TracVision Satellite

[Mike R]

I have a TracVision roof top satelite that was factory installed on my '06 Fleetwood Discovery when I purchased it. Over the past 4 years I have had many problems with the unit in that it can't always find a satelite signal for my Direct TV. This year I've used it in 3 different locations and it found a satelite signal all three times. I just recently tried to find a signal at home and was unable to do so after trying well over a dozen times. There are no issues with trees etc. blocking the signal.

I have a call into TracVision and am awaiting a call back. Last year they walked me through a few reset procedures and I was able to pick up a satelite signal.

Has anyone ever had similar problems? If so, any suggestion on how to remedy it would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Mike R.

[Abnmarine]

I have the same issues. I had to reset mine back in December and it then worked until March. Now it isn't getting a RF signal. I wish it didn't continue to have issues. I'm about ready to just replace mine with a Winegard.

[Techie]

Have you tried killing power to the TracVision and your sat receiver for at least 30 min?

When we were having some work done recently on the rig (unrelated to the sat) they were powering up/down power and the tracvision computer got confused and wouldn't even allow setting the region. After a power down it came back up normally.

[Ernie Ekberg]

I have the Trac Vision and it won't lock on a satellite. I downloaded the software to update it but don't know the command to give. The unit searches all the time but never locks in.

[Abnmarine]

Do they have this software on their site for download?

[Ernie Ekberg]

You have to sign in as a tech. I have a tiny store- out of my house, but a name to sign in with. guess they accepted it. I have it on this computer.

[SSteve]

Mike,

I had similar problems with mine. Went up on the roof to see what I could and found both RG6 coax cables only finger tight. Same with the Winegard antenna. After tightening them (just snug with a 7/16" wrench), while not completely cured, its much improved. Just once since, it didn't seem to find anything. Turned the power to it off for 20 sec then on and it worked normally.

It might work for you.

Steve

[Abnmarine]

I just checked my roof connections and it is tight and free of corrosion.

[Ernie Ekberg]

all connections are tight. the mystery continues

[Abnmarine]

Mines about to get installed in the tall green dumpster.

[markpj23]

You can pretty easily connect a laptop computer to the maintenance port on the TracVision switch panel and see exactly what's going on. You'll need a 9-pin serial connector for the maintenance port, and probably a serial-to-USB cable to connect to your laptop (unless it's an older model that has a serial port).

There are lots of coordinate numbers, etc that will appear on your screen, but there is also plain language that will tell you what the antenna is doing. Should have the installation / troubleshooting guide on the TracVision website to guide you.

Good luck!

[Abnmarine]

Quote:

Originally Posted by markpj23 You can pretty easily connect a laptop computer to the maintenance port on the TracVision switch panel and see exactly what's going on. You'll need a 9-pin serial connector for the maintenance port, and probably a serial-to-USB cable to connect to your laptop (unless it's an older model that has a serial port). There are lots of coordinate numbers, etc that will appear on your screen, but there is also plain language that will tell you what the antenna is doing. Should have the installation / troubleshooting guide on the TracVision website to guide you. Good luck!

I did this last weekend and it says no RF signal. I was hoping that maybe a connection was loose but ruled that out after checking them.

[Ernie Ekberg]

Quote:

Originally Posted by markpj23 You can pretty easily connect a laptop computer to the maintenance port on the TracVision switch panel and see exactly what's going on. You'll need a 9-pin serial connector for the maintenance port, and probably a serial-to-USB cable to connect to your laptop (unless it's an older model that has a serial port). There are lots of coordinate numbers, etc that will appear on your screen, but there is also plain language that will tell you what the antenna is doing. Should have the installation / troubleshooting guide on the TracVision website to guide you. Good luck!

Did that. All that comes up is a display asking for a command.
Mine looks like a candidate for the dumpster, also

[SSteve]

Just another WAG...

In a compartment behind the Trackvision power/communications panel, I found a 3 amp fuse and plenty of wiring and connectors for the system. Might be worth a look.

Steve