A great way to keep TV entertainment alive in every corner of your home is to have your cable or satellite TV service extended to all the TVs in all the rooms. The DStv decoders are well known to be much compatible with this capability. Previously, I had published a post about how to connect one DStv decoder to extra TVs. But this is just one decoder. What about a situation where you have two DStv decoders like in a DStv Extra View, and you wish to make those two decoders show in all the TVs in all your rooms? It is as easy as ABC but you need to understand a little more about the DStv Extra View “Heartbeat” and what it does in the DStv Extra View set up.
The DStv Extra View offers you an opportunity to view two decoders independently and only pay for one. The set up makes one decoder “primary” while the other decoder assumes a “secondary” status. Both display full channels exactly as you subscribed for one. What if you introduced multiple TVs into your rooms and wish to connect them your Extra view to all these rooms?, this post will show how exactly to do it.
Steps to Extend Two Decoder Views (Extra Views) to Extra TVs
Assuming you have an existing Extra View account i.e. two working decoders with one as primary and the other as secondary, then you are ready to duplicate your views as many times as you wish. But before we go into the requirements and settings, let me introduce the functions of the “Heartbeat” cable, which is the life wire of decoder/TV communications.
The DStv Extra View “Heartbeat” Cable
The “Heartbeat” is the name given to the wire or cord which connects the primary decoder and the secondary decoder involved in a typical DStv Extra View set up. This connection makes it possible for both decoders to communicate effectively thereby giving you the Extra View – pay one, view two capabilities. Without the heartbeat, there is no extra view. Where the heartbeat becomes faulty, the secondary decoder which gets life from the primary decoder through the heartbeat, ceases to function.
Apart from its extra view signal transmission and communication functions in the extra view set up, the heartbeat also conveys the channels displayed on the secondary decoder back to the primary and to any other TV which may be attached by extension. This is the foundation of possibilities for multiple TV distribution or extension.
If there are extra TVs to connect to an existing extra view set up, the linkage is connected from the RF-OUT port of the primary decoder to any extra TV. In this port lies the channels coming from both the primary decoder and the secondary decoders, which are transmitted at different UHFs. So by connecting the RF-OUT wire to any extra TV, through its Antenna-IN port, all you need to do is to search for UHF channels as if you are searching for local channels. An Auto-search is most recommended because it ensures the entire coverage of the TV’s range of possible frequencies.
Upon completion of the Auto-search, many TV channels may be found but among all these, two channels are distinctively super clear. The two clear channels are coming from the primary decoder and its secondary counterpart.
NOTE: As the RF-OUT port of the DStv secondary decoder is involved in the Heartbeat extra view set up, no extra wire is connected from the RF-IN of the same secondary decoder. But at the primary decoder, its RF-IN port is used in the heartbeat connection, making it possible to connect any extra TV through its RF-OUT port.
Very importantly, if you wish to connect multiple TVs, I suggest you engage an electronic signal booster. The most efficient and popular brand of TV channel signal booster in Nigeria is the ALCAD model. This booster is positioned just after the primary decoder’s RF-OUT port wire. Actually, the ALCAD booster has a single INPUT which is connected to the wire from the primary decoder’s RF-OUT port. The OUTPUT for the ALCAD booster may be single, double, triple or more depending on the type you purchased, which depends on how many TVs you wish to duplicate signals to.
Thus, the ALCAD booster does not only serve as a booster but also as a signal splitter device. Every out-going signal level from the booster has been amplified to sustain the picture and audio super quality as obtained directly from the main decoders. With these arrangements duely observed, you are set to start enjoying a more relaxed and duplicated DStv Extra View TV channels in all rooms in your house.
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