# Dual Tuner 1 Cable Question



## curtw (Jul 19, 2003)

I know you can't split the cable but I've heard that there is a multisplitter or stacker that can make one line into 2 so I can use the dual tuner. Does anyone know what I should buy and where to get it online. I can't run another line, wife problems. Thanks, Curt


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## rifleman69 (Jan 6, 2005)

curtw said:


> I know you can't split the cable but I've heard that there is a multisplitter or stacker that can make one line into 2 so I can use the dual tuner. Does anyone know what I should buy and where to get it online. I can't run another line, wife problems. Thanks, Curt


Wait until she sees the price of a stacker, you'll get your second cable quicker than you'd think!


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## JimSpence (Sep 19, 2001)

It also depends on what dish you have. 
If you have the dual output round dish then you get a stacker to combine the two outputs of the dish.
http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_display.asp?CAT=Satellite Components&PROD=SUS575-T
Then a dual output destacker at the TiVo.
http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_display.asp?CAT=Satellite Components&PROD=SD575D

If you have the triple LNB dish and need the 110/119 sats then there is no one easy cable solution.


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## MajorTomSawyer (Apr 2, 2006)

Or you could call DTV and ask for a single line install.

We will provide the multiswitch as needed at no cost, provided you don't mind signing a 1 year contract.

That includes the multiswitch upgrade, and running the cable for you as well.


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## rlj5242 (Dec 20, 2000)

JimSpence said:


> If you have the triple LNB dish and need the 110/119 sats then there is no one easy cable solution.


 I've seen 2 posts from a guy that links to a stacker that works with a Phase III dish. I'm really surprised it didn't generate more discussion.

Found it - http://www.swidendist.com/

-Robert


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## Want1394 (Oct 4, 2001)

Robert, 

That Sonora unit doesn't work like most folks would want - it still stacks just the two outputs from an LNB (let's call them even and odd) onto one line. Yes, it passes the 22kHz tone so it will switch that stacked signal to the other LNB - but that is no good for driving two tuners where you may want one tuner on LNB-A and the other tuner on LNB-B (say 101 and 110/119). So, it still requires 2 coax lines to drive two tuners.

** Corrected info in my post below.


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## rlj5242 (Dec 20, 2000)

The guy that keeps showing up pushing this item every time we mention that stackers don't work with a Phase III dish. Until someone comes back with real-world info, I'm going to stop linking to it.

-Robert


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## swidendist (Jun 6, 2005)

Robert I am back! yes I know that I don't show up here allot. But trying to operate a business keeps me busy.... Please don't say that i am PUSHING. I am just trying to tell consumers of this new product. It is called a SMART STACKER. It is made by Sonora, and yes it does pass the tone so it will work with multi-sat dishes. I will give a full refund it it doesn't work..... It will take TWO ouptuts of a mulitswitch, stack the signal, (& PASSES THE TONE) so that a DUAL TUNER TIVO/DVR will get two signals out of it. I can be reached at 1-800-492-7736 ext:201 Monday - Friday 8-5 central. & since this is my own business, you can usually catch me there at 7:30 to 6. & you never know I could show up on a Saterday to get caught up....


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## rlj5242 (Dec 20, 2000)

OK. "Pushing" is harsh. But we do need some real-world reviews. Link us up with some buyers so we can know exactly how this thing works.

-Robert


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## Want1394 (Oct 4, 2001)

Ok, I eat crow and will cut Michael some slack. He hasn't been able to explain how the new stacker works, but I can. Sonora hasn't put much of anything on their web site, but here goes - each of two tuners needs access to one of four signals from the multiswitch (and stacker). Let's simply call the four sets of signals AO, AE, BO and BE. If the destacker is smart and communicates to the stacker which two of the above four signals to put on the single coax at all times, then we can drive two tuners with such a stacker/destacker combo. And that seems to be exactly what Sonora has done.


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## JimSpence (Sep 19, 2001)

However, using more than four tuners could be a problem. Or am I missing something?

For example if you have two DirecTV DVRs (4 tuners) and each tuner needs a different signal, then this doesn't work. 

It's still a good product for the situation where only two tuners are needed. 

It is still an expensive solution.


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## swidendist (Jun 6, 2005)

You can use as many tuners as you want, It just depends on the size of the multiswitch. If you only have a 4 way than you can make two dual tuners work. But you can take your four way into an eight way and then have 4 dual tuners. And YES it is a expensie solution, but how many homes in the US have only one wire in the wall and will never be able to get another to that location. This does work, If it doesn't i will give you a full refund...

Mike


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## Want1394 (Oct 4, 2001)

Jim, 

you are correct - it only works for two (that's 2) tuners at the end of one cable. 

So, it's really the $250 equipment expense or the cost of running another cable.

