs. Conversely if you wanted to use a Universal LNB to tune to Aurora which has high frequences eg 12407Mhz you'd need to use its higher band, which means you'd need to use one of the multiswitch 'Tone On' inputs.

It may be possible to use multiswitches in conjunction with DiSEqC switches provided you put the DiSEqC switch on the receiver side and the multiswitch on the LNB side (it couldn't be the other way around because the multiswitch wouldn't pass through the DiSEqC pulses). I haven't tried that though.

If you need lots of inputs the other option to consider is 12V switches, which require your receiver to have a 12V switch output. You run a pair of wires from the receiver to the switch control input and configure your LNBs with 12V ON or OFF. Humas 5400 is an example of a receiver which had 12V output. You usually only find 12V output on older high end receivers, not so much nowadays.