Community Forums

Janjanjan · 01-25-2008, 08:23 AM

Yesterday, our elevation reader for our dish suddenly went out. We called Winegard, and they instructed us to reinitialize the system, which we tried. If this process didn't work, the only option is to purchase a new elevation reader for about $80.

Besides the fact that $80 seems high for just one piece of a system which retails for just $300, and fact that this system is just 2.5 years old and it seems ridiculous that it should have gone out at this time, we're puzzled trying to decide whether this is the right way to go.

Will the existing dish and wiring need replacement in 2009 when all TV goes digital? How can we know? If yes, then are we better off taking the RV to Camping World and getting the entire system reinstalled? I know that Winnebago charged us about $300 to add the dish to the RV originally. What can we expect to pay CW now to get a digital replacement?

Any others have a similar situation with the elevation reader? We discovered that we have a card which equates the number of turns to the elevation angle, and we're hoping that works until we arrive home from this trip in March.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Janjanjan · 01-25-2008, 08:23 AM

Yesterday, our elevation reader for our dish suddenly went out. We called Winegard, and they instructed us to reinitialize the system, which we tried. If this process didn't work, the only option is to purchase a new elevation reader for about $80.

Besides the fact that $80 seems high for just one piece of a system which retails for just $300, and fact that this system is just 2.5 years old and it seems ridiculous that it should have gone out at this time, we're puzzled trying to decide whether this is the right way to go.

Will the existing dish and wiring need replacement in 2009 when all TV goes digital? How can we know? If yes, then are we better off taking the RV to Camping World and getting the entire system reinstalled? I know that Winnebago charged us about $300 to add the dish to the RV originally. What can we expect to pay CW now to get a digital replacement?

Any others have a similar situation with the elevation reader? We discovered that we have a card which equates the number of turns to the elevation angle, and we're hoping that works until we arrive home from this trip in March.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Tom N · 01-25-2008, 09:07 AM

Satellite TV is digital.

I used a manual satellite roof dish where I had to count the number of turns of the crank for elevation for a couple years and it worked well. The more you use it the easier and quicker it becomes.

IMHO, go for the $80 replacement elevation reader.

-Tom

Bill Adams · 01-25-2008, 02:48 PM

Many of the Winegard elevation readers are powered by a 9-volt battery and not hardwired into the coaches 12-volt.
Have you removed the reader to see if there is a 9-volt battery there? If so, replace the battery and you should be good-to-go.
If not, the replacement reader is still a very good investment.

Clay L · 01-26-2008, 06:54 AM

Your dish will not be affected by the change to digital broadcasting however you won't be able to get HDTV with the existing set up. Direct and dish will both be broadcasting HD signals but you will need a different dish and more LNBs to get them since they use multiple satellites.

As far as I know no one is offering a roof top dish that will receive multiple satellites at the same time. That requires a special dish shape that be skewed or tilted so that more than one satellite can be focused on the LNBs at the same time without moving the dish.
Some of the automatic units can be switched from one satellite to another but as far as I know don't do it without being told to.

Bill Adams · 01-26-2008, 07:14 AM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Your dish will not be affected by the change to digital broadcasting however you won't be able to get HDTV with the existing set up. Direct and dish will both be broadcasting HD signals but you will need a different dish and more LNB's to get them since they use multiple satellites.

As far as I know no one is offering a roof top dish that will receive multiple satellites at the same time. That requires a special dish shape that be skewed or tilted so that more than one satellite can be focused on the LNB's at the same time without moving the dish. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Need to clear a couple of things up here. First, ONLY DTV is using a non-compatible signal. They have launched 2 KA band satellites which the current set of domes or single LNB antennas cannot receive. Dish Network still broadcasts from 3 KU band satellites. Even the dome antennas can still receive all of the Dish programming including HD.

The second is that both MotoSAT and Winegard have open face antennas that have multiple heads and can skew and pick up all of the necessary satellites at the same time. They can also receive both the KU and KA band for DTV. The DTV dish uses 5 LNB's to receive signals from satellites at 99, 101, 103, 110 and 119 and the Dish antenna uses 3 LNB's to receive signals from 110, 119 and 129.

cyko · 01-30-2008, 01:59 PM

Motosat offers a rooftop crankup dish that has three LN

Motosat offers a rooftop dish that has three LNB's and a skew adjustment. It is offered in automatic only and goes for about $2000' Too much for me; I will continue to look at just one satellite.

Bill Adams · 01-30-2008, 04:42 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Motosat offers a rooftop crankup dish that has three LN </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

No, there is not any crankup dish that has 3 LNB's, only the automatics have been able to offer this option due to the need to adjust the dish's skew.

cyko · 02-01-2008, 07:59 AM

I shouldn't have said crankup. It is a dish with three LNB's, and it is automatically cranked up and aimed, as I understand. My point was that it is not a dome, but a more conventional dish.

cyko · 02-01-2008, 08:19 AM

Here is the link to the Motosat unit.

http://www.mobilsat.com/Mobile-satellite-internet/

It will talk to three satellites, but it will have trouble with the 129 degree satellite on the west coast. There appear to be models for both Direct and Dish.

wagonmaster2 · 02-01-2008, 04:37 PM

Those elevation readers are pure crap. The first time they sent the whole system: reader on the dish, cables, and reader inside. The next time they just replaced the inside reader. The original one used the coach 12V power, the first replacement I used a 9V battery in case the 12V was giving it a sudden jolt causing the problem but it quit giving a reading and went blank also. This second replacement, I've hooked back up to the coach power - we'll see what happens this time.
Wagonmaster2

Bill Adams · 02-01-2008, 05:11 PM

In most cases the Winegard elevation readers were quite good (the antenna itself was crap, but the reader was pretty good) once they were calibrated properly. Did you know they needed to be calibrated? Most people don't (including Camping World). If you take a level and hold it to the face of the dish as someone inside raises the dish, stop raising the dish once it is perfectly vertical. Now, take a look at the reading of the elevation sensor. It should be reading 24. (The satellite is 24 degrees higher than the dish is pointed). If there is a difference, you need to move the sensor on the dish arm until the reading is 24. From this point on things will work just as they should.

wagonmaster2 · 02-03-2008, 05:32 PM

The reader inside seems to be fairly accurate, but I didn't know they could be made more accurate though. Most of my problems with the inside reader is that it just goes blank. When I sent the last one in to be checked, the repair order stated "no reading" and they sent me a new one. I could have told them there was "no reading".
Wagonmaster2