Yet another DIY Explora install thread

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RoGe_SavageR

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Hi,

I've just bought a house and just bummed a second-hand explora (the old one) off a friend. I'm trying to install it myself without too much extra cost.

The existing installation is a very old, with an old decoder, a 60cm dish and a single LNB (as far as I know - there is only one cable coming out of the LNB). If I try plug this cable into the explora's RF port, nothing happens (the display simply shows "load").

Is it possible that I could I get away with just buying a smart LNB, and trying my best to install it in the same position as the existing LNB? If so, do I understand correctly that I can use the existing coax cable (RG6 I think it is, 'normal' DSTV cable) from the new LNB to the UniCable input of the explora?

I realise that I might not come right, both with the small dish and the poor alignment. But I figure its worth seeing what I can do with just the smart LNB before paying an installer to come and tell me all the money I need to spend, right?
 
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Nick333

Nick333

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For one thing, plug the dish cable into the port labeled LNB. It won't do a thing unless you have a smart lnb installed though. You should be able to swap the lnb out without too much trouble as long as you make an effort to match the skew to the old one as best as you can.
 
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RoGe_SavageR

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Beachless said:
Why did you plug the LNB into the RF port?
Click to expand...

Uhhh.. I don't have a good answer. I didn't think it would work in the UniCable port as it wasn't coming from a smart LNB. If I had a dual or quad LNB with a multiswitch, which port of the explora would the cable from the multiswitch go into?
 
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RoGe_SavageR

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Nick333 said:
For one thing, plug the dish cable into the port labeled LNB. It won't do a thing unless you have a smart lnb installed though. You should be able to swap the lnb out without too much trouble as long as you make an effort to match the skew to the old one as best as you can.
Click to expand...

There is no port labeled LNB (I have a sneaky suspicion I'm missing something here). Anyway, makes no difference, as you said nothing will happen with a single LNB, I'll try a smart LNB tomorrow and plug it into the UniCable Port.
 
Nick333

Nick333

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RoGe_SavageR said:
Huh.. Mine looks exactly the same as that, except the word "satellite" is replaced with "UniCable"
Click to expand...
Either way it'll only work with a smart lnb, satcr lnb or Explora multi-switch. For future reference RF ports are for handling signals that a tv tuner can use. Modulated analog signals.
 
Nick333

Nick333

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Beachless said:
+1 the smart/satcr LNB will probably be the easiest you just won't be able to do extaview if you need it.
Click to expand...
Yes you will. You'd just have to run a second cable from the dish to the second decoder and a heartbeat cable between the two decoders. That's no more work than using a multiswitch.
 
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RoGe_SavageR

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Well, to close this out, I got the smart LNB, installed it in as close a position as possible to the single LNB that was there, and voila! All the channels seem great so far. This is still with a 60cm dish.

I am viewing on a SD TV though, another month or two before I finally get an HD TV, let's see whether I have any quality issues before or after that..

Thanks for the advice and patience.
 
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