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SW44 switch discussion

512K views 981 replies 212 participants last post by  Allan B 
#1 · (Edited)
Another very common installation is the SW44 switch. It typically uses two inputs from 82 and 2 inputs from 91 which will allow 4 outputs but can also be used with 2 inputs from one sat to output 4 lines like a SW24. This switch also requires a power adaptor to be used.

Some people have said it works without a power adaptor but I personally would not recommend it because your receivers will then need to power the switch and lnb's.

It is an indoor and outdoor switch however needs to be plugged indoors.
 
#251 ·
Yes use the single tuner receiver, I find it easier.

You need to verify signal AT the LNBF's, both of them, before you proceed to trouble shoot any other issues.

Just copying the settings from the other Dish is almost certain to result in no signal. The chances of BOTH mounting arms being EXACTLY the same vertically are about nil.
 
#252 ·
Does the SW44 absolutely have to be installed closer to the LNBs? My dish with 2 dual LNBs is already installed on my roof and pointing to 82 and 91. I don't wanna go back up on the roof to put the SW44. Can I just install the SW44 where the lines enter my house, after about a 40 ft run of RG6? Or does the SW44 have to have a shortest possible RG6 run from the LNBs for optimal performance?
 
#253 ·
Indoors is best, it is away from the weather. 40' is also no problem between LNBF & SW44.

Why not mount the Power Inserter at this point too, if you have a hydro outlet.
 
#254 ·
Thanks Pinza for the quick reply. I haven't decided where to put the power inserter yet, but I won't be able to put it where the lines enter the house. They basically come in to the ceiling of my basement and that's where I plan to install the SW44, but don't have an outlet there (although I could very well install one if absolutely necessary). I most likely will have to put the power inserter at my 6131 receiver upstairs, and thus have about a 10-15' run of RG6 between the inserter and the SW44. Will that be ok?
 
#256 ·
Yup, but at the moment I only need to feed 3 tuners (possibly 4) so a single SW44 will suffice.

For now I have a 9241 (2 tuners) and a 6131 (1 tuner) and may decide to add a 6131 in a few months. Won't need more than that.

Thanks
 
#257 ·
SW-44 no signal on Sat 83 Input 2 Tuner

I have a Bell 9241 duel tuner receiver and before I moved had everything working perfectly. Now at my new house and hooked everything up the way i had it at the old place with inputs 1 & 2 coming from the SW-44 to the 9241 duel tuners. I am getting both satellites on input 1 (though my signal could be a bit stronger 80 & 92%). Problem is the input 2 on the receiver only picks up Sat 91 (at 78%) and not 82. Did a check switch and every time it says that it found fewer satellites than before.

I am using the dish the old house owners left and not my old one (they are the same dishes though) and I have the 3rd output from the SW-44 going to my 5800 which is working fine. All my cabling is different as well from my old house, but they seem to be fine.

Anyone have any idea what the problem might be here, is my signal not strong enough? Have no idea why I get no signal to my 9241 2nd input for Sat 82? Maybe have to align my dish better or should I start checking all my cables (the wire ends are fairly long coming from the satellite to the SW-44, and are normal from the SW-44 to the receivers). Any ideas?
 
#268 ·
I have a Bell 9241 duel tuner receiver and before I moved had everything working perfectly. Now at my new house and hooked everything up the way i had it at the old place with inputs 1 & 2 coming from the SW-44 to the 9241 duel tuners. I am getting both satellites on input 1 (though my signal could be a bit stronger 80 & 92%). Problem is the input 2 on the receiver only picks up Sat 91 (at 78%) and not 82. Did a check switch and every time it says that it found fewer satellites than before.

I am using the dish the old house owners left and not my old one (they are the same dishes though) and I have the 3rd output from the SW-44 going to my 5800 which is working fine. All my cabling is different as well from my old house, but they seem to be fine.

Anyone have any idea what the problem might be here, is my signal not strong enough? Have no idea why I get no signal to my 9241 2nd input for Sat 82? Maybe have to align my dish better or should I start checking all my cables (the wire ends are fairly long coming from the satellite to the SW-44, and are normal from the SW-44 to the receivers). Any ideas?
Things are really kinda screwy, the receiver defaults to input 2 on recording (even when the power is off right?) though it would record certain shows every week and others it wouldn't. I had even double checked all my lines to both receiver inputs (with no SW44 connected) and all were good so I Re-connected the SW44 back.

