Stephen Neal said:
And those are all HD variations - or are they SD versions?
Presumably this all gets really messy if you are running a dual-tuner DirecTivo or similar?
Do you have to feed 2xLNB feeds from each LNB to the receiver (a total of 6?) - or does the receiver not allow dual recording of certain channel combinations ? (Or do you use multiswitches at the dish end, so you have a feed per tuner running from the dish with a multi-way switch at the dish selecting between the various LNB feeds for each tuner feed?)
Each LNB is dual, meaning, two receivers can directly connect to one satellite. However, because there are 3 LNBs, usually what happens is a combination of multiswitches and disecq switches. Disecq allows your receiver to "switch" between four satellites by sending a pulse A, B, C, or D through the cable. A multiswitch combines the HI and LO frequences of an LNB into one cable. You need one multiswitch per LNB and one disecq switch per receiver.
I'm a satelite enthusiast and I have um, modified our stuff at home significantly. I have taken the standard equipment down and replaced it with my own.
This dish can receive all 8 or 9 satellites that DishNetworks have, plus 7 other satelites. It goes through a bunch of switches and stuff, and ends up so that we have six receivers in total. The DishNetwork satelites and the rest are separated, so two cables go to each cable box in each room with TV ability.
I myself have VOOM too (the rest of my family don't have HDTVs), plus a motorized dish, a big C-band dish, and three other smaller dishes for my hobby.
The regional varieties are all in SD, and some are in HD. I believe DishNet is planning on launching a few more satellites to provide all regional stations in HD in order to compete with cable companies.