I tried to post this in the switchs thread
http://forums.dsstester.com/vbb/showthread.php?p=225851#post225851
but that thread is closed.

I have 8 lnbs feeding 4 recievers. My major problem at this point is getting everything hooked up so all the recievers can see all the lnbs all the time.

I have seen the thread where various switch setups are compared. One of those setups uses 4x4 switchs and diseqc switchs to route up to 8 lnbs to multiple recievers.

Here is my question, has anyone used this setup successfully? I know on another site a mod tried a setup like this and reported that the 22khz switchs in the 4x4 multi switches did not work properly when used after a diseqc switch (reciever>diseqc>4x4 switch).

I tried using multiple 4x3 and diseqc switchs for doing this, and ended up burning out a bunch of diseqcs. I am willing to try the 4x4's if anyone can tell me it will work properly. Also, would a powered switch work better than the non powered ones?

Thanks in advance :)

multiswitch;s must ALLWAYS be after the diseqc as they wont pass commands.

ird -> diseqc -> multiswitch -> lnb

a 4x4 is basically a 22khz switch and two 3x4 multiswitch;s, so two different sats combined using a 22khz switch with four outputs.

multiple ird's isnt that more complicated then one ird, its just alot more expensive.


ird -> 4x1 diseqc ->

port 1 -> 4x4 (1) -> lnb 1 and 2
port 2 -> 4x4 (2) -> lnb 3 and 4
port 3 -> 4x4 (3) -> lnb 5 and 6
port 4 -> 4x4 (4) -> lnb 7 and 8

to access the lnbs, set your irds like this.

lnb 1 = diseqc port 1 & 22khz off
lnb 2 = diseqc port 1 & 22khz on
lnb 3 = diseqc port 2 & 22khz off
lnb 4 = diseqc port 2 & 22khz on
lnb 5 = diseqc port 3 & 22khz off
lnb 6 = diseqc port 3 & 22khz on
lnb 7 = diseqc port 4 & 22khz off
lnb 8 = diseqc port 4 & 22khz on

ok in summary, for 4 irds and 8 lnb's your going to need ...

four 4x1 diseqc (one per ird)
four 4x4 multiswitchs

Thanks for the reply Brent. I have seen quite a few diagrams on how to hook this up, and your explanation summed it up nicely. Once again, thanks

I just need someone who has done a complex switch setup like this to tell me that it actually worked. Also, it would be nice to have some input about how the insertion of all these switches affects signal loss. Plus comments on longevity of such a system would be welcome.

Thanks for the input!