Hi There...I put this post earlier in the 9200 Owner Thread...just found this thread that may suit my questions more...sorry - just joined and am learning as I go..

I've finally seen the light and purchased Bell's 9200 HD receiver. I've had the RCA 52" (Model MM52110) for a few years (purchased in 2001) in anticipation of getting HD at home. We've currently got the Bell 3100 hooked up to our bedroom (regular TV) and the old 2700 down to the basement (where the RCA HDTV is located). Each receiver is connected to a single dish 50cm outside. Just got a couple questions I hope you can help me with - please bear with me....

1) The big question is the connection from the 9200 to the RCA HDTV...it appears the connecting cables and outlets are completely different? The plugin jacks are not the same. RCA provides a 15 pin D-sub (S)VGA cable however the Bell cable is completely different - not sure what its called? Is there an adapter for this or is the RCA TV so out of date that I can't hook the 9200 up wih the RCA to begin with?
2) Seeing that we've already got a 50cm dish hooked up, is there a need to replace it with the dish that came with the 9200 (it appears slightly larger around 60cm)? I know I have to replace the tuners outside but the dish itself?
3)Obviously the 9200 will be hooked up to the RCA in the basement. Does that mean I have to connect the TV in our bedroom to the receiver in the basement if I want dual modes (ie. so I can watch sports while me wife can watch her reality stuff). Sounds like a job for a professional.
4) I'm planning to call Bell to install??? But do I really need to? From what I've read it appear Bell has us by the throat?

Your help is greatly appreaciated

Thanks!!!!


#1 is easy. You should be able to buy a DVI to VGA adapter such as the following from any computer store for ~$10 -$20

http://www.startech.com/ststore/itemdetail.cfm?ProductID=DVIVGAMF&dynamic=yes

#2 Not sure

#3 Since you've already got a 3100 hooed up in the bedroom it appears you don't need to change anything in there. Just have the installer send one of the feeds from the SW44 switch (included with the 9200) to your bedroom, two of the feeds to your 9200, and you could still use your 2700 with the fourth feed off of the switch.

#4 Installation is free so why not have them come out and install it???

Hope this helps

Sam

Well I've answered my own questions. I finally found some technical details online http://www.solidsignal.tv/dishnetwork/DISH_Pro-DISH_Pro_Plus_Installation_Guides/DISH_Pro_Plus_44_Switch_Installation_Guide.pdf ; http://www.satelliteone.com/dish/support/dpplus/Quick_Facts--DISH_Pro_Plus_44_Switch.pdf ; http://ekb.dbstalk.com/35#dpp . My DP Twin LNB will work fine with the DPP44 and I will have to purchase another DP switch to use more than four receivers. I definitely can't use my SW44 in conjunction with the DPP44. Looks like I have a bunch of extra equipment that I don't need. Anyone in the Calgary area looking for a DP Twin LNB or SW44 switch???

Sam

Fianlly I have everything installed and working great. To accomodate my five tuners I ended up using a DP Quad LNB to feed the DPP44 switch. The four lines were already running into my house so it wasn't a big deal to use a Quad LNB. I use two lines off the Quad LNB to feed the DPP44 switch which in turn feeds my two 9200s (with the separators) and my 6100. There is still one remaining open feed. The two extra lines running off of the Quad LNB go straight into my remaining two receivers. So the question of "Can you feed a Dish Pro PLUS switch with any Dish Pro LNB?" is definitley YES!

Sam

I just made an update to my diagrams on the first page. I added a 5th method of installation; the method of using 2 dishes that many of us out west have decided to use.

Maybe I now need a 6th method; the one Sam just provided for us! :D

Hey guys, this is my first post and hopefully somebody can help me out as you all seem quite knowledgable...

Yesterday we purchased a 9200 system, and are upgrading from a 3100 as we have an HDTV now as well as a regular SD TV upstairs. We are using the 9200 downstairs with the HDTV, and then connecting it also up to the upstairs TV as the secondary television.

We spent the entire day trying to set it up with basically bits and pieces of information from the manual, Bell tech support, and this forum thread, but have not been able to get a signal... what we have so far is:

1) The satellite dish mounted on the side of the house where the old dish was with the 3100, and the dual LNBF's on with FOUR coaxial RG6 cables coming out of the dual LNBF's into the SW44 switch... the 91 degrees LNBF two coaxial cables are going into the Satellite 1A and 1B inputs on the switch, and the 82 degrees coaxial cables are going into the Satellite 2A and 2B on the switch.

