DirectTV wiring/connections
January 16th, 2012, 05:17 PM
#1
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DirectTV wiring/connections
I don't have DirectTV, don't know anything about it, don't know what components there are, what the connections are, how many, etc. My dad has it and a carpet installer carelessly disconnected everything and later neither he nor my dad could figure out how to re-connect it. All I know is, my dad has a home theater system which I figure has standard connections.
Can anyone explain what gets connected to what so that i can try to explain to my dad over the phone ?
or is this something DirectTV need to come "reset" something ?
Can anyone explain what gets connected to what so that i can try to explain to my dad over the phone ?
or is this something DirectTV need to come "reset" something ?
January 16th, 2012, 09:32 PM
#2
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Really nothing to do with cars, but if the carpet guy messed things up, should pay for a Direct TV service call to correct it. That being said, I installed my Dish network system years ago. Wiring from the rooftop sat dish head is standard RG59U cable TV coax to the in house reciever box, where it also gets its power. I ran mine 1st to a basement grounding block, wired to a water pipe. Took a small TV on the roof, fed from a box to aim the dish. After that, box connections to the system are just like any other cable box,VCR, DVD, ext. If the carpet guy messed up speaker wiring under the carpet your dad can't figure out, then time to get a home theater installer out there. If speaker wiring got cut/shorted, could damage the reciever. Audiokarma.org has a home theater section, and believe there's even a new Videokarma.org forum.
January 17th, 2012, 06:39 AM
#3
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I always understood the connection as a big honkin invisible hose, with a direct connection between the company and your credit card / bank account. At the company end there is a check valve, to ensure the $$s flow only towards the company side...
Hard to give advice whithout seeing the setup and how he wishes to wire it.
The antenna cable from the wall needs to go to the antenna IN of the box. RCA outputs from that need to go to the video and audo in of his tv. Or the hdmi cables need to be connected in place of the RCAs.
Sometimes the basic connections are the ones to be overlooked. My neighbors had worst-buy come set up their new tv and the moron plugged the antenna cable to the antenna out port on the box! We never thought they were that dumb, but after an hour of messing with it, I realized it. Swapped the cable and it worked. Silly me...
Hard to give advice whithout seeing the setup and how he wishes to wire it.
The antenna cable from the wall needs to go to the antenna IN of the box. RCA outputs from that need to go to the video and audo in of his tv. Or the hdmi cables need to be connected in place of the RCAs.
Sometimes the basic connections are the ones to be overlooked. My neighbors had worst-buy come set up their new tv and the moron plugged the antenna cable to the antenna out port on the box! We never thought they were that dumb, but after an hour of messing with it, I realized it. Swapped the cable and it worked. Silly me...
January 18th, 2012, 10:10 PM
#5
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Location: USA
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I'm an engineer for Comcast,
I'll flat out tell you that without pictures of the devices and descriptions of what's coming
from where, and what's GOING where, it's going to be impossible for you to get an answer
to this question.
I'll start with the general troubleshooting techniques.....
Figure out what end of the cable that goes under the carpet goes where......
This means yes, you actually have to trace the cable routes and verify where they come from.
Verify there's fluid connectivity from the source pole / post outside through the house to the cable in the carpet.
The one that pops out near the TV set is most likely going to be the one for the Sat Receiver.
The Sat receiver goes to the TV. That's it , don't add anything else into the mix until you can
verify video is working.
This is just like Network cable modem troubleshooting. You disconnect all extra devices like
routers, switches, (Receivers in your case) etc and go straight from PC to Modem to verify connectivity first.
I'll flat out tell you that without pictures of the devices and descriptions of what's coming
from where, and what's GOING where, it's going to be impossible for you to get an answer
to this question.
I'll start with the general troubleshooting techniques.....
Figure out what end of the cable that goes under the carpet goes where......
This means yes, you actually have to trace the cable routes and verify where they come from.
Verify there's fluid connectivity from the source pole / post outside through the house to the cable in the carpet.
The one that pops out near the TV set is most likely going to be the one for the Sat Receiver.
The Sat receiver goes to the TV. That's it , don't add anything else into the mix until you can
verify video is working.
This is just like Network cable modem troubleshooting. You disconnect all extra devices like
routers, switches, (Receivers in your case) etc and go straight from PC to Modem to verify connectivity first.
Last edited by Aceshigh; January 18th, 2012 at 10:24 PM.
January 20th, 2012, 01:57 PM
#6
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Aces...again, I'm not there but can try to relate the situation.
1...the carpet guy didn't lay carpet yet, he only removed old carpet, disconnected and moved wires out of the way and prepped the floor. ALl cables are completely exposed.
2...dad says there are two identical cables coming out of the wall..I figure one of for directtv and the other an old cable line that he doesn't need anymore.
3.he says the directtv cable plugged into what looks to be a normal power strip that also has two ports on the side...I told him to plug into the one marked IN and make sure the strip is flipped to ON.
