You really need to stop buying stuff from any dealer who tries to charge
you $100 for a plain Jane 'splitter'.

IF, on the other hand, you are actually talking
about a multireceiver switch, one that lets each receiver work independantly
on each polarization, then the $100 price is about right for a 4 port unit
bought from a dealer.

They call them 'magic switches' because they take two polarizations in, and
deliver 2 polarzations out to each reciever, as commanded by the power voltage
the receiver supplies. E.G. 12V gets you one polarity, 15V gets you the other.
The switch of course provides 12V on one lead to your dish, and 15V on the
other, regardless of what the receivers supply.
From what you've described of your system, you do need a 'magic switch'
since your system does not used 'stacking', where H & V polarizations
are stacked in frequency so passive **Satellite rated** splitters work
just fine.

Satellite splitters are 'special' in that they work in a much higher
frequency band (950-2000 Mhz, 950-2500 for stacked) and they pass power.
Yes, they use plan old 1N4000s (I had a 4:1 apart to put diodes on the
other 3 ports because of the way I run my IRDs).

You could build your own M/Sw with some coaxial relays, zeners,
diodes, transistors and some $7.00 passive splitters,
but is it really worth your time?
And do you have the skill/understanding of what's involved in working
at SHF frequencies? It doesn't take much to kill the signal level at
those frequencies, so most M/Sws have some gain in addition to the
switching logic. By the time you've bought the needed parts, you'll have
paid twice as much.

With the huge volume of DTH systems out there, you shoud be able to
find what you need via mail order, in the $50 range.

Robert

"Tim H." wrote:
>
> Howdy,
>
> I'm not sure where you're getting these $100 prices, but a quick search
> on Google (for satellite splitter) turns up this page along with many
> others..
>
> http://www.futurehomesystems.com/v501.shtml
>
> $5 for one splitter, $10 for some others.
>
> Another:
>
> http://shop.store.yahoo.com/wildwestelectronics/ssd-4.html
>
> For $7.57
>
> Are you sure these "splitters" are strictly passive? I know amplified
> splitters are a bit spendy, but not passives.
>
> As for a FAQ...
>
> http://www.faqs.org/faqs/Satellite-TV/FAQ/
>
> Kind of dated but might be interesting nonetheless!
>
> Off to doctor's appt. (yea, on Christmas Eve!)
>
> Happy Holidays,
>
> Tim Hamel
>
> Herbert Graf wrote:
> >
> > I just switched from cable to a direct to home satellite service and I want
> > to add a third receiver, however my dish only has 2 outputs. I've looked
> > into it and it turns out that I need a "satellite splitter". I have checked
> > prices and they are INSANE!! Is there something special about these things
> > to make them worth 10 times the price of a "normal" splitter? I've looked
> > around and it seems that all that is in one of these things beyond a normal
> > splitter is a few diodes, is this correct? Anybody know what diodes these
> > would be? (just common 1n4001s or are them something special?) Anybody have
> > any idea how hard it would be to just build one of these beasts? Also, if
> > anybody can point me to a technical FAQ on how direct to home satellite
> > works I would love to know. For the record I'm not trying to do anything
> > illegal, I am a legitimate subscriber who doesn't want to pay $100+ for a
> > splitter. Thanks for any info. TTYL

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