Community Forums

We_B_Tripn · 10-26-2017, 05:19 AM

Good morning,

I had stated in another thread that I was having issues with our satellite systems and the question came up regarding what I was experiencing.

It's two-fold. Without going into how I ended up with both a Trav'ler and a In-Motion Winegard system and each one is having its own unique issues. First the Trav'ler won't lock onto any satellites. It continuously searches and peaks, and finally after 15 - 20 minutes gives up and stows. The In-Motion unit gives the appearance of locking onto a satellite, but when I perform the "Test Installation" process on the Wally receiver it shows no reception.

I exchanged emails with Winegard who suggested that I check the DIP settings on the In-Motion unit (DirecTV is default and I have Dish Network) and the Trav'ler could be a blockage issue. I certainly felt I was with a good clear exposure to the south, but I could have been wrong. I'm heading out this weekend so I will test it out at the storage lot which should definitely have a clear exposure and also validate the DIP settings.

John (Steele),

Thanks for your heads up on Newmar potentially over-tightening the parabola on the Trav'ler. If it ends up not being an issue with obstructions I will definitely look into that since the system is OEM and under warranty.

Bill

Rd1 · 10-26-2017, 05:40 AM

Was the coach originally setup by newmar for dish or dtv? they do have different wiring and setup.

We_B_Tripn · 10-26-2017, 06:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rd1

Was the coach originally setup by newmar for dish or dtv? they do have different wiring and setup.

You know that's the million dollar question to be honest. Winegard has indicated that this could easily be the case for the T-4 In-Motion unit. The default is DTV so if Newmar installed the unit but didn't set DIP switches correctly that could be the issue. I am validating tomorrow.

The Trav'ler is easy enough to validate tomorrow based on the reflector. The inside wiring is labeled SK1000 which indicates Dish. However no matter if DTV or Dish Network, the unit itself should still lock onto the satellites even without a receiver.

Thanks for helping!

BBelanger · 10-26-2017, 07:13 AM

The dishes are setup for direct tv at the factory because that’s what the factory has to test with. They don’t have a dish receiver, so your dealer (or you if you didn’t ask) needs to change the switch.

We_B_Tripn · 10-26-2017, 07:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BBelanger

The dishes are setup for direct tv at the factory because that’s what the factory has to test with. They don’t have a dish receiver, so your dealer (or you if you didn’t ask) needs to change the switch.

Good to know, thanks!

BBelanger · 10-26-2017, 07:30 AM

I have no experience with the traveler so can’t help there. I’ve had the in motion last year and the cheaper one this year. The DW used to record a show at noon that we found out was on a different channel at 19:00 so no need to spend the extra bucks. The only difference is you need to turn on the dish and wait a minute or so for it to find satellites.

I can say that my issue with the Wally is it is single tuner. You can only record a show either while watching it or changing inputs and watching your blue ray etc. You can watch a show from your dvr, which is just a hard drive attached to the wally.

I bought a VIP612 which is a dual tuner for Dish. It will only receive sd channels, not hd. The picture is lousy. The program menu is bad. So I bought another wally for the bedroom and hope to use it to record and swap hard dives. My favorite trick is to record movies that are on after we go to bed and then we have them to watch later.

450Donn · 10-26-2017, 07:48 AM

The only known way to fix a DOA Travler is to take it down, box it up, spend a hundred dollars shipping it to Winegard and pray they actually fix it. Personally I have had two Travlers die on me. First one spend about 600 dollars and Winegard could never get it to work. Replaced with a newer model and now it has died. Same silly game. Send it back to us for repair. Yea, right, it is now a 1500 dollar boat anchor. Im currently looking at a RF Mogul. But honestly, my 150 dollar ground based system is a much better deal.

Rant over.
The Travler does not need a receiver to setup. It is all done internally. Once it is locked onto the correct birds the internal power supply shuts down and it switches to external mode. Meaning it takes power from the receiver for the LNB. It is possible you have a dead LNB, or the coax cable between the base and LNB could be bad. Cable is a known weak spot, so it might be worth your time to go up on the roof and at least trying a new piece of coax.

We_B_Tripn · 10-26-2017, 09:51 AM

Thanks Don. I will check that out as well.

ghaynes754 · 10-26-2017, 11:33 AM

Bill, there are two different Travel'r setups. One is for Dish, the other for DirecTv. Only way to switch those is to replace the actual dish and LNB's. SK1000 is for Dish and the SK-SWM3 is for DirecTv. Factory sells both as options to the coach along with choices of In Motion. Sounds like you have the correct setup but something, unfortunately isn't hooked up or died.

Hopefully it is the controller. Maybe Winegard will do a swap or your find a friend who will let you try their unit. After that, as mentioned, it get's pretty cumbersome.

When you turn on the Travel'r controller, holding down the power button for a couple of seconds until the screen changes from the first screen to the Power on screen is any of the happening? Does it show any of the normal startup screens? Do you hear the dish itself moving?

We_B_Tripn · 10-26-2017, 01:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ghaynes754

Bill, there are two different Travel'r setups. One is for Dish, the other for DirecTv. Only way to switch those is to replace the actual dish and LNB's. SK1000 is for Dish and the SK-SWM3 is for DirecTv. Factory sells both as options to the coach along with choices of In Motion. Sounds like you have the correct setup but something, unfortunately isn't hooked up or died.

Hopefully it is the controller. Maybe Winegard will do a swap or your find a friend who will let you try their unit. After that, as mentioned, it get's pretty cumbersome.

When you turn on the Travel'r controller, holding down the power button for a couple of seconds until the screen changes from the first screen to the Power on screen is any of the happening? Does it show any of the normal startup screens? Do you hear the dish itself moving?

Gary,

Thanks for your knowledge. So I'm hoping that the whole issue is inexperience on my part, in particular my believing that my camping location last week was with decent satellite exposure to the south.

The unit does power up and try to acquire the satellites like I would expect. No error messages ever, it just eventually give up to not wear itself out (probably a good thing). Winegard suggest I try manually acquiring a single satellite if I can't get all three just to see it lock onto something. That's my goal tomorrow if the typical startup process doesn't work.

Worse case ... it's under warranty! If this is my biggest issue, I'm ahead in the game.

Bill

willipaul · 10-27-2017, 05:05 AM

i ordered my coach from the factory with both the travel'r SK300 and the in motion road trip L4. have the A/B transfer switch and a Swim module installed inside, to go back and forth between the two.

it worked great at the dealer....and the campground the first night...then i had problems when i got home...was frustrated....re set the box several times...then went through the set up menu, and re set the satellite that way, and she started working again....perhaps you need to go through the set up menus again on the box.....

i am direct TV....

We_B_Tripn · 10-27-2017, 06:30 PM

Thanks for everyone’s help. I still have to troubleshoot the in motion unit but I have some helpful hints to work with.

The Trav’ler issue was a complete rookie issue. I just didn’t have the clear southern exposure that I thought i had. Works just fine when you have a clear view!

osuallen · 10-27-2017, 09:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by We_B_Tripn

...... First the Trav'ler won't lock onto any satellites. It continuously searches and peaks, and finally after 15 - 20 minutes gives up and stows. ....

Bill

When we first got our coach our trav'let acted the same way. After careful observation and visual comparison to the dishes on other coaches I figured out that the LMB arm was bent down such that the LMB was not in the center of the dish. I corresponded with Wineguard and shared some phobos they agreed and sent a new arm. It took about 15 to 20 minutes to change it out and it has worked fine since..