4. He said the OUT line probably went into his Tivo unit. I am clueless aboe Tivo too. I figure he'd connect another wire from Tivo to the back of his TV...but am not sure if/how his home theater stereo would be connected. would there be a separate line going from the TV to the stereo receiver in addition to a line going from Tivo to the TV ?
1...the carpet guy didn't lay carpet yet, he only removed old carpet, disconnected and moved wires out of the way and prepped the floor. ALl cables are completely exposed.
2...dad says there are two identical cables coming out of the wall..I figure one of for directtv and the other an old cable line that he doesn't need anymore.
3.he says the directtv cable plugged into what looks to be a normal power strip that also has two ports on the side...I told him to plug into the one marked IN and make sure the strip is flipped to ON.
4. He said the OUT line probably went into his Tivo unit. I am clueless aboe Tivo too. I figure he'd connect another wire from Tivo to the back of his TV...but am not sure if/how his home theater stereo would be connected. would there be a separate line going from the TV to the stereo receiver in addition to a line going from Tivo to the TV ?
January 20th, 2012, 03:09 PM
#7
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Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Oklahoma City, OK
Posts: 172
2. If he has the DirectTV DVR, the two cables from the wall are probably BOTH for DirecTV. If not, then yes he only needs to connect one. If it is indeed the DVR, there will be TWO satellite inputs on the back of the DirecTV receiver for them. It does not matter which is which. The DVR has two tuners in it so that it can record two shows at once, record one and watch another live, etc.
3. Cables should go from wall to IN on surge protector, then from OUT on surge protector to DirecTV receiver. Should not matter if power is on. Also, if in doubt, just go straight from wall to DirecTV receiver to eliminate the surge protector as the problem.
4. If he has a stand-alone TiVo, then it connects in-line between the DirecTV receiver and the TV. It can be either a coaxial cable (like the one from the wall) or RCA cables. It goes frome the OUT of the DirecTV receiver to the IN on TiVo. Then from the OUT of the TiVo box to the TV set. If he is using RCA cables, the yellow one goes from the TiVo to the TV set, and the red/white go to the INPUT on the A/V receiver.
My experience has been that sometimes it takes a while before the dish picks up a signal at all. So if he gets to the point where everything looks right but the DirecTV signal strength screen (in the Setup options) shows no signal, he might want to leave it powered up a while and check it again later.
3. Cables should go from wall to IN on surge protector, then from OUT on surge protector to DirecTV receiver. Should not matter if power is on. Also, if in doubt, just go straight from wall to DirecTV receiver to eliminate the surge protector as the problem.
4. If he has a stand-alone TiVo, then it connects in-line between the DirecTV receiver and the TV. It can be either a coaxial cable (like the one from the wall) or RCA cables. It goes frome the OUT of the DirecTV receiver to the IN on TiVo. Then from the OUT of the TiVo box to the TV set. If he is using RCA cables, the yellow one goes from the TiVo to the TV set, and the red/white go to the INPUT on the A/V receiver.
My experience has been that sometimes it takes a while before the dish picks up a signal at all. So if he gets to the point where everything looks right but the DirecTV signal strength screen (in the Setup options) shows no signal, he might want to leave it powered up a while and check it again later.
January 21st, 2012, 04:02 AM
#8
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Once your dad does get things sorted out, good idea getting some white electrical tape(Scotch brand), a Sharpie marker and label all the cable ends. Dont use masking tape, cheapie electrical stuff, or you'll just have a mess trying to remove it later.
January 21st, 2012, 05:50 PM
#9
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Location: New Matamoras, Ohio
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I agree that at one point both cables were needed, if he had the DVR inside directTV box. However if he has upgraded to HD, the new receiver could also have a small power box that the coax goes into then the out goes to a white box which has an in and an out for the coax and a cat5 computer cable that also must be plugged into the receiver. This is SWM technology.
January 23rd, 2012, 12:10 PM
#10
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OK so I did get out to my dad's house...to him TiVo is a generic term for recording...he called it that over the phone but it turns out he doesn't have TiVo..he does have DVR unit.
ALso turns out that the in and out connections on the power strip were only used to increase length of the cable line from wall to TV. The cable line from wall wasn't long enough so he has that in place of either a much longer cable or a small connector.
And got rid of a slew of other wires he must have used for other setups over the years.
All fixed. Thanks for the tips fellas.
ALso turns out that the in and out connections on the power strip were only used to increase length of the cable line from wall to TV. The cable line from wall wasn't long enough so he has that in place of either a much longer cable or a small connector.
And got rid of a slew of other wires he must have used for other setups over the years.
All fixed. Thanks for the tips fellas.
January 23rd, 2012, 02:14 PM
#11
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Good thing you stopped over to clear things up. I'm a big audio/electronics guy with with nice systems, and know how wiring clutter adds up. I've learned to fabricate all cables to custom lengths now. Under dash of my Olds wasn't looking much better, and finally got my act together, cleaning everything up, using all quality connectors. Even installed a nice security system with keyless entry/trunk that looks near factory.
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