# What type of basic switch is needed ??



## babylonlord (Mar 25, 2011)

Hello and good day to all !!

Relatively easy question for experts like yourselves ... 

On my roof right now I have 3 LNB's (not DishPro) pointed at 110, 119, 129. By the end of next week I will have a new Vip 211k. 

What I need to know ...... what switch do I need to purchase to connect the three lines to the new receiver. Not looking for anything complicated right now, mainly because of the weather outside but I won't buy a 1000.2 or 1000.4 until sometime this Summer.

So again, what simple switch do I need to be able to start using the new receiver, not the DVR features or second TV, just basic HD.

Thanks for any assistance you can offer.

Andy


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## gtal98 (Jan 30, 2011)

You don't have any kind of switch combining the three right now? Anyway, for a single tuner you can get away with any switch DP34, DPP33 or DPP44. A DP34 is probably the cheapest, but doesn't allow the use of a separator if you ever wanted a dual tuner later. A DPP33 or DPP44 can work with all Dish receivers and the separators/triplexers.


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## Mike500 (May 10, 2002)

You have to be a little bit more specific. If you don't have DishPro, you either have a legacy twin cascaded with a legacy dual lnb and a couple of sw21's. If your system is really ancient, it would have three dual legacy lnb's with an SW64.

I had a Dish500 with 2 sw21's and legacy lnb's with a 311, before last Friday. I took advantage of the Free HD Forever program. Dish did a free install with a 211 and an 100.4 EA dish. The receiver and the lnb is leased, but there is no advantage, anymore, to owning your own equipment, unless you can't qualify or you don't want to make a 2 year programming commitment.

Prior to the current upgrade, I've been a Dish customer for 12 years and always owned my own equipment.


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## babylonlord (Mar 25, 2011)

gtal98 said:


> You don't have any kind of switch combining the three right now? Anyway, for a single tuner you can get away with any switch DP34, DPP33 or DPP44. A DP34 is probably the cheapest, but doesn't allow the use of a separator if you ever wanted a dual tuner later. A DPP33 or DPP44 can work with all Dish receivers and the separators/triplexers.


:hurah:

Well I had a diseqc switch installed for many years, that is now long gone (about 1 1/2 years now).

So it looks like I'll be visiting the flea market on Monday looking for a DP33 or a DP 34. I know there was one guy there who had a pretty good collection of used switches and LNB's for Dish.

Looking forward to watching Dish HD........ been using strictly OTA recently and that's pretty impressive.

Thanks for your assistance.

Andy


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## BobaBird (Mar 31, 2002)

You said your LNBs are not DishPro. DP and DP Plus switches require DP LNBs.

For 3 separate legacy LNBs, the official way is 3 dual LNBs to an SW64 with power inserter, feeds up to 4 tuners. If it's just 1 tuner (you didn't say if you'll be keeping what you already have), run 2 of the LNBs to a Micronix SW21X, and its output and the 3rd LNB to an SW21.

More switch combos at http://www.dishuser.org/swconfig.php


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## babylonlord (Mar 25, 2011)

BobaBird said:


> You said your LNBs are not DishPro. DP and DP Plus switches require DP LNBs.
> 
> For 3 separate legacy LNBs, the official way is 3 dual LNBs to an SW64 with power inserter, feeds up to 4 tuners. If it's just 1 tuner (you didn't say if you'll be keeping what you already have), run 2 of the LNBs to a Micronix SW21X, and its output and the 3rd LNB to an SW21.


No, I won't be keeping the existing receiver, it's now a doorstop.

So this is a 1 tuner setup and I've found a place online that has decent prices on the 2 SW switches you mentioned.

Thanks a lot for your assistance.

Andy


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## gtal98 (Jan 30, 2011)

Oops! I missed the legacy indication in the original post.


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## Mike500 (May 10, 2002)

You will be much better off, if you bit the bullet and installed either the EA 1000.4 or the WA 1000.4.

As an experienced installer, and one having experimented with numerous configurations of dishes and lnb's (just look at my avitar with a Dish500 mount, two DirecTV lnb's, a DirecTV Phase III pan and sw21's), I'd say that it is not worth the effort to use the legacy lnb stuff.

If any one of the lnb's are bad internally or has a corroded barrel, or any of the cables or switches are flaky or defective, the system will fail. I can experiment as I do only because I had a large supply of surplus and spare parts.

Since the 221k will be your only receiver, you can use either the Eastern Arc or the Western Arc. If the current pole onto which your current dish is mounted, you can use that one. The 1000.4 will fit on the same pole. The 1000.2 is an older model dish. It's replacement is the integrated 1000.4 WA. Don't let anyone sell you a 1000.2.

Both the 1000.4 EA and the WA are readily available for less than $100 delivered on eBay and a little more from www.solidsignal.com

I am not affiliated with Solid Signal.


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## babylonlord (Mar 25, 2011)

Mike500 said:


> You will be much better off, if you bit the bullet and installed either the EA 1000.4 or the WA 1000.4.
> 
> As an experienced installer, and one having experimented with numerous configurations of dishes and lnb's (just look at my avitar with a Dish500 mount, two DirecTV lnb's, a DirecTV Phase III pan and sw21's), I'd say that it is not worth the effort to use the legacy lnb stuff.
> 
> ...


Whew, I gave up the 1 1/2 hour drive to the flea market today  based on this advice. I'll scour around the internet for a 1000.4. Your advice is well received as was the advice of the others who took the time to respond to my query.

Just hope someday I get the opportunity to "pay it forward" :hurah:

Thanks

Andy


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## babylonlord (Mar 25, 2011)

Mike500 said:


> It's replacement is the integrated 1000.4 WA. Don't let anyone sell you a 1000.2.


If you have the time, I wouldn't mind if could expand on this goodie !!


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## peano (Feb 1, 2004)

There is absolutely nothing wrong with a 1000.2 or even the old 1000 for that matter.


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## Mike500 (May 10, 2002)

peano said:


> There is absolutely nothing wrong with a 1000.2 or even the old 1000 for that matter.


Yeah, either will work. But the 1000.4 WA has better fine adjustments. Since the others have been superceeded, finding a replacement lnb or other parts for it might become harder as time goes by. If something breaks, you might have to replace the entire dish and lnb with the 1000.4 WA, anyway. None of the 1000.4 WA parts, except the mounting pole will fit either the original 1000 or 1000.2.

As it appears, with the placement of most all programming on the two ARC's, the 1000.4 EA and the 1000.4 WA will most likely be the two main line dishes for many years to come.

I've worked in the dbs industry since the original DSS and Dish Network single satellite position dishes came out.

Like the original 18 inch round dish (later called the Dish300 in the Dish Network incarnation) and the Dish500, the 1000.4's will be in use for a long time to come.

*Basically, it is a matter of logistics, like standardardizing ammunition for military small arms.*

I still have Phase I, Phase II and Phase III DirecTV dishes, as well as Superdishes and 500+ and 1000+ dishes, as well as DirecPC and others.

It's like finding parts for a limited edition car made just one year. Believe me, you want the model where parts are widely available.

*Bottom line, get the 1000.4 WA.*


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## babylonlord (Mar 25, 2011)

:cheers2::cheers2:

All good advice and I thank you all.

Andy


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