# Splitters are bad...so I'm told



## the_dudeman (Jun 19, 2008)

Hello all,

I have decided to try and install my old SD D* receiver in my bedroom. I live in a MDU and the installer and managers say no more lines can be dropped. My HR21 in on a SWM switch. I've heard that splitters are bad and shouldn't be used.

What should I do here to get a receiver in my bedroom?

Thanks,

dudeman

Oh, please keep in mind I'm a lame newb and unless you spell out equipment I may need, or provide links, I won't know what you're talking about.


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## bonscott87 (Jan 21, 2003)

Before SWM yes, no splitters. But if you are really on an SWM switch then yes you can indeed use high bandwidth splitters but only with receivers that support SWM which your old SD receiver most likely cannot.

I don't think any of the SD non-DVR receivers are compatible with SWM but all of the HR2x's are as are the R16 and R22 (SD DVR) as well as non DVR HD receivers H21 and H23. H20 might be but it's old and no longer sold.

I'm sure someone will be along soon enough to correct anything I forgot.

One other thing though is that only so many tuners can be run off an SWM (usually 8 or 16) so if the MDU already has maxed out that SWM for you and the other units then you wouldn't be able to as far as I know.


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## Grentz (Jan 10, 2007)

bonscott speaks the truth. One correction though is that the D12 and newer SD receivers are compatible with SWM systems. Any earlier receivers are not though.

•	D12 and newer
•	R16, R22 and newer
•	H20 and newer
•	HR20 and newer

In any event, you need to talk to your MDU manager/installer as there are more complexities involved. If it is a SWM MDU and there are available slots, the use of a high-frequency splitter and a receiver that is one of those listed above should work out fine.


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## the_dudeman (Jun 19, 2008)

bonscott87 said:


> Before SWM yes, no splitters. But if you are really on an SWM switch then yes you can indeed use high bandwidth splitters but only with receivers that support SWM which your old SD receiver most likely cannot.
> 
> I don't think any of the SD non-DVR receivers are compatible with SWM but all of the HR2x's are as are the R16 and R22 (SD DVR) as well as non DVR HD receivers H21 and H23. H20 might be but it's old and no longer sold.
> 
> ...


Oh hey, thanks for the reply. Well I'm pretty sure I'm on a SWM because I only have one line coming into the HR21 and I can record other shows than what I'm watching. Also the installer told me he put me on a SWM because I asked to have another line coming in so both tuners could be hooked up to record shows other than what I'm watching, and that's when he told me he was putting me on the SWM. Also if I look at the setup in my HR21, it says oval dish and SWM.

Well that's OK about the SD receiver, because I also have my old R22 laying around and can hook that up, if it will work with a SWM.

I'll have to ask the installer I guess if the SWM is maxed out or not.

You say high bandwidth splitters. Can you tell me who makes them and where to get one? Are these special order items or is it possible to buy one at say Radio Shack?

Thanks again,

dudeman


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## Grentz (Jan 10, 2007)

R22 will work fine with a SWM system.

For splitters, I recommend/prefer the Skywalker splitters:
1x2: http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.as...e-signals-(SKY23302D)&c=Signal Splitters&sku=

1x4: http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.as...-(SKY23304D)&c=Signal Splitters&sku=SKY23304D

Very good splitters that are very reliable.


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## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

You need to ask whether your SWM setup is exclusive to you or if you're sharing it with someone else. Sharing is annoyingly popular in townhouse situations.


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## the_dudeman (Jun 19, 2008)

Grentz said:


> R22 will work fine with a SWM system.
> 
> For splitters, I recommend/prefer the Skywalker splitters:
> 1x2: http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.as...e-signals-(SKY23302D)&c=Signal Splitters&sku=
> ...


Thanks for the reply and links. I will order one of these splitters you link when I go ahaead with this. Yes I checked and my old SD receiver is D11, so no-go on that but as I mentioned the R22 is there.

A question though: In doing this I want to make sure I don't mess up my HR21 signal. I have a nice 46" LCD and surround system and very much enjoy the HD signal and DVR. The bedroom is an after thought, but if it messes up my "theater" HD, then it wont be worth doing. Can I expect the HD and HR21 to operate the same and deliver the same great picture after installing a splitter? Also, will the R22 be backward compatable and be able to display SD signals even though it will be getting HD from the splitter?



harsh said:


> You need to ask whether your SWM setup is exclusive to you or if you're sharing it with someone else. Sharing is annoyingly popular in townhouse situations.


Yes thanks, that will be my first move is to ask if the SWM is maxed out before I go further. The answer to that question may actually stop all my plans instantly.

dudeman


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## Grentz (Jan 10, 2007)

the_dudeman said:


> Thanks for the reply and links. I will order one of these splitters you link when I go ahaead with this. Yes I checked and my old SD receiver is D11, so no-go on that but as I mentioned the R22 is there.
> 
> A question though: In doing this I want to make sure I don't mess up my HR21 signal. I have a nice 46" LCD and surround system and very much enjoy the HD signal and DVR. The bedroom is an after thought, but if it messes up my "theater" HD, then it wont be worth doing. Can I expect the HD and HR21 to operate the same and deliver the same great picture after installing a splitter? Also, will the R22 be backward compatable and be able to display SD signals even though it will be getting HD from the splitter?


