Just a few points to make, Beagle:

- the two LNBFs are interchangeable. They can do either 91 or 82.
Correct
- there is no point in doing a check switch if you don't have a signal first.
Wrong. There's no such thing as too many chack switches.
- 82 is apparently lower on the horizon than 91 so I needed a better sight line.
Depends on where you are in Canada. Here in Alberta, it's lower. In Toronto, it's about the same, in the Maritimes it's higher.

Here in Alberta, it's lower. In Toronto, it's about the same, in the Maritimes it's higher.

Good points, I should have noted that I live in Edmonton, AB. (added to my profile too)

If you're wondering if your dish does (or doesn't) have a clear shot to the satellites - here is a simple trick that you might like to try. This trick is applicable AFTER you have found the satellites and aligned the dish, but you're still concerned about trees, or maybe a roof overhang, partially blocking the view and reducing the signal strength.

It is like a final check. It can also be used if you think that the trees have grown taller since it was installed.

Make a small flat magnet-mirror:

Find (or cut-out*) a small flat mirror about 1-inch square. Find a flexible fridge magnet and cut out a square slightly larger than the mirror. Glue the mirror to the magnet (opposite from the fridge side) - crazy glue usually works. Don't use gobs of glue - you want the mirror parallel to the magnet's surface. Now you have a small flat magnet-mirror that you can stick to your dish.

(*Watch out the the sharp edges. Do not eat. Your mileage may vary. Sit up straight. Eat your vegetables.)

In use:

Now stick the magnet-mirror to the reflecting surface of your dish in various locations (very top edge, sides, middle, etc) and peek at the mirror from where the LNBFs are mounted. Just rest the side of your head against the LNBFs, each side, and close the other eye - usually close enough. If you need to be more accurate, then pull off the LNBFs for a few minutes and use your eyeballs where the feeds are normally installed.

If you see nothing but blue sky = good. If you see trees, or the underside of your roof = bad.

In my case, this test demonstrated that I should move my dish a bit lower to avoid 'clipping' the underside of the roof. When I did so, the peak signal was a bit higher (from barely 70 to around 80+).

Where do I get an "I" adapter to replace the "Y" adapter that came with the 9200 dish?
I want to use my existing dish (24 inch) for 91 and the new dish for 82.

randydodge,

www.dishstore.net

http://www.dishstore.net/product_info.php?cPath=38&products_id=146

Crispy

ok, thanks for the pointer. I suspect a few people may be doing what I plan, so maybe someone can give a sanity-check to my plans?

I had a 24 inch dish with an lnb feeding two receivers. I use a 24 inch dish to eliminate rain-fade and it works quite well, 100% on 91 even, 80ish on 91 odd. When I received the new dish with the 9200, I was hesitant to go back to a smaller dish, but I did anyway for a test.

I ran the extra cables, hooked up the SW44 switch in a waterproof box near the dish, with the power-adapter inside the house.

I spent all yesterday installing the new dish with the Y adapter, and after much testing was able to get a reasonable signal on 91 (not as good as the larger dish) but no signal on 82.

So today I decided to reinstall the 24inch dish for 91 and try and setup the new dish for 82. Reinstall went well, have my higher signal rates back, but wasn't able to spot 82 with the new dish - I can get 91 on the new dish but no luck with 82.

So what I want to do is to put a single lnb on the new dish using the I adapter, set the skew back to 90 degrees so the dish arm is again level and hope to spot 82 easier. The various look angle programs tell me that 82 is at elevation 28.4 degree for St. John's and 217.3 + 26 (magnetic) for compass bearing and skew won't matter.

Anyone have an opinion on this setup??

You don't need an 'I' adapter. Set skew and line up 91 in the 91 slot with the Y adapter. Then just move the LNB over to the 82 slot and you should have 82 lined up. Then just tweak. An 'I' adapter might give you 1 or 2 points signal strength but you money would be better spent on another 24" dish.

