# What is the IRD port used for?



## owl (Jan 30, 2010)

I noticed a port on my power supply that is labeled ird with nothing attached to it. I googled it and see diagrams that have receivers attached to it. What is that for?


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## matt (Jan 12, 2010)

It is a pass through for a receiver hookup. It is there for convenience.

Say you had 8 standard receivers in separate rooms. You come out of a SWM LNB into a 8 way splitter. Each leg would run to one receiver. If you didn't have that pass through, you would need another 2 way splitter on the red leg because you would use all 8 legs just to hook up the receivers. See how that would need an extra part?

By having the pass through, the red leg goes to the PI, then the receiver for that room goes to the IRD port, so no extra parts are required. 

That is just a simple scenario but that should help you understand.

I have seen a picture where the unused IRD port on the PI should be terminated. Someone should be along when they wake up and let us know if that should be there or not


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## owl (Jan 30, 2010)

thanks


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## bobnielsen (Jun 29, 2006)

matt1124 said:


> I have seen a picture where the unused IRD port on the PI should be terminated. Someone should be along when they wake up and let us know if that should be there or not


That is correct. The only exception is when one of those 2-port PIs is used to power a DECA connected to your router for internet access.

Edit: That isn't correct. It also needs a termination when powering a DECA which provides a bridge to ethernet, since the satellite signal from the SWM feeds through the DECA and needs to be terminated.


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## matt (Jan 12, 2010)

bobnielsen said:


> That is correct. The only exception is when one of those 2-port PIs is used to power a DECA connected to your router for internet access.


Wait, so don't terminate it if it is being used to power the dish without a receiver hooked to it (just leave it alone with nothing on it) but terminate it if it is powering a DECA?


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## MysteryMan (May 17, 2010)

No Updates...I've noticed my receiver (HR22/100) hasn't received a update since Match 11. Is that normal?


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## oldengineer (May 25, 2008)

Its also an alternate way of connecting SWM/DECA. My installers fed the PI pwr linto one of the splitter outputs and terminated the ird terminal. My 103 signals are lower than they were prior to DECA installation so I tried the old configuration of feeding PI pwr into the SWM8 and feeding PI ird to the splitter input. It works OK but didn't help signal strength.


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## JosephB (Nov 14, 2005)

matt1124 said:
 

> Wait, so don't terminate it if it is being used to power the dish without a receiver hooked to it (just leave it alone with nothing on it) but terminate it if it is powering a DECA?


actually, reverse that. It should be terminated if you're powering a SWM Switch or LNB but doesn't have to be terminated if you're powering a DECA with it.


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

Any PI connected to a SWiM that has an unused output should have a termination. There is no exception. If it's powering a DECA, it's the same.
There are PIs without an output and these simply have the termination built in.


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## gpg (Aug 19, 2006)

veryoldschool said:


> Any PI connected to a SWiM that has an unused output should have a termination. There is no exception. If it's powering a DECA, it's the same.
> There are PIs without an output and these simply have the termination built in.


Does the IRD output need to be terminated if the PI is connected to the power port on a SWiM 16?


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

gpg said:


> Does the IRD output need to be terminated if the PI is connected to the power port on a SWiM 16?


"Don't think so", since there isn't any RF on this port.


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