The splitter will not effect the HR21 setup at all, the SWM systems are made to be used with splitters.

The R22 is fine outputting SD signals. It will receive SD and HD signals through the splitter, same as your HR21 does, and display the SD ones (though some have said with HD enabled on your account the R22 basically becomes another HR2x receiver and can output SD and HD signals, cannot confirm 100% though).


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## the_dudeman (Jun 19, 2008)

Grentz said:


> The splitter will not effect the HR21 setup at all, the SWM systems are made to be used with splitters.
> 
> The R22 is fine outputting SD signals. It will receive SD and HD signals through the splitter, same as your HR21 does, and display the SD ones (though some have said with HD enabled on your account the R22 basically becomes another HR2x receiver and can output SD and HD signals, cannot confirm 100% though).


Boy wouldn't that be cool, if the R22 acted like and HR2x and would output HD!! Although, if it doesn't that's cool, because the objective was just to get a signal for watching in bed, setting the TV timer, and falling asleep. I've found I can really fall asleep easy with the TV on, and I do, but then have to get up and go in bedroom.

Thanks for the info,

dudeman


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## The Merg (Jun 24, 2007)

The R22 will act like an HR21 if it is enabled on an account with HD access. And you can hook it up to a SDTV and it will work fine. You can also choose to Hide HD channels on the R22 so you only see the SD counterparts.

- Merg


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## CJTE (Sep 18, 2007)

The Merg said:


> The R22 will act like an HR21 if it is enabled on an account with HD access. And you can hook it up to a SDTV and it will work fine. You can also choose to Hide HD channels on the R22 so you only see the SD counterparts.
> 
> - Merg


But HD channels look better on SD tvs than SD channels look on SD tvs...


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## The Merg (Jun 24, 2007)

CJTE said:


> But HD channels look better on SD tvs than SD channels look on SD tvs...


True, but I believe you do end up with letterboxed/pillared display if I am remember correctly from past posts... Or was that only if you were watching MPEG-4 shows on an account that only had SD? I kept getting confused about that issue.

- Merg


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## bonscott87 (Jan 21, 2003)

the_dudeman said:


> Thanks for the reply and links. I will order one of these splitters you link when I go ahaead with this. Yes I checked and my old SD receiver is D11, so no-go on that but as I mentioned the R22 is there.


Yep, those are good splitters. You can get them at Radio Shack easily as well if shipping will be more then getting it locally. The key is what you see on the first one linked "5-2300". That 2nd number being "high" is what I meant by high bandwidth splitters. You want that 2nd number to be over 2000. I paid an extra buck to get 5-2500 splitters.


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## Phil T (Mar 25, 2002)

I am getting ready to add a third HR to my setup. I currently have a SWM-LNB and a Ideal splitter I bought at Home Depot that has worked fine for the last couple of years. I didn't see a 3-way splitter at Home Depot when I was there the other day. Would this work and do I need to terminate the 4th line?

http://www.homedepot.com/Electrical...splay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053


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## bobnielsen (Jun 29, 2006)

That model should work for you. You will need a terminator on any unused outputs.


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## dhking (Sep 28, 2006)

So, I have a Slimline 5, 4lnb dish that I'm currently running through an 8-port multiswitch. I'd like to switch to a SWM-8 switch (as I've added an HD DVR in a location with only 1 coax outlet). 

If I needed more than 8 SWM run off of the SWM-8 could I install one of these splitters to any swm line coming off the SWM-8 and, in effect, get a 9th output. Or, am I limited to 8 feeds (with dvr taking 2 each) from a swm-8. 

And, if that is the case, what are my options if I need more than 8 swm outputs?


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

dhking said:


> So, I have a Slimline 5, 4lnb dish that I'm currently running through an 8-port multiswitch. I'd like to switch to a SWM-8 switch (as I've added an HD DVR in a location with only 1 coax outlet).
> 
> If I needed more than 8 SWM run off of the SWM-8 could I install one of these splitters to any swm line coming off the SWM-8 and, in effect, get a 9th output. Or, am I limited to 8 feeds (with dvr taking 2 each) from a swm-8.
> 
> And, if that is the case, what are my options if I need more than 8 swm outputs?


The "8" in the SWM8 means NO MORE THAN eight tuners [DVR = 2].
You can split the four feeds to a SWM8 and run two in parallel, for up to 16 tuners.


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## HRJustin (Mar 5, 2009)

dhking said:


> So, I have a Slimline 5, 4lnb dish that I'm currently running through an 8-port multiswitch. I'd like to switch to a SWM-8 switch (as I've added an HD DVR in a location with only 1 coax outlet).
> 
> If I needed more than 8 SWM run off of the SWM-8 could I install one of these splitters to any swm line coming off the SWM-8 and, in effect, get a 9th output. Or, am I limited to 8 feeds (with dvr taking 2 each) from a swm-8.
> 
> And, if that is the case, what are my options if I need more than 8 swm outputs?


