Satellite dish, roof install.

[Don-Savannah, GA]

Has anyone done a satellite dish install on the roof and used the existing coax and then pulled another coax and control wires through the factory supplied channel?
I am planning to install the KD Trac-King In-Motion satellite dish.

[Don-Savannah, GA]

Has anyone done a satellite dish install on the roof and used the existing coax and then pulled another coax and control wires through the factory supplied channel?
I am planning to install the KD Trac-King In-Motion satellite dish.

[rebelsbeach]

Don, Big Trace has recently undertaken this task and I know the "fish" with the existing cable was something he had considered,if not already done....I've talked to him regarding this and we both felt it should be do-able....
Maybe either he,John C. or someone that's done it will be along,but it doesn't sound like something that'd be a problem to me....

[John_Canfield]

The beauty of the King Controls Track-King is that it only uses one wire - the coax They piggyback the DC voltage to power the dome over the coax - the DC voltage doesn't 'interfere' with the LNB output.

Now if you don't have ANY coax on the roof, that is a different matter

[AdrianLee]

Don,

As John says - the King Dome only needs 1 coax cable for everything. If you have a good coax in place now, then you do not need to pull another.

The King Dome is a good unit. Just buy a can of Dome Magic spray and keep the dome fairly clean. Remember - do not let anyone use a pressure sprayer on the dome. It will remove the Dome Magic that is on the dome already. Then you will have problems with even night time due until you put the spray coating back on the dome.

[Big Ben]

May I jump in?? What if you want to use Tvio or 2 receivers?

[John_Canfield]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Big Ben:
May I jump in?? What if you want to use Tvio or 2 receivers? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>King controls can fix you right up after you give them your Visa card number There is a stacker/de-stacker kit that they sell for about 245$ that will provide two discrete outputs to feed the Tivo. It is pretty easy to install except for the second coax from de-stacker to the Tivo - our TV and Tivo are on a slide so I had to get a little creative about running the second coax (the new addition) from the de-stacker. The de-stacker is installed near all of the King stuff inside the coach.

[AdrianLee]

I installed the de-stacker just after the switcher and before the DVR-R15 (TIVO look alike). My TV and DVR is in a slide also. I used the same single coax from the KD control box to the switcher then to the de-stacker.

Works great.

John is right about the $245. Go for it.

[rebelsbeach]

My buddy just made the deal on an '05 Mountain Aire that has the KVH in motion dome...Area above driver has coax, but no dish controller like my Kingdome.
Obviously I know he needs a receiver,but what controls the dish?

Did previous owner scanvenge this,or does KVH do something different than the way our Kingdome is?

[Cruzer]

I installed a KVH L3 on my Suncruiser. The KVH L3 required two coax cables from the dome to the satellite TV receiver if you want to use both channels (dual LNB). These carry the SATV high band signals. It also required a cat5 data cable from the dome to the on-off switch panel so that you could program it. It also required a pair of 12 volt wires for power and ground to run to the switch as well. I found the OEM location on the roof (marked with a "cut here" decal), drilled my hole and found the single coax that Winnebago supplied to make it "satellite ready". I thought I could use this as a pull-cable to fish the other stuff through the ceiling.

It didn't happen. Winny fastened the OEM coax to the roof crossmembers so that was out. I wound up running then in lkoom over the roof to a more forward location, where I could drop down and get into the TV area. It was work but it did get done.

I have a Kingdome on my Bus. It only uses one coax to interface with the dome. This coax carries "everything" - power, communications, and TV signals. The coax connects to a breakout box down below. This box gets 12 volt power via an AC adaptor and has a cat3 data cable to the remote control panel. It also has the coax output for the SATV feed(s). If you have the dual LNB version of the KingDome you'll have a splitter box that connects to this and outputs dual feeds. Tiffin did use the dual LNB KingDome but onlky hooks up one coax to the SATV receiver area. When I orderd mine I had them run two coax to the front SATV reeiver and I also had them run two more to the back bedroom TV. I then connected a 2x4 multiswitch so now I can run both dual channel DirecTV DVRs - one up front and one in the back. I can actually record 4 different shows at once.

The simplest way to retrofit a SATV dome to a coach that has the one coax pre-installed is to buy a KingDome. Simply connect it to the single OEM coax, then add your stuff to the inside, where it's easy to get to. You can do the KVH but it's more work. Some of the newer KVH domes don't require the data cable but they still require 12 volt power. I don't know how you control the setup on them. Maybe they are fixed for a given satellite or maybe they are set up with DIP switches?

[rebelsbeach]

Mark,as DISH and Directv use different birds,there'd almost have to be a way to control the dome...

Guess I'll make some calls tomorrow...

[AdrianLee]

Bob,

It is a somewhat small connection with a DB9 male connector on it. You do the control with a PC attached to it. Now the problem is to find a notebook PC with a DB9 comm port on it.

[Jim_L]

I was able to install a KVH L2 to my 05 Suncruiser using the existing wire to pull through 2 coax cables and the control cable of the L2 units. It runs through a channel in the syrofoam and fortunately, mine was not tied down to anything. It required the removal of the TV to allow grabbing the original cable. I taped the first coax to the original coax, then about 6 inches latter, the second coax and then another 6 inches the control cable. As the cable was fed through, I had someone inside pull hard until completed. The hardest part was removing the TV to allow access to the original cable.

It sounds like the KD is a better arrangement, but if you find it necessary to run the cables, I do believe it is possible.

Good luck and let us know what you finally decide.

[rebelsbeach]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Don-Savannah, GA:
Has anyone done a satellite dish install on the roof and used the existing coax and then pulled another coax and control wires through the factory supplied channel?
I am planning to install the KD Trac-King In-Motion satellite dish. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Didn't mean to hijack Don's thread....