# Two DVR receivers instead of a dual-tuner receiver



## lifeislife (Jul 23, 2004)

I have been asking dish for a dual tuner receiver (for existing customers) for quite some time now. They have not been able to provide one on lease, but after emailing [email protected], I got a response saying that I could potentially connect another 510 (I already have one), and as long as my TV can accept two inputs, I should be able to get my job done.

My questions are:

1. Is that so? 
2. If that is the case, will I need to run another cable from the dish to the second receiver, or I can use 'splitter'? Pardon the ignorance about the terminology here, but my 'splitter', I am implying something that has one input and 2 outputs 
3. If my TV does not have 2 inputs, can I somehow use my VCR along with the second receiver in order to be able to watch one program on one channel and record another, and potentially recording two programs at the same time?

tia.


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## ggw2000 (Dec 22, 2003)

lifeislife said:


> I have been asking dish for a dual tuner receiver (for existing customers) for quite some time now. They have not been able to provide one on lease, but after emailing [email protected], I got a response saying that I could potentially connect another 510 (I already have one), and as long as my TV can accept two inputs, I should be able to get my job done.
> 
> My questions are:
> 
> ...


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## lifeislife (Jul 23, 2004)

ggw2000 said:


> lifeislife said:
> 
> 
> > I have been asking dish for a dual tuner receiver (for existing customers) for quite some time now. They have not been able to provide one on lease, but after emailing [email protected], I got a response saying that I could potentially connect another 510 (I already have one), and as long as my TV can accept two inputs, I should be able to get my job done.
> ...


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## SimpleSimon (Jan 15, 2004)

Short answer, EVERY satellite tuner needs it's OWN feed direct from "outside". NO splitters! A dual-tuner box requires two separate feeds (there's exceptions, but they don't apply here).

Go to the Check Switch screen and see what it says. "DP Twin" "SW-21" and similar words. Go here: http://www.switchinfo.info/lnbs.html
then outside and look at the dish and see what's closest. Look for "DP" logos. Finally, 'trace' the cables from the dish to inside the house and see if there's any "boxes" in line, and what they are. Besides telling us what need to know, you'll learn some stuff. 

Now, we're on the road to getting you the 2 feeds you need. Next comes where the receivers output goes. Look at your TV & VCR, and see what kind of hookups they have. Coax connectors? RCA plugs (typically 3 in a row - Yellow, Red, & White).


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## lifeislife (Jul 23, 2004)

SimpleSimon said:


> Short answer, EVERY satellite tuner needs it's OWN feed direct from "outside". NO splitters! A dual-tuner box requires two separate feeds (there's exceptions, but they don't apply here).
> 
> Go to the Check Switch screen and see what it says. "DP Twin" "SW-21" and similar words. Go here: http://www.switchinfo.info/lnbs.html
> then outside and look at the dish and see what's closest. Look for "DP" logos. Finally, 'trace' the cables from the dish to inside the house and see if there's any "boxes" in line, and what they are. Besides telling us what need to know, you'll learn some stuff.
> ...


1. Check switch screen says 'SW21'. 
2. I have two dishes - both are Dish 500.
3. On the first dish, I have a Twin LNB and on the second, I am sorry, I can't tell if it is a Single or a Dual LNB because from the images on http://www.switchinfo.info/lnbs.html it seems the difference is how many outputs there are, and I can't see those outputs. But if I go by the color of the thing itself, mine is white, so I can assume Twin LNB on the other dish. 
4. There is a device which presumably takes both those dish signals and sends it through one cable only. That cable is then taken to the inside, where the TV is. 
5. That cable from outside is then going into the receiver. I have 508, not 510 as I mentioned in my earlier post. Sorry about that. 
6. From the receiver, I have a coax cable going to the VCR. Again, I think I mentioned that my current setup does not include the VCR, but like you said, this exercise will teach me a lot. This is one of the things I learned 
7. From the VCR, there is another coax going to the TV.

Hope this helps.


