Tracvision LF dish with Direct TV

[gauto5150]

I'm having a hassle with the new-to-me DP I just purchased with a Tracvision LF system. I have a newer Direct TV SD box and have only had ONE time where I received signal and a picture and any other time nothing. The closest I get is the upper 8-10 transponders receive signal and nothing else. Is this dish outdated? I've read a few threads but nothing definitive on what the problem may be.
Any ideas? I had a Winegard in motion and never had this much hassle with finding signal with the same box in a different motorhome.

[footdoc]

I have an LF that works great with an older HD receiver..I did have an upgrade to the board and can find the satellite within 20 sec after it's done initializing...you might need it to be reprogrammed for about $100

[Mike Canter]

Sounds like you have lost an ampliefier in the antenna. call Trackvision while in the MH and talk to them. They will lead you through troubleshooting.

[Gary RVRoamer]

Do have it upgraded as foot doc did - the older version will have trouble getting a good lock on the right satellite. Other than that, I think a call to KVH is in order.

FWIW, I dumped my Trakvision LF in frustration a couple years ago and got an R4SL in its place. Far superior . I could have had mine upgraded like foot doc did, but it was estimated to cost several hundred $ and I felt that a new one was a better choice.

[texnet]

The Tracvision LF is an older dish from the 2000-2004 era. It was originally setup to use a receiver with a communications port that would tell the electronics what Sat it was looking for. You can use later model receivers with the dish but it may take a while to find Sat 101.

I do not believe the upgrade is still available. The upgrade esentially upgraded the LF/SF to the R4 or R5 which work just great. I have searched all over trying to find one and have been told by KVH and every dealer that is was discontinued. If anyone finds one please let me know via PM!!!

Here is what I do if I don't get a lock.

1. Go to the menu selection to see the signals, but go to the signal meter.
2. Change the transponder to 19
3. Press the LF/SF search button (the one below the green light)
4. Wait for the green light to go solid and check look at the signal strength.
5. If I have a good signal strength start watching TV
6. If no signal, press the search button again.
7. Repeat step 3-6 until I get the signal, sometimes it takes 4-5 cycles.

Calling KVH will just get you the answer "you need to upgrade your dish"

While the above steps seem like a pain and they are, normally it takes less than 10 minutes to find the bird!

[gauto5150]

I called KVH and it seems they have a new policy in effect recently.
According to the tech support guy I spoke with, there will be an 89 dollar fee for anyone needing tech support to repair or configure a dish.
Now this just might have been a tech unwilling to talk to me about an older dish and trying to implement a policy that usually isn't enforced. I installed a new KVH dish on a customer class C about a month ago and had to call the tech line about a configuration error and no mention of a charge then. But that may have been because the dish was brand new.
I'm going to try the satellite search on transponder 19, if that doesn't work I'll probably upgrade to a new unit. Thanks for the advice texnet.

You can still buy a reman older box that will work better with the old dishes but they sometimes range in the 200 dollar area. I'd think that would be throwing good money after bad.

[texnet]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gauto5150 You can still buy a reman older box that will work better with the old dishes but they sometimes range in the 200 dollar area. I'd think that would be throwing good money after bad.

I still have the receiver, with the communications port, but we wanted to switch to a DVR. You can also hook up a computer to the RS232 port on the dish and manually point the dish to the correct sat but it takes more time to do that than using the switch to do the search!

[justaroamer]

There is also a firmware upgrade that can be done, but maybe all you need is an old receiver with the low speed data port connected to the com wire from the antenna (be sure to power the rcvr) just to be used as a locator. You can still use your new receiver(s) with the leads from the antenna.
Better yet bet a newer HD antenna and use both.
I know a person in Texas that can do the flash upgrade, if you are near.

[gauto5150]

Quote:

Originally Posted by justaroamer There is also a firmware upgrade that can be done, but maybe all you need is an old receiver with the low speed data port connected to the com wire from the antenna (be sure to power the rcvr) just to be used as a locator. You can still use your new receiver(s) with the leads from the antenna. Better yet bet a newer HD antenna and use both. I know a person in Texas that can do the flash upgrade, if you are near.

I talked to the previous owner of the coach and he still has the receiver for the dish and he's giving it to me. So I guess I just need a card and I should be up and running. I'll try that first (less expensive too) and if it doesn't work I'll message you and I'll try the flash upgrade.
Thanks for the help!

[deandec]

I purchased a replacement Sony receiver with a low speed data port on ebay for $50.

I installed a DirectTv Dvr also after running a second coax from the 2002 Kvh dome.

The receiver aims the dome.

Now I can watch the Sony receiver while the DirectTv Dvr records two shows.

[justaroamer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gauto5150 I talked to the previous owner of the coach and he still has the receiver for the dish and he's giving it to me. So I guess I just need a card and I should be up and running. I'll try that first (less expensive too) and if it doesn't work I'll message you and I'll try the flash upgrade. Thanks for the help!

You should not need an activated card the receiver should direct the antenna, but the receiver does need a card to give info to the antenna. I know this to be true, because once the receiver receives the signal, it will test the card and advise to activate, same as it does with a new card.
I have 3 of the old receivers with cards that I don't use anymore, you are best mating the receiver with the last activated card (but can be de-activated) so you can be sure it will work.