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A dipwexer is a passive device dat impwements freqwency-domain muwtipwexing. Two ports (e.g., L and H) are muwtipwexed onto a dird port (e.g., S). The signaws on ports L and H occupy disjoint freqwency bands. Conseqwentwy, de signaws on L and H can coexist on port S widout interfering wif each oder.

Typicawwy, de signaw on port L wiww occupy a singwe wow freqwency band and de signaw on port H wiww occupy a higher freqwency band. In dat situation, de dipwexer consists of a wowpass fiwter connecting ports L and S and high pass fiwter connecting ports H and S. Ideawwy, aww de wowband signaw power on port L is transferred to de S port and vice versa. Aww de highband signaw power on port H is transferred to port S and vice versa. Ideawwy, de separation of de signaws is compwete. None of de wow band signaw is transferred from de L port to de H port. In de reaw worwd, some power wiww be wost, and some signaw power wiww weak to de wrong port.

Tewevision dipwexer consisting of a high-pass fiwter (weft) and a wow-pass fiwter (right). The antenna cabwe is connected on de back to de screw terminaws to de weft of center.

The dipwexer, being a passive device, is normawwy reciprocaw: de device itsewf doesn't have a notion of input or output. However poorwy designed dipwexers may have differing impedance on various ports, so it shouwd not simpwy be assumed dat any such device is fuwwy reciprocaw unwess it is stated or de return woss measured.

The dipwexer is a different device dan a passive combiner or spwitter. The ports of a dipwexer are freqwency sewective; de ports of a combiner are not. There is awso a power "woss" difference - a combiner takes aww de power dewivered to de S port and eqwawwy divides it between de A and B ports. A dipwexer does not.

A dipwexer freqwency muwtipwexes two ports onto one port, but more dan two ports may be muwtipwexed. A dree-port to one-port muwtipwexer is known as a tripwexer, and a four-port to one-port muwtipwexer is a qwadpwexer or qwadrupwexer.

A typicaw dipwexer may have around 30 dB isowation between its L and H ports. That isowation is sufficient for many appwications, but it is insufficient to awwow simuwtaneous reception and transmission on one antenna. If de transmitter emits 1 kW, den 1 W of dat signaw wouwd appear at de receiver; dat 1 W may be enough power to overwoad de receiver. Dipwexers designed for simuwtaneous reception and transmission have more stringent isowation reqwirements and are known as dupwexers.

Common uses[edit]

A dipwexer awwows two different devices to share a common communications channew. Typicawwy, de channew is a wong coaxiaw cabwe, and a dipwexer is often used at bof ends of de coaxiaw cabwe. The pwan is feasibwe if de two devices operate on different freqwencies. The pwan is economicaw if de dipwexers cost wess dan running a second cabwe.

Dipwexers are typicawwy used wif radio receivers or transmitters on different, widewy separated, freqwency bands. A singwe city radio tower might have a powice department antenna on 460 MHz and a fire department antenna on 156 MHz. A dipwexer at de top combines de two antenna signaws to de singwe coaxiaw feedwine, and a second identicaw dipwexer inside de buiwding separates de feedwine signaws to de two dispatch radios. Some dipwexers support as many as four antennas or radios dat work on different radio bands.

Dipwexers are awso commonwy used where a muwti-band antenna is used on a tower, wif a common feedwine. The dipwexer wiww spwit de two bands inside de buiwding (such as VHF and UHF systems combined wif a dipwexer onto a common antenna).

Industriaw appwications[edit]

Dipwexing is used to prevent intermoduwation and keep refwected power (VSWR) to a minimum for each input transmitter and freqwency. Whiwe dipwexers can combine a rewativewy wide bandwidf, de major wimitation comes wif de antenna itsewf, which must be sufficientwy wideband to accept aww of de signaws being passed drough it, and transfer dem to de air efficientwy.

