4 Room Installation Question

[bgoodz]

Hello, New to the Forum

We are newbs to sat's and are seriously thinking of switching from cable tv which we currently have split to 4 rooms with the cable underneath the house coming into the rooms via wall face plages. DirectTV is advertising 4 room installation.

Question:
1. How is the DTV installation done? 4 cables from the dish to the receivers? or one cable to the main HD Receiver and then out to the other 3 regular receivers?

2. Will the installers try to use the cable that is underneath the house currently or will the string new cable. The existing cable has been there for years(with cable splitters)and I'm not sure as to it's compatability with a new Sat hook up.

3. Possibly where the dish will be installed will not be where the current cable TV comes in to the house therefore missing all the cable runs to the 4 rooms.

4. I assume with the 4 receivers that any room can watch what they want and not restricted to one master receiver?

I called the 800# for DirectTV and asked some of these questions and they said they would set me up with an installation appointment and I could review this with the "Contract" installers and that I could cancel the installation if need be.

I am capable of stringing new cable underneath the house in to the 4 rooms but need to know from what start point. Or if they will do this I'm more than willing to pay a bonus or extra,( I've been under the house numerous times but I am getting older now) I just need to know.

Thanks for any assistance in advance and apologize for the newb questions.

ps: is there a place on the board that has a glossary for all the abbreviations I've seen in many of the posts?

Bill

[rainman]

here is a glossary of sat terms hope it helps.
http://www.sadoun.net/forums/faq-new...ht=terminology

[bgoodz]

Thanks Rainman, I did find the glossary section after posting my questions. Sorry I didn't see it sooner.

[rainman]

you are welcome thats what we are here for.

[bobkat]

Question:
1. How is the DTV installation done? 4 cables from the dish to the receivers? or one cable to the main HD Receiver and then out to the other 3 regular receivers?

---> There will be 4 cables from the dish (or multiswitch); not 1 cable to the main receiver.


2. Will the installers try to use the cable that is underneath the house currently or will the string new cable. The existing cable has been there for years(with cable splitters)and I'm not sure as to it's compatability with a new Sat hook up.

---> Yes they will try to use it because running new coax costs them time and money (remember, they are subcontractors). If the existing cable has been there for years it is likely RG59. If you are willing to crawl under the house yourself then run new RG6. Remember - NO SPLITTERS - run a dedicated cable from each room out to a common point near where the dish will be located. You can find out a rough location where the installers will put the dish by using the direction finder in Sadoun's website. The dish will point either southwest (if you live in the eastern U.S.) or southeast (if you live in the western U.S.).



3. Possibly where the dish will be installed will not be where the current cable TV comes in to the house therefore missing all the cable runs to the 4 rooms.

---> If you choose to keep the existing cabling then it will be the installer's job to bring his new cables from the dish to join your existing cables; just remember to get rid of any splitters first.


4. I assume with the 4 receivers that any room can watch what they want and not restricted to one master receiver?

---> This is correct.


kat

[bgoodz]

Thanks Kat for clearing up some of my questions. I'm still not clear on an item though.

How many cables from the dish to the switch? (this will let me know access hole size for either roof top or eave location of planned dish) I assume there will be 4 cables from the switch to the individual receivers.

I plan on running dedicated RG6 cables to a termination point where I think possibly the Dish switch will be located.

Thank you for the heads up on removing any existing splitters and any existing cable that is not RG6.

We haven't decided which to go with yet, either DishTV or DirectTV

Bill

[bobkat]

Hi Bill:

You might want to get a site survey done before drilling any holes in your soffit or eaves. I've seen customers prewire and predrill assuming the dish will be located at a certain spot but when the installer shows up it turns out to be not the right spot, so.... it costs $50 or so for a site survey but its money well spent.

The switch is usually mounted right on the dish assembly itself - at least that's how I do it. There are 4 cables from the LNBs to the multiswitch and then up to 4 cables from the switch down. So the hole you drill should allow up to 4 cables to pass through.

kat

[pictureon]

Originally Posted by bobkat

Hi Bill:

it costs $50 or so for a site survey but its money well spent.


kat

$50 for site survey? I see it very hard to charge a customer $50 for satellite site survey. At least my customers.

[bobkat]

Originally Posted by pictureon

$50 for site survey? I see it very hard to charge a customer $50 for satellite site survey. At least my customers.

Yes, most people don't want to spend the money. In the 11 years I've been doing this I've only done maybe 6 site surveys - mostly for customers that are building custom homes and want everything perfect. But I still think it is worth it. Consider the alternative of drilling through the eaves or soffit and then discovering its in the wrong place. It would cost a lot more than $50 to replace a section of soffit.

kat

[bgoodz]

Hi Kat,
Thank you and Ah Ha the picture is becoming clearer now. 4 cables from the dish to the switch (which or will be at the dish) and then 4 cables out to respective receivers. This is good to know because possibly the existing point where the input cable joins the 4 way splitter might not be the access point for the dish cables. This could change everything. And yes you are right on, I could have planned that and run all the new cables and it could be in the wrong spot......LOL.