2) Then we have TWO coaxial cables coming out of the switch on the other side out of the number 1 and 2 outputs. The coaxial cable from port 1 goes into the house and onto the power and then another short coaxial cable comes out of the power and goes into the Satellite 1 port on the 9200 reciever. The second cable coming out of the SW44 switch goes into the house and into the Satellite 2 port on the 9200.

3) We powered on the television and the reciever, which are connected via composite RCA cables (I also tried the HDMI/DVI and the Component, same thing on the screen), and come to the dish alignment screen. The bar shows nothing and the signal strength is at 0. It says it's not locked on in red lettering. I tried the Switch Check feature and it takes quite a few minutes to get through the check and everytime it says it's not connected properly, and it says there is NO switch under the switch box, and that it has no connection or signal whatsoever.

This is a huge issue and we can't figure it out! It seems as if there is a blockage at the switch or somewhere and there is no signal coming from the satellite dish into the reciever.

We even used a cable line joiner and joined the cable coming out of the LNBF to the cable coming out of the switch and did a direct bypass of the switch and it didn't work... then we tried undoing the cables from the 82 degrees LNBF and leaving the 92 degrees LNBF cables connected and still nothing! No connection, no signal, just a dead end!

If anybody can help that would be greatly appreciated! I also read in this thread that the copper should be sticking out 1/4" past the F connecter so that the SW44 switch can contact it? The cables we purchased are from Futureshop and A&B Sound and are RG6, and do not stick out that far but are flush with the F connector. Could this be the issue? Seems a bit far out but who knows!

It may be something small that we are missing but we spent all day setting it up and it's like something is not clicking...

THANKS FOR THE HELP AND FOR READING! Will check back for any responses, thanks everybody!

It sounds like you have the right setup, basically post #3 in this thread (Option#3- Using an SW44).

My bet is you don't have the dish aligned correctly. I assume you're using the dish from the 9200 kit and not your old one? It's not easy to do. Others have posted their method of aligning the dish in these forums. Good luck.

-Mike

It sounds like you have the right setup, basically post #3 in this thread (Option#3- Using an SW44).

My bet is you don't have the dish aligned correctly. I assume you're using the dish from the 9200 kit and not your old one? It's not easy to do. Others have posted their method of aligning the dish in these forums. Good luck.

-Mike


Hmm... so if I do a Switch Check and it doesn't find the switch and says there is no connection that is because the dish is not aligned? I would think it would find the Switch even if the dish isn't yet aligned?

BTW, what is the best way of aligning the dish? If you could point me to some posts/threads on this that would be great as the procedure (as in doing it without the switch installed etc. I have heard several things already) isn't quite clear to me.

Thanks again!

BTW, what is the best way of aligning the dish?

I would leave the switch out for aiming. Aim each LNB, then after each one is aimed put the switch back in. Whenever possible, I like to take a receiver (like your old 3100) and a small TV up onto the roof with me. Make very slow movements of the dish; move it 1/10 of an inch, wait 15 seconds. Then another 1/10 of an inch, then wait another 15 seconds. Trying to do a sweep of the sky usually doesn't work as well.

I would leave the switch out for aiming. Aim each LNB, then after each one is aimed put the switch back in. Whenever possible, I like to take a receiver (like your old 3100) and a small TV up onto the roof with me. Make very slow movements of the dish; move it 1/10 of an inch, wait 15 seconds. Then another 1/10 of an inch, then wait another 15 seconds. Trying to do a sweep of the sky usually doesn't work as well.

OK... thanks a lot!

The thing is, if I get it all aimed, will the switch check automatically work then and find the switch? Because that's the problem now, there is ZERO connection and the switch is not even found when doing the Check Switch. I am at whit's end really... if you say that it may possibly find the switch after I have got the satellite aligned, I will go through the trouble.

Now, will I have to string the cable going from the reciever to the LNBF through the metal dish arm? Would I do just ONE cable into the ONE LNBF for the 91 degrees, and then have only that one cable going into the reciever in the FIRST satellite port? Also, when aligning, does it always say NOT LOCKED ON, NO NAME ACQUIRED if it isn't aligned yet, and if I keep trying it should find it?

So... would I do elevation, skew, or direction changes for the 91 degrees, and after locking it in, how would I go about doing the 82 degrees LNBF? Put the cable into the second satellite port on the reciever and into the 82 degrees LNBF? What settings do I need to change on screen, and would i change direction, skew or elevation to get the 82 degree?

