Direct TV Mess up on my part??

[DesertRhino]

We just went to Direct TV last month. They were giving a tripod and portable dish for the camper as a "Bennie". Just have to take a receiver from the house to hook it up.

Been trying to get it to work all afternoon while out hiding in a state park.

I think the problem just hit me. The dish is not set up for HD and I grabbed the HD receiver out of the kitchen.

I ASSUME that these are not going to function together.

Does anyone know for sure??

[Dave and Jaime]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DesertRhino We just went to Direct TV last month. They were giving a tripod and portable dish for the camper as a "Bennie". Just have to take a receiver from the house to hook it up. Been trying to get it to work all afternoon while out hiding in a state park. I think the problem just hit me. The dish is not set up for HD and I grabbed the HD receiver out of the kitchen. I ASSUME that these are not going to function together. Does anyone know for sure??

It should work with HD receiver. I have the old Kingdome standard definition dish I am using an HD receiver. Of course you don't get the HD channels but it otherwise works. One thing you do have to do is go through a new setup on the receiver to tell it what kind of dish you are using. If you have HD at home, it will be a different dish than what is in your MH. I'm betting that is what is wrong with the setup.

[FlyingDiver]

An HD receiver can also receive SD, so that's probably not the problem. Did you go through the setup menus to configure it for a non-HD dish?

joe

[toadswife]

A hd box will work with a non hd satt. In the set up screen, select multi switch, then select the correct dish (mine is 18" round) whereas my home hd setup is the slimline. Use a compass, aim to 208 degrees, and put the zip code for the location you are at, the box will tell you where u need to be on the azimuth (most of the places I camp range 48-52). Im just going off the top of my head, so hope this helps.

[Twomed]

Dish Pointer

Easy spot to check for setup numbers. Select round dish as has been suggested and you will be good to go. Move the dish very slowly whenn trying to find the sat. Remember you are aiming at an object the size of a VW about 400 miles away...so a big move (inches) misses it by miles.

[Bill Adams]

First, I can't imagine DTV giving you an antenna that is not HD. Are you sure of this? I suspect they would have given you an SL3 dish which looks like a single LNB but contains the 3 for 99, 101 and 103. It's likely that on a home installation the receiver is setup for a SWM switch and your portable would not be so you need to change from SWM to multiswitch in the receiver setup menu. I have to go jump on a plane right this minute so see if that's what is wrong and others will jump in to help you fix it.

[Sequim Guy]

I don't have HD.......yet. It's my winter project.
Now I have an old Winegard manual crank-up dish on the roof. But after the coach is level, I just count the number of cranks up, an already know about the direction to point, and can zero in within 60 seconds.

[wa8yxm]

You should be able to set the receiver to "non-HD only" but how.. I have no clue.

DirecTV's stuff is not as easy to configure as is Dish.

Also. you need to "RESET" the receiver when you change antennas.

[randco]

We use two Directv HD boxes from our home in the coach when we travel. We have an in-motion satellite so we only get SD but it looks good. The system in the stick home is the SWM. When I move the boxes to the motorhome I go into the setup and change the switch to Multi-switch and the dish to 18" round. I recently purchased a 18" dual LNB dish and tripod as a backup for those special times when a tree or limb blocks the signal to the dome.

[Techie]

A basic round dish should work with a DTV HD receiver...but you will not be able to get all sat's at the same time.

Last rig had an in-motion dome and an HD DVR from DTV...we just used the 101 (SD only) and it worked great.

[DesertRhino]

Well, here is the final outcome.

Long story short, the RV kit supplied by Directv is a Phase 3LNB. The HD Receiver box model is H25-500.

After hours of playing with changing the Dish specifications, SWM, aiming at the satellite etc etc, I finally broke down and contacted Directv and "asked for instructions". (Yea, my DW says I should have done that first!)

The short, sweet answer from Directv Tech support is:

"The H25 only works with the Single Wire Mutliswitch dish. It won't work with your Phase III dish."



I appreciate everyone taking the time to post up and trying ro help me out of my situation!!

Safe travels to all!!

[Sicduc]

Why don't you just call direct tv and have them help you..

[DesertRhino]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sicduc Why don't you just call direct tv and have them help you..

Appears we must have been typing at the same time!!

See the post above yours for "The rest of the story!!"

[RonK]

You have found out correctly Desertrhino, the H25 series of receivers do not work with an 18" round dish, no-how no-way. Now, good luck on getting them to replace with a receiver that will work with your dish.... Ask how I know :(