To better understand how a multiswitch works with a satellite antenna, lets get an understanding of how the two work

together. The LNB on your satellite dish is capable of tuning to a satellite transponder that is broadcasting in either left-hand or right-hand circular polarity. A technical explanation of this is pretty involved and for the purposes of this explanation you'll just take our ord for it. !hen you tune to a channel on your receiver" the receiver sends a s itching signal back up the coax cable to the LNB in the for# of a $%-volt or $&-volt '( voltage level to select the correct polarity for the transponder you have re)uested. This is hy you cannot use a splitter for adding additional '** receivers. +f you do" the LNB gets a conflicting set of co##ands fro# the t o sat receivers if they both try to access transponders of differing polarity. As a result" you can get a signal on one receiver hile not the other if different transponders have been selected by each. ,ou can set up t o '** receivers on a dish ith a dual LNB using a dedicated line for each receiver. +f you ant to set up #ore than t o receivers then you need a #ultis itch.

A #ultis itch is basically a box that contains splitters and A-B s itches. The outputs of each LNB are connected to the A and B inputs of the #ultis itch. +n this configuration" one LNB is dedicated to left-hand polarity transponders and the other LNB is set up for right-hand polarity. The inputs to the #ulti-s itch fro# the LNBs are split for either % or & outputs each .#ore if a larger #ultis itch is desired/. These split outputs are paired and connected to a series of A-B s itches such that one side of the s itch sees input A and the other side sees input B.

The outputs of the #ultis itch are routed to each receiver you have in your household. !hen you tune to a channel" instead of the LNB being s itched to the correct polarity" the $%-volt or $&-volt signal selects either transponder A or B by toggling the A-B s itch. The LNBs are no longer s itched hen you change channels. +nstead" the s itching occurs inside the #ultis itch .hence the na#e/ and the correct polarity is selected for the desired channel-transponder.

Note that there are t o different types of #ultis itches available - passive .unpowered/ and active .powered/. +f you have cable runs longer than $00 feet for any receiver" a po ered #ulti-s itch is highly reco##ended. The long run can degrade the voltage output fro# the receiver and the #ultis itch #ay not ork properly if the voltage drop is too great. A po ered #ultis itch detects the difference in the voltage levels and co#pensates for it.

1. What is a multiswitch and what is it used for? A #ultis itch takes the input fro# both of the LNB's .both cables fro# a dual LNB dish 1A23 to be connected to the #ultis itch/...it then locks one of the LNB's to al ays look at the even transponders and the other LNB to al ays look at the odd transponders. This is hy a #ultis itch only orks ith 'ual LNBs and not single LNB's. The s itch then has #ultiple outputs to receivers .%"&"etc/. !hen you connect the receiver to the #ultis itch" the s itch deter#ines hich of the t o LNB's the receiver needs to look at depending if it needs to vie odd or even transponders. !hen you change the channel" the s itch then s aps your connection to the other LNB hen needed. !ith a #ultis itch" the LNB's never change hich side they are looking at. 2. What about multiswitches with Elliptical dishes? +f you have the oval dish ith t o 4dual LNBs4 .% cables/" each of the 'ual LNB's look at different satellites .$0$ degree and $$5 degree satellites/. A #ultis itch is needed to see the second satellite. A #ultis itch co#es ith the dish and is usually have % outputs. 6ultis itches for elliptical dishes need to have % inputs so it can s itch bet een the % LNBs rather than the 7 in the explanation in )uestion 8$ above. 3. If m recei!er sends !oltage changes to switch between odd and e!en transponders on the

