Satellite cable split / combine equipment help

B

brightonem

Member
My Satellite Setup
HUMAX FOXSAT HDR
DIGITURK
My Location
Brighton, United Kingdom
Hello everyone,

I am new to the forum and I believe you're all satellite experts so I don't think there is anywhere better to post my question below.

I need some satellite cable split / combine equipment but I don't know what equipment I should buy. Let me explain the issue I have and then I would like to know your thoughts about what should I buy to achieve what I am after which is detailed below.

- I have 1 satellite cable coming into my flat, this is from the satellite pointing to Eutelsat.
- I have a satellite socket on the wall. The socket is combining the two separate dishes, pointing to Hotbird and Astra. This is a communal satellite system.

I am aiming to have the following:
- I want to SPLIT the Eutelsat cable into 2 cables and connect the one end to one receiver.
- I want to COMBINE the remaining second Eutelsat cable AND the cable from the socket (Hotbird + Astra) and end up with 1 single cable which will eventually have all 3 satellite signals.
- Then I want to split this final cable (which is now combining 3 satellite signals) into 2 cables to connect to another receiver which has PVR functionality so I can watch and record different channels.

So, what connectors / splitters / joiners do I need to achieve the above? I don't know the product names I should search for and how many of them I should buy.

Your help is much appreciated. Thanks in advance.
 
No chance from the wall plate, you need to carry out the splits/transfers from the roof
 
H
Thanks for your answer but what difference does a wall plate make? Isn't it initially a cable coming from a satellite to my wall?
 
Initially is probably a misleading term. Originating from might be better - the problem is that between the initial bit of the cable you refer to and the wallplate in your own flat is the switching and distribution kit (Multiswitch) that allows that initial cable to supply all the flats and give them the same choices as yourself.
 
Also, you need to be more specific about the Satellites concerned: THe only unambiguous one is Hotbird (13E). Astra is misleading as there are Astra 1 (19.2E), Astra 2 (28.2E), Astra 3 (23.5E) and even the new fangled Astra 4 (4.8E) - although it is probably Astra 1 you are referring to as that's the one normally mentioned in the same breath as Hotbird. The tern Eutelat is equally as all-embracing as the term Astra - there are several of 'em!. Again, I guess you mean Eurobird 1 (28.5E) - which to all intents and porpoises also gets you Astra 2 as the dish sees them as being co-located.
 
From looking at your details, I would guess that you have Astra 28.2 and Hotbird 13E from the wall socket and Digiturk on Eutelsat W3a at 7E on the separate cable coming in.

Unlike terrestrial TV feeds, which are received in one frequency band and one polarity and can be easily split into multiple feeds, satellite feeds are in two bands and two polarities, all controlled by the individual receiver, which switches the LNB or multiswitch to whichever band/polarity it requires for any given channel. This means that the feeds cannot be split, for connection of a separate receiver, you will need another feed from the dish itself, or in the case of a block of flats, from the multiswitch.

If your dish for Digiturk only has a single output LNB, then it will need to be changed to a quad to allow for more feeds/cables to be run to your flat, for Astra 28.2 and Hotbird, you would need extra feeds from the multiswitch, which may of course not be available.

Once you have the extra feeds run, then you can look at what type of switching can be used to combine the different feeds from the different satellites to multiple receiver, but it won't be easy.
 
Hello rolfw. That's exactly right. I just came to the forum to write the details of the satellites in reply to Tivu's question and saw you did it for me, thanks.

I just realised the Astra 28.2 / Hotbird 13E wall plate has already got 2 outputs for Sky + set-up so you can watch one record another etc. All I need is add Eutelsat W3a to the equation really.

When you search for 'satellite splitter' on auction sites, you can find products such as the attached picture below and I thought that's what I would need. A combination of these splitters or similar products. Am I wrong? If so, what these splitters do?

As you can see, I am a total newbie to the satellite world so apologies in advance for potentially talking nonsense.

Many thanks.

AV15366_700x309.webp
 
Ah, yes - must remember to look at User Profile for more clues (That said, they are often out of date!

No matter, we've got the correct details now :)
 
Yes, that unit is designed for splitting the output from a cable and will work at satellite frequencies, but it is not suitable for what you describe, as you cannot get around the need for separate feeds from the multiswitch/dish LNB, due to the way the LNB/Multiswitch is controlled by each receiver, splitting the feed would cause conflicts and changing the channel on one receiver, would give no signal errors on another receiver.
 
Brightonem,

To do what your trying to do will take some very special and expensive equipment, you can use external switches and combiners to get all the signals onto 1 cable but separating them back out and trying to use 1 cable to deliver the signals to 2 receivers on that one cable will cost a bundle (for a 1 customer setup that is) you will have to put the 3 satellite signals on 3 different bands,(this is done with special receivers) one low, one medium and one high band, and these bands will also have two separate bands so the two different polarity's (H/V) of the transponders will be kept apart.

Once this is done then the single cable can be split to as many receivers as needed, but each receiver will have to have a special IF receiver in it to switch between the 3 different bands and their sub-bands.

One of the big satellite providers over here dose this in large multi unit dwellings, they use 2 or more master receivers and combiners, then special set top receivers to get all the channels available.


In your situation it would be best to use a single multi input satellite switch to combine the 3 satellites, and it should have 4 or more outputs to run separate coaxes to all receivers, this will less of a headache and less costly, and this is the only way a satellite receiver with a DVR will be able to be on a different satellite and channel to do the separate channel recording.
 
brightonem said:
Hello rolfw. That's exactly right. I just came to the forum to write the details of the satellites in reply to Tivu's question and saw you did it for me, thanks.

I just realised the Astra 28.2 / Hotbird 13E wall plate has already got 2 outputs for Sky + set-up so you can watch one record another etc. All I need is add Eutelsat W3a to the equation really.

When you search for 'satellite splitter' on auction sites, you can find products such as the attached picture below and I thought that's what I would need. A combination of these splitters or similar products. Am I wrong? If so, what these splitters do?

As you can see, I am a total newbie to the satellite world so apologies in advance for potentially talking nonsense.

Many thanks.

View attachment 37088
Click to expand...

Whom ever came up with that device and is marketing it for satellite work, should be taken out and beaten silly with the big engineering stick, it will never work in a DC voltage controlled system like what is used on satellite systems.

It might work for a few TV's with a CATV or an off air antenna, but never on a satellite feed.
 
Those splitters are more commonly used for splitting a composite video signal over coax.
 
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