Thanks alot, this is really something new to me, and I just don't quite understand the step by step procedure. If there was an easy step by step guide that said "do this and then do that" it would be easier but it's just piecing together information and everyone seems to do it differently! The thing is the only screen I have seen is the one with it not being locked on, the one where it detects no switch and says the connections are not right....

Well,

Tried ALL DAY to get the signal and finally got it for the 91 satellite. Then I tried to get it for the 82 and I did finally get it but it was very weak at around 50%. The 91 was then at 50% as well after checking it again. I could not get them both locked in at the same time... either one was locked in and the other wasn't, it was VERY VERY touchy, as in 1mm of movement would give it a 0 percent connection.

After tons of fooling around I settled with just the 92 satellite. I believe the neighbours house is in the way... I can get a great 92 signal but getting both 92 and 82 at the same time is a huge challenge which leads me to believe there is an obstruction. We called in the Bell guy for Thursday afternoon so they'll have to come and check it out. In the meantime we just have SD and it looks not that bad on a Tosh 52" DLP!

Can't quite get the secondary TV upstairs to work though... if anyone has a step by step of how to get it working that would be great. So far it's in Dual Mode but can't get the remote to respond and can't get the feed found on the TV.

The 91 was then at 50% as well after checking it again. I could not get them both locked in at the same time... either one was locked in and the other wasn't, it was VERY VERY touchy, as in 1mm of movement would give it a 0 percent connection.

Not sure where exactly you are, but myself being in Calgary I went with 2 dishes when I went HD. Further west or north from Calgary; the harder it will be to get both birds with one dish. I set mine up during a rain storm, and found that I was losing signal even in light rain.

At the begining of this thread I just added a 5th hookup example; and I did it because I think the best signal for those of us in the west comes with 2 dishes.

Not sure where exactly you are, but myself being in Calgary I went with 2 dishes when I went HD. Further west or north from Calgary; the harder it will be to get both birds with one dish. I set mine up during a rain storm, and found that I was losing signal even in light rain.

At the begining of this thread I just added a 5th hookup example; and I did it because I think the best signal for those of us in the west comes with 2 dishes.

Hey,

Thanks for the response.

I am in Abbotsford, BC, which is right near Vancouver... so ya, quite far west! It is usually very hard to get the two satellites onto one dish at the same time and get a decent signal strength? I found it almost impossible and it was so touchy I was scared the wind would knock the satellite lock out of place :P

So anyways, I am thinking instead of calling up a Bell guy who will charge armloads of money, I could mount up our old 3100 dish and have it take on one of the satellites? Will the dish that came with the 3100 be adequate for my setup? The LNBF on it has the two coaxial plugs, but the dish is physically smaller than the Dual LNBF dish that came with the 9200.

So now, if I were to use the 3100 dish and put it alongside the 9200 dish, should it be taking on the 91 degree satellite or the 82 degree satellite? It's already tightened and can get the 91 degree signal no problem, but wondering if I have trouble getting 82 on the 9200 dish will the 3100 dish be capable of taking on the 82 degree satellite signal, and the larger 9200 dish taking on the 91 degree satellite signal?

Just clarify for me if this will work... to give you an idea of the setup I have I made a rought diagram, although it will probably not help that much at least you'll know physically what I want to do ...

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f193/Internal_Storm/My-9200-Setup.gif

Thanks for the help thus far, hopefully I can get this working!

I would use the smaller dish for 91, and the larger one for 82. Here in Calgary I can get strengths between 90-100% with my 18" older dish for 91, and 74-90% on 82 with the 20" dish.

The LNB from your 3100 will work fine; because as you say it has two outputs for it.

I'll have to check you diagram later; I'm at work and Photobucket is blocked.

I would use the smaller dish for 91, and the larger one for 82. Here in Calgary I can get strengths between 90-100% with my 18" older dish for 91, and 74-90% on 82 with the 20" dish.

The LNB from your 3100 will work fine; because as you say it has two outputs for it.

I'll have to check you diagram later; I'm at work and Photobucket is blocked.

Thanks alot for taking the time to help out! Appreciate it. The diagram isn't anything special just shows where everything is positioned and how it's connected.

With your confirmation I'll be doing the positioning right away... will post back once everything is complete... and btw, if anybody knows about the secondary TV output on the reciever, I am using a coaxial cable and for some reason it works on my small Sharp TV but the signal doesn't go to the larger and older RCA TV... really strange. Have tried air/cable channels, did the autoprogramming, and all the channels are just snowy fuzz...

I believe you will have to tune your RCA T.V. to channel 60 or so. If it's a really old TV that might not be an option.

