1. TEST REPORT Two Receivers on One Cable
globalinvacom
Stacker/
De-Stacker
Two for the Price of One
0.33
PVR Twin Tuners, whether they are SD or HD boxes, are very high bine the two into one cable. The metal box with three satellite IF
on everyone’s wish list but in the end most don’t buy their dream De-Stacker in the living room connections. Two of these con-
receiver for reasons as simple as the lack of an input cable. Most separates the two signals again nections are for LNB1 and LNB2
apartments are only supplied with a single cable connection and so that the receiver can now while the third is connected to
even in single family homes for many years it was never expected have two fully independent sat- the existing coax cable.
that a modern satellite receiver would need two independent signal ellite signals connected to it.
sources. Occasionally, with a little effort, you might be able to snake The LNB1 input is compatible
a second cable through the walls into your living room but, more The Stacker is delivered from with the 950-2150 MHz frequency
often than not, this is not possible. the factory in a stable, weather- range typical for DVB-S/DVB-S2
resistant plastic housing. It IF signals while the LNB2 input
The receiver manufacturers came up with a partial solution by fitting should be installed as close covers the range from 47-2150
their boxes with a looped-through output from the first tuner so that as possible to the twin LNB or MHz. This expanded range lets
both tuners could be connected to the same cable. But if you happen Quattro-Multiswitch; a cable tie you also connect a terrestrial
to be using tuner #1 for a recording, the available channels on tuner is included to make it easy to antenna onto the second input.
#2 are limited to the same polarization that is in use on tuner #1. install it directly on the satellite
You really can’t have that much fun with your new Twin Tuner PVR antenna mast. Mounting holes The workmanship of the
with this kind of set up. are also available for installation Stacker is quite good; it is prop-
on a wall. erly labeled and should therefore
The British company global- up with a simple yet ideal solu- prevent any possible mistakes
invacom, better known to our tion. The Stacker and its coun- The heart of this discovery in connecting the cables. The
regular readers because of their terpart, the De-Stacker, take is inside the housing: a small system is designed to work in
new fiber optic LNB, decided to the signals close to an antenna
address this problem and came or Quattro-Multiswitch and com-
08-09/2008
globalinvacom
STACKER/DE-STACKER
Easy installation, reliable technology
and high-quality workmanship
Stacker/ De-Stacker Set
52 TELE-satellite & Broadband — 08-09/2008 — www.TELE-satellite.com

2. external temperatures rang- ing for us when we connected with a built-in amplifier and
ing from -15°C to +40°C and is the Stacker to a 75cm antenna increases the LNB1 input level
well protected from moisture. with Twin LNB pointed to by approximately 9 dB and the
A separate power supply for ASTRA2 at 28.2°. LNB2 input by about 6 dB. This
the Stacker is not needed; it should take care of most signal
gets its power from the exist- The manufacturer recom- loss conditions.
ing coax cable. mends using CT100 coax cable
between the Stacker and De- But we weren’t going to let
The De-Stacker is roughly Stacker, a suggestion that we the globalinvacom system
1/3 the size of the Stacker and naturally listened to for the get off that easy. We decided
is also fitted with three satel- time being. to raise the difficulty rating
lite IF connections. Since the by increasing the cable length
De-Stacker would normally The distance between the between the Stacker/De-
High-Band Astra2 28.2° east without Stacker
only be used inside, away from Stacker and De-Stacker mod- Stacker to about 115 feet (35
the elements, it does not come ules was roughly 65 feet (20 meters).
with a weather-proof hous- meters). To really put this
ing. The connections are thus system through the ringers, But even this could not
easily accessible. we selected four frequencies disturb the globalinvacom
from each band at the start Stacker even though the man-
The workmanship of the De- of the test with emphasis on ufacturer recommends that the
Stacker is just as good as the frequencies that covered the De-Stacker Plus be used for
Stacker with all of the connec- edges of the bands. cable lengths over 100 feet (30
tions nicely labeled. Should meters). The De-Stacker Plus
you run into any problems, a As you can clearly see in guarantees interference-free
service telephone number can Table #1, all four test frequen- reception with cable lengths
cies were receivable at the De- up to 200 feet (60 meters).
be found on the back.
Stacker without any problems.