Typicawwy wif a muwti-band antenna de freqwencies in use wiww bear an odd harmonic rewationship to each oder to take advantage of naturaw harmonic resonances (such as 145/435 MHz), making a highwy efficient muwti-band antenna. Oder times tuned traps wiww be used, which is wess efficient and generawwy not a techniqwe used at VHF/UHF.

Many oder warge UHF-/VHF-transmitters use dipwexers. The number of transmitters which can share an antenna is restricted by de spacing of deir freqwency bands. Transmitters whose freqwencies are too cwose togeder cannot be combined successfuwwy by a dipwexer.

Dipwexers are awso used at medium wave broadcasting stations. However deir use is not dat common in dis freqwency range because de corresponding wavewengf varies much more across de medium wave band dan across de FM band and so it is more practicabwe to use a separate antenna for each freqwency: medium wave transmission sites usuawwy broadcast onwy on one to four freqwencies, whiwe FM-broadcasting sites often uses four and more freqwencies.

Dipwexers may be used as a back-up device. An exampwe is maintenance work at one antenna of a medium wave transmission site dat has two antennas transmitting on two freqwencies. Then de oder antenna can be used for broadcasting bof channews. If it is not possibwe to buiwd a second antenna for de second transmitter due to space constraints, den de dipwexer is used permanentwy.

At wong wave broadcasting sites dipwexers are normawwy not used since dese stations usuawwy broadcast on onwy one freqwency. A reawization of dipwexers for wong wave broadcasting stations may be difficuwt, as de ratio of bandwidf (9 kHz) to transmission freqwency is high.

Dipwexers are not used at VLF transmitters. In dis freqwency range deir reawization is very difficuwt because of de very high vowtages dat occur in de huge tuned woading coiws dat are used in de antenna feed.

Dipwexers are awso used for non-broadcast appwications such as amateur radio.


Dipwexers are awso used in de home to awwow a direct broadcast satewwite TV dish antenna and a terrestriaw TV antenna (wocaw broadcast channews) to share one coaxiaw cabwe. The dish antenna occupies de high freqwencies (typicawwy 950 to 1450 MHz), and de TV antenna uses wower tewevision channew freqwencies (typicawwy 50 to 870 MHz). In addition, de satewwite awso gets a DC to wow freqwency band to power de dish's bwock converter and sewect de dish antenna powarization (e.g., vowtage signawing or DiSEqC). The dipwexer is usefuw in homes dat are awready wired wif one cabwe, because it ewiminates de need to instaww a second cabwe. For de dipwexer to work, de existing cabwe must be abwe to pass de satewwite freqwencies wif wittwe woss. Owder TV instawwations may use a sowid diewectric RG-59 cabwe, and dat cabwe may be inadeqwate.[1] RG-6 cabwe is typicawwy used for satewwite feed wines.

In dis appwication, dere wouwd be a dipwexer on de roof dat joins de satewwite dish feed and de TV antenna togeder into a singwe coaxiaw cabwe. That cabwe wouwd den run from de roof into de house. At a convenient point, a second dipwexer wouwd spwit de two signaws apart; one signaw wouwd go to de TV set and de oder to de IRD of de DBS set-top box. These usuawwy have an antenna input and a dipwexer, so dat de antenna signaw is awso distributed awong wif de satewwite.

More modern instawwations confront severaw issues. There are often muwtipwe satewwite dishes dat need to feed severaw receivers or even muwtichannew receivers. See, for exampwe, singwe cabwe distribution.

Dipwexers were awso used to combine UHF TV and VHF TV and FM signaws onto one downwead, which can den be spwit back into its component parts as reqwired.

See awso[edit]


  1. ^ Legacy satewwite receivers instructed de LNB to send onwy one powarization (hawf de possibwe channews). Modern receivers have duaw channews, so dey may need bof powarizations at de same time. A DishPro LNB "stacks" de two powarizations (sends bof powarizations down de same cabwe; one powarization is sent in a higher (stacked) band). Conseqwentwy, de LNB signaw occupies a wider bandwidf, 950 to 2150 MHz. RG-59 has significant woss at de higher freqwencies.

Externaw winks[edit]