|
I liked this product because it was one of those rare products that solved a significant problem, was fairly easy to install, and didn't have any surprises or glitches.The problem: I mostly use my Sirius radio in a docking station that is connected to the stereo in my living room, using the indoor antenna that came with it. This resulted in poor reception, especially when the roof of the house is wet or snow-covered. Worse yet, the satellites used by Sirius are not actually stationary (like XM) but there are several that move around, thus if you have marginal indoor reception and position your antenna in a place that works, chances are that within minutes to hours you will lose reception due to satellite motion. The obvious solution is to use an outdoor antenna (I bought the Terk), but then you have to connect it to your Sirius radio somehow.If you already have satellite TV, this product solves the problem neatly by allowing you to mount the outdoor antenna on your satellite TV mounting, combine the 2 signals so that you can just use the existing satellite TV coax to bring the Sirius signal into your house, then split it out again.There are various potential pitfalls such as the fact that Sirius uses a different size and impedance of coax than satellite TV with different connectors, but this product comes with everything you need.A bonus was that the splitter is powered so it seems to boost the signal.I hooked it up and it worked the first time - a rarity for any self-install products that I encounter these days.
The connector does not snap in and falls out easily. The combiner worked OK. I had to secure it by other methods. Be sure to follow hookup instructions carefully. The only complaint is in the DC power connector from the transformer that connects to the receiver unit. If not for the connector problem I would have given it 4 stars. The system is a great, reasonably priced solution for shorted sighted prewires.
I was leaving DISH TV but wanted to keep Sirius radio so I invested in a receiver and wanted to get good reception so since I already had a pole from where I took down my DISH and coax running to my receiver in my living room I purchased this combiner /splitter and I must tell you it works like a CHARM. (however the first time we tried it nothing worked then I realized that I had to plug in the inside the house splitter and WOW) I have full power constantly and great sounding stereo through my surrond receiver. All this though my existing coax that I had used for my DISH TV receiver.
Worked without any major problems. One small issue is that the small cable came out it the connecter and neeeded to be crimped.Most importantly, it also works with the new HD 5 LNB Directv dish.
I installed the Sirius DBS kit today and was disappointed with its NON-performance. I also purchased the Sirius external antenna kit which worked very well, but the DBS kit just didn't work with my DirecTV system. The Sirius DBS combiner and especially the cable connectors are junk as the entire kit is made in China. I'm a Sirius supporter with 2 accounts but this kit nees to be reengineered.
|