If you are using more than 2 tuners, then you need a multiple cable run (like four), but it's usually no more expensive to run 3 additional cables than 1 additional cable. Those of us with 4 or 6 tuners on a single TV are certainly the minority, and I think this new Sonora stacker can solve lots of folks problems simply (for the $250 price.) Since it is a straightforward solution for many cases, maybe DirecTV installation will start covering the equipment cost, when the installer can't run another cable.


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## JimSpence (Sep 19, 2001)

swidendist said:


> You can use as many tuners as you want, It just depends on the size of the multiswitch. If you only have a 4 way than you can make two dual tuners work. But you can take your four way into an eight way and then have 4 dual tuners. And YES it is a expensie solution, but how many homes in the US have only one wire in the wall and will never be able to get another to that location. This does work, If it doesn't i will give you a full refund...
> 
> Mike


If I understand correctly, each of the two lines from the destacker can supply any sat and polarity. Please explain how a multiswitch works with this unit? What happens if each of four tuners needs different satellites and polarities? It seems to me there would be conflicts.


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## dswallow (Dec 3, 2000)

JimSpence said:


> If I understand correctly, each of the two lines from the destacker can supply any sat and polarity. Please explain how a multiswitch works with this unit? What happens if each of four tuners needs different satellites and polarities? It seems to me there would be conflicts.


This provides two fully-selectable/2-way connections to a multiswitch over one coax cable; you can feed a 2xN/3xN multiswitch with it, but would need a second cable and second set of the Sonara SS212 devices to feed a 4xN/5xN multiswitch with all 4 possible signals.

You can't use a splitter with the output of the SS212 like you can with traditional stackers that aren't fully selectable/2-way.


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## JimSpence (Sep 19, 2001)

So, in other words for the less informed, you can't use the SS212 and a x4 multiswitch to get each of the four combinations separately. That's what I thought. You'd still need at least two lines from the dish and two SS212's.

In any case, I think I'd find a way to run the extra lines from the dish.


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## swidendist (Jun 6, 2005)

Sorry I missed out on all of this but the site admin guy band me for 3 days. For those of us that don't know this "you cannot put a URL to a website in a posting". Everyone has my apology but I didn't know. 

In allot of homes in the US there is only one coax in place. The Smart Stacker give us a solution for that problem. @ $250.00 I would tell everyone to run a coax if they can, But if that is not an option the Smart Stacker is only solution that i know of.

Mike


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## Jedis (Jul 16, 2005)

I only have one cable going to my bedroom and am considering buying a stacker/destacker.

I have an older dish that has only 2 lines coming in from outside. I have the Eagle Aspen 4x8 multiswitch. 2 outputs are not being used on it. So, if I got a stacker/destacker, then I would have 1 remaining output since the bedroom already has 1 output going to it?

What else do I need to consider before buying? We have 1 Tivo hooked up now with 2 lines, the Tivo in my bedroom with 1 line that I want to get the stacker/destacker for, and 2 other standard D11 receivers. I'm confused about the tones that they send over the line -- do I have too many receivers? If each receiver needs a different signal, will it work?

Do I need the smart stacker (http://www.swidendist.com/detail.aspx?ID=1131) or will destacker http://www.swidendist.com/detail.aspx?ID=665 and stacker http://www.swidendist.com/detail.aspx?ID=694 work?


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## rminsk (Jun 4, 2002)

You would typically need two destackers for a DirecTiVo. A cheaper way to do it is with a destacker and a multiswitch.

Thanks to feldon23 for the image


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## Jedis (Jul 16, 2005)

Was that in response to me? I thought the whole point of it was to combine two signals on one line. Why would you need to buy two?


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## rminsk (Jun 4, 2002)

Jedis said:


> Was that in response to me? I thought the whole point of it was to combine two signals on one line. Why would you need to buy two?


The DirecTiVo does not have a built-in destacker. If you look at the destacker it only has one output. You need to feed two seperate outputs to the DirecTiVo. You can get a dual destacker (http://www.swidendist.com/detail.aspx?ID=666) but the destacker/multiswitch setup is cheaper. With the multiswitch option you would also be able to drive the DirecTiVo and the two D11's.


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## Jedis (Jul 16, 2005)

The D11's aren't in the same room as the Tivo with the 1 input. They're on opposite sides of the house and are already working.

Ok, so I need to buy that dual destacker you linked. What about the stacker? Do I need the smart stacker http://www.swidendist.com/detail.aspx?ID=1131 or just the regular stacker http://www.swidendist.com/detail.aspx?ID=694? Do I need two stackers?

I'm still not quite understanding what the single line destacker is for then? From the pictures, it looks like it's the same as a diplexer; combining one output with the tv/ant output into a single cable.


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## rminsk (Jun 4, 2002)

You will need a regular stacker.