1"1 satellite, how does it tell the multiswitch that it wants to see the 11# satellite? The receiver sends a 77kh9 tone over the cable along ith the voltage change so it tells the #ultis itch that it ants either odd or even transponders by the voltage and that it ants the $$5 by sending the tone. $. What is the 2%$, 2%&, 3%$, 3%&, $%$, $%&, '%$ ( '%& designations mean when referring to a multiswitch? The first nu#ber in the nu#ber of inputs fro# the dish .or antenna/ the s itch has. The second nu#ber is the nu#ber of outputs the s itch has. A :x& #ultis itch ould handle % 'T2 inputs .T o 'ual LNBs looking at the t o satellites/ and a (able T2 or antenna input if you anted. +t ould have & outputs that could go to & 'irectT2 receivers" % 'ual Tuner 'irectTivos or any co#bo in bet een. '. )an I connect two *ultiswitches together +cascade one to another, to add more connections? !ell" that really depends. +f you are using an $&4 'ual LNB dish" then you could 4cascade4 t o s itches together....so you could take a 7x% s itch and have 7 of the outputs feed the inputs of another 7x% s itch to give you a total of ; outputs. There are #any issues that you have to be a are of though....length of cable" )uality of #ultis itches and hether they are po ered or non-po ered #ay affect hether or not this ill ork. +f you have an $&x7%4 elliptical dish" it is a little #ore co#plex" but can be acco#plished. As #entioned above" the receiver ill send a 77kh9 tone to tell the #ultis itch that it ants the $$5 degree satellite. This tone is only used by the #ultis itch and is not sent back up to the LNB's....if you have t o %xn s itches connected or a %xn #ultis itch connected to the built in #ultis itch on a dish" the 47nd4 one ill never tell the 4$st4 one that it needs to see the $$5 so the receivers connected to the 47nd4 one ould <NL, see the $0$ satellite. There are s itches designated as 4cascadable4 that !+LL send that 77kh9 tone upstrea#" thereby allo ing you to connect it in series ith another #ultis itch .such as a built in one on the dish/. These are #ore expensive than non-cascading #odels. The other ay is to get 4tone generators4 hich go on the t o cables designated for the $$5 satellite. They go inline bet een the t o #ultis itches .or bet een dish and #ultis itch if you have the built in #ultis itch on the dish/. These tone generators put the 77kh9 tone on the line so that the $st #ultis itch .or built in one/ sees the tone and puts that line over to the $$5 satelllite. -. There are ./ man different multi0switches with a wide range of prices...which one is for me? Lets start ith the 'ifferences Bet een 6ulti-s itches. There are = #ain types of #ulti-s itches> 123 4on05owered mechanical multi0switch 0 (heapest in price. 1as #echanical s itching #echananis# that is controlled by the po er co#ing off of the 'irectT2 receiver. The 'irectT2 receiver changes voltages on the line depending on hich transponder group it ants to look at. This #ultis itch uses that voltage to #ove the s itch. ?b@ 5owered mechanical multi0switch6 - 6id range in price. 1as a #echanical s itching #echanis#. +t uses the voltage changes fro# the 'T2 receiver to deter#ine hat it should look at" but uses it's o n external po er to control the s itch. 3xa#ple of these are (hannel 6aster and Terk #ultis itches. 1)3 5owered solid state multi0switch6 - 6ost expensive. (o#pletely solid state-no #oving parts. Aeads the voltage changes fro# the 'irectT2 receiver and electronically routes the signal to the correct LNB. 3xa#ples of these are *pauns" Trunkline" B2+. CThere are variations of ?b@ and ?(@ hich include signal a#plification.

7. 8ow man inputs do I need? +f you have an $&4 dual LNB dish" you have 7 outputs fro# the dish" therefore only need a 47 x n4 s itch #eaning 7 inputs fro# dish and 4n4 output .to be deter#ined at next step. +f you have an 3lliptical dish .or 7 $&4 dishes looking at different satellites/" you #eaning % inputs .fro# dish/ and 4n4 outputs. ill need a 4% x n4 s itch

,ou ill also see s itches listed as 4= x n4 or 4: x n4...This just #eans that there is an extra input for Antenna or (ableT2. These s itches allo you to co#bine an Antenna-(ableT2 signal onto the sa#e AD; cables as your 'irectT2 signal and split it out at the T2 end. This saves you valuable cabling issues since you ill only have to run $ cable to a receiver instead of 7 .or 7 cables instead of = in the case of 'irectTi2os/ &. 8ow man outputs do I need? This all depends on ho #any 'irectT2 receivers you have. ,ou need $ output for each receiver. +n the case of the 'irectTi2o" you need 7 outputs for each receiver. +f you have t o 'irectTi2os" it ould #ax out a 7x% or %x% s itch. <nce you #ax out a s itch" you cannot split to any other receiver and #ust get a ne s itch if you need to expand. #. 4on0powered, 5owered9*echanical, 5owered .olid state, 2mplified multi0switches... which one do I need? !ell" that depends on your budget and your setup. +f you have very long cable runs .greater than $00 feet/" you should definitely get a po ered s itch and better yet" a po ered-a#plified s itch. A nonpo ered s itch #ay ork" but since it depends solely on the voltage of the receiver to #ove the s itch" the voltage loss in long cable runs could #ake the s itch unreliable. +n the case of long cable runs" e reco##end a s itch like the (hannel 6aster or *paun. The *pauns are the #ost expensive and probably overkill for #ost people. Erior to that" + used (hannel 6asters and they ere very reliable. 6any users ith non-po ered #ultis itches and so#e ith long cable runs ill get 4*earching for *atellite4 at ti#es. !e ould not reco##end non-po ered cheaper s itches unless your cable runs are very" very short.

