I was trying to set up CS5K and noted that the LNB's are DP plus. I recall having read somewhere that these are not easy to work with FTA and needs special set up. Trying to hook up 110/119/121 on Dish 1000. Any info?
First things first -- Dish Pro Equipment is very FTA Friendly and probably the easiest to set up. It is the setup and understanding of this equipment that give some people headaches. There is a big difference between Dish Pro LNB's and Dish Pro Plus.
Similarities:
- They both have a built in switch which allows for direct connection to the receiver.
- They can be used to bring in the signal of any combination of two satellites provided they are less then 10 degrees apart.
- They work with most if not all FTA Receiver on the market today.
- They can be mounted on a Dish500 dish.
- DISEqC Software requirements are the same for both LNBs.
Differences:
- Power requirement for the Dish Pro Plus is slightly higher then the regular Dish Pro which may create the necessity to either keep a DN Receiver connected to port #1 of the LNB or to use a Power Insert. This will only be an issue if you are running a third LNB. Your FTA receiver will not supply sufficient power for all three LNB's.
- Dish Pro Plus has a built in 3 way switch and one input which allows you to receive signal from two different satellites with the main LNB and add a third satellite by installing a variety of LNB/Dish combination.
- Dish Pro Plus LNB signal can be split when using DN Dual Tuners and a DN Signal Splitter. This will only work with DN Dual Tuners
- You CANNOT split the signal with a regular Dish Pro Twin or Quad LNB.
Dish Pro 34 Switches and Dish Pro Plus 44
READ CAREFULLY -- While you can use a Dish Pro Switch with Dish Pro Plus LNB's, you CANNOT use a Dish Pro Plus switch with a Dish Pro LNB
- Dish Pro 34 switches are very easy to use and install.
- The Dish Pro 34 switch does NOT require an addition power source. You can use this switch with any of your FTA Receivers and NOT need to keep your regular DN receiver!
Only use this switch to run a 3 satellite 4 receiver system with a Dish Pro Twin LNB.
If you are going to run a 2 satellite system and 4 receivers then just use a Dish Pro Quad LNB.
- The Dish Pro Plus 44 switch DOES require a power insert which is provided with the switch. I would NOT recommend using this switch as you really don't gain anything with it unless you are running a DN installation with TWO Dual Tuners and at least one FTA STB.
Bottom Line -- You can use Dish Pro Plus equipment and if you want the setups I will be more then glad to help you with it, but it is not worth the headache!
Even if you have a dual tuner which requires the Dish Pro Plus capabilities, you can always run two lines into that tuner from a regular Dish Pro LNB. Not to mention you can combine the Dish Pro 34 switch with up to 4 switches and get up to 12 receivers!
The biggest problem I've seen from people attempting to use Dish Pro and Dish Pro Plus LNB's is performing scans. They end up with repeated channels! There is a technique to performing a perfect scan and is addressed in my follow-up post.
There is no substitute for testing and testing is where you will gain knowledge!
Thanks a lot. Thats great info and clarifies a lot. Yes I am using two LNB's on Dish 1000 (110/119) and the third LNB at 61.5. That may be the reason I could not get any signal as there was not enough power for any of them from CS5K. How do I provide additional power?
The current set up with DN receiver was with single cable from DP 34 and a DN splitter near receiver so all four satellites 119/110 and 121 were connected. 61.5 was connected to a DP 34 hanging just on the pole ( I dont know if thats safe to leave DP 34 outside)
Yes the seond most common problem faced is the scanning 110/119- please provide your follow up post with the technique for a perfect scan.
Seperate issue with DP 34 at another location - I have three inputs to DP 34 110/119 and 121. I also wanted to connect 61.5. So I tried this way - Using SW21 connected cable from receiver output of DP 34 to dish 1 on SW21 and connected 61.5 on dish 2 of SW 21. I get 61.5 channels but nothing from other three. (If it makes any difference another dish DVR is connected to DP 34 receiver port 2)
However if changed the connection from the "to another switch" port of DP34 to dish 1 of Sw21, I just get 119 as 119 is connected to the top port of DP 34. I get good signal of 119 but no signal for 110.
How can I combine all four satellites? of course I can use DisEQC - but then I can not use my paid DN subscription in another room.
ScorpA, I saw you mentioned in another post you were trying to connect your 4 sats using DP34 and an SW switch. From your above description it's not altogether clear what your setup is. Please describe what switches you have connected and to where (what ports) and your antenna settings in your 5k's menu.
A few points: CS's can scan multiple sats no problem with autoscan. CS's can power a DP34 3 sat setup no prob (where others like VS often can't without problems), but with DPP LNBs you need (should have) another receiver connected and running. Each receiver port on DP34 allows a receiver to see (power) all LNBs simutaneously.
The "to add'l switch" outputs are for cascading dp34, the switch will not work as a 3x6; you'll get whatever corresponding number LNB input port, as you have.
Plug DN receiver into receiver port 1 and SW21 Dish 1 into port 2. Receiver port 1 on the DP34 supplies the power; you should have the DN receiver powered on whenever using the switch.
My understanding is that there are two different types of Dp Twins .Some have diseq switch built in and other uses a sw built in switch.Both are the "Fatboy" single housing with twin "eyes " ,and one output terminal under each eye or half of the lnb.
Both DP Twin and DPP Twin have build in DISEcQ switch. The Legacy Twin has build in SW21 switch. Please specify which LNB you have. But if you have any of the above and all you are trying to get is 110 and 119 then you do not need an external switch. Just run a straight line into receiver
Prfrmnj, my set up will be a dish 500 with a DPP twin lnb for 110 and 119, then a dish 300 with a single dp lnb for 82, this one will go into the DPP, I am hoping I won't need a power inserter or 22khz switch, ecoda is recommended, to power my lnbs. My stb will be a sv 8000. Does this look like it could work and also what if I switch my 300 to a dish 500 with DP twin, I'll definately need something to power them up but at the same time i don't think it would be worth it, I should run two DP twin lnbs since after all i'll still have two dishes outside, this would be for 199/110 and 91/82. I would like to upgrade to 129,119/110(with dish 1000 or 1000.2) and 82, 91 if possible, not now though, any ideas, suggestions are appreciated.