My home is on satellite TV (same receivers as dishnet)
I want to make myself a home gym and have a TV in there but don't want to spend a pile of money

Can I run 2 TVs directly off one receiver , use the cable coax for one TV and RCA video/audio for the other
Will that cook that receiver?
Should I run it threw some sort of amplifier ?

 

Well, technically you can only run 1 tv on one receiver with satellite, technically.... But, you can run a splitter off of the box, and run a second tv to it, but you will have to change the channel on the receiver to change it on the tv in the other room that is not "directly" connected to it.

That is how we have it set up at the cabin, receiver is upstairs on the main tv, and then there is the basement tv, but whatever channel the main tv is on, is what the tv in the basement sees.
We do not have it running through an amplifier either.

but as for utilizing the multiple outs on the box, I am not sure that would work, you have to use just one, and split it from my knowledge, whether its RCA or coax.

 

I would use Coax given the option if it's going to be a longer run, most rca cables are not well shielded. You will need something like this:

HDMI Cable, Home Theater Accessories, HDMI Products, Cables, Adapters, Video/Audio Switch, Networking, USB, Firewire, Printer Toner, and more!

And you can use something like this to control it from either location if you so desire:

HDMI Cable, Home Theater Accessories, HDMI Products, Cables, Adapters, Video/Audio Switch, Networking, USB, Firewire, Printer Toner, and more!

 

I disagree on the coax. You will lose so much quality doing that. There are many good brands out there for RCA that are shielded well. Monster for instance.
If its going to be done, might as well do it right, instead of doing all the work and being disappointed

 

You're right, I pride myself on trying to do it right the first time, I don't always achieve that goal, but it's a good place to aim.

With that out of the way I will say there should be no loss in quality assuming a decent DAC is being used, if we are talking about rca and coax outs I'm going to assume this is not an HDTV or the satellite box is not cabable of an HD output? If it is an HDTV and signal I would instead be using component out or HDMI out. A component out splitter will be much cheaper then HDMI, you also need to be careful about the quality of HDMI cable you get if you need a longer run or you will end up with a starry effect using a crappy cable.

With that being said coax and rca or composite out are both perfectly capable of handling 480p and also carrying audio with out any major issues. In fact coax is clearly capably of handling 720p digital signal as evidenced by the fact that cable companies broadcast hundreds of digitally encrypted signals at once into your home all the time using these cables. Yes, I realize that most coax outs on set top boxes are designed for analog out to channel 3/4, but even if that is the case you should be getting 480p signal from them with no issues.

I suggested the coax because it's inexpensive and a lot of times what your average home owner has laying around the house is already free and sheilded. On the other hand long runs of composite cable are general not something people keep on hand and are usually not sheilded all that well. You are of course correct that you can by higher quality cables, however I would never recommend Monster to anyone, they are an over priced rip off. I get almost all my cables from monoprice. If you do some searching online you will find reviews stating there cables are usually better than monster and 25% or less of the cost.

Keep in mind this is all based off of my personal experience helping my old boss install home AV setups and information I have found online along the way.

I look forward to learning something new and possibly being proven wrong.

 

Yep
it is a older receiver (10yrs), options are only RCA or Coax
My main tv is hooked up to a PVR

I have no problem with using either output for these tv's
I guess as long as only one TV is being used at a time there would not be any extra load on the receiver