Decided to take my 3rd shot at trying to fix this issue yesterday. Re-aligned the dish a little which increased my signal a bit better (Sat 91 around 89% and Sat 82 was hitting 100%). Then I switched the input cables around on the back of the receiver. When I did that I was getting a signal on both inputs and on both sat's. Looked to be fixed but figured this was weird as now the cable #1 from the SW44 with the power source was hooked to input 2 on the receiver (thought it needed to be on Input 1?). Ran a check switch to finalize, and lost my signal on input 2 again. Gave me an error of "Missing Port 1B Sat 91 Even" Not sure why it did this.

Finally I broke down and changed all the cabling (everywhere) and also replaced the dish which has 2 different dual LNBs. Ensured my cable end pins were long enough to the SW44 as well. Started to re-align the dish but had to stop as it started to rain. 6 hours in yesterday and still where I began.

I really think this has to be a signal issue where its not high enough to push out to the second Input on the receiver? Anyone have any advice or thoughts for my 4th try on this on Wednesday?
 
#259 ·
Confused - Problems after dish reinstallation

Hey everyone!

My situation is.

-9242
-SW44
-Signal Cat SC2021 Dual LNB LCD

Year ago I installed my dish with absolutely NO ISSUES, I had 91 locked in about 30 seconds thanks to the amazing Signal Cat.

We decided to install tin on our because well we didnt want the old cedar shakes to leak. I removed the dish and lowered it down to a friend with SW44 still connected.

After the tin is install I reinstalled the dish, Using the Signal cat I got my 91 and 82 back within seconds.

reinstalled everything run a switch check, here is what is showing up

Satellite Input 1
Port 1
Satellite:91
Transponder: X
Status: Reception Error
Switch None

Satellite Input 2
Port: 1
Satellite: 91
Transponder: X
Status: Reception Error
Switch: None

Under details I have this

---Satellite Input 1-----
Missing:port 1b Sat 91 Even

--Satellite Input 2----
Missing:port 1b Sat 91 Even

So I went up and check and for fun replaced the RG6 for port 1b to the switch.


WHERE IS MY 82!!!! :)
When I check on the point dish. I dont even have 82 but my Signalcat says I do

I can still watch some channels on SD, ALL my even transponders are done.

I have installed many 9242 setups without issue.

Its almost like my switch isnt getting power, Nothing has been done to the power inserter inside the house.

Thanks
 
#260 ·
Things to check:
1. Dish misaligned. 82 LNB pointing at 91 sat. Mounting post not vertical.
2. LNB outputs going to wrong SW44 inputs. 91 LNB should go to 1a, 1b and 82 to 2a, 2b.
3. Power inserter going to wrong SW44 output. Should go to output 1.
4. Damaged or corroded cables and connectors.
5. Bad LNB or switch.
6. Bad receiver.

First, I would check that the mounting post is vertical at the top. Then, check all coax connections. Then I would run the 91 LNB straight through (no switch) to the receiver. Perform a check switch and align properly. Then, hook up the switch and perform another check switch.
 
#265 ·
To run 2 x Dual Tuner receivers with just 2 lines it is possible to acheive by using Dish Pro Plus equipment.

Have a look around the Forum for more info if you are limited to just 2 lines into the house.
 
#267 ·
What do you mean by "single sat with 2 LMB"??

You use one LNB per satellite. So if you have 2 LNBs then you are trying to hit 91 & 82.

Did you read/follow the directions in the dish alignment thread to setup your dish and align on 91 first without using your switch? Then check 82? Then install the switch? Then run "check switch"?

Sticky: How to properly align your satellite dish - Discussion and Tips
 
#269 ·
Signal strength is not your problem. I would suspect the SW44 port #2 output.

If you swap the Inputs, does the problem follow the cable or stay on the same Tuner.?

Bell would have done a Free Move for you, you know........
 
#270 ·
YAY It works!!!

I just wanted to thank everyone in this forum for their posts because without your help I would have no hair left on my head!!! :eek:

I thought that I would post my setup and the problems that I had so that maybe it can help someone else out!

