Kingdome Satellite Hookup

[RonPatt]

I know that this forum has many satellite TV experts so I am looking for some advice.  The
coach that I recently purchased came equipped with the Kingdome satellite system.  There was
no receiver in the coach so I have been attempting to figure out the hookup.

I was finally able to get the system to "lock on" to a satellite but didn't get any signal at the
DirecTV receiver.  Is there any way to know if the system was modified to receive Dish instead
of DirecTV?  Does the system need a receiver to "lock on"?

I am going to go back on the roof of the coach to make sure that I am connecting the correct
cable.  I hope that this is not a local retailer issue.  Thanks

[utmtman]

You will need a reciever.  Moving view domes had some switches that one would switch between dish or direct tv.  I dont know about kingdom. 

[Marsha/CA]

We have a Kingdome satellite dish on our coach.  You need a DirectTv Receiver if you want DirectTV and a Dish one for Dish services.  If you have DirectTV now, you can use the one from your home if you have one.  Many people do that, just take it in and out as needed. 

I'm not sure there is anything to change in order to go from DirectTV to Dish.  However, once you put the reciver in the coach, you need to know that sometimes the Kingdome satellite locks onto the wrong "in sky" satellite. That happens occasionally.  If you have a hand held control box which is near where the receiver has been installed and it has an "on/off" button along with a seperate "search" button, you can search for different satellites.   If it locks onto a satellite and nothing happens, hold down the search button again and it will move to the next line of satellites.  Once you are on the correct satellite, the "guide" will download and you will receive TV broadcasting.  At that point, turn off the hand held search box and you will be all set.

You can also call Kingdome directly for help.  I don't have that information at my fingertips; but I'll get it for you.

Marsha~

[Barb]

I was finally able to get the system to "lock on" to a satellite but didn't get any signal at the
DirecTV receiver

We need to know what year the Kingdome is.  And if there is one or two cables coming down from the dome.  Check all the cables and make sure the TV, is on sat.  Start in the run,scan,align and run through the whole procedure.  If that doesn't work, you might have to call Direct TV.

If you have a DVR, or TIVO, you might need a stacker or destacker for the receiver to work.

Barb

[BernieD]

Kingdome's customer support is also very good. They may not answer the call but will get back to you shortly and walk you thru all the issues that they can.

[RonPatt]

Kingdome's customer support is also very good. They may not answer the call but will get back to you shortly and walk you thru all the issues that they can.

I'll have to take your word for that.  I called them and "all technicians were busy" so I left a message.  I sent them
a message through their Internet site.  I have not heard back from them yet.

Ron

[RonPatt]

I was finally able to get the system to "lock on" to a satellite but didn't get any signal at the
DirecTV receiver

We need to know what year the Kingdome is.  And if there is one or two cables coming down from the dome.  Check all the cables and make sure the TV, is on sat.  Start in the run,scan,align and run through the whole procedure.  If that doesn't work, you might have to call Direct TV.

If you have a DVR, or TIVO, you might need a stacker or destacker for the receiver to work.

Barb

Thanks Barb, I don't have any way of knowing what year the Kingdome is.  I recently purchased the motor home and the unit was
installed.  There are three wires leaving the dome.  One is a flat grey cable that looks like the cable that goes into the controller.
There is a grey cable that I suspect is for power.  Then there is a black coax cable. 

The TV screen continues to show DirecTV "searching for signal".  No one has answered my question, "can the dome lock on to a
satellite without a receiver".  I understand that you must have a receiver to translate the signal to the TV.  If the dome can lock
onto a satellite without a receiver, how do I know whether it is locking on a "Dish" bird or "DirecTV" one?

Ron

Ron

[BernieD]

 No one has answered my question, "can the dome lock on to a
satellite without a receiver".  I understand that you must have a receiver to translate the signal to the TV.  If the dome can lock
onto a satellite without a receiver, how do I know whether it is locking on a "Dish" bird or "DirecTV" one?

Ron

Yes, the dome will lock onto a satellite, but you need a receiver (to feed your TV) to determine if it is the right satellite for your service and your settings. There are a lot of birds out there, most are not usable and you may lock onto a few different ones before finding the correct one.

When did you call Kingdome? If it was after noon (CDT) Saturday, they'd gone home for the weekend. If you left a phone number, you should hear back today.

