DirecTv- will I need a power inserter

[atodalen]

I'm looking at having DirecTv change our home over to the Genie in the near future. We have the H24 DVR, (2) H25 rcvrs, and a D12 rcvr. I currently take the D12 receiver and an 18x20 dish along on the road with us. If I upgrade to the Genie I thought that I'd retain one of the H25 rcvrs to take on the road so we'd have HD in the RV. I know that I'll need a different dish and LNB but will I need a power inserter also? If I do need a power inserter, are any available to run off the coach batteries or will I need to run it off an inverter? How about if I take the Genie, will that require a power inserter?
Al

[Like2Travel]

mikestock wrote:
Sounds like the same guy that came to my house last week. Asked,more than once, if there was anything else I needed besides that 8 way splitter. Told him I was good. Left me his cell number and said call him is I needed anything else.

Mike, sure sounds like the same guy.

[mikestock]

Sounds like the same guy that came to my house last week. Asked,more than once, if there was anything else I needed besides that 8 way splitter. Told him I was good. Left me his cell number and said call him is I needed anything else.

[Like2Travel]

If you work it right, you can get some of your equipment for free. About a year ago, I had a problem with my house system. It turned out to be a bad connector, a fairly simple problem. While the Directv guy was there, I mentioned that I needed an SL3 dish, SWM LNB, and a power inserter for my RV. It only took him about two minutes to go out to his truck, get both out and give to me. It was my good luck to have a problem at the right time.

[mikestock]

Bill.Satellite wrote:
To be as polite as I can, you simply don't need the hardware you describe. Your installer is also incorrect. I have a Genie in my coach and an H25 in the bedroom (6 tuners). I use a standard 4-way splitter (only because I didn't have a 2-way) with one coax running to the Genie and one coax running to the H25. There are 2 ports that remain capped. Those 2 outputs to the 2 receivers provides all the tuners with all the programming necessary.

Thanks for being polite. I guess you know what you are talking about. I was only going by my experience of last week. I was honestly surprised at the fix. I kept losing signal on my DVR's after the Genie was installed, replacing one of my older DVR's. I finally changed three DVR tuners to "single" line before I stopped losing signals at first one place, then another. As I said, all the repairman did was to replace the 2 way with an 8 way, only using 2 of the 8 out ports. As a matter of fact, I asked him if I needed an 8 way in the RV with the Genie. He gave me one to use to replace the 4 way I have now.

[FlatBroke]

Can buy the LNB,Power Insterter and splitter as a kit on eBay for less than $30.
Make sure you have the good RG6 cables with good ends or your Genie may quit working. Ours did in our stick home and they had to come and replace 2 runs of cables. The second installer says he never would have tried it with the two cables he replaced.

[Bill_Satellite]

To be as polite as I can, you simply don't need the hardware you describe. Your installer is also incorrect. I have a Genie in my coach and an H25 in the bedroom (6 tuners). I use a standard 4-way splitter (only because I didn't have a 2-way) with one coax running to the Genie and one coax running to the H25. There are 2 ports that remain capped. Those 2 outputs to the 2 receivers provides all the tuners with all the programming necessary.

[mikestock]

My point was, based on what the installer said and what solved my issue, that the Genie itself needed to be attached to an 8 way splitter and consumed 5 of the 8 terminals. There is a lot I don't know about Genie. I'll find out the first time I take it on the road. I'll try it first on a 2 way along with the second receiver I carry. We'll see what happens.

[Bill_Satellite]

This might be true in a home where you are trying to power 9+ tuners (4DVR plus 1) or even worse a Genie and 3 DVR's (11 tuners). You would still only need 1 coax to each box but the standard SWM setup only powers 8 tuners which would almost always be acceptable in an RV.
The poster I answered will be fine with a 2 or 4 way splitter unless for some reason he wanted to exceed 8 total tuners.

[mikestock]

Bill.Satellite wrote:
You only need a splitter with the number of outputs equal to (or greater than) the number or receivers you are using. If you have 2 receivers you only need one 2-way SWM splitter (but a 4-way would work with 2 unused ports). Even if that's a Genie with 5 tuners you will only need one coax per box. That's the beauty of SWM (single wire multi-switch).

My experience last week, at the stick house seems to contradict this:
My home Genie, when installed, overloaded my available signals. I originally had 9 lines, 4 DVR,s and 1 receiver, supplied by an 8 way with one of the outputs from the 8 way feeding a 2 way with a 28 volt PI. When the Genie was installed replacing one DVR, feeding from the two way, I had to set the remaining three DVR's to single line, as opposed to dual. This is the only way they would all work since the Genie needed 3 more lines than before. The problem was resolved by simply replacing the two way with another 8 was. The tech said I had to have another 8 way even though only two ports were used. He was apparently correct since everything works now. All DVR's are set as "Dual".

[Bill_Satellite]

You only need a splitter with the number of outputs equal to (or greater than) the number or receivers you are using. If you have 2 receivers you only need one 2-way SWM splitter (but a 4-way would work with 2 unused ports). Even if that's a Genie with 5 tuners you will only need one coax per box. That's the beauty of SWM (single wire multi-switch).

[mikestock]

One other thing you will need is an eight way splitter if you plan to use the Genie with 5 lines available. I found I needed an 8 way even though there were only two wires connected on the output side.

[Like2Travel]

atodalen wrote:
I'm looking at having DirecTv change our home over to the Genie in the near future. We have the H24 DVR, (2) H25 rcvrs, and a D12 rcvr. I currently take the D12 receiver and an 18x20 dish along on the road with us. If I upgrade to the Genie I thought that I'd retain one of the H25 rcvrs to take on the road so we'd have HD in the RV. I know that I'll need a different dish and LNB but will I need a power inserter also? If I do need a power inserter, are any available to run off the coach batteries or will I need to run it off an inverter? How about if I take the Genie, will that require a power inserter?
Al

I think I have a very similar set up. At home, I have two H24 DVR's that are non-SWM. That means there are 4 cables coming from the LNB on the dish and down to two cables to each DVR.

When I go on the road, I take one of the DVR's with me. In my RV, I have a SL3 dish with a SWM LNB. This means that I only have one cable coming from the dish and have a power inserter. It is a relatively simple set up. Back in September, I had a major problem with this set up while in the RV and had a long thread about the problem. In the end, I got it to work and discovered that I had slightly bent the arm on the dish. You can take a look at that discussion by clicking here. Aiming an HD dish is a bit more difficult than the older 18" round dish but it can be done.

If you are only going to take one tuner with you in your RV, about all you will need is the SWM LNB dish, the power inserter, and some coax. If you are going to take any other tuners, you would need a spliter.

[Bill_Satellite]

Luckily, I am (and many here are). As long as you get the right hardware you will not have any issues with this new hardware. You can even bring the Genie if you like. I have a Genie in the living room of my RV and an H25 in the bedroom.
Life if good!

[atodalen]

Thanks for the info Bill. I was kind of suspecting that but I'm not well versed with satellite technology so I really appreciate guys like you helping us out.
Al