making dish work?

[JimM68]

Hi from the infield of chicagoland speedway!
We're camping here for the weekend.

I got a new dish vip211k reciever, even had them activate it and paqid them.

Have a king r5 auto acquire dome. It works, but not sure who's service it used to have.

I get a screen that say poioint dish. When I run test, it doesn't do much. It wqon't go past this screen, says the signal it is receiving is not from the selected satelite.

Thinking I need to take the lid off the dome and set the dip switches for. Dish500.

No idea exactly how to do that.

[Bill Adams]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimM68 Hi from the infield of chicagoland speedway! We're camping here for the weekend. I got a new dish vip211k reciever, even had them activate it and paqid them. Have a king r5 auto acquire dome. It works, but not sure who's service it used to have. I get a screen that say poioint dish. When I run test, it doesn't do much. It wqon't go past this screen, says the signal it is receiving is not from the selected satelite. Thinking I need to take the lid off the dome and set the dip switches for. Dish500. No idea exactly how to do that.

You mention King and R5 which would appear to be a contradiction. Do you have a King Dome, a KVH antenna or something else? Both are set at the factory for DirecTV service and neither can be changed to Dish Network with dip switches. The Winegard antennas are that simple but the other 2 require either a dealer key pad or a computer software update.

[Skip426]

Didn't the dealer do an on-board test when he activated the reciever ??

[wa8yxm]

While I have never seen your receiver in action as I recall older dish receivers would say something like "Wrong Satallete 101 or Wrong satellite AMC4

Both of these messages mean "Your dome si set for DirecTV by the way

Contact the dome maker for instructions on re-setting it.

Or (And I do suggest you preapre for this) use a ground mount.

Suggestion.. in the LNB lead on the back of the receiver install an A/B switch, Google sells the RCA VH-71 for a buck plus S&H.

A goes to the dome up Above

B run brand new RG-6 cable to a handy spot down B-elow A bulkhead (Through wall) connecor or a ground block in the basement (mine is on the Brake Bracket under the hood, I drive a gasser)

That way when you park under the evil signal eating tree you

1: Hook up ground mount

2: Menu 6-1-1 enter your zip code (Where parked) and jot down the suggestions

3: Slide the switch to "B" NOTE only slide switch with the ground anetnna connected

4: using a protable color TV hooked to your outside tv jack point the dish (Forget those in-line meters they are junk)

4: CHECK SWITCH

5: ENJOY

When you leave.. start by sliding the switch back to A, then unhook and stow, then once in teh clear check switch.

[JimM68]

Ok. Let's start over.

It is a kvh, r4 or r5 or something like that....

Forget the ground antenna, not an option, nor is buying anything or going to a dealer... I'm camping in the racetrack infield right now, and i'd really like to get this working.

[JimM68]

making progress.

Found we hard the wrong cable into the sat rcvr. so it's at least doing something now.
Ran out to radio shack and got a serial cable, now the dish is talking to my laptop.
I'm even getting signal strengths...

KVH wants $85 for any support. and they tell me they won't give a non dealer the software needed to reconfigure the dish.

It appears the dish is set for direct tv, and needs to be reset to dish500.

They also tell me I need some software updates.

I need a program called "kvh flash update wizard"

[Iron Man]

We have the K6 and depending on how old your system is it will need software updates. We have a box and through it you can program the antenna for Dish. You can go into the box and do system reset and then select Dish. After that it may work if not the you will need to do software update through the flash software. I was told by KVH that this is a dealer only software because the update have to "be done by a trained individual". The one who did my was not familiar with my dish so I did the updates while he talked to KVH.

[BUCKAROO]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Iron Man We have the K6 and depending on how old your system is it will need software updates. We have a box and through it you can program the antenna for Dish. You can go into the box and do system reset and then select Dish. After that it may work if not the you will need to do software update through the flash software. I was told by KVH that this is a dealer only software because the update have to "be done by a trained individual". The one who did my was not familiar with my dish so I did the updates while he talked to KVH.

we have a itasca 42 qd we bought in march. it came with a king dome and a dish receiver it does not work. had it back to winniebago factory they replace a switch it came on after we turn off the system it won't come back on . even had a dish tech come to the house still won't work.

