Help required to understand Multiswitch setup

[juzza]

Hi all

I live in a block of 33 flats and all are served from one dish. In my particular block the communal entrance is for six flats and in the cupboard below both our terrestrial and satellite cables are provided via a Triax Multiswitch 5 x 8 unit.

As this was installed before Sky+ everything was installed with just one terrestrial feed and one satellite feed into each flat. I traced the cable into my property and found it was just one cable coming in and then the signal was split. As I no longer use terrestrial TV I removed this splitter and connected it directly to the satellite feed and it works perfectly with a much improved signal strength.

What I want to do is add another cable so I can use the Sky+ feature (watch and record at the same time).

Can this be done with the single input I have coming into the property or would another cable have to be run from the Multiswitch? If you look at the attach photo there appears to be room for an additional cable. What I am trying to do is avoid running another cable from the Multiswitch into my flat as it's simply not an easy run. Since the existing cable seemed to be able to carry two signals can I still do this but with two satellite feeds. I would also like them totally independent of each other as I have read some people have two feeds from a single cable but both must be on the same polarity.

Also, if anyone has any knowledge of this unit and can explain in simple terms what it is doing I would love to know more. For example, I don't understand why there are five cables at the top, five at the bottom but then seven on the right. How would one know what is the satellite input and what is the aerial?

Any help would be really appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

 

[MARK]

There is a thing called a stacker/destacker that will allow you to combine two feeds at the head end, and split back out again at the box. But all this does is save you running an extra cable, you still need two feeds from the dish at the head end.

 

[juzza]

Hi Mark

Thanks for the prompt reply.

All this is new to me and although I kind of get an idea what you mean in concept I have no idea what I would need to do to make it happen. Are you saying another cable would need to be run from the dish to the Multiswitch? If this is the case then this would be impossible due to the location of my block against the distance of the dish.

The only real cable runs I could make would be inside my flat. If I really had to I think I could get another cable from this Multiswitch into my flat but it's not going to be easier due to the current route. No cables runs on the outside of the building are allowed.

What I was hoping was there is something I can do with that box below to provide two independent feeds using the same cables into my property. Once inside, if I have to run two cables then it won't be a problem.

Any thoughts?

 

[MARK]

The item i mentioned converts a single feed cable into a twin....

Does mean changing a couple of things on dish,google stacker/destacker

 

[satelliteman]

Welcome to the forum.

It's a Triax TMM cascadable multiswitch system [IRS]. My advice would be NOT to touch any components for safety reasons... and as it passes signals to other switches, any tampering whatsoever may cause loss of signals to other apartments; not to mention invalidate any service agreement / warranties in place.


In answer to your question and as already mentioned, a Stacker/De-Stacker would work. This is achieved by stacking the second signal upto 3.5GHz along the cable but only achievable on short to marginal length cable drops. Get a professional installer to install it for you along with checking with the property management it's okay to do so.

 

[archive10]

Hi Mark
Any thoughts?

As SM says messing with existing installation best left to professionals and after permission has been sought.

HOWEVER, if you have a (reasonably) south-facing balcony you can stick a smallish dish with a dual (or quad) LNB, and assuming very short cable runs you can use a "flat" window-friendly pass-through cables and have your entirely own private Sky+ system without drilling any holes. Using a terrace mount, or even just clamps mean that all can be removed again without any damage to the property.

Some blocks of flats preclude the mounting of exterior dishes if you have access to communal dish, but the visbility of the dish can be reduced if the balcony allows for mounting inside the balcony. (Of course you will loose some space, and you can't watch telly if someone sits in front of the dish)...

(Mounting such a temporary-fixed sky system is not a major job if you're reasonably practically inclined. You will find plenty of advice and tutorials on sites like this).