-Mike

Diagram looks good; or at least to say you are on the right track. :D

I mounted one of my dishes on my deck; make sure it is high enough to not have issues with "human fade." It really sucks when during the Superbowl one of your buddies goes outside for a smoke and blocks the signal from the dish.

Diagram looks good; or at least to say you are on the right track. :D

I mounted one of my dishes on my deck; make sure it is high enough to not have issues with "human fade." It really sucks when during the Superbowl one of your buddies goes outside for a smoke and blocks the signal from the dish.

Haha ya... it's in the clear so there shouldn't be any human fade :P

Thanks for the help.. I ended up using the 3100 dish for the 92 satellite and the larger 9200 dish for the 82 satellite. I can't get extremely good reception but I have about 70-71 on the 82 and 78-79 on the 92. Haven't noticed any issues yet... the only thing was a whole bunch of green dotted type lines throughout the image on all channels, and I had to reboot the system and then it went back to normal... wonder if this is an issue with the box/HDMI/or the reception?

I believe you will have to tune your RCA T.V. to channel 60 or so. If it's a really old TV that might not be an option.

-Mike

Thanks for this tip.

The TV can go up that high, but for some reason on no matter what setting I have put the reciever to ouput to (different channels/air and cable) there doesn't seem to be any channel on the TV that recieves the feed! It is really annoying and as I said our little Sharp television gets it no problem but the larger and older RCA doesn't get anything! Really upsetting, the 3100 box gives a great signal on channel 03 but the 9200 doesn't have a channel that low to try it on.

I can't get extremely good reception but I have about 70-71 on the 82 and 78-79 on the 92.

That isn't bad for BC for the 82 bird, but for 91 you should be able to get over 90% on transponder 18. (That's one I have memorized as being 99-100% at my house.)

To tweak the dish, once you have it locked into place andd the signal locked- gently but firmly pull on the pan of the dish while looking at the TV. You should see the signal move around a bit. Move the dish side to side, then up and down.

Technically, there is nothing "wrong" with the signal strength you have. Anything over 50% on 91 and 60% on 82 will get you signal because digital is digital- it's either locked in or not. The problem come up when you get rain (not sure if your part of the country ever gets any of that stuff. :p) A good rain storm can knock 30-40 points off your signal strength. So if you are at 80% and you lose 40 points, you lose TV. If you are at 95% and you lose 40 points, you are still at 55% and watching TV.

That isn't bad for BC for the 82 bird, but for 91 you should be able to get over 90% on transponder 18. (That's one I have memorized as being 99-100% at my house.)

To tweak the dish, once you have it locked into place andd the signal locked- gently but firmly pull on the pan of the dish while looking at the TV. You should see the signal move around a bit. Move the dish side to side, then up and down.

Technically, there is nothing "wrong" with the signal strength you have. Anything over 50% on 91 and 60% on 82 will get you signal because digital is digital- it's either locked in or not. The problem come up when you get rain (not sure if your part of the country ever gets any of that stuff. :p) A good rain storm can knock 30-40 points off your signal strength. So if you are at 80% and you lose 40 points, you lose TV. If you are at 95% and you lose 40 points, you are still at 55% and watching TV.

Ya thanks for the info!

It's just I don't want to have the two dishes too far apart, and since the other dish is already set to 91 I don't want to mess to much with it... we get a lot of rain here but if I notice trouble and it's losing TV when I watch I'll just have to adjust it. It's just I've spent 3 days toying with it and got a bit of a cold because of being outside so much so I'll just leave it be for now and enjoy the rainless reception we are getting now!

If anybody can help with the TV issue I am having that would be nice, really that's the only problem we are having right now. Thanks for the help so far Ken and others.

I just made an update to my diagrams on the first page. I added a 5th method of installation; the method of using 2 dishes that many of us out west have decided to use.

Maybe I now need a 6th method; the one Sam just provided for us! :D

The DP Quad LNB cost ~$40 off eBay including shipping. This is a lot cheaper than a SW44 switch which cost ~$100 at Radio Shack. The DP Quad LNB actually gives you more functionality since it's not legacy equipment and you can add a DPP44 switch after the fact if you want more than four recievers. Anyone looking to set up multiple recievers including a 9200 might consider this option.

Sam

Hello
If you're installing a 9200 with a SW44 switch and you only plan on using a single 9200 receiver, do you have to use the power inserter?

The BEV tech guy me it was only necessary in we planned to add a second receiver in the future.

Thanks for any help.