Recent Comments:
GE quietly delays premium HDTV line {Engadget HD}
Mar 24th 2009 10:02PM GE sold off the electronics biz in the 80s... This has nothing to do with the GE you see on the NYSE
Next Generation Remote Control Extender review {Engadget HD}
Feb 4th 2008 11:21PM This thing rocks... I've had one for about 3 years and it works great. To extend the range, I put the RF receiver in the middle of the house, and point it at a Radio Shack IR receiver/blaster to extend the range down to the basement where my components actually sit. Works like a charm.... don't know why they don't sell these in the stores.
DirecTV 11 to launch this December? {Engadget HD}
Aug 9th 2007 10:43PM Actually, SWM stands for Single Wire Multiswitch, by the way.
The 5 LNB dish moves the high frequency component from the Ka (MPEG4) satellite down to the OTA freq range, b/c high freq signals attenuate too quickly. If you diplex OTA on top, it will stomp on the Ka-band signals. Before you hook up the SAT signal to the reciever, you pass it through a B-band converter, which bumps the low freq part back up to it's original high-frequency location.
What you CAN do, until SWM's become readily available, is to move your B-band converter from the back of the reciever to where the SAT signal comes into the house... you can then diplex the OTA on top of the signal, without stomping anything, since the B-band converter just cleared out that frequency range. You'll not be able to run long lengths of wire, and you'll be more suceptible to rain-fade, but it's a temporary 2-wire solution until the SWM becomes readily available later this year.
