twol
08-06-17, 17:05
Until recently, I have had a fairly typical European setup, with 2 satellites via 2 dishes and Quattro/Quad LNB's going into a multiswitch (2 Sats In, 16 outputs) providing the distribution to my Sat receivers.
With the purchase of the GigaBlue 4K, decided that I needed to play at least with the FBC tuners in a way that meant I could step back to the existing EMP Centauri multiswitch if necessary - I live in a highly marginal reception area for FTA/FTV 28.2E services, so my systems alignment is optimised across the three 28.2E Astra satellites based on my usual Evening viewing requirements. Non-FTA services are not an issue as they are on a Pan-European beam compared to the UK FTA services that use transponders with a UK based beam (although for some reason it can be picked up in certain Southern holiday areas :) - the location of BBC Managements holiday homes?)
So initially I acquired A Spaun SUS 5581/33NFA multiswitch that can be cascaded in line with the existing multiswitch and can be set to support both Quattro & Quad LNB's.
The Unicable output can also be set to deliver either 3x3 (3 outlets each with 3 Unicable user bands) or 1x8 (1 outlet with 8 unicable user bands plus 2 legacy outputs). Each user band can be connected to a FCB tuner in the OpenViX tuner configuration setup.
Initially I ran the 4 cables from the 28.2E LNB into the Spaun and then cascaded to the EMP multiswitch.
The FBC tuner configuration setup caused a few headaches e.g. accepting a 19.2E entry by mistake and then changing to 28.2E meant that there was a permanent 19.2E entry for the Tuner which screwed the Tuner (unusable) - thanks to Huevos for helping to understand and sort it!
More importantly, I found that I lost 1 -> 1.5dB using this cascade which is unacceptable in my environment (I lost FTA services in late Evening in certain weather conditions).... according to the specs there is no loss for signals directly through the Spaun to another switch, but there is a loss for the 3 tuner outputs - in fact I saw the reverse!
So I took 4 outputs from the EMP multiswitch and fed into the Spaun, so cascading it after the EMP multiswitch.
RESULT! No loss of signal from the EMP through to the 3 Spaun tuner outputs!
So then I decided to repeat for the 19.2E Satellite and having looked at various other vendors of Unicable multiswitches, I found the DUR-line 5-1-8-L4 which supports Quattro/Quad LNB's (by default), provides 8 unicable user bands and 4 legacy outlets ... and is a lot cheaper than the Spaun!
So new setup: NO EMP multiswitch :)
28.2E direct from LNB into DUR-line multiswitch into GigaBlue tuners A,C,D,E and 4 legacy outlets in use in other receivers.
19.2E direct from LNB into Spaun multiswitch into GigaBlue tuners B,F,G,H and 2 legacy outlets for other receivers.
Overall (2 day's in use!), everything looks fine, works across both Unicable and Legacy receivers, although I find channel switching across the FBC tuners slower than the Legacy tuners.
So an interesting (but fairly expensive) learning exercise.
Unicable LNB's vs Unicable Multiswitch?
In my marginal reception area, it was a no-brainer based on a setup that worked and my previous experience with absolute crap Inverto LNB's (unable to handle marginal signal) ... plus saved me climbing up on the garage roof, replacing and re-aligning everything!
So I think, that I now have a setup that supports both Unicable and Legacy tuners for this moment in time and hopefully for a few more years.
With the purchase of the GigaBlue 4K, decided that I needed to play at least with the FBC tuners in a way that meant I could step back to the existing EMP Centauri multiswitch if necessary - I live in a highly marginal reception area for FTA/FTV 28.2E services, so my systems alignment is optimised across the three 28.2E Astra satellites based on my usual Evening viewing requirements. Non-FTA services are not an issue as they are on a Pan-European beam compared to the UK FTA services that use transponders with a UK based beam (although for some reason it can be picked up in certain Southern holiday areas :) - the location of BBC Managements holiday homes?)
So initially I acquired A Spaun SUS 5581/33NFA multiswitch that can be cascaded in line with the existing multiswitch and can be set to support both Quattro & Quad LNB's.
The Unicable output can also be set to deliver either 3x3 (3 outlets each with 3 Unicable user bands) or 1x8 (1 outlet with 8 unicable user bands plus 2 legacy outputs). Each user band can be connected to a FCB tuner in the OpenViX tuner configuration setup.
Initially I ran the 4 cables from the 28.2E LNB into the Spaun and then cascaded to the EMP multiswitch.
The FBC tuner configuration setup caused a few headaches e.g. accepting a 19.2E entry by mistake and then changing to 28.2E meant that there was a permanent 19.2E entry for the Tuner which screwed the Tuner (unusable) - thanks to Huevos for helping to understand and sort it!
More importantly, I found that I lost 1 -> 1.5dB using this cascade which is unacceptable in my environment (I lost FTA services in late Evening in certain weather conditions).... according to the specs there is no loss for signals directly through the Spaun to another switch, but there is a loss for the 3 tuner outputs - in fact I saw the reverse!
So I took 4 outputs from the EMP multiswitch and fed into the Spaun, so cascading it after the EMP multiswitch.
RESULT! No loss of signal from the EMP through to the 3 Spaun tuner outputs!
So then I decided to repeat for the 19.2E Satellite and having looked at various other vendors of Unicable multiswitches, I found the DUR-line 5-1-8-L4 which supports Quattro/Quad LNB's (by default), provides 8 unicable user bands and 4 legacy outlets ... and is a lot cheaper than the Spaun!
So new setup: NO EMP multiswitch :)
28.2E direct from LNB into DUR-line multiswitch into GigaBlue tuners A,C,D,E and 4 legacy outlets in use in other receivers.
19.2E direct from LNB into Spaun multiswitch into GigaBlue tuners B,F,G,H and 2 legacy outlets for other receivers.
Overall (2 day's in use!), everything looks fine, works across both Unicable and Legacy receivers, although I find channel switching across the FBC tuners slower than the Legacy tuners.
So an interesting (but fairly expensive) learning exercise.
Unicable LNB's vs Unicable Multiswitch?
In my marginal reception area, it was a no-brainer based on a setup that worked and my previous experience with absolute crap Inverto LNB's (unable to handle marginal signal) ... plus saved me climbing up on the garage roof, replacing and re-aligning everything!
So I think, that I now have a setup that supports both Unicable and Legacy tuners for this moment in time and hopefully for a few more years.