New unicable installation - recommendations please

[Essexman]

We are renovating a house in Ireland from scratch and would like to future-proof it with a Unicable distribution system:

• Astra 1 (19.2E) and Astra 2 (28.2E)
• two cable runs with four wall sockets on each run, 8 user bands on each cable.
• must work with Sky boxes (Sky-Q) and generic (OpenPli/OpenVix) STBs
• plus DVB-T distribution

I want to keep it simple (and at reasonable cost), so I don't really want any fancy system where even the wall sockets need programming.

So far I have figured out that I should be using 2 wideband LNBs (10.41GHz LO) and a unicable multiswitch.
Now I am confused which multiswitch I should go for. So far I have come across Inverto, Johansson, Vision and a few others.

Any recommendations for the setup that I am looking for?

 

[homesecurity]

For a clean, reliable dual-orbital setup (28.2°E for UK/Ireland Freesat/Sky + 19.2°E for German/European FTA) combined with DVB-T/Saorview without needing programmed wall sockets, here is the exact benchmark architecture we install:

1. **The Multiswitch: Johansson 9734PL dSCR (or Inverto 5/32 dSCR)**
The **Johansson 9734PL** is the gold standard for this exact job. It accepts 4 wideband satellite inputs (2 cables for 28.2E Vertical/Horizontal + 2 cables for 19.2E Vertical/Horizontal) plus 1 active terrestrial DVB-T/Saorview input. It provides 4 dSCR/Unicable II outputs (each carrying 16 user bands). It has built-in Automatic Gain Control (AGC) on both satellite and terrestrial, which prevents tuner front-end overload on short drops while equalising long runs.
Crucially, it is 100% Sky Q certified while fully supporting both EN50494 (Unicable I) and EN50607 (Unicable II / JESS) for OpenViX/OpenPLi Enigma2 receivers.

2. **LNBs & LO Frequency**
Use two standard wideband LNBs (e.g. Inverto Pro Wideband or Triax Wideband) with the standard 10.41 GHz local oscillator. Running wideband keeps your dish cable count to just 4 trunk cables (2 per orbital slot) instead of 8 quads into the switch, which keeps roof/loft penetrations very neat.

3. **Wall Plates & Cabling (No Programming Needed)**
You do NOT need programmable smart sockets (like Axing SSDs). Standard screened, non-isolated, DC-passing TV/SAT diplexed wall plates (e.g. Global, Triax, or Vision screened plates) work perfectly. The key to avoiding collisions without programmable sockets is simply manual User Band (UB) management: assign fixed, unique UB channels and frequencies to each receiver in its tuner configuration (e.g., Sky Q defaults to UBs 3, 9, 11, etc.; give your OpenViX boxes higher UBs like UB5 1420MHz, UB6 1680MHz, UB7 2040MHz).

4. **DC Power Inserter & Cable Quality**
Make sure you power the multiswitch directly using the dedicated Johansson power supply rather than relying on phantom line power from the receivers. Also, stick strictly to CAI-benchmarked double-screened copper cable (WF100 or TX100). Never use copper-coated steel (CCS) for dSCR runs, as the higher DC loop resistance causes voltage drop issues on Unicable DiSEqC command signaling.

If you stick with the Johansson 9734PL + 2x Wideband LNBs + WF100, you will have a bulletproof system that gives you instant multi-tuner recording across 28.2E, 19.2E, and Saorview down single coax drops to each room.

 

[urie]

For a clean, reliable dual-orbital setup (28.2°E for UK/Ireland Freesat/Sky + 19.2°E for German/European FTA) combined with DVB-T/Saorview without needing programmed wall sockets, here is the exact benchmark architecture we install:

1. **The Multiswitch: Johansson 9734PL dSCR (or Inverto 5/32 dSCR)**
The **Johansson 9734PL** is the gold standard for this exact job. It accepts 4 wideband satellite inputs (2 cables for 28.2E Vertical/Horizontal + 2 cables for 19.2E Vertical/Horizontal) plus 1 active terrestrial DVB-T/Saorview input. It provides 4 dSCR/Unicable II outputs (each carrying 16 user bands). It has built-in Automatic Gain Control (AGC) on both satellite and terrestrial, which prevents tuner front-end overload on short drops while equalising long runs.
Crucially, it is 100% Sky Q certified while fully supporting both EN50494 (Unicable I) and EN50607 (Unicable II / JESS) for OpenViX/OpenPLi Enigma2 receivers.

2. **LNBs & LO Frequency**
Use two standard wideband LNBs (e.g. Inverto Pro Wideband or Triax Wideband) with the standard 10.41 GHz local oscillator. Running wideband keeps your dish cable count to just 4 trunk cables (2 per orbital slot) instead of 8 quads into the switch, which keeps roof/loft penetrations very neat.

3. **Wall Plates & Cabling (No Programming Needed)**
You do NOT need programmable smart sockets (like Axing SSDs). Standard screened, non-isolated, DC-passing TV/SAT diplexed wall plates (e.g. Global, Triax, or Vision screened plates) work perfectly. The key to avoiding collisions without programmable sockets is simply manual User Band (UB) management: assign fixed, unique UB channels and frequencies to each receiver in its tuner configuration (e.g., Sky Q defaults to UBs 3, 9, 11, etc.; give your OpenViX boxes higher UBs like UB5 1420MHz, UB6 1680MHz, UB7 2040MHz).

4. **DC Power Inserter & Cable Quality**
Make sure you power the multiswitch directly using the dedicated Johansson power supply rather than relying on phantom line power from the receivers. Also, stick strictly to CAI-benchmarked double-screened copper cable (WF100 or TX100). Never use copper-coated steel (CCS) for dSCR runs, as the higher DC loop resistance causes voltage drop issues on Unicable DiSEqC command signaling.

If you stick with the Johansson 9734PL + 2x Wideband LNBs + WF100, you will have a bulletproof system that gives you instant multi-tuner recording across 28.2E, 19.2E, and Saorview down single coax drops to each room.

Nice first post hopefully some more replies, Without what seems AI.