# Will 921 Work With Only 1 Satellite Feed?



## mraub (Mar 5, 2004)

If DISH offers a decent lease deal on the 942 I might move my 921 to the basement HT to play movies recorded from HBO and HDNET and to watch some major sporting events. I have one satellite feed wired to the basement and it would be a royal PITA to run a second one down there. Since I don't foresee any circumstances where I'd need to HD feeds simultaneously, I wonder if the 921 would work with just one satellite feed.

Thanks for any help.

MIKE


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## jergenf (Mar 31, 2005)

I don't believe it would work with just one satellite feed. Both satellite tuners need to have their input connected or it won't come up. As an experiment disconnect one of the feeds I believe you'll get an error. If you have Dishpro plus LNBs or DPP44 switch then you can use a separator that changes one coax into two (typically used for dual tuner receivers) else you'll need two line for your basement.


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## bhawley (Oct 27, 2002)

I have been doing this for 2 weeks, no problems. One feed to 921, 
second to 508 for sd channels. You have to make sure you don't have 2 sat. channel shows scheduled at the same time.


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## Mark Lamutt (Mar 24, 2002)

bhawley - you will eventually run into interesting problems. Please don't report any bugs here, without first connecting your second satellite feed and testing if the bug still happens.


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## 921Blues (May 29, 2005)

Yeah - I couldn't use my 921 with one feed either. It just kept giving me errors. The Dish guy came and replaced my LNB with a Dishpro so he could install a splitter right at the 921. It actually worked out pretty well - now I have 2 tuner use in my 921 and still have a single feed to my 508. It also apparently means that if I ever update my 508 to a 2 tuner model, all I'll need is another splitter. The downside is that the splitter needs to be placed VERY close to the receiver with short feeds (according to the Dish guy).

921blues


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## BobaBird (Mar 31, 2002)

That can *not* be done with a splitter. What you are talking about is called a DPP Separator, and the sat feed must come through a DP Plus switch.


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## bhawley (Oct 27, 2002)

Mark Lamutt said:


> bhawley - you will eventually run into interesting problems. Please don't report any bugs here, without first connecting your second satellite feed and testing if the bug still happens.


Mark- I understand what you are saying, I am amazed that what I am trying
has worked so far. Also amazing is that except for local off air guide issues
my 921 does everything ok. I only record hd material from off air and sat.
channels and not much of that during the summer. I do reboot once a week.
No bug reports from me


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## 921Blues (May 29, 2005)

BobaBird said:


> That can *not* be done with a splitter. What you are talking about is called a DPP Separator, and the sat feed must come through a DP Plus switch.


Ok...I used the wrong name for it - but it can still be done without changing my dish or running another RG6 to my roof, right? That was the point I was making...

921blues


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## Slordak (Dec 17, 2003)

Yes, if they install a new DishPro Plus switch or new DishPro Plus LNB, and then install a DPP Separator at the receiver. It essentially requires two new pieces of equipment. Which, incidentally, is a fair bit more expensive than running a new RG-6 line (which costs virtually nothing).


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## drjake (Jun 12, 2002)

Slordak said:


> Yes, if they install a new DishPro Plus switch or new DishPro Plus LNB, and then install a DPP Separator at the receiver. It essentially requires two new pieces of equipment. Which, incidentally, is a fair bit more expensive than running a new RG-6 line (which costs virtually nothing).


The expense is relative. If one runs the coax by oneself, it is inexpensive. If not, the cost could be more than upgrading to a DPP Twin LNB plus separators. The cost of a DPP Twin is not that high. I do agree that converting to a DPP44 will be expensive though.


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## BobaBird (Mar 31, 2002)

921Blues, you have the concept essentially right. My unstated point was to save someone else some installation grief from not getting the correct pieces.


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## 921Blues (May 29, 2005)

Slordak said:


> Yes, if they install a new DishPro Plus switch or new DishPro Plus LNB, and then install a DPP Separator at the receiver. It essentially requires two new pieces of equipment. Which, incidentally, is a fair bit more expensive than running a new RG-6 line (which costs virtually nothing).


I guess I should disagree. When I bought my 921, they installed an new DishPro LNB and DPP Separator as part of the purchase price. So even running a buck's worth of RG6 would have cost more.

Also, as drjake says, if the average joe wants more than just a new wire running from his roof in through his living room window, the installation will likely cost more.

921blues


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## Michael P (Oct 27, 2004)

Slordak said:


> Yes, if they install a new DishPro Plus switch or new DishPro Plus LNB, and then install a DPP Separator at the receiver. It essentially requires two new pieces of equipment. Which, incidentally, is a fair bit more expensive than running a new RG-6 line (which costs virtually nothing).


I recently upgraded my LNB's to a DPP Twin and a DP dual (for 61.5). I put a seperator at the 921 and everything works fine off one coax! (BTW: You can hook a "legacy" receiver to the 2nd ourput of the DPP Twin and it will work. The legacy gear thinks the DPP Twin is an SW-64  )

Expensive? the DPP Twin is $36, DP Dual $28, the seperator $9.99. 2 diplexors for OTA $4 ea. Not having to drill and run a 2nd COAX, Priceless!


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## Jon Spackman (Feb 7, 2005)

Michael P -

Your running both sat feeds and a OTA off one coax?? If so do you have most of the bug that the 921 is known for or does yours, like mine, work pretty good (few bugs)??

Jon


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## mraub (Mar 5, 2004)

Since there is no 942 deal this may be a moot point, but here is what I have:

A Dish 500 and 300 feeds a DP34. Output 1 of the DP34 feeds the 811 now in the basement HT; outputs 2 and 3 feed the 921. Output 4 is unused. Could I combine outputs 1 and 4 with a combiner to get 2 feeds to the basement on one coax line.

Thanks for any advice.

MIKE


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## Mark Lamutt (Mar 24, 2002)

No, your only option would be to replace the DP34 with a DPP44, and then use a DP Seperator on the one line going to the basement to feed the 2 tuners.


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## mraub (Mar 5, 2004)

Thanks, Mark. Would I also need a DISHPro Plus Twin LNBF or would my current one on the 500 dish work?

MIKE


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## Mark Lamutt (Mar 24, 2002)

The current one you have (DishPro) will work fine.


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