[RonPatt]

When did you call Kingdome? If it was after noon (CDT) Saturday, they'd gone home for the weekend. If you left a phone number, you should hear back today.

I called late one afteroon last week (probably Tuesday).  I followed up the next day by entering a question on their website.

[Master-Tech]

You have 2 have a receiver too pick up the signal , last Kingdome I installed was set too receive only Dish Network but you can reprogram it too receive the other with your controller that you turn on that flashes your green an red led's showing locked or searching they also over another eaiser hand programmer 

[Awbaja]

We have a 2017 Pace Arrow that came with DISH Sat Service using a roof mounted Kingdome Tailgater.  In the 11 months and 9,248 miles, we have successfully watched about 4 hours of Sat TV supplied by DISH.  Between (3) faulty receivers, residential service set up instead of RV service, failing to acquire signal, and the hassles of calling in to “pause” and “restart service” no less than a 10 min call each time, we decided to canx our service and look for an alternative source.  Are there any other options out there other than Direct TV?

[NY_Dutch]

DirecTV is the only other satellite choice in the US, but be aware that they are much less "RV friendly" than Dish. In ~10 years with Dish, I have not experienced any of the problems you listed. With our Dish "Pay-As-You-Go" Flex plan setup, all we did when we didn't need the service for awhile was not pay the next month's bill. When we wanted to restart service, a brief phone call took care of it for the next month. Now that we're full time RV'ers, we don't stop the service any more of course, although we still could. We currently have two Hoppers with Sling receivers and one Joey and previously had a VIP211k, and all four have performed trouble free for us. As far as I know, the fellow that bought our older 211k is still using it as well.

An alternative for RV'ers that's becoming more popular is streaming programming online from various sources, but that does require a good cell phone connection and preferably an unlimited data plan. Very few RV parks provide Internet service that adequately supports multiple users streaming TV programs at the same time. We leave one of our two Dish Hoppers at our upstate NY vacation cottage, and sometimes stream from that rather than setting up our portable dish for a brief overnight stop. That setup also lets us use the cottage Hopper to record programs we would miss while underway for later streaming. For us, it gives us pretty much the best of both systems, and as far as I know, Direct has nothing to compete with it.

[Larry N.]

failing to acquire signal, and the hassles of calling in to “pause” and “restart service”

Failing to acquire signal is generally because something is blocking the signal path, whether trees, weather, buildings or what ever. Barring a bad receiver (which you apparently had), that's not Dish's fault, and wouldn't improve with DirecTV. Satellite frequencies are extreme line of sight and are easily blocked. I have to wonder why, with the miles you put on in a (relatively) short time, you paused service, but maybe the downtime was enough to make it worth saving a few months worth of fees. Still, I don't think DirecTV offers that pay-as-you-go option. I also read somewhere (I've not had one myself) that the Tailgater works only with Dish. And if it does work with DirecTV you still can't get HD (with Dish you can, of course). Nor with any dome type antenna, actually.

I have DirecTV at home, and just take a receiver from home with me on the road. But my coach has a Winegard Trav'ler antenna, so that I can get HD too.

[steve407]

I'll throw this out as an alternative if it can work for you. It works for us very well.  Wife and I both have iPhones and we have unlimited with T-Mobile. I have DISH service at home with their Hopper with Sling built in. You can get a $39 adapter at Walmart or on line that takes output from your iPhone and sends it to HDMI. We use the "Dish Anywhere" app on the phone and as long as we have a cell signal, we have HD television with ANY channel we get at home plus anything we DVR recorded for playback.

The keys are 1) good cell service (or a decent wifi), 2) having dish at home with the Hopper, 3) a cheap adapter for iPhone to HDMI.

It's not fool proof -- sometimes the cell service in rural areas with T-Mobile isn't awesome, but overall it's pretty good. Some campground WIFI service is pathetic speed wise and won't work for streaming. But it's a CHEAP way to get sat TV without all the hassles of setting it up in the RV.

[timjet]

...... But it's a CHEAP way to get sat TV without all the hassles of setting it up in the RV.

Another alternative is to get DirecTV now. You get about 50 channels but only requires a good cellular/internet connection and a Roku or Firestick attached to the TV. $35/mo and you get it anywhere on any device, home, RV, hotel room, etc. Since it's streaming video, campground WiFi should not be used.