# Can I plug two Zinwell 6x8 passive multiswitches to one Terk powered 5x8 multiswitch?



## Leila (Apr 28, 2006)

I currently have a Zinwell 6x8 passive multiswitch plugged into a Terk 5x8 powered multiswitch. This give me 12 outputs, feeding my 6 Tivo/HDTivo DVRs.

However, I would like to add another HDTivo. This means I'll need another two outputs. 

I do have a spare Zinwell 6x8 passive multiswitch. Can I plug two Zinwell 6x8 passive multiswitches to one Terk powered 5x8 multiswitch? The first Zinwell will take four outputs from the Terk, and the second Zinwell will take the remaning four outputs. This should give me 16 outputs. Will this setup work? 

Thanks for any info!


----------



## old7 (Aug 7, 2002)

No, that won't work. The Terk won't be able to pass everything to the other multiswitches. You can however use high frequency splitters to feed two Zinwell 6x8 multiswitches. You will need 4 of them, one for each output from the AT9. I believe this is one that is mentioned frequently:

High Frequency Splitter


----------



## DLiquid (Sep 17, 2001)

old7 said:


> No, that won't work. The Terk won't be able to pass everything to the other multiswitches. You can however use high frequency splitters to feed two Zinwell 6x8 multiswitches. You will need 4 of them, one for each output from the AT9. I believe this is one that is mentioned frequently:
> 
> High Frequency Splitter


I ordered 4 of those yesterday for this same purpose, despite that as far as I can tell the solidsignal page has the incorrect part number, product picture, and frequency range.


----------



## smoothresult (Nov 10, 2005)

:up: I just installed 4 of those splitters to run parallel on a Bestway 5x12 and an Aspen 4x8 and it worked great.


----------



## dmurphy (Jan 17, 2002)

I bought 2 lots of 3 splitters each (total of 6 splitters) from this guy on eBay... I used 4 and have 2 spares.

http://cgi.ebay.com/LOT-3-2-way-sat...hZ004QQcategoryZ32840QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem

I use them to split the signal between a 5x8 Zinwell and a 4x8 Eagle Aspen. Work like a champ!

... and his price is $5.99 per lot of 3, where SS above gets $5.99 for a single splitter ...


----------



## smoothresult (Nov 10, 2005)

I made a mistake on that last post, these are the ones that i got. http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_display.asp?PROD=P-2150-2-GX. My bad.


----------



## dmurphy (Jan 17, 2002)

smoothresult said:


> I made a mistake on that last post, these are the ones that i got. http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_display.asp?PROD=P-2150-2-GX. My bad.


Unfortunately, that's going to be a problem for two reasons ...



solidsignal said:


> The P-2150-GX series of high frequency splitters feature a 950-2150MHz frequency range. Diode steered power passing ensure that DC power is passed to the LNB from any of the outputports.


First of all, these pass power out both ports. When using splitters between multiswitches, you only want to pass DC power on a single port. You'll get seemingly-random "Searching for satellite signal..." messages if you use these (I know, I did that  (Of course, the description and the picture disagree. If what's shown in the PICTURE shows up, you'll be fine, since what's shown apparently passes DC on only one leg. The description conflicts with that ....)

Secondly, their frequency range is from 950-2150MHz. That's fine for a standard triple-LNB dish, but if you ever need to use the AT9 dish (the 5-LNB monster), you'll have to replace them -- the 5-LNB dish uses frequencies below 950MHz.

Sorry if I'm being a killjoy, but I'd rather let you know up front before you have an issue.


----------



## smoothresult (Nov 10, 2005)

Actually, these are the ones that you recieve http://www.packardtechnology.com/Me...T&Product_Code=pv23222&Category_Code=Switches , if you order these http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_display.asp?PROD=P-2150-2-GX. I don't think i'm going to complain about false advertisement, because they work. Also it does say on the perfect vision splitter that it is one port power passing. I have tried different splitters that were all port passive and of course they did not work on my system. Sorry for the confusion.


----------



## officiousintermeddler (Jul 26, 2001)

There is now a 6x16 Zinwell powere multiswitch that you can buy ($190). I bought mine from here:

http://www.zcwc.com/zcwc/products/index_multiswitch.shtml

It works just fine (I needed it to use international programming on more than 8 lines and there was no way to do that with any other product).

Ross


----------



## NFLnut (Apr 22, 2000)

dmurphy said:


> Secondly, their frequency range is from 950-2150MHz. That's fine for a standard triple-LNB dish, but if you ever need to use the AT9 dish (the 5-LNB monster), you'll have to replace them -- the 5-LNB dish uses frequencies below 950MHz.
> 
> Sorry if I'm being a killjoy, but I'd rather let you know up front before you have an issue.


Just to understand .. I know from your post that I will need a sub-950MHz splitter since I am installing a 5-LNB this week, but how would I go about hooking these splitters up? I'm guessing that the leg which doesn't pass power would go to the first multiswitch in the chain, and the power-passing goes to the next 'switch?

Also, while on the subject, I am picking up a couple multiswitches. I am assuming the one to use with the 5-LNB dish is the Zinwell WB68?


----------



## Leila (Apr 28, 2006)

Thanks for the replies! 

I decided to go ahead... what's the worst that can happen, right?

Well, I plugged both Zinwell 6x8 switches in to the Terk and reconnected all the DirecTivo and HD DirecTivos.... checked all of them and they seem to be all working just fine... ??? I also went to most channels on all of them.. and none of my DVRs are having any problems.... what gives?

Thanks!


----------



## rminsk (Jun 4, 2002)

With that configuration you will not be able to see any of the Ka-band/mpeg-4 channels for locals. Since you are just running DirecTiVos you will not need to worry about the Ka-band/mpeg-4 channels.


----------