I'm sorry...i'm sure this has been asked before but this thread is too long search for it...I tried the search option too.

I have already installed my 9200 downstairs and have had it running there for a couple months, and had the phone line hooked up the whole time....can I move it upstairs and not have it hooked to a phone line? Will it work?

Thanx!!!

I'm pretty sure the phone line only needs to be hooked up for installation.

You won't be able to order PPV's using the remote if it isn't hooked up though. And sometimes Bell calls people with multiple receivers that aren't hooked onto a phone line, to make sure all the receivers are in the same house.

I've been going through these post for hours and I'm still not entirely clear on why 2 cables need to be hooked up to the two tuner inputs on the 9200, and what happens if you only use one.

Here's my present setup: 6100 receiver, HD feed. (I already have the dual lmb dish that came with the 6100 so I won't even need the dish in the 9200 package) I'm buying the 9200 receiver tomorrow. to replace the 6100. I have one line coming into my apt from the roof of the buidling where the sat is. Problem is that it has to come in through the balcony door, which means the door can never properly close because the cable is in the way. There is no way to get around this since the only other option is to drill through 8 inches of concrete and management doesn't allow that.

If I use the 2 coax route into the apt, that's two cables in the doorway, and there's not even room for one right now. I'll have to saw a few millimeters of metal out of the door frame and the sliding door itself to make room for the 2 cables, otherwise the constant slamming of the balcony door itself into the cables will slice them in half in no time. Sat in a concrete apt building is a nightmare.

What happens if I hook up my present SINGLE coax that goes to my 6100, to one of the tuners on the 9200? Why won't this work? Do I not get get any channels at all? Or do I just lose the ability to watch one channel while recording another? If it's the latter, it's not a big deal to me because the need for that rarely happens.

I have one TV. All I want to do is timer/record HD programs so I can watch them later, in HD. Can I do this with the one cable to one tuner hookup?

One option to look into: you can buy a 12 inch "flat coax" cable that is designed to go through the doorways. You can find them on eBay, or if you can't wait Home Depot sells them for $6.

Now, I don't own a 9200 myself, but from what I remeber, it needs both inputs. The firmware on the receiver assumes you want to use both tuners. The reason why it is that limited, is that Dish Network has the Dish Pro Plus technology available so you can get away with one cable run. You can see this hook up in the first example of this thread.

One thing to consider before going to DPP; it only works well if you can use the one dish to hit both satellites. I noticed you mentioned you were talking about getting 2 24" dishes. Myself in Calgary I use 2 dishes as well, an 18" for the 91 bird, and a 20" dish for the 82 bird.

One option to look into: you can buy a 12 inch "flat coax" cable that is designed to go through the doorways. You can find them on eBay, or if you can't wait Home Depot sells them for $6.

Now, I don't own a 9200 myself, but from what I remeber, it needs both inputs. The firmware on the receiver assumes you want to use both tuners. The reason why it is that limited, is that Dish Network has the Dish Pro Plus technology available so you can get away with one cable run. You can see this hook up in the first example of this thread.

One thing to consider before going to DPP; it only works well if you can use the one dish to hit both satellites. I noticed you mentioned you were talking about getting 2 24" dishes. Myself in Calgary I use 2 dishes as well, an 18" for the 91 bird, and a 20" dish for the 82 bird.

Isn't there going to be signal loss if I introduce the flat coax cable into the line? This will make it 3 cables before it hits the receiver. Thanks for the Home depot tip. Maybe I should put this second Sat (extra) 20' dish to use and have two 20's aiming at both 91 and 82. The install guy has to come over anyway to hook up the 50 feet of coax for second tuner, so I should get him to try it. The bell rep says I should not need two dishes, but when winter comes and my HD goes out every second day due to rain, I'm going to be wishing I had the two dishes. Do I need any special equipment to run two dishes to my 9200 that isn't supplied in the box?