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## larrystotler (Jun 6, 2004)

If you add the 2nd 510 through the DishNItUp program(which is probably how they are offering it), then it will be professionally installed for you with any neccessary wiring and switches included. However, unless you have the everything pack, your bill will go up by $10 a mointh($4.99 add rec fee, & $4.98 VoD fee for the 510). Also, the new box would be a lease only item. Now, so long as your TV support PiP, then it will work fine the way you descirbe, except for needing 2 remotes to work both DVRs. So far as I know, very few VCRs are PiP except for high end ones. IF you were getting a second 510, it would be better used in a 2nd room, or you could run the output to a second room and use the DVR's UHF remote in the second room. THe installer will need to program the new remote to a different address or they will interfere with each other.


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## lifeislife (Jul 23, 2004)

larrystotler said:


> IF you were getting a second 510, it would be better used in a 2nd room, or you could run the output to a second room and use the DVR's UHF remote in the second room. THe installer will need to program the new remote to a different address or they will interfere with each other.


Can you explain what you mean by the latter part of the statement - running the output to the second room, and using the UHF remote. For what? I still need a second TV, right?


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## SimpleSimon (Jan 15, 2004)

Yes - that's for a second TV if you have one. If not, I'll assume you jsut want a second tuner to "beat" the show-stacking that the networks do. You know, there's exactly 2 decent network shows a week and they're on at the same time. 

Anyway, if you can get that program, and you're OK with the cost and leasing, go for it, for sure!

If you're gonna do it yourself, basically, you're going to 'clone' your current wires. I think you probably have a Dish 500 with a Twin and a Dish *3*00 with a Single or Dual. The SW-21 is the little box that connects the 2 feeds together and sends it to the receiver. The Twin already has an output available, and if the other LNB is a Dual, it's got one too. All you'd need is another SW-21 (cheap) and a bunch of RG-6 coax. If the 300 has a Single instead of a Dual, you'll have to buy a LEGACY (not DishPro) Dual.

OTOH, if you don't want to go through the extra effort, you can just use the second output of the Dish 500 - you'll be missing some channels on that receiver, tho. No, I don't know which ones without looking it up, but chances are the 2nd dish points at 148 and is for your local stations, so you're going top want to get the second SW-21.

IF you decide if you're going to do it yourself, then we'll move forward to the inside hookups. If E* does it for you, the installer should work with you on that.


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## lifeislife (Jul 23, 2004)

SimpleSimon said:


> Yes - that's for a second TV if you have one. If not, I'll assume you jsut want a second tuner to "beat" the show-stacking that the networks do. You know, there's exactly 2 decent network shows a week and they're on at the same time.
> 
> Anyway, if you can get that program, and you're OK with the cost and leasing, go for it, for sure!
> 
> ...


Ok. Let me check with E* first on the DishNItUp promo, and then decide. But you are saying in any situation, there will be a second cable running through the house? That's probably not going to fly with the wife.


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## larrystotler (Jun 6, 2004)

Yes, second cable will be a requirement. No way around it.


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## TomCat (Aug 31, 2002)

One of the advantages of a PVR is that it manages what you have already recorded into a nice, neat list. Having 2 DVR's each with 1 tuner will not have quite that level of convenience that a single DVR with 2 tuners will. IOW, you will be managing 2 lists instead of one. Get a 721 instead.


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## SimpleSimon (Jan 15, 2004)

Actually, I think of a few cases where you would WANT separate boxes.

* Prevent spousal arguments over space usage.
* One box for 'never delete' vs. one for 'view and erase'

There's other scenarios I'm sure, but the point is, to each their own!


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## maximum (Jun 23, 2004)

Another advantage is that you can watch any of the recordings from any TV in the house.
The big disadvantage is that the dual tuner receivers have more problems than the single tuner receivers (according to a couple of installers).


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## finniganps (Jan 23, 2004)

maximum said:


> The big disadvantage is that the dual tuner receivers have more problems than the single tuner receivers (according to a couple of installers).


I have a 508 (single tuner) and 721 (dual). I'm not having any significant problems with either one. I would recommend the dual over the single in almost every instant.


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## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

maximum said:


> Another advantage is that you can watch any of the recordings from any TV in the house.
> The big disadvantage is that the dual tuner receivers have more problems than the single tuner receivers (according to a couple of installers).


