Help with TV connections

[riverbender]

We have two dish receivers, one for the front and one for the back. Yet, we can only watch what is on the front tv on all 3 (the one outside doesn't have it's own receiver) sets. If you look at the back set, all the wiring from the receiver to the tv appears correct, but it doesn't matter, we can disconnect the receiver altogether and it has no affect, we do not lose reception, we are still watching what is on the front set. Shouldn't we be able two watch two different stations? It was suggested that we are doing something wrong, but the suggestion didn't come with any explanation of what we should be doing. Anyone have any suggestions?

[texnet]

Make sure you have selected the correct INPUT on the TV menu for the receiver that is hooked directly to it.

[riverbender]

I tried to check the input, I have no idea why, but I got it to the point where it was downloading the information, but when it was done, I got a multi dish error message that I couldn't get out of, so now I can't even watch what's on the front tv anymore. Oh woe is me! Good thing it is late, I am going to bed!

[harleyman134]

I'm not sure I can help, I have a KVH in motion sat in an 05 MADP, which might be different than what you have. What kind of dish do you have? Do you have a separate cabel running from the back bedroom tv/sat box to the dish and a separate line going to the a/v distribution pannel in front of the mh (ie are there two coax cables in the back tv area)? Knowing what kind of kind of a/v distribution pannel you have might help.

[riverbender]

We, too, have the kvh in motion dish, and there are two coax cables but one goes to the tv and one goes to a. Digital stream dtv box.

[jlyon69]

Quote:

Originally Posted by riverbender We have two dish receivers, one for the front and one for the back. Yet, we can only watch what is on the front tv on all 3 (the one outside doesn't have it's own receiver) sets. If you look at the back set, all the wiring from the receiver to the tv appears correct, but it doesn't matter, we can disconnect the receiver altogether and it has no affect, we do not lose reception, we are still watching what is on the front set. Shouldn't we be able two watch two different stations? It was suggested that we are doing something wrong, but the suggestion didn't come with any explanation of what we should be doing. Anyone have any suggestions?

I have to speak in generalities as I don't know your system, how it's wired, where your receivers are and how many switch boxes are present, if any.

If I were approaching this, I would first trace the inbound SAT line to it's first connection. At that point it should split to front and rear receivers. If wired this way, you can watch separate channels. I assume at this first split, it is via a switch box. So that could be wired wrong or you haven't selected the proper combination of switches.

It sounds to me your SAT line is going to your front receiver, then out of that (or split off of that) to the rear receiver. This would only allow you to watch what channel the front receiver is set to.

That's the basics. All you need to do is figure out where all your cables are coming from and where they are going. I helped a friend with this once and I had to disconnect everything and eliminated the switch box, then test each cable to see what it was used for. Then I labeled each cable for future use. Good Luck.

[texnet]

Quote:

Originally Posted by riverbender I tried to check the input, I have no idea why, but I got it to the point where it was downloading the information, but when it was done, I got a multi dish error message that I couldn't get out of, so now I can't even watch what's on the front tv anymore. Oh woe is me! Good thing it is late, I am going to bed!

The menu I was actually referring to is the TV MENU... i.e. the menu of the Television to select different options, not the Satellite receiver menu.

If you are no longer receiving the satellite stations first try reseting your receiver. Some receivers have a reset button, others you must use the receiver menu to select reset. If you can't find the reset button or menu selection then unplug the receiver and leave it off for 10 minutes then turn it back on. Once you have the stations back then turn OFF the front receiver and go to the bedroom and turn on the bedroom receiver and the bedroom TV. Your TV has multiple inputs and normally it will have at least one coaxial input, a input for composite, an input for S-video, and maybe a HDMI input. Your TV Remote should have a button labeled INPUT, just switch through the inputs and you should find your second receiver.

[GaryKD]

Hi riverbender,
Basically jlyon69 nailed the answer. Your posts also provided information to solve the problem.

As an experiment take the incoming SAT cable going to the Digital stream dtv box and ensure it is connected to the wire going to the rear TV. Reset both receivers and let them boot up. You should now be able to watch different channels on each TV. Due to the variations in distribution boxes and the DTV box, I can't help reconnecting those components.

[Stevegd007]

Well my 2 cents is you have a multi-switch above your main TV, that is set to work all kinds of stuff, like over the air, cable, sat and etc. So the switch for Sat is set to work both TV's from the front Dish receiver. So like jlyon69 mentioned you need to look at the wires going into the back of your rear TV from the rear Dish Receiver. Almost need to be a cable guy to help....LoL. Wonder is Larry is available? HeHe.

[wa8yxm]

Ok, let me guess.. Your video switch is a BOMB (Box of many buttons)

You will need to access the rear of the rear TV, on the back of that TV you should see hopefully mutiple connections, one RF, and a set of either HDMI or Component vide (Red/White/Yellow RCA jacks) Connect the matching jacks on the Sat Receiver to one (or all) of those.

page 2: You need to run a dedicated RG-6 Coax from your Satellite Antenna (DISH) connection point to the rear Sat Receiver as well. Do not use pre-existing wire for this.

Now to watch Sat pick either HDMI or LINE in depending on the cables (LINE may be labele AV)

IF you do not have AV inputs (and/or HDMI) then you may be able to "Splice" the sat receiver into the RF in (Antenna) by removeing the antenna cable from the set and feeding it to the TV-ANT jack on the Sat receiver, then running a jumper (Which shipped with the sat receiver or you can get one most anywhere) from the TV-OUT to the TV's antenna jack, IN this case to watch sat you pick Chan 3 or 4.

Both of the methods I just described preserve DVD, VHS, DVR OTA and Park cable less you messed that up by re-tasking it for sat in.

[GaryKD]

Hi riverbender,
If your coach is an 05 to current model year, you do not need a new wire to the rear TV. It might be an interesting experiment to use an additional wire just to see if the factory installed wire is good. However, based on your posts, the factory installed wire should be good to go.

[harleyman134]

I've been following this since I "hope" to add a second sat receiver in the near future. I plan on putting the receiver in the bedroom to be able to easily change channels. I have a 2005 MADP and I only have one coax cable going to the tv in the bedroom. I do have two cables coming from the KVH in the overhead compartment in the front, (as a test I've hooked both of the cables to my direct receiver and both of them will work with the KVH). Since I only have one cable going to the bedroom tv I plan on "patching" one of the cable coming from the KVH into the back of the a/v distribution panel using the "aux" input, when I was in a campground with cable and no access to the southwest sky, I could still use the cable in the bedroom by selecting "cable" on the a/v distribution panel for the rear tv and when I wanted to use Sat in the bedroom, I could select the "AUX" button on the a/v distribution panel. I'm not sure this will work, but I don't see why it won't.

[GaryKD]

Hi harleyman134,
You got it down pat, go for it. It matters not which button you use for the rear TV as long as you remember which button is connected to what input source.