# Connected home upgrade cancelled by installer



## Greg4050 (Jun 10, 2010)

I finally talked my parents into upgrading their setup to allow them to watch their recordings upstairs.

My parents have a single DVR in their family room (not sure of the model, but it is capable of the whole home) and an older unit in their bedroom that was to be replaced.


I was not able to be at the house during the install, so all messages were relayed via my brother. 

First, the techs wanted to be able to hook up to my parents router, though my parents werent interested in the VOD features. So we agree they can run a cable to the office for this connection. They later decide they dont need to do that and will do something else. An hour later, my brother calls and tells me they left because the dish was too far away from the house to change the lnb. My brother really feels the installer was looking for a way to get out of this upgrade from the moment they got there.

So my first question is, will DirecTV refund the install fee on their own or should I call and follow up?

Second, could a SWM8 be installed in the basement and use the existing dish setup? What is the longest distance possible between the dish and receiver?

I could order the swm8 on my own, but that alone costs more than the install fee we were quoted.

What is the best way to get this upgrade completed?


----------



## sigma1914 (Sep 5, 2006)

I'd call and be compensated for no install. It sounds like they screwed your folks over.

As for a DIY upgrade, look here or ebay for affordable stuff. If the dish is a Slimline and they have less than 8 tuners, then it's a fairly simple setup. Check here for diagrams & info... http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=177308


----------



## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

Would help to know how far away the dish is, "but" these are "good" distances that work:










As you can see the distances vary depending on the size of the splitter(s) being used.


----------



## Greg4050 (Jun 10, 2010)

Thanks for those pics. So the max for the dish is 50 ft? I will be out there later tonight to measure, but I think they said it was over 125 ft away from the house.

They will have a total of 3 tuners. 2 on the dvr and one upstairs.


----------



## WestDC (Feb 9, 2008)

Are ther 4 cables coming from the dish to the house? (if not) that may be why the installer cancelled?

Also the installer did not have a swim 8 on his truck. The swim 8 is the way to go if the dish is 125'(or more) away-but you will need four RG-6 from the dish to the house.


----------



## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

WestDC said:


> Are ther 4 cables coming from the dish to the house? (if not) that may be why the installer cancelled?
> 
> Also the installer did not have a swim 8 on his truck. *The swim 8 is the way to go if the dish is 125'(or more) away*-but you will need four RG-6 from the dish to the house.


Dish to SWM8 recommended max distance is 45'.
While I've used longer, it will start reducing the AGC of the SWM8, which means rainfade may be increased from recommended levels.
Ka-hi will be the first ones affected because:
45' [of RG6] = 4+ dB of loss between the LNB and the SWM8
125' = 12+ dB, so you've reduced the performance of the SWM8's, 30 dB AGC, by 8 dB to 22 dB [or almost by a 1/3]


----------



## bobnielsen (Jun 29, 2006)

Greg4050 said:


> Thanks for those pics. So the max for the dish is 50 ft? I will be out there later tonight to measure, but I think they said it was over 125 ft away from the house.
> 
> They will have a total of 3 tuners. 2 on the dvr and one upstairs.


In a system with SWM LNB and splitters, it's the cable length to each receiver and the number of ports on the splitters that counts. 50 ft from dish to 2-way splitter and 200 ft from splitter to receiver (as shown in VOS's illustration) would be equivalent to running 125 ft from the dish to the splitter and 125 from the splitter to the receiver. If you used a 4-way splitter to also get WHDVR, the illustration showing 50 feet from dish to splitter and 150 ft from splitter to receiver would be equivalent to 125 ft from the dish to the splitter and 75 feet from the splitter to the receiver, etc.


----------



## trh (Nov 3, 2007)

Greg4050 said:


> They will have a total of 3 tuners. 2 on the dvr and one upstairs.


Do you know what unit they had upstairs and what is being replaced with?


----------



## Greg4050 (Jun 10, 2010)

I have measured the dish distance. Its between 130-140 ft from the house. The dish is a slimline with a DTVSDLNB built in multi switch with 4 outputs. 4 cables run to the house. From there, the cables split off. One goes about 30-40 to the upstairs bedroom and the other goes about the same distance to their family room. (I guess two are actually going into the family room.) The fourth goes to a room that no longer has a tv.

In the family room they have an HR20/700 which was going to stay and the upstairs unit was to be replaced. I forgot to get the model from the unit upstairs, but it was upgraded to HD at the same time they got the HR20/700. They did not mention what unit they were planning on sending.

I could possibly move the dish closer to the house, but to get clear of the trees it would still be around 80-100 ft away.

What would be the best way to proceed? I dont mind ordering from solid signal or the like as needed to make this process smoother.


----------



## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

It does sound like a SWiMLNB and a 4-way splitter, would work.
If you find your lengths were a bit under estimated then you could add one of these at the house, before the splitter: http://www.conversionstechnology.com/CT-SLA-Extends-SWM-Output-200-ft-over-RG-6-p/ct-sla.htm


----------



## Greg4050 (Jun 10, 2010)

Thanks for the help on this, I finally got all the equipment and installed this over the weekend. I used one of the existing cables to the dish and a 4-way splitter at the house. The only issue I had was the dvr in the family wasnt getting any guide data. Not sure why, but moving the PI to a very short cable has solved it.

How do you bring up the menu that shows the SWM status?


----------



## lzhj9k (Mar 14, 2009)

Menu
Parental Favs SetUp
System SetUp
Satellite
View Signal Strength
Scroll til you see SWM


----------



## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

^ "yeah", when you see the numbers for the 101 SAT use the "-" option and it should be displayed.


----------

