KVH or Satellite Problem?

[Elkhartjim]

I have a KVH Tracvision and use a Direct TV box from home. Heres my problem...The first night it searched and searched before finally locking onto the sat. The next night it locked on pretty quickly but after a couple hours the message came on the screen searching for sat. I don't know if this has anything to do with it but I could still bring up the guide. When this happens the dome is not searching so it appears that it never lost its "lock". Last night same deal. 2-3 hours then the message searching for satellite. Turned it on this morning and it works fine. Could it be something as simple as a corroded connection up on the roof?

Thanks.

[Bill Adams]

Are you sure you are not trying to tune in a channel you cannot receive when this happens. Have you checked the receiver setup to ensure that it is set to 18" round? Is this a SD or HD box? Both will work but the HD receiver will try to find the HD channels unless you change that setting and cause a searching for satellite message.

[Elkhartjim]

Bill. I didn't make any changes to any set ups and I'm not trying to watch an unsubscribed channel. I will be watching tv just great and the screen goes blank with the Direct TV message in the right bottom of the screen "searching for satellite".

It is a SD box.

Thanks for the help.

[Perry White]

Trees

[Don/Lou]

Something Blowin in the wind blocking signal is my guess

[Norm4015]

I get that message when a storm cloud passes over.

[Elkhartjim]

First night was in ne Texas, closest tree was maybe 1/4 mile. Second night was eastern OK. No trees, no clouds, no storms. In case you haven't noticed Texas and Oklahoma are so far behind in rain the tree's are bribing the dogs.

Its crazy. It worked this morning just fine. We stopped for lunch and I tried it. I could hear it searching and it stopped just like it always does when it locks on a satelitte. The Direct receiver when through its thing and after 15 minutes or so I turned it off because it was unable to find sat. connection. No storms, trees, clouds. Maybe some dust.

[Don/Lou]

My second guess
It must be the coax or end s on coax between the receiver and dish
I would replace this cable
FWIW
Don

[Route 66]

Loose connection? (equipment not the operator)

[Bill Adams]

Almost no chance that the cable is bad. There is a very, very slight chance that you might have a bad F connector at one end or the other.
Have you had the software updated recently? If not, I would recommend that this be your next course of action.

[Elkhartjim]

The KVH software, Bill? How do I do that?

[Bill Adams]

Contact KVH or find a local KVH dealer. You need a laptop and the lastest software.

[fansill]

Jim,

I had the exact same problem and it has been diagnosed with two different scenarios...

1. My receiver was an older receiver and due to overheating, it would keep trying to reset itself...thus the message..."searching for satellite". When I replaced the receiver with a new one, it worked like a charm.

2. This past weekend, we were at an FMCA rally in Vermont and I could not seem to get a signal at all. The Trak-Vision Dome kept whirring and whirring, but would not lock on. I had planned on putting a second receiver in the bedroom while I was at the rally and the tech told me that because our Trak-Vision system is older (original to our 2005 Revolution), it is having difficulty trying to lock on to a signal. He gave it a number of restarts and then it finally found a signal and stayed locked on for the rest of the weekend.

From what you have said, your problem may be one of the two I just described.

Just my experiences...

Faith

[Elkhartjim]

Interesting Faith. My receiver is less than a year old and works flawless in the kitchen at the S&B. What are you going to do to keep it working?

The overheating has crossed my mind also as yesterday evening it was probably in the 90's in the compartment for the receiver. We will be in cooler climes in the next few days and I'll see how that changes things.

In the meantime, Bill, I'll call KVH.