Mounting TV to the Wall

[jblomenberg16]

Thanks for the confirmation. I believe there is a splitter ran off of a cable in the basement ceiling area (drop ceiling now) that comes in from the outside.

Now I am thinking - if the splitter is located in the basement ceiling now, after I drywall the ceiling, am I stuck with whatever is run throughout the house?

I would advise putting the splitter in a place where you can easily get to it, rather than inside a finished cieling.

 

[illini40]

I would advise putting the splitter in a place where you can easily get to it, rather than inside a finished cieling.

Good call. I just need to figure out where that place is.

Also - I am thinking that I need to run cable to any other areas in the house now so that it is ran should we ever want tv in those areas. For example, there is no cable ran to one of the spare rooms upstairs.

So, two questions:

1) can I just keep adding lines to the splitter? Or can you only run a certain number if lines off of the one splitter?
2) can I just ran the cable into the current walls and put a receptacle cable jack box? I'm thinking that with the drop ceiling out, running cable to those other areas should not be too bad.

 

[jblomenberg16]

Good call. I just need to figure out where that place is.

Also - I am thinking that I need to run cable to any other areas in the house now so that it is ran should we ever want tv in those areas. For example, there is no cable ran to one of the spare rooms upstairs.

So, two questions:

1) can I just keep adding lines to the splitter? Or can you only run a certain number if lines off of the one splitter?
2) can I just ran the cable into the current walls and put a receptacle cable jack box? I'm thinking that with the drop ceiling out, running cable to those other areas should not be too bad.

Theoritically you can run as many as you want / need. The nice thing about digital TV is that the signal isn't "split" each time you add a line. Your limitation will of course be the splitter. Our DirecTV came with a 4 port splitter. When we added a few more rooms to it I had to buy an 8 port splitter. It wasn't too expensive. Make sure to check with Dish as to what they recommend to use, so that you have good performance. Ours has a small power supply that energizes the cable. I think this low voltage is necessary for the receiver dish to function correctly. Not sure about other systems though.

 

[danimal]

Be careful using splitters if you are running regular cable. Remember, every 3.0db is a doubling of signal strength, and every -3.0db is cutting your signal in half. Most splitters should have the rating on it. And when splitting off a split, you add your losses together. Cable length also induces losses over long distances, but not worth worrying about unless all your runs together begin exceeding 150ft.

-3 = 1/2
-6 = 1/4
-9 = 1/8
-12 = 1/16
-15 = 1/32

Digital or not, your signal will degrade to unusable at some point. Had to rewire my buddy's house because he had Comcast receivers that were over -12 and couldn't get reliable HD and the channel guides would be missing a lot of entries. House had over 13 TV runs wired up, and none of the unused connections were capped. He's only using 3 receivers and the cable modem. Disconnected all the unused connections, put the modem on the 2-way, and the TV's off the 2-way into a 4-way, problem solved. Also, splitters with the blue plastic insulators inside the connector are rated for higher frequencies and amperage. Pretty much required for satellite, and becoming mandatory for cable systems.

I can't vouch for DirectTV, but for Dish you don't use splitters, you have special multiplexers that are continuously tuned to all satellite orbits and then repeat all the signals to all connected receivers. The Hopper/Joey uses a special setup.

Dish----MoCA Box----Hopper
..............|
..............|
..............L-----Joey

Signal from the Dish goes to the Hopper on one frequency band, and the video gets decoded from a tuner inside the Hopper, and gets retransmitted to the Joey on a different frequency band. I'd have to go back and check my docs, but I'm pretty sure you can't use a splitter between the MoCA unit and the Joeys. They make a couple different MoCAs that have multiple Joey ports.

 

[illini40]

Be careful using splitters if you are running regular cable. Remember, every 3.0db is a doubling of signal strength, and every -3.0db is cutting your signal in half. Most splitters should have the rating on it. And when splitting off a split, you add your losses together. Cable length also induces losses over long distances, but not worth worrying about unless all your runs together begin exceeding 150ft.

-3 = 1/2
-6 = 1/4
-9 = 1/8
-12 = 1/16
-15 = 1/32

Digital or not, your signal will degrade to unusable at some point. Had to rewire my buddy's house because he had Comcast receivers that were over -12 and couldn't get reliable HD and the channel guides would be missing a lot of entries. House had over 13 TV runs wired up, and none of the unused connections were capped. He's only using 3 receivers and the cable modem. Disconnected all the unused connections, put the modem on the 2-way, and the TV's off the 2-way into a 4-way, problem solved. Also, splitters with the blue plastic insulators inside the connector are rated for higher frequencies and amperage. Pretty much required for satellite, and becoming mandatory for cable systems.

I can't vouch for DirectTV, but for Dish you don't use splitters, you have special multiplexers that are continuously tuned to all satellite orbits and then repeat all the signals to all connected receivers. The Hopper/Joey uses a special setup.

Dish----MoCA Box----Hopper
..............|
..............|
..............L-----Joey

Signal from the Dish goes to the Hopper on one frequency band, and the video gets decoded from a tuner inside the Hopper, and gets retransmitted to the Joey on a different frequency band. I'd have to go back and check my docs, but I'm pretty sure you can't use a splitter between the MoCA unit and the Joeys. They make a couple different MoCAs that have multiple Joey ports.

Thanks for the detail. Now, I'm more concerned and confused

If I called Dish, would they send someone out to figure what needs to be done? The last thing I want to do is run cable and think I have it all figured our and then drywall everything and find out something is wrong.

I can't believe getting cable ran for satellite is turning into the biggest headache of this basement remodel.

 

[Thegeek]

In conduit from where you want your components and where you want your TV. Put an outlet behind the TV and a box to end the conduit. As tech changes and you get new components, it will allow you to change your wiring as needed.

 

[woowoo2]

What was stated above is correct, for dish/direct TV you need a home run back to the multiswitch, not a splitter.

 

[danimal]

OK, looked over the docs and found some pictures online to help demonstrate.

You should have a unit now that is called a solo node, should look like the picture below.

So you should have 2 lines coming from the dish to the left side of the solo, 1 line going to the Hopper, and 1 line going to your Joey. Now, if you want to add another Joey, you don't need a different node (the duo node). If you want to split the "client" line (the one that should currently be going to the Joey), you can use a regular splitter (again, make sure you are using one with the blue plastic insulators in the connectors). If you want to run a Joey off the line "server" line, you have to use a special splitter called a tap.

The "host" line goes to the Hopper, "client" goes to your Joey(s), and "node" goes to the "server" port on your solo/duo unit.

I have just the original Hopper and 1 Joey with a solo node. All my satellite runs go through the coat closet in my house, so that is where the solo is hooked up. Anywhere you want a splitter, tap, or node, you don't want it permently boxed in behind drywall. All your coax runs should be run to a central "distribution" location to make it easier to fix any problems or perform upgrades in the future. Also, when you run your coax, make sure you don't tie the lines down tight or make really tight/hard bends, pinching the cable can cause a lot of signal loss. Just make sure you have all the lines clearly marked, I like making flags with masking tape and writing on the tape with a sharpie, and if you have Dish come out to setup your new Joey, they will make sure everything gets wired correctly and quickly. Tip: even if you're embarrassed with the state of your renovation and the mess of your house, don't wait until everything is finished to call them. Have them come out and setup everything before you put up the drywall. This way if you have a bad cable you can easily replace it w/o having to tear open your freshly painted wall.