In addition to connecting High-Band Astra2 28.2° east with Stacker/
Unlike the Stacker, the De- We were especially impressed
De-Stacker LNB 1 Input
that there was hardly any dif- this system to a twin LNB, it
Stacker does need its own
ference between the measured is also possible to connect the
power supply and for this pur-
signal before the test with- Stacker/De-Stacker to a Quat-
pose that manufacturer has
out the new globalinvacom tro-Multiswitch. To check the
included a 20V power supply
system and the measured validity of the manufacturers
that uses less than 5W.
signal with the new Stacker/ claim we linked the Stacker
De-Stacker system. For all to two outputs from our 5/18
Even though the Stacker/
practical purposes this differ- multiswitch (four LNB inputs
De-Stacker is for the most
ence was negligible. for the Quattro LNB plus ter-
part self-explanatory, Inva-
restrial input) and as expected,
com went the extra mile and
Our tests also quickly showed the globalinvacom product
included a very detailed user
that the LNB1 connection was did not disappoint us.
manual that takes the installa-
tion and assembly and explains slightly better able to process
signals compared to LNB2. But We do have to mention
it step by step. though that the Stacker/De-
High-Band Astra2 28.2° east with Stacker/
this is expected and the manu- De-Stacker LNB 2 Input
facturer clearly states that in Stacker system is not designed
to be used when DiSEqC sig-
Everyday Use the specifications. The maxi-
mum C/N difference between nals are present. DiSEqC sig-
Several years ago we tested a pass-through signal and nals will not pass through the
a similar system from another one that was routed through globalinvacom system; only
manufacturer but because of the Stacker/De-Stacker was the 22 kHz switching signals
some technical problems and a roughly 1.4 dB. For modern for low and high band will
lack of sophistication, it never DTH satellites this is absolutely pass through as will the volt-
really was able to penetrate age switching for polarization.
no problem.
Therefore, the Stacker/De-
the market. Of course, this
Stacker system can be used on
made it all the more interest- The De-Stacker Plus comes
these three applications:
TELE-satellite World www.TELE-satellite.com/...
Download this report in other languages from the Internet:
― Reception of two satel-
lites each with their own LNB
Terrestrial Frequency Spectrum without
Stacker/De-Stacker
Arabic ‫ﺍﻟﻌﺮﺑﻴﺔ‬ www.TELE-satellite.com/TELE-satellite-0809/ara/globalinvacom.pdf ― Reception of one satellite
Indonesian Indonesia www.TELE-satellite.com/TELE-satellite-0809/bid/globalinvacom.pdf
Bulgarian Български www.TELE-satellite.com/TELE-satellite-0809/bul/globalinvacom.pdf using a twin LNB
Czech Česky www.TELE-satellite.com/TELE-satellite-0809/ces/globalinvacom.pdf ― Reception of one satel-
German Deutsch www.TELE-satellite.com/TELE-satellite-0809/deu/globalinvacom.pdf
English English www.TELE-satellite.com/TELE-satellite-0809/eng/globalinvacom.pdf lite with a Quattro-LNB and
Spanish Español www.TELE-satellite.com/TELE-satellite-0809/esp/globalinvacom.pdf multiswitch
Farsi ‫ﻓﺎﺭﺳﻲ‬ www.TELE-satellite.com/TELE-satellite-0809/far/globalinvacom.pdf
French Français www.TELE-satellite.com/TELE-satellite-0809/fra/globalinvacom.pdf
Greek Ελληνικά www.TELE-satellite.com/TELE-satellite-0809/hel/globalinvacom.pdf
Croatian Hrvatski www.TELE-satellite.com/TELE-satellite-0809/hrv/globalinvacom.pdf
As we already mentioned,
Italian Italiano www.TELE-satellite.com/TELE-satellite-0809/ita/globalinvacom.pdf the entire terrestrial frequency
Hungarian Magyar www.TELE-satellite.com/TELE-satellite-0809/mag/globalinvacom.pdf
Mandarin 中文 www.TELE-satellite.com/TELE-satellite-0809/man/globalinvacom.pdf range can be handled by the
Dutch Nederlands www.TELE-satellite.com/TELE-satellite-0809/ned/globalinvacom.pdf LNB2 connection. Figure 4
Polish Polski www.TELE-satellite.com/TELE-satellite-0809/pol/globalinvacom.pdf
Portuguese Português www.TELE-satellite.com/TELE-satellite-0809/por/globalinvacom.pdf shows the frequency spectrum
Romanian Românesc www.TELE-satellite.com/TELE-satellite-0809/rom/globalinvacom.pdf with a direct connection of our
Russian Русский www.TELE-satellite.com/TELE-satellite-0809/rus/globalinvacom.pdf
Swedish Svenska www.TELE-satellite.com/TELE-satellite-0809/sve/globalinvacom.pdf TV Explorer II analyzer to the
Turkish Türkçe www.TELE-satellite.com/TELE-satellite-0809/tur/globalinvacom.pdf multiswitch. Figure 5 shows Terrestrial Frequency Spectrum with
Available online starting from 25 July 2008 the terrestrial signal through Stacker/De-Stacker
54 TELE-satellite & Broadband — 08-09/2008 — www.TELE-satellite.com

3. Table 1:
ASTRA2 Stacker LNB 1 Stacker LNB 2 without Stacker
11256V 59.8dBµV/CN 12.4 dB 61.0dBµV/CN 11.6 dB 62.2dBµV/CN 13.1 dB
10961H 59.5dBµV/CN 14.5 dB 63.3dBµV/CN 14.7 dB 64.5dBµV/CN 15.0 dB
12204V 66.0dBµV/CN 16.0 dB 66.0dBµV/CN 15.1 dB 68.7dBµV/CN 15.8 dB
12262H 54.1dBµV/CN 13.3 dB 64.5dBµV/CN 13.4 dB 66.0dBµV/CN 14.7 dB
Signal comparison Stacker/De-Stacker System and direct cable
connection
the Stacker/De-Stacker system. Therefore we strongly rec-
In addition to all of the DVB-T ommend that you use the cable
channels, we were also able to suggested by the manufacturer
receive the analog camera signal especially if a length of more
from the main entrance of our than 33 feet (10 meters) is to be
test lab without any problems used.
and at nearly the same level (63
dBuV).
