Splitting my satellite signal

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madad

75 posts

Master Geek

#22207 20-May-2008 14:32

Hi i have two machines, both with dual tuner cards in them. I realise that the lnb takes power from the cable but I can't work out how to split the signal so that any of the cards can supply the required power.

My setup goes like this

dish ------ 4 way splitter -------- main media pc (tuner 1, suplies power)
                                  --------- main media pc (tuner 2)
                                  -----------two way splitter -------- downstairs server (tuner 1)
                                                                      -------- downstairs server (tuner 2)

What I see is that if tuner 1 is not actively grabbing tv, none of the other tuners receive data. Hence what i need is to allow ANY tuner to power the lnb.. are there splitters that do this for me?

I think this is the 4 way splitter.. there is only a line from the out for the first tuner to the in, I'm assuming this is why only my first tuner can power the lnb..

http://www.dse.co.nz/cgi-bin/dse.storefront/4832373809ca7344273fc0a87f3b068d/Product/View/L4223

Appreciate any help anyone can provide.

Nety

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#132055 20-May-2008 15:16

I had exactly that problem. You need an all power pass splitter. something like this

http://www.freeviewshop.co.nz/satellite-terrestrial-splitter-p-165.html

Media centre PC - Case Silverstone LC16M with 2 X 80mm AcoustiFan DustPROOF, MOBO Gigabyte MA785GT-UD3H, CPU AMD X2 240 under volted, RAM 4 Gig DDR3 1033, HDD 120Gig System/512Gig data, Tuners 2 X Hauppauge HVR-3000, 1 X HVR-2200, Video Palit GT 220, Sound Realtek 886A HD (onboard), Optical LiteOn DH-401S Blue-ray using TotalMedia Theatre Power Corsair VX Series, 450W ATX PSU OS Windows 7 x64

madad

75 posts

Master Geek

#132064 20-May-2008 15:29

Makes good sense, just ordered one so I'll report back once I've got it. Thanks for the prompt help!

madad

75 posts

Master Geek

#133584 27-May-2008 15:34

Well, the plot thickens. The new splitter is now installed upstairs and handles the split to both machines. My lounge vista machine seems to work well, I don't get any "no signal found errors" and all seems well.

But still, if the machine upstairs is not watching tv, I cannot get the machine downstairs to pick up a signal - indicating the cards down there can't deliver power to the lnb (if my knowledge is correct.)

Also, when the machine downstairs does have signal, it seems that the picture sometimes exhibits aretefacts - it breaks up and boxes appear all over the picture sometimes.

Does this mean I have a dodgy cable? I Can't work it out!!

So tonight will be a case of moving more machines around and changing cables around to see if I can resolve the issue.

Urgh.

richms

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#134304 30-May-2008 00:09

You're splitting twice, and each diode steered splitter has a voltage drop which when the current passes thru it. Try upping the downstairs machine to having an 18 volt lnb out and see if that gets more to the lnb.

Also, you have an unterminated port if you have a 4 port splitter and are only using 3 of them. This will cause reflections and stuff. Best put a terminator on it, or better, run a second cable to the other location and only have one splitter.

Richard rich.ms

madad

75 posts

Master Geek

#135109 3-Jun-2008 09:08

Well on the weekend I finally managed to dedicate some time to the issue, and bought some heavier duty cabling from Jaycar. I bought a 30 metre reel of it, and quickly crimped some connectors on either end and tried it out.. and... found the problems!!

Problem 1: The heavier guage cable clearly allows more voltage to get back to the lnb. I can now power up the lnb from any tuner card, upstairs or downstairs.
Problem 2: Vista! I tried a second media pc that was running xp and it ran beautifully. So it would seem running mediaportal on vista was a bad move. Wasn't aware of that!

Anyway, hopefully thats all fixed now. Will reinstall xp or win2003 on my file server instead of vista and al should be well.

Thanks for all the help and comments.