I appreciate your advise in having a site survey first and I would be willing to pay a fee (would rather not if I go with that company) but it would be well worth it especially if I had to undo everything I had done in preparation of the final dish install.

I'm rather persnickety and do not want 4 cables running all around the outside of the house. I want the cables all running under the house and the up into the wall connecting to wall outlets (which is already done with the existing cable). I have no problem running all new RG6 or using existing RG6 if the access point will be the same for the dish.

We've been seeing both DishTV and DirectTV vans in the neighborhood recently and maybe I can flag one down and ask the installer to take a look at the place (a tip will be included of course for their time).

I've been looking at some of the installations during my walks and some I don't like, they are the ones that have the dish bolted to a chimney (that part is OK with me) and the cable running across the roof, over the gutters and down the outside wall. The installs where the dish is attached to either the fascia board or side eave/soffit are bit better because the cable runs under the eave and down the side wall but the dish is very noticeable. I would rather have it somewhat hidden behind a chimney if possible.

The install I think I would prefer is the dish attached to the chimney, 4 cables through the roof, routed through the attic, out the side wall then down and into a lower house vent then to the four room locations. I would do all the running an routing both attic and under the house if needed. Of course the easiest way would be a fascia or soffit dish install and down the side wall then under the house. I know I don't want 4 individual cables running around the house and through the side walls into the rooms.

Again, thank you for your input and advise it is very helpful.

Bill

[bobkat]

Originally Posted by bgoodz

We've been seeing both DishTV and DirectTV vans in the neighborhood recently and maybe I can flag one down and ask the installer to take a look at the place (a tip will be included of course for their time).


Bill

That's a good idea. Grab one of the installers and slip him a 10 spot.

kat

[bobkat]

Originally Posted by bgoodz

The install I think I would prefer is the dish attached to the chimney, 4 cables through the roof, routed through the attic, out the side wall then down and into a lower house vent then to the four room locations. I would do all the running an routing both attic and under the house if needed. Of course the easiest way would be a fascia or soffit dish install and down the side wall then under the house. I know I don't want 4 individual cables running around the house and through the side walls into the rooms.

I only mount dishes to chimneys if:

a) the walls are not suitable (ie: vinyl siding or stucco)
b) I need the extra height to clear trees

...and I NEVER drill through the roof deck for cables - that is an absolute no-no. Too risky for leaking.

I suggest mounting the dish on the wall with the cable running down to under the house, but its hard for me to say that without seeing your place.

If you end up with the dish mounted on the chimey what you do is run the cables down the roof (neatly tacked to the shingles in between the shingle grooves for appearance sake) and then over the eavestrough, along the soffit to the wall and down. Now, if the chimney is in the middle of the roof then its a long way down the roof deck to the eaves - use a cable colour that matches the shingle colour as closely as possible (its available in black, grey, white and sometimes ivory). Try to run the cables behind the ridge capping shingles so that they are not visible from the street. Little things to make the installation more eye-pleasing.

kat

[bgoodz]

Thanks again Kat, this is all good stuff.
Our house is Stucco with a new black composition roof. That is a neat way of doing a chimney install with the cable running underneath the trailing edge of the comp shingles but it still would have to go over the rain gutters down the fascia, under the boxed eaves and then down the wall to the entry point under the house.

I think we are dialing it in to a side fascia board install and down the side wall as that would be the neatest and cleanest install. I will get a site survey to determine where the dish will be located and take it from there and ask how much cable lead will be needed coming out of a lower house vent to connect to the dish switch.

If a roof install with cables through the roof is a no no because of potential leaking then that alone narrows down the dish location

You have been very helpful
Bill

[bobkat]

Originally Posted by bgoodz

Thanks again Kat, this is all good stuff.

I think we are dialing it in to a side fascia board install and down the side wall as that would be the neatest and cleanest install. I will get a site survey to determine where the dish will be located and take it from there and ask how much cable lead will be needed coming out of a lower house vent to connect to the dish switch.

Bill

Sounds good Bill. Fascia mounts are OK - done lots of them. Just make sure the fascia board is strong enough (and tall enough) to support the dish assembly. Somewhere I saw a special mounting bracket for dish-fascia installations. Will try to dig up some dirt on it.

kat

[bgoodz]

Originally Posted by bobkat

Sounds good Bill. Fascia mounts are OK - done lots of them. Just make sure the fascia board is strong enough (and tall enough) to support the dish assembly. Somewhere I saw a special mounting bracket for dish-fascia installations. Will try to dig up some dirt on it.

kat

Kat, that could pose a problem as from the bottom of the rain gutter to the bottom of the fascia board is only 3.5" (fascia board 3.5" tall). Although we do have flat boxed in eaves that are stucco like the rest of the house. No side wall hips, all outside walls go straight up to right angle flat stuccoed eaves.

Thanks,
Bill

[bgoodz]

Originally Posted by pictureon

$50 for site survey? I see it very hard to charge a customer $50 for satellite site survey. At least my customers.

Picture, who's your customers? I noticed your in the Sacto area and we live in the Montery Bay Central Coast Region of Cali.

Bill

[bobkat]

Bill:

Check out this site ---> DSS Uni-Mount Home Page

kat