In-motion Satellite help

[JVR]

I have a 2006 Essex equipped with a TracVision L3/S3 in-motion receiver and I have dish network. It lost the satellites and was unable to find them last week while at Myrtle Beach. The next day I tried again and it started working fine until my son changed channels and it again lost contact and never regained communication.
After returning home, I called KVH, connected a laptop to the communication port and updated the firmware entering commands as prompted by the KVH tech, all to no avail.

I took the Dish receiver into the house and connected it to a tv connected to a land sat and it worked fine, eliminating the receiver as the culprit.

In another attempt to eliminate the cabling as the problem, the TracVision has 2 output co-ax cables with one not being used marked sat2, but when I connected it and performed a check switch test, it tested as if nothing was connected to the receiver.

I welcome comments or advice from anyone with experience with the system before I remove the satellite and ship it to Rhode Island.

Thanks,
JVR

[deaton]

I had a KVH Model R5 in my last coach and it exhibited similar "flakey" performance using Direct TV. I opened it up and tightened up the mounting screws on the main circuit boards (2) and that fixed it for a while. Ultimately, I had to take it to a tech here in Texas and he replaced one of the boards and that fixed it permanently.

I would have to say I know very little about these units, but this guy is a pro SATELLITES IN MOTION, INC. 281-381-6164 used by a lot of us in the area and a lot of "snowbirds" from up in Yankee_land. You might give him a shout for some ideas.

[JVR]

Thank you very much.
JVR

[wa8yxm]

Myrtle Beach... Flordia?

Epically if you use HD, Dish can be a problem on the east coast.. The birds are too close to (Or actually below in the HD case) the horizion

Dish has an alternative "ARC" of birds to look at.. But that is all I know about it.

In short.. Might have been nothing wrong.

DirecTV the birds are more centrally located. (If parked in CA you look to the east, not west)

[HD4Mark]

Did the KVH tech have you check to see that the correct satellites are installed? Check the owners manual here http://www.rvsatellite.com/RVSatelli...157G_L3_S3.pdf I am not familiar with your dome but Dish uses Echostar 110 and 119. If changing channels loses the signal it could be that you are missing one in the programming. The setup says to use Echo 110 sat A and 119 sat B. I admit the instructions are a little confusing.

Any trees in the way? That could block one or both. Good luck!

[Bill Adams]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wa8yxm Myrtle Beach... Flordia? Epically if you use HD, Dish can be a problem on the east coast.. The birds are too close to (Or actually below in the HD case) the horizion Dish has an alternative "ARC" of birds to look at.. But that is all I know about it. In short.. Might have been nothing wrong. DirecTV the birds are more centrally located. (If parked in CA you look to the east, not west)

Close to or below the horizon?
Dish Network (HD) 129 satellite elevations. 110 and 119 will be even higher.

Myrtle Beach, SC 24 degrees above the horizon
Key West, FL 31 degrees
Jacksonville, FL 28 degrees

[wa8yxm]

That is the "Ideal" horizion, Assumes the earth is a smooth globe. Actuall horizion can be different depending on where you are parked as mountains, both natural and man made (Buildings) change the horizion

This is why they have an "Eastern Arc"

Of course, nothing I'm saying says the problem can not be with the antenna controller or even the sat receiver

I had a problem with my Motosat not locking on target.. Finally I started troubleshooting, Murphy was sleeping when the first thing I checked was output voltage to the LNB from the receiver...... IT was also the LAST thing I checked.

Tried a different receiver and the antenna locked on faster than I could hook it up!

[Bill Adams]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wa8yxm That is the "Ideal" horizion, Assumes the earth is a smooth globe. Actuall horizion can be different depending on where you are parked as mountains, both natural and man made (Buildings) change the horizion This is why they have an "Eastern Arc" Of course, nothing I'm saying says the problem can not be with the antenna controller or even the sat receiver I had a problem with my Motosat not locking on target.. Finally I started troubleshooting, Murphy was sleeping when the first thing I checked was output voltage to the LNB from the receiver...... IT was also the LAST thing I checked. Tried a different receiver and the antenna locked on faster than I could hook it up!

No, that's not the "ideal" horizon, that is how far above your actual horizon that the satellite is located. If you stand on the ground and look up X number of degrees, that's where the satellite will be located. If there are obstructions between you and the satellite that's another issue but a satellite that is 25-30 degrees above the horizon will not be an issue unless there is some very tall object blocking your view.

[JVR]

My TracVision L3/S3 according to UPS tracking, is being delivered today to KVH at Middletown, RI, hopefully bringing this issue to a close or at least the unknown.
I am ready to stop getting good at the various systems in the motor home and just use them occasionally and enjoy.

[Satman]

I can tell you that one of the major issues with the KVH satellite antennas is how it was installed. Without getting into too much technical gargon let me just say, most OEM manufacturers use 12v power straight from the RV to power the Satellite antenna. This power has what they call "Noise" on it that made the KVH Satellite system misbehave horribly. The Symptom to this problem is the system won't lock on or will trail off the signal after it locks on. KVH fixed this problem by created a power supply kit that not only converts AC power to a clean DC voltage but the kit also includes a grounding device for the shield side of the coax signal cable to reduce noise. This will make you KVH antenna run dependably and should be installed by a authorized KVH repair facility for best results.