How does the
If you happen to have a wall Stacker/De-
outlet, in most cases this can
also be used as long as it can Stacker actually
support frequencies up to 3850
MHz. The manufacturer recom-
work?
mends wall outlets from Global As the name suggests, the
Euroframe and Euromod HQF. signals of a twin LNB or a mul-
tiswitch are stacked on top of
each other. In normal satellite
Does it have to reception, the LNB converts the
be CT100 coax incoming satellite signals to the
950-2150 MHz so that they can
cable? be efficiently carried by a coax
Up until now, we only used cable. The Stacker does noth-
CT100 cable between the ing more than transfer the LNB2
Stacker and De-Stacker as rec- signals in the 47-2150 MHz range
ommended by the manufac- while taking the LNB1 input sig-
turer. But in reality, most end nals and converting them to the
users already have cable that 2650 to 3850 MHz range. The
is of lesser quality. This was Stacker essentially expands the
reason enough for us to test this useable frequency range.
as well.
The job of the De-Stacker is
We happened to find a roll of
to take the higher frequency sig-
older coax cable gathering dust
nals that are now on the LNB1
in our storeroom and decided to
input and reconvert them such
replace the high quality coax with
this older cable. As long as the that both De-Stacker outputs
cable lengths were fairly short, are in the 950-2150 MHz range
we did not encounter any prob- and thus compatible with DVB-
lems but, as the cable lengths S/DVB-S2 receivers. A built-in
increased, the more problematic amplifier makes up for any signal
the transmission became. loss that may have occurred.
56 TELE-satellite & Broadband — 08-09/2008 — www.TELE-satellite.com

4. Stacker/De-Stacker Applications
Expert Opinion
+ Reception of two satellites
each with their own LNB
The globalinvacom Stacker/De-Stacker passed
all of our tests quite convincingly. If high quality
cable is used, there should be no problems using
cable lengths of 100 feet (30 meters) or more; the
De-Stacker Plus model according to the manu-
Thomas Haring
facturer can do 200 feet (60 meters) or more. The TELE-satellite
installation is simple and its workmanship is quite Test Center
Austria
good. Even if you don’t take the manufacturer up
on the recommended cabling, the Stacker/De-Stacker still func-
tioned without any problems.
Receiver with
- 2 IF-inputs
PVRs can be used only with Twin LNBs or Quattro-Multi-
switches, that is, for a single satellite
TECHNIC
DATA
Manufacturer globalinvacom
Winterdale Manor, Southminster Road
Althorne, Essex, CM3 6BX, UK
Tel +44 (0)1621 743440
Email sales@globalcom.co.uk
Reception of one satellite
Model Stacker/De-Stacker
with a Twin LNB
Function Transmission of 2 separate
signals via one coax cable
Input Frequency Range Stacker LNB 1 950-2150 MHz
Input Frequency Range Stacker LNB 2 47-2150 MHz
Output Frequency Range Stacker 47-3850 MHz
Signal Loss Stacker LNB 1 0 dB
Signal Loss Stacker LNB 2 -2 dB
Power Usage Stacker supplied through De-Stacker
Dimensions Stacker 155x122x35mm
PVR Receiver
Operating Temperature Stacker -15 bis +40 °C
Input Frequency Range De-Stacker 37-3850 MHz
Output Frequency Range De-Stacker LNB 1 950-2150 MHz
Output Frequency Range De-Stacker LNB 2 47-2150 MHz
Signal Loss De-Stacker LNB 1 0 dB (+9 dB De-Stacker Plus)
Signal Loss De-Stacker LNB 2 -2 dB (+6 dB De-Stacker Plus)
Power Supply External AC Adapter
Dimensions 116x90x32mm
Min. Input Level up to 100 feet (30m) +68 dBµV
Min. Input Level up to 200 feet (60m) +70 dBµV
Max. Input Level at LNB 1 Input: +95 dBµV
Reception of one satellite
with a Quattro-LNB and
ENERGY Multiswitch
DIAGRAM
Apparent Power
PVR Receiver
Active Power
Mode Apparent Active Factor
Active 6W 2W 0.33
After turning it on, the De-Stacker’s power usage remains constant. Switch-
ing operations in the De-Stacker do not affect its energy usage.
www.TELE-satellite.com — 08-09/2008 — TELE-satellite & Broadband 57