Lnb splitter to a quad tuner?

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WilliamABradley

10 posts

Wannabe Geek

#113305 13-Jan-2013 02:21

Hi guys,
Since I'm ditching Sky TVs conventional mysky with multiroom sky box package and going with a single HTPC with a quad tuner and streaming live tv via Media Portal tv-server to the other TVs with computers attached to them, will I have problems with lnb signal strength and frying the lnbs?

In this post: http://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=83&topicid=40568 they talk about having more than one device sourcing power it could fry something (some clarification needed), Will I need a specific lnb splitter to deal with this?

So I am getting the signal from one sky dish and splitting it into four for each lnb. Currently in our house we have two lnbs connected to a mysky hdi box from a hole in a wall behind the TV (using one of sky's own splitters, and I believe from all the cables behind the Tv the second rooms skybox has a single cable running under the floor to that room, with a DIY kiwi attitude maybe a could cut (special equipment maybe?) into the wire leading into the other room and put a cable ending onto it and get a 1 to 2 splitter, or I could leave that cable altogether (for future use, say when we move or I leave home) and run a splitter unders sky's splitter or replace their splitter with one of my own.

Any ideas?
Thanks,
William

WilliamABradley

10 posts

Wannabe Geek

#743943 13-Jan-2013 03:12

Hi guys,
I have done some research, if I get this splitter: http://www.freeviewshop.co.nz/satellite-terrestrial-splitter-p-165.html
This will solve the lnb frying problem right? Secondly, Will I need to pair this with an amplifier? http://www.freeviewshop.co.nz/10db-inline-satellite-amplifier-p-58.html
Will this be required to still get good quality signal from all four ports on the quad tuner card?

Benoire

2878 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 681

#743963 13-Jan-2013 08:54

Hi William,

I've got a simple quad splitter (http://www.freeviewshop.co.nz/input-output-satellite-multiswitch-p-51.html) which I feed two cables from the LNB in (13v and 18v) from which a single cable feeds each tuner. I do not have an amplifier on this system and the signal quality is generally in the 80s/90s. So far no problems at all with my system which has been running for well over a year now.

Chris

WilliamABradley

10 posts

Wannabe Geek

#744030 13-Jan-2013 12:07

So, does it have clear quality then?
Are then image defects or artefacts?
Please let me know

Benoire

2878 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 681

#744040 13-Jan-2013 12:43

clear quality, obviously when there is rain or other atmospheric conditions, the picture can drop slightly but to be honest 99% of the time it is 'perfect' (the caveat being that SD looks fairly poor on an HD screen and HD is still not such a high bit rate at times). If anything the quality of the channels is better than the HDi box simply due to the power of the GPU and the various de-interlacing algorithms I can use!

EDIT: Would recommend the splitter I posted above. It is what you need to ensure you get a continuous feed. A normal splitter won't allow for Horizontal or vertical polarity changes at the same time.

WilliamABradley

10 posts

Wannabe Geek

#752037 28-Jan-2013 15:05

Hi what if I used two 2 way splitters instead of a multi-switch it shalf of the price and would allow me to use both polarities right?

Benoire

2878 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 681

#752145 28-Jan-2013 18:02

Not quite, a single input splitter would allow either H or V polarities at any given moment, however if a card is receiving one polarity, the other card would be unable to tune to the opposite polarity; In essence you could lock tuners out from tuning to other polarities. In this case however, as all Sky/Freeview channels are on H, you should be able to run it fine ASLONG as you don't try to tune any V polarity channels from D1 that you might find.

As long as the splitter has the correct MHz ratings then you should be fine and at about $13 per item if one doesn't work it isn't such a waste.