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r_lee_wa's profile

Contributor

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1 Message

Friday, September 30th, 2011 12:27 AM

Max distance dish ---> receiver??

Our home is on a heavily forested lot, and an installer determined there is on place on the house to mount a dish and receive a signal.  I suggested mounting the dish on a pole at the end of our driveway roughly 300 feet from the house.  He said the maximum cable run from dish to receiver is 125 feet. 

 

Is there any technically feasible way to exceed this length?  I'm willing to trench for the cable.  

 

Thanks!

ACE - Sage

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46.2K Messages

13 years ago

He's right.  Special RG11 coax cable would be needed for a 300-ft cable run.  

Scholar

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356 Messages

13 years ago

Post back if you can't get DIRECTV to do that for you.  I know an independent installer in the area who might be able to help you.

Expert

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20.7K Messages

13 years ago

Understand that all the free stuff from Directv will be a charge item from the independent installer.  Also understand that if you did hire the independent and the distance causes you problems then you'll likey be on your own.

ACE - Expert

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14.1K Messages

13 years ago

This would definitely be a specialized install, and as dcd says, you would have to pay for the equipment.  Just FYI, an installation at that sort of distance has two problems. Firstly (and this is often the biggest issue), you have to get power from the receiver (or the power inserter, if you have an SWM system) to the dish. There is voltage drop in all cables, and if the voltage drop exceeds a certain amount, the LNB in the dish won't work. Secondly, you need to get the signal from the dish to the receiver, and that's another thing that would push you to RG11 because it loses less signal than RG6, which is what is used for a standard DirecTV install..  You might still need signal amplification, but only an expert could tell you - you need to do a signal loss model based on your exact situation.

Installs using RG6 at distances greater than 125 ft are certainly possible, but a regular installer won't attempt one because if the install does not work he won't get paid for it. That's why the "book" says 125ft. Remember any cabling inside the house counts in the distance calculation also, as far as signal losses are concerned.

An expert independent  installer could look at your exact situation and tell you what is possible and not.

Scholar

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356 Messages

13 years ago

There's a guy in Hazel Dell who's an independent DIRECTV retailer.  It's a mom & pop shop and he does his own installs.  He did an install for a friend of mine who moved to Hazel Dell a few months ago.  You can call them and talk to the guy in advance (877-576-7100) to explain the specifics of your situation.  He can give you all the same DIRECTV deals that you can get by calling the national DIRECTV number.  He may charge you extra for the RG-11 and possibly the pole mount.  If he can't handle the RG-11, I can provide that.  I'm about 50-60 miles west of you (98638), You could come to my place and I can sell you the RG-11 with connectors attached, or I can arrange for it to be shipped to you.


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