[Bill Adams]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimM68 making progress. Found we hard the wrong cable into the sat rcvr. so it's at least doing something now. Ran out to radio shack and got a serial cable, now the dish is talking to my laptop. I'm even getting signal strengths... KVH wants $85 for any support. and they tell me they won't give a non dealer the software needed to reconfigure the dish. It appears the dish is set for direct tv, and needs to be reset to dish500. They also tell me I need some software updates. I need a program called "kvh flash update wizard"

From the Chicagoland Speedway, I will suggest that you are likely screwed! Sorry you did not make the necessary arrangements before you hit the road but unless you happen to run into a KVH dealer there at the racetrack I fear you are going to have to watch whatever you can pick up on your OTA TV antenna.

[drnitrous]

You have a KVH R5. KVH has a great product technically but unfortunately has miserable customer support. Some of the techs there will help you and tell you what to download and how to make it work, others will tell you you have to take it to a KVH dealer as the "flash wizard" is not supposed to be publically available. They make it available just don't offer support. That aside, the HD reciever you have requires software upgrades for the sattelite antenna (really firmware) in order to make it work with the HD reciever. Most of them were set up for Direct which messes with everything. You have to download the flash update wizard which you have already done, make sure you update the wizard before proceeding. From there you need to make sure you have no service keys installed, both the dish and rf board have to be updated. I updated the dish with a serial cable to the KVH controller on the front, then updated the RF board with what looks like a telephone cable on the back (actually have to take the controller panel off, it connects on the back side, its on the opposite side of where the serial cable connects.) When I say controller I mean the switch panel you turn the dish on with. You then need to follow the attached pdf to the "T" to make it work. I spent a lot of time dealing with KVH and got nowhere, they kept sending me to dealers. This works if you you follow it and have updated the dish correctly. If it is updated correctly you do not need service keys. It works on the dish500 profile selected when you do the checkswitch satellite 119 transponder 17, you have to do the checkswitch twice as it states in the PDF. You can set up an account for free on the KVH website which allows you to access all the support documents and they have instructional videos on that website which I found helpful as well. Good luck, its painful and glitchy.
Brent

[drnitrous]

By the way, when you do the checkswitch process, each time it takes 15 minutes, you should hear the dish whirring while it goes through the checkswitch process. I'm not an electronics tech, its just what worked for me, good luck.

[JimM68]

Thanks Brett. I saved your pdf and will get on it.

As for the dish, I followed the instructions in my installation manual to use the flash wizard to install the dish satelites ECHO_110 and ECHO_119, and then did a check switch a couple times.

And it worked.
I did have to call dish again once the KVH dome was working and have them authorize the reciever...

It downloaded the program guide. and all was good. We mostly just watched speedchannel and espn2, but we switched it on and off a few times and it always came back up. We also watched the bears game, and sunday night football. Picture quality is "just barely ok" but it did recieve what I know are HD channels, including both speed and espn.

I'm wondering how one would "ask it" what version of software it has?

It seems to be working well enough that I'm wondering if it's all ready been updated. I know the previous owner of the coach used it, he left his sat recvr remote in a cabinet.

Going on a business trip tomorrow so I'll get to use it some more.

[drnitrous]

Jim,
Seems to me 129 is the HD and some local channels, not an expert by any means though. If you are only getting 110/119 then you probably just need to go through and do the checkswitch routine, should get a box at the end of the checkswitch test that shows you 110/119/129 lock ok on switch SW64. Here is link to a list of training videos that may be helpful on the KVH website. Training Videos I have an account with KVH so I can access a lot of stuff not accessible without being logged in, the one you want to watch is the Dish 1000/129 for your region. Pretty helpful, you can set up an account for free to access it if you can't using this link. Hope that fixes it for you. I feel your pain on this one!
Brent

[Stevegd007]

King Dome has a trouble shooting guild, available on line, from King Dome. Then to work the King Dome with Dish receivers the King Dome NEEDS TO BE PROGRAMED with a special keypad device. Here is a copy taken from the guide, for King Dome 9704 & 9754 dish, with the codes needed to be inputed with the keypad:

SATELLITE SWITCHING MODE
You can configure the antenna to automatically switch between satellites for either Dish Network or DIRECTV as follows:

* Note: Requires optional DIRECTV HD converter accessory #9748.

16 DIRECTV Plus a. (satellites 101, 119)
b. (satellites 101, 110, 119 HDTV*)
26 DISH 500 (SW21 switch) (satellites 110, 119)
62 DISH 1000 (SW64 switch) (satellites 110, 119, 129 HDTV)
66 DISH 1000a (SW64 switch) (satellites 61, 110, 119 HDTV)

Find someone with the keypad, it plugs into the inside box, once the cover is removed. Looks like a either net port. My dish would not work when I first tried it...with the keypad and programing input...IT WORKS fine now.

Anyway give this a consideration an a try.