You can only have 8 tuners total on an SWM8 so that would be 4 DVRs, 8 normal receivers or a combination of both. You can add up to 3 more tuners to an SWM8 via the legacy ports. To use the legacy ports you would need a home run from the location to the SWM8. So you can have 8 tuners over the one signal coax with splitters. Then 3 more home run tuners from the 3 legacy ports on the SWM8. As far as I know the legacy ports should work with any directv receiver. Just make sure if the receiver is SWM capable but connected to the legacy port(s)to set it to multiswitch rather then SWM.


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

HRJustin said:


> you can only have 8 tuners total on an SWM8 so that would be 4 DVRs, 8 normal receivers or a combination of them. You can add up to 3 more tuners to an SWM8 via the legacy ports. To use the legacy ports you would need a home run from the location to the SWM8. So you can have 8 tuners over the one signal coax with splitters. Then 3 more home run tuners from the *3 legacy ports* on the SWM8.


"But" they don't pass the Ka-lo band channels, so no MPEG-4 HD channels.


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## HRJustin (Mar 5, 2009)

veryoldschool said:


> "But" they don't pass the Ka-lo band channels, so no MPEG-4 HD channels.


Oh yeah!! thanks for posting that I forgot about that on the SWM8. I guess I was just thinking about the new SWM16 that has 4 full passing ports. I still have a WB68 multiswitch so I was just going by memory. :lol:

The full passing ports are pretty much meant for linking more then one SWM16 together.


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

HRJustin said:


> I was just thinking about the new SWM16 that has full passing legacy ports.


Which would make them "not legacy ports", right? :lol:


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## rudeney (May 28, 2007)

veryoldschool said:


> Which would make them "not legacy ports", right? :lol:


Well, since SWM is now officially mainstream, would't that make _everything_ else legacy?


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## dhking (Sep 28, 2006)

Ahh. So I split the four feeds coming from the dish into 8 feeds (using HF splitters) and then run those into two SWM8's and that gives me 16 - do I have that right?


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## the_dudeman (Jun 19, 2008)

bonscott87 said:


> Yep, those are good splitters. You can get them at Radio Shack easily as well if shipping will be more then getting it locally. The key is what you see on the first one linked "5-2300". That 2nd number being "high" is what I meant by high bandwidth splitters. You want that 2nd number to be over 2000. I paid an extra buck to get 5-2500 splitters.


Thanks for the info, OK I'll look for above 2000 on the splitters at RS, if they're not that high, I'll order those linked.

So from what I'm reading, I'm SOL if the installer tells me the SWM switch is full....correct?

dudeman


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## dhking (Sep 28, 2006)

SWM-16. Where might I find one of those????


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## carl6 (Nov 16, 2005)

dhking said:


> Ahh. So I split the four feeds coming from the dish into 8 feeds (using HF splitters) and then run those into two SWM8's and that gives me 16 - do I have that right?


Yep. Just make sure you keep the four lines matched to the two SWM's. 13V and 13V, 13V 22KHz and 13V 22KHz, 18V and 18V, 18V 22KHz and 18V 22KHz (the two outputs of any given splitter have to go to like ports on the two SWM's).


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## carl6 (Nov 16, 2005)

dhking said:


> SWM-16. Where might I find one of those????


Coming soon to a DirecTV installer near you 

(i.e., not available YET)


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## the_dudeman (Jun 19, 2008)

The Merg said:


> True, but I believe you do end up with letterboxed/pillared display if I am remember correctly from past posts... Or was that only if you were watching MPEG-4 shows on an account that only had SD? I kept getting confused about that issue.
> 
> - Merg


But since the R22 will act like an HR2x, it will output HD? If that is the case I'll just get like 32" LCD for the bedroom and forego the SD TV I was gonna out in there.

dudeman


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## The Merg (Jun 24, 2007)

the_dudeman said:


> But since the R22 will act like an HR2x, it will output HD? If that is the case I'll just get like 32" LCD for the bedroom and forego the SD TV I was gonna out in there.
> 
> dudeman


Correct. As long as you have HD service on your account, the R22 will act just like an HR21.

- Merg


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## BattleZone (Nov 13, 2007)

carl6 said:


> Yep. Just make sure you keep the four lines matched to the two SWM's. 13V and 13V, 13V 22KHz and 13V 22KHz, 18V and 18V, 18V 22KHz and 18V 22KHz (the two outputs of any given splitter have to go to like ports on the two SWM's).












(The power locker shown in the diagram is redundant and unnecessary.)


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## texasbrit (Aug 9, 2006)

dhking said:


> SWM-16. Where might I find one of those????


You won't find one yet. I saw one post suggesting they would start to become available Q1 2010 but not confirmed.


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