LNB stands for Low Noise Block Down converter. Its main function is to convert a Block(Group) of High fre uenc! signals to a lower fre uenc! "lock# amplif! it and give it to the decoder$receiver. %atellites transmit and receive signals in the &GH' ( )GH* (+"and) and ,-GH*. ,&GH' (/0 Band) range# "ear in mind that ) GH*1) --- 2H' 1 ) --- --- /H' 1 ) --- --- --- H' (c!cles per second). 3hen signals are in this range# a coa4 ca"le is not a ver! conductor and !ou would lose most of !our signal. 5his is where an LNB comes in# it converts the high fre uenc! signal# coming from the satellite# to a lower more managea"le fre uenc!. 5hese fre uencies are in the 6)- 2H' to 7,)- 2H' range (L Band) and this is referred to as I8 (intermediate fre uenc!). %ome High.end satellite earth stations use a LN9 (Low Noise 9mplifier) which doesn:t perform the Down.conversion# the high fre uenc! signals are transported on a line# "ut it is e4pensive as !ou would need a waveguide(hollow tu"e with the correct dimensions for that fre uenc!.) 2ost satellite decoders are designed to receive L ( Band signals# this is wh! we can use a satellite decoder to receive either +.Band or /0.Band# "ecause the! are "oth in the same fre uenc! range (L.Band)# after "eing down.converted "! the LNB. 5he 8irst circuit in the LNB is a filter circuit# which removes all the unwanted signals# including an! ;out of "and: noise# it then passes the wanted fre uencies to an amplifier which amplifies the small signal from the satellite. It then goes to the mi4er circuit. How an LNB down.converts to a lower fre uenc! is "! the process of mi4ing. It uses a L< (Local oscillator)# which is =ust a circuit that gives a specific fre uenc! out# this signal has no Data or program content on it# it is =ust a ;pure: carrier. 5his L< signal# is then added to the signal that is coming from the satellite. 3hen !ou add 7 signals together !ou get a few results> 3hen we mi4 the L< 8?@A with the %95 8?@A we would t!picall! get the fre uencies L<B%95# L<.%95# %95.L<# L<4%95# L< and %95. <ut of all of these signals that are produced we onl! want , of them# so the wanted fre would "e filtered out and sent down the coa4 ca"le to our Decoder# sometimes we use the L<.%95 and sometimes the %95.L<# =ust depending on what will get us to L.B and. Here is an e4ample> Hope +hannel on +.Band is transmitted at C-D- 2H* and the Local oscillator of a +.Band LNB is ),)- 2H'# when these 7 signals are mi4ed inside the LNB# there are a few results "ut the one we want in the L.Band range ( L< ( %95 ) ),)-2h' ( C-D- 2H' 1 ,-E- 2H' is filtered out and given out the decoder. 2ost Decoders do this calculation for !ou so that !ou onl! have to insert the %atellite fre uenc! into the decoder# provided that the L< fre uenc! programmed into the decoder is correct. 5his does sometimes "ecome a pro"lem# in %9 for instance we use /0.Band LNBs with a High L< of ,-.D GH' and most of the rest of the world uses ,-.F GH'# so most imported decoders are set to ,-.F GH' L< as standard. 5his is How it would work> %a! for instance we had a channel on ,7 GH'# we would program this fre uenc! into our decoder. %o the decoder does its calculation ,7 GH'.,-.F GH'(%95.L<) 1 ,.C GH' so it will look at ,.C GH' ( ,C-- 2H') for the signal. B05 our LNB is actuall! a %outh 9frican t!pe and its L< fre is ,-.D GH'. %o what is happening in the LNB is ,7 GH' ( ,-.D GH' (%95.L<) 1 ,.& GH'. 5he signal is there# "ut it is not where the decoder assumes it to "e and will give us a ;no signal: error. 5his is wh! it is important to give the correct LNB L< fre uenc! details to !our decoder. 9 LNB also re uires some power to turn it on and power its circuits. 5his is given "! the decoder along the coa4 ca"le. %o# going up to the dish we have the D+ suppl! voltage and coming down we have the ?8 signal. 5o save space on the satellite and allow more channels to "e added# the! use 7 polarities# Hori'ontal and Gertical. +ircular polari'ation can also "e used "ut I won:t attempt to e4plain this as I don:t full! understand how the! do it !et. Holari'ation is "asicall! the wa! the antenna is mounted# either parallel to the ground

(Hori'ontal ( 2ost 5G antennas) or Herpendicular to the ground (Gertical ( Like !our car:s 82 aerial). 3hen a receive 9erial$9ntenna is placed in the opposite polarit! to the transmitter# a large amount of signal (If not all) is not received# so therefore the! can put channels on hori'ontal and vertical on the satellite# without them interfering too much. 5his is what !ou are ad=usting when !ou turn the ;skew: of !our LNB. Inside !our LNB# !ou have 7 small aerials that sit inside# at 6- degrees to each other. 5he one will "e Gertical and the other Hori'ontal# and the! are initiali'ed "! either a ,&G (Gertical) or ,E$,6G (Hori'ontal) D+ suppl! coming from !our decoder. Iour decoder automaticall! switches "etween Gertical and Hori'ontal# depending on the polari'ation of the re uired channel. <n /0 Band to get more channels onto the satellite# the! e4pand the "andwidth and add more channels$transponders. 5he! now introduce 7 L<:s into the LNB# 9 Low and a High# the high L< is initiali'ed "! a 77kH' tone on the ca"le. 5he 8re uenc! of the Low Band would t!picall! "e ,-.D GH' ( ,,.D GH' and the High Band ,,.D GH' ( ,7.E) GH'# produced "! a L< of 6.D) GH' or ,-.D GH' respectivel!. 5here are C states that an LNB could "e in# provided that it as a dual "and unit> Hori'ontal . High Band# Hori'ontal ( Low Band# Gertical . High Band and Gertical . Low Band.