Satellite dish installer

SparkRite said:

IMHO you are better off going for the H7S (2xsat and 1 Cable/Terrestrial tuner) as there are a lot more channels available on Sat than Saorview, so the probability of wishing to record while watching another channel would be higher on sat than Saorview.

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Good point, thankl you, will switch to H7S.

SparkRite said:

Also, Do Not use combiners/splitters etc. with sat/terrestrial, they will only lead to grief !! Especially with what you want to do.
If as you say you wish to use 4 points in your house, get an octo LNB, run two sat cables (using twin RG6 cable) and 1 Saorview cable to each point (you may split the Saorview with a high quality splitter), this will allow you to use the zGemma to its best.
Plus you can place a box at each point, in the future, if you want, by doing it this way.

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I hope to use the existing cable so that I can avoid any ripping, so running multiple cables is not really an option. That was why the suggestion of a multiswitch looked so attractive. Is a multiswitch the same as a combiner/splitter?

SparkRite said:

While you're at it, run a LAN cable from your router to each point as well.

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While I would love that, it would involve a lot of ripping, and probably won't happen.
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I have a Ferguson aerial beside each TV at the moment for saorview, which I hoped to get rid of, hence the desire to run the 2 signals down the one cable.

If you hope to use 4 different points then I assume you will be running cable(s) to these points, it is as easy to run 1 as it is 4.

Existing cable, in many situations, can be used as a 'fish' cable and can make the job easier.

Splitters/Combiners may be OK'ish when using just one box at one point, but not when using multi points. I hate them with a vengeance. Signal degradation/crossover/DB loss/loose connections/inherent restrictions imposed etc., the proper way to do it, as I suspect you know, is each Sat tuner has its own direct cable to an LNB output. If you don't do it this way, think what will happen if you added just one more box/TV ie. who can watch what on each box/TV at the same time and which box controls the transponder polarity and forget about setting up timers for recording etc. Its a mess.

Obviously, at the end of the day, it's up to you, but my advice would be 'don't half do it'.

Apologies, but I might not be explaining myself properly. Yes, I plan to run a cable from the LNB to each point (2 of the lines i will use new cables into the attic then join to the existing cable going through the walls and floors to downstairs), and a box at each point, and what I was hoping to do was make that cable share the Sat & Ter signal, hence the quad LNB with the UHF in. I am thinking of using the combiner splitter (still don't know if that is the same as a multiswitch, as referred to by another poster) just at the box end, to separate out the 2 signals.

No a multiswitch is not the same as a combiner/splitter and is generally not used in domestic installations. Yes you could employ one but there is no need for it in your situation and to use it fully you would not efficiently (taking into account the price of a decent one plus different type LNB) save on cabling, just the Saorview one.

BlueSpud said:

Yes, I plan to run a cable from the LNB to each point

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I really don't see your 'problem' if you are running a cable from the LNB to each point anyway.
If you want full and totally 'carefree' usage of the box(s) then, as I have said, run double RG6 sat cable, and preferably a cable for your Saorview as well. Anything else is a compromise.

If you really want/have to, yes, you could use a splitter/combiner on one of the sat cables at each point, but you would need 4 of them, to avoid voltage interference with H/V polarity.

If you have access to all the existing cabling in the attic, and want to avoid the hassle of running new cabling, there's a lot to be said for a multiswitch.

This is the setup in our last house.

1x Satellite Dish, with quad lnb
1x aerial, in the attic

4x satellite feeds and 1x aerial as inputs into a multiswitch (quad compatible, rather than quattro which is used in commercial installations) in the attic.

This provided up to 8x outputs (5 needed/used), which were in turn connected to each TV point in the house.

At the TV point itself, a splitter then for connection into the sat receiver / TV.

As others have said, you have to be careful with splitters. You can't easily split a single satellite feed, but splitting a satellite from a terrestrial feed is very straightforward as they operate at different frequencies (you can get specific splitters just for this job).

Every TV had then both Irish and UK channels, using the existing cabling. If your TV has an inbuilt satellite tuner, there'll be no need for any other boxes.

mojoask said:

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Every TV had then both Irish and UK channels, using the existing cabling. If your TV has an inbuilt satellite tuner, there'll be no need for any other boxes.

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That's all OK if you do not need/want to record one while watching another Sat channel. As the box(es) he's going for have twin sat tuners, to use them fully and without restriction he needs two sat feeds to each point/box.

No, I only want to split Sat and terrestial. I know that I will forsake viewing and recording sat at the same time, but I dont record at the monment, so nothing lost . Sounds like a plan!

Thank you Mojoask, SparkRite