No LNB Voltage Error for Winegard Trav'ler SWM3

[reubenray]

At the last stop I got this error while setting up. I found out the culprit could be a bad feed cable. I changed the cable out and it worked. I then stowed it and we traveled to our next stop. Now it is showing the error again. I did a search and there was one post about checking the voltage at the end of the RG6 cable with a multimeter. Could someone point me to what setting I should set the multimeter to?

Also if any other ideas are out there to get this back working please let me know.

[Rambeau]

I believe it is around 24vdc

[Rambeau]

Also make sure the power supply is plugged it

[clifford j]

I have DTV and a SWIM dish the LNB power supply box has a 21V output. Interesting you had the issue, changed the cable and it cleared the issue ,,,then it came back.

CLIFFORD

[FlyingDiver]

Originally Posted by powercat_ras

If you have the new Western Arc Dish Pro Hybrid LNB in your Trav'ler that works with the Dish Hopper 3 DVR, then you have to keep the Dish Hopper 3 from sending voltage to the Dish when you power up your Trav'ler until it completes search and peaking, or you will get the LNB error message.

He has the SWM-3, which is DirecTV. Not Dish.

[Bob&AnnaMari]

As noted, you need to supply 21 volts to your SWM head on your sat dish. The message you are seeing is telling you that this voltage is not there. This is the reason that DirecTV specifies solid copper conductor coax cable for the feed from the power inserter to the dish. To measure the voltage you need to use a setting just above 21 volts on your volt-meter.

Oh, do be sure your power inserter is plugged in and working.

[docj]

Originally Posted by Bob&AnnaMari

As noted, you need to supply 21 volts to your SWM head on your sat dish. The message you are seeing is telling you that this voltage is not there. This is the reason that DirecTV specifies solid copper conductor coax cable for the feed from the power inserter to the dish.

I suspect that the "solid copper" recommendation is more to reduce losses in the high frequency satellite signal than it is for the DC power being provided by the power inverter. At the current levels being supplied on that relatively short piece of wire, I seriously doubt that you can measure the difference in voltage drop between solid copper or copper-coated coax.

[Bob&AnnaMari]

Originally Posted by docj

I suspect that the "solid copper" recommendation is more to reduce losses in the high frequency satellite signal than it is for the DC power being provided by the power inverter. At the current levels being supplied on that relatively short piece of wire, I seriously doubt that you can measure the difference in voltage drop between solid copper or copper-coated coax.

Docj,

I understand your concern on this and it has been debated ad nauseam on satellite bulletin boards (Satellite Guys and DBS Talk are two that I frequent). DirectTV makes all their company installers use only solid copper wire coax between the power inserter and the SWM head. Other installers on these websites have disputed this a lot. They have also disputed the need for blue-barreled connectors as well, but DirecTV insists their installers use them. I use both copper clad steel and solid copper in my connections on our rig with no problems. I just recommend this if someone is getting a no power to SWM LNB error message.

As for RF, it definitely only travels over the surface of a wire. This is why copper clad steel coax is more than adequate for applications with only an RF signal being conducted. (The phenomenon of high-frequency electricity only going over the surface of a conductor, and not through it, is why you can have folks holding on to a high-frequency Tesla coil and throw huge sparks to other objects with no harm to themselves.) It is why you only see copper clad steel in cable network installations.

Bob

[reubenray]

When I wired up my new house I used only solid copper cables. I don't know if the piece I installed on the dish was solid copper or not. It was what I had on the trip. I am home now and when it warms up some I will check and install a cable with solid copper. I have the tools and ends to make whatever size cable I want.

Will the piece running from the inverter to the dish have anything to do with this? This was installed when the motorhome was built, so I cannot change it.

Also what would make a cable go bad? When I removed the original cable the end of the wire that attached to the base plate was black. I don't know if that means anything or not. On the new cable I installed I installed a rubber boot to keep water out. My ends on my cables are waterproof also.

[smlranger]

Go up on the roof and remove the small diameter coax connector that connects the LNB to the turret. I'll bet that the center copper wire has broken off and is stuck in the female connector on the turret. This factory connection corrodes since Winegard puts nothing on that connection to prevent it.

Happened to me and others with same symptoms. Fix is to fish the broken piece of copper out of the female connector with tweezers and replace the mini coax from LNB to turret.

If this is your problem, when you replace the mini coax, put a dab of dielectric grease on the fittings, which is what Winegard should have done.

[jettyjock]

Don't know if this applies here but in boating they use stranded not solid because the vibrations would cause solid to break.

[DtBt]

The thin LNB cable on my Trav'ler failed at the base connector on my SWM3 as noted above. I fabricated a triple shield RG-6 replacement cable with adhesive lined heat shrink as strain reliefs. I used dielectric grease inside connections. That was two years ago and is still good. Winegard denied there is a design problem. The failure appeared to be from high resistance connection on small center conductor creating heat and burnt conductor.

[Triker56]

Hummmm! My Inserter to the Trav'ler SWM8 switch puts out 29vdc

[reubenray]

I installed another cable which is solid copper and it is working again. I also put dialectic grease on the fittings. It was a lot easier to install with the proper tools. I pushed the cable down the shaft and then put on the end which is waterproof.

Keep your fingers crossed it continues to work.