My setup includes:
1 - 9241 Bell PVR
1 - Dish
2 - LNBs (pointed at 91 & 82)
1 - SW44

This is how I got my setup to work!
Put on the first LNB on the 91 side of the Y connector. Then find 91 and tweak it to the best possible signal. Unplug 91 and now attach the second LNB to the 82 side of the Y connector. Adjust the skew & elevation a little bit until you get signal from 82 (it does not need to peak at this time). Now plug in the SW44 and run a 'check signal' from the 'Point/Dish' screen. You should now see both 91 & 82 satellites. Tweak the skew & elevation until you have maximum signal from both (I got close to 100% on both).

I found that the manual that comes with the PVR is not very clear and has limited information in it. So to setup the SW44 I ran a coax cable from the PVR (satellite port 1) to the power inserter. Then I ran another coax from the power inserter to port 1 on the SW44. Then I ran 4 coax cables (2 cables from each LNB) to the remaining 4 ports on the SW44. Ports 1a and 1b go to 91. Ports 2a and 2b go to 82.

I had a few bumps in the road such as; bad coax cables and bad amplifiers. So check your equipment, go back to basics. Just when you think you've checked everything, check it again. I spent the better part of two days figuring this thing out and I'm glad forums like this exist.

Cheers!
 
#271 ·
I just wanted to thank everyone in this forum for their posts because without your help I would have no hair left on my head!!! :eek:
...
Put on the first LNB on the 91 side of the Y connector. Then find 91 and tweak it to the best possible signal. Unplug 91 and now attach the second LNB to the 82 side of the Y connector. Adjust the skew & elevation a little bit until you get signal from 82 (it does not need to peak at this time). Now plug in the SW44 and run a 'check signal' from the 'Point/Dish' screen. You should now see both 91 & 82 satellites. Tweak the skew & elevation until you have maximum signal from both (I got close to 100% on both).
Thanks for your post. The process you describe is a basic summary of the recommended procedure that can be found throughout this long thread and the "How to align your dish" thread. I'm glad to hear it worked out for you.
 
#272 ·
SW44A Check Switch Error

After an intense search through existing threads I have not come across anyone who has encounter the following error. First I will describe my exact set-up followed by the error I encountered for a BEV set-up.
I have an SW44A with a 6131 receiver connected to port 1 via the power inserter, a 9241 connected to ports 2 and 3, and another 6131 connected to port 4. An SW44 is connected to the pass through ports followed by a 4100 connected to port 1 via the power inserter. All unused ports are terminated with the supplied terminating connectors.
This error has only occurred on the 9241 and only occurred once. The system was initially set-up with just the SW44 and the 9241 and 2x6131. A successful check-switch was carried out followed by successful software downloads. After this set-up was without issue for about a week I decided to add the fourth receiver along with the SW44a switch. I re-ran the check-switch utility to ensure that the SW44A was not faulty and encountered this error.
Port 1 of the 9241 detected EV91 as the first satellite, an unknown second satellite, EV82 as the third satellite, and an SW21 as the switch type. Port 2 of the 9241 was normal and only detected EV91, EV82, and SW44 (although it is actually connected to an SW44A) as the switch type. I was quite alarmed by this and decided to unplug the power to all receivers followed by both switches. On the SW44A switch, where the 9241 is connected to ports 2 and 3, I moved the cable that was on port 3 to port 2 and port 2 to port 3. I plugged the power to both switches back in followed by all receivers. I re-ran check-switch on the 9241 and the problem disappeared.
The main reason I am posting this is in the event someone else has encountered a similar problem and has actually ended up having their SW44A diagnosed as defective. This could also be a one time software blip. Any thoughts would be much appreciated.
 
#277 ·
Ok I hope I am posting in the correct spot as I was told to post here......here is my question

Hi I need some help please, I am really new to BEV and installing myself this weekend and need to know which switch do I need for my application.

My setup will be 2 x 6131 receivers, which switch do I require the SW44 ?? I have older dish with single lnb and BEV send me new dish upgrade kit with new dish and dual LNB for HD. Another question I have is will my old dish work if I can just put on the new dual LNB or do I also need to change the dish to the new bigger dish ?

Please and thanks!!
 
#278 ·
You will need to install the newer style dish. It is slightly larger (20" vs 18"). The key when installing this dish is to set the skew before trying to aim the dish. Also, use only one LNB to aim the dish then add the second LNB.

If all you have are two single tuner receivers, then you can use two SW21's, no need for the SW44. Combine one feed from each of the 91 and 82 LNB's together into the SW21 and then feed to your receiver. Simple as that.

You should review the sticky threads on installation. All the options are there for you to see.
 
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