The main consideration is the length of the run. I would be cautious of connecting 3 50 foot cables together, but adding the 12" length should be fine. Just make sure the connector you use says "RG6" on it. The ones I got at Home Depot yesterday said RG59 and RG6.

As for using 2 dishes, that's the route I would take. Coonect just one LNB to each dish, and aim them at each respective satellite. Take the 2 lines coming from each dish, run them into the SW44 switch that comes with the 9200 package, and then run your 2 lines from there.

I know the Bell rep says you shouldn't need 2 dishes. But they also won't admit that the 82 bird is a crippled spacecraft; running on minimal power.

"What happens if I hook up my present SINGLE coax....to one of the tuners on the 9200?"

The 9200 software expects both coax cables to be connected. If you connect only one tuner to a legacy 91W cable, then the 9200 'wanders off like an insane person' (blank screen) when you try to do anything more complicated than simply watching live TV.

I ran my 9200 with one cable from my legacy dish for a couple of days and it only made me highly motivated to install the new dish and everything ASAP.

In short - it works but it sucks.

Go ahead, but expect misbehaviour.

"What happens if I hook up my present SINGLE coax....to one of the tuners on the 9200?"

The 9200 software expects both coax cables to be connected. If you connect only one tuner to a legacy 91W cable, then the 9200 'wanders off like an insane person' (blank screen) when you try to do anything more complicated than simply watching live TV.

I ran my 9200 with one cable from my legacy dish for a couple of days and it only made me highly motivated to install the new dish and everything ASAP.

In short - it works but it sucks.

Go ahead, but expect misbehaviour.

So, you mean that 'watching TV' is it. Recording what you're watching or have timed will not work?

Hey guys, I'm thinking of going in and getting one of these new units before my current 6100 rental expires in another 2 months so I can get in on the HD recording for the new season.

Here's my config, and sorry if this has been covered but I tried to wade through the first 6-8 pages of this and just got a little confused.

Twin LNB dish (came with 6100)
4 lines running into SW44 switch.

1 line to bedroom & Bell 3100
1 line to Living room & Bell 3100
2 lines in HT, one to Bell 6100 and one to a Bell 3100.

That second receiver in my HT is currently right next to the 6100 so the cables both run there, the 3100 there is connected to my Microsoft Media Center 2005 system which also acts as my DVD player. I'd like to retain the usage of that third 3100 and my MCE PVR as it does a good job recording SD (doesn't do HD at all, hence the desire for the 9200). And more importantly the MCE box is on my network and I have media centre extenders which allow me to watch shows anywhere I have a computer or Xbox (which is all over). This is handy for my wife as she doesn't like to schlep into the HT just to watch Dr. Phil, she likes to watch that or whatever other recorded show while she works/plays on the computer. I like it as well as it has a 2 week guide!

So how would I configure my setup to work with the 4 receivers and have full functionality with the 9200? If I have to I'll give up the recording ability on the MCE, but I really don't want to.

Thanks for the help!

"So, you mean that 'watching TV' is it. Recording what you're watching or have timed will not work?"

With skill at making the correct settings and some luck, you might just be able to perform some of the simpler functions. But YOU WILL HAVE ISSUES. Nothing will break so go ahead and try it.

So, are you giving up the 6100 then?

In any case, you are still at 5 or 6 inputs. Cheapest way; set up another dish for the 9200. You get all the hardware you need in the 9200 box.

Otherwise you'll need an SW44a and have to cascade them. I know it can be done that way; I just have never done it myself.

All this is way too confusing for me, I have 3 recievers, a 6100, and 2 3100.
When my 9200 arrives, will the hookup be as simple as running a coax from the existing open output on my sw44 and using the seporator before entering the 9200's 2 inputs? Or is there no way to use the 9200 as a fourth reciever on a sw44?

I would eliminate the 6100 and 3100 in same room and hook up the 9200. this is in responce to cowtown