You will need a dual destacker or the single destacker/multiswitch setup from above if you want to use both inputs to your DirecTiVo. If you only want to use a single input to your DirecTiVo you will only need a single destacker.


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## Jedis (Jul 16, 2005)

I read somewhere that using this setup will only let me see one satellite. If the channels come from the second satellite, I will not be able to view them. Is this true? If so, what comes in on the second satellite so I know what I will not be able to view?


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## rlj5242 (Dec 20, 2000)

A regular stacker only works with 1 satellite location. The smart stacker mentioned above will work with a Phase III multi-sat dish.

Check out Lyngsat to find out which channels are being broadcast from which satellite location.

-Robert


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## Jedis (Jul 16, 2005)

Hmm, I checked that website but do not know what I am looking for.

Is there a way to check on the Tivo to see which satellites it's receiving?

If I'm only getting the one satellite now, I guess it wouldn't hurt to go with the regular stacker. But if I am getting both now and will miss out on channels, maybe I need to save a bit for the smart stacker.


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## rlj5242 (Dec 20, 2000)

Jedis said:


> Is there a way to check on the Tivo to see which satellites it's receiving?


 Yes. There are a series of test channels in the 400's (490's I think). two for 101, two for 119 and one for 110. Tune into each one and to see the message that they are broadcasting.

-Robert


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## SeattleCarl (Nov 11, 2005)

While checking channels 490-494 will tell you if your system is (or is not) receiving a signal from the 3 main satellites, it will not tell you if you actually need the signal from all 3.

I think Jedis question is more along the lines of whether or not he needs the signal from all 3 satellites. If you get HD, then you are using at least 2 of the satellites. If you get foreign language (Spanish) channels, then you are using a second satellite. But the most difficult to tell is if your local channels are on 101 or another satellite.

If your local channels are comming through 101, and you do not have HD or Spanish programming, then you will probably be okay with a single satellite stacker.

Carl


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## Jedis (Jul 16, 2005)

I just checked and only see the channels for the 101 satellite. The other channels don't even show up. After 491, it skips up to 498 or so (DTV Sports Schedule).

I have the Cleveland, OH local channels. I'm guessing I'm just receiving the 101 satellite?


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## SeattleCarl (Nov 11, 2005)

It sounds like you are only getting 101. I would suspect the initial receiver setup was done specifying the 18" round dish as the type of dish, so as far as your receiver is concerned it is only looking for, and using, the signal from the 101 satellite.

In that case, yes a stacker would work for you.

Carl


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## Jedis (Jul 16, 2005)

Well, I got my Smart Stacker and it's up and running after 6 hours. To make a long story short...

It came with absolutely no directions and the 'manual' I found online was just about useless. After rerunning Guided Setup 6 times and rebooting 6 times, it just started working on it's own.

The satellite strength test would show both tuners working, but the System info showed tuner 2 was disabled. When I viewed a channel, it would show at the bottom of the screen that it could not find a signal on tuner 2, yet going into the menu and checking satellite strength showed it was.

Anyway, it's working now. Hopefully it stays working through the next reboot.


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## such (Mar 24, 2004)

Looks like the Sonora SS212 is no longer available. Is there a replacement product out there by them or someone else?

Objective: 1 cable run to bedroom, trying to feed dual tuner HR10-250 and OTA signal over the 1 cable?


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## JimSpence (Sep 19, 2001)

Since the HR10 requires access to three satellites using a triple LNB dish, a single coax solution isn't possible (any longer). 

However, there is something called SWM, Single Wire Multiswitch, that is available. But, this requires receivers that can handle SWM, Like the H20 and HR20. There may be others.

You could diplex the OTA and reduce the HR10 to a single tuner.


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## rminsk (Jun 4, 2002)

JimSpence said:


> Since the HR10 requires access to three satellites using a triple


The HR10 does not require access to all three satellites, it will work just fine with only the 101 satellite. If you want to get the mpeg-2 high definition channels that DirecTV offers then you will need to see the 110 and 119 satellites.


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## JimSpence (Sep 19, 2001)

True, but I assumed he had the HR10 to be able to get those HD channels from 110 & 119.


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## wolflord11 (Jan 17, 2007)

JimSpence said:


> Since the HR10 requires access to three satellites using a triple LNB dish, a single coax solution isn't possible (any longer).
> 
> However, there is something called SWM, Single Wire Multiswitch, that is available. But, this requires receivers that can handle SWM, Like the H20 and HR20. There may be others.
> 
> You could diplex the OTA and reduce the HR10 to a single tuner.


Here you can find more information about the SWM. SWM

Remember this is New Technology, and is still in Beta Testing.


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## such (Mar 24, 2004)

Any word on if the DirecTV FTM is available today?


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