I have both a 508 and a 721 and I also would recommend a 721 over two 508s any day of the week. I have found both stable, but I would not go with a two box solution.

Reasons:

1) From a usability point of view much more difficult to manage. This can be minimized with a programmable remote, but still more difficult. 
2) Takes up more space in your cabinet and adds more noise. 
3) Adds an additional $5 dollar mirror fee in most cases. 
4) If you were to get a 510, then you are talking also adding another $5 bucks for VOD.

I personally would not go this route, but as Simon said.... "To each their own"


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## larrystotler (Jun 6, 2004)

Or, you could have 2 DVRs in 2 different rooms and backfeed the one into the other room. Then, you could change the remote address to use the other 1 from 1 remote/room. Kinda how I do it sometimes since both my DVRs are on a shelf here to my right and the 1 TV is in the upstairs bedroom.


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## Guest (Sep 11, 2004)

lifeislife said:


> I have been asking dish for a dual tuner receiver (for existing customers) for quite some time now. They have not been able to provide one on lease, but after emailing [email protected], I got a response saying that I could potentially connect another 510 (I already have one), and as long as my TV can accept two inputs, I should be able to get my job done.
> 
> My questions are:
> 
> ...


Ok, I am an installer for a retailer, so let me see if i can fill in some blanks simply............a 522 can be bought outright and put on a non-lease account, the hard part is finding a retailer willing to sell you one
..............if you got a second 501/508/510 reciever then you would have to use two remotes and hope your TV had two inputs and then you may even be looking at three remotes
............on dual tuner recievers 1 line can be run in and then split off immediately behind the receiver, but you need what is referred to as all DP+ LNBF's and switches, which I have not seen in circulation yet, even though they are ready for use within DNSC
...................as for your third question there is not a way to run 2 decoded receiver inputs into a vcr and then out to your TV and make the vcr recognize the difference to only record one or the other, you would still always be watching what you are recording.
.............your best bet is to find a retailer willing to sell you outright a 522 reciever, have some one install it, (purchase of a quad LNBF may be necesary) you would be looking at around 300-350 for the 522 reciever, and about 100 for the quad LNBF. 
.......but.......once you have the 522 you can put it into single tuner mode, and record one show and watch another all with PIP capabilities. 
So you are looking at least 400-450.00 in equipment and cable (provided you find someone to hook it up for you for free, and worst case scenario 2 cables running in..
HOPE this helped somewhat


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## larrystotler (Jun 6, 2004)

Retail Technician said:


> Ok, I am an installer for a retailer, so let me see if i can fill in some blanks simply............a 522 can be bought outright and put on a non-lease account, the hard part is finding a retailer willing to sell you one
> ..............if you got a second 501/508/510 reciever then you would have to use two remotes and hope your TV had two inputs and then you may even be looking at three remotes
> ............on dual tuner recievers 1 line can be run in and then split off immediately behind the receiver, but you need what is referred to as all DP+ LNBF's and switches, which I have not seen in circulation yet, even though they are ready for use within DNSC
> ...................as for your third question there is not a way to run 2 decoded receiver inputs into a vcr and then out to your TV and make the vcr recognize the difference to only record one or the other, you would still always be watching what you are recording.
> ...


Huh? The DP+ Seperators have been out for a while now. E* just deosn't seem to care that the retailers are all ordering quads since the DP+ Twin has yet to be released. The DP+44 tho has been out for a while. As to the VCR, it would depend on your VCR, and what it capabilities are. Some VCRs do support PiP for TVs that do not have that feature. THe biggest disadvantage to the 522 is that with 2 510s, you have 200 hours available. E* could have used a bigger HD with the 522. As for the single tuner mode of the 522, I have yet to see a 522 that this works on. And I have installed many of them. WHat this person really needs is a 721 or 921 instead of 2 boxes.


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## dnsc_installer (Sep 11, 2004)

larrystotler said:


> As for the single tuner mode of the 522, I have yet to see a 522 that this works on. And I have installed many of them. WHat this person really needs is a 721 or 921 instead of 2 boxes.


I am in the central us and everyone here works in single tuner mode that I have put in since the software became available, maybe it is that staged release thing i have heard others talk about.


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