King dome problem

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Marsha/CA

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Hi all,

Tim and I have the King Dome satellite system on the coach.  The last time we tried to use it, the satellite dish would not lock onto a signal.  It would turn "green", but then not lock in.  We connected our free standing satellite dish to make sure it wasn't a receiver/card problem.  it wasn't.  The freestanding dish worked just fine. 

Tim climbed up on the roof and took the dome off.  We didnt' see anything that was obvious.  We asked it to search and it ran all over trying to lock in.  Any ideas?  Oh...yes, we did have a clear sky and yes, we did wash the dome to make sure debris/dust was gone.

Thanks!

Marsha~

 
A number of possibilities, I assume by "We asked it to search and it ran all over..." you mean you took the dome off and observed it trying to find what was not there.

Possible answers...

1: Bad line of sight, trees or other obstructions in the way

2: Bad coax cable

3: Bad controller box (the free standing uint bypasses this box)

4: other problem

1 is easy to fix... MOVE,  When you break camp move out to an area where there is a clear line of sight and see if it will lock in (Example, overflow or storage area) just don't block traffic

2: May or may not be easy to check (Swap in a temporary coax to test)

The rest are not so easy

Oh yes, #5... Configuration error... A switch may have switched from bouncing down the road.  Check all DIP switch settings
 
Marsha

This occasionally happens to us and drives me nuts. Sometimes it appears to almost lock onto the wrong satellite. The fix is to hit the button again and get it to continue searching, but it sounds like you already tried this. Occasionally, nothing works and for no apparent reason. I've done the roof things that Tim did a few times, but didn't find anything obvious.

When we first took delivery of the coach it wouldn't find a satellite at all. The dealer changed the antenna, announcing it was "fixed" but, when I turned it on, it still wouldn't find the satellite. The tech spent 3 hours running through diagnostics and, when he finally called King Dome, and they told him to change the control cable that comes out of the dome, which he did. I don't see a cable going bad, but either a plug wasn't tight or a wire had become detached from a pin in a connector.

It might be worth a call to King Dome to see if they have any ideas.
 
Tom,


Sometimes technology is more bothersome than it's worth...(kinda) 

We've discovered some tricks with the King Dome.  First if we have been at a campsite and locked onto a satellite then move, we have to make sure of one thing.  If by chance we have left the inverter on and there has been no disruption of power to the satellite receiver that will cause the satellite not to lock onto the correct satellite.  In other words, we have to disconnect all power to the receiver then click the button on for a satellite search.  It has something to do with an internal setting on the receiver box.  If we do that, it works great and has up until now.  However, like you, Tim gets VERY frustrated if the satellite doesn't lock on with ease.  After we figured out the "disconnect" solution, things have been much better.

Tim thought from the very beginning that there was a problem with the coax cable coming from the dish directly into the receiver.  I persuaded him NOT to tear all the electronics out from the back of the units; but to let a tech do it.  We have an appointment at a dealer to have the King Dome looked at.  I'll have a "tizzy" if it's nothing but a dis-joined cable connection.....(grin)

Marsha~
 
Hi John,

Thanks for the suggestions.  One thing we learned right from the get go is to make sure trees or other things blocking the satellite are out of the way.  At this point, I'm thinking a technician may be the solution because the rest of your suggestions might call for one.  There is also one more thing, if my husband tears everthing out looking for the problem, he's gonna want to replace the existing TV with a plasma TV, and relocate all the electronics.  So there is method to my madness as you can tell.

When we bought the motor home we splurged and bought a complete warranty package for the coach.  The warranty covers the King Dome and has a $100.00 deductable.  I've called them and it's covered.  Might as well get our money's worth, don't ya think....(smile)

Marsha~
 
Thanks for the tip Marsha. Probably smart of you to let the warranty take care of it.
 
MarshaLassen/CA said:
When we bought the motor home we splurged and bought a complete warranty package for the coach.  The warranty covers the King Dome and has a $100.00 deductable.  I've called them and it's covered.  Might as well get our money's worth, don't ya think....(smile)

Marsha~

One thing he can likely check is the coax.. this is not a 'Neat' solution but it is a test.

Using the coax for the tripod dish, climb up and unhook the installed coax from the dome at it's end, hook up the portable's coax

Route it in via a window and hook it to the back of the receiver.

Re-do the test.. If it locks on you found your problem, have a professional tear out the old and put in a new

If not, Well, re-connect as originall and still have the pro look at it.

This is a 'no holes" method

Re: tearing out the tv... I'm going to do that with the rear tv in my MH... I want the space where the CRT won't be for computers
 
The King Dome requires current from the receiver to locate the satellite. Many new Directv receivers now only supply this current for 30 seconds.  This means when turning on the receiver and starting the search, the King Dome has 30 seconds.  After I installed our new DVR, and it did not find the correct satellite during this 30 seconds, it either locked onto another satellite or just kept searching.  I had to hook up my old Hughes receiver with an A/B switch from Radio Shack because my older Hughes receiver does not have this 30 second limitation.  This allowed me to use the Hughes to search for/find the satellite and then switch back to my new Directv DVR.  It works every time. King Controls will only say they do not know why Directv designed their new receivers that way and offer no solutions. This 30 second condition was explained to me by King Controls Tech support.

Bob Mussman
 
Might want to pull the dome off the King Dome antenna; I found about 3 inches of water inside the base of my 9702 system which caused the main circuit board to be submerged in water together with the front of the vertical stepping motor.  Needless to say the system did not work!  Apparently it looks like a bad design; no seal between the dome and base!!!  And no circuit board encapsulant for humidity protection!!!
 
Yep...it's fixed.  It had to do with missing page 15 of the manual.  :D  You can manually choose which part of the sky to look for the satellite.  It seems when you do that the system locks on very quickly.

Marsha~
 
We are having this exact problem now.  It sounds like our King Dome is about the same age as Marsha's.  Jim is about ready to rip it off :(.    We will go through and check out the things mentioned above and look for page 15 in the manual. :)  Thanks!
JoAnn
 
If you use DirecTV (not DirecHDTV) or for that matter if you use Dish

I have a Motosat T-2 Automotion, Stacked, dual LNB, compatible with Dish Netwok or with DirecTV (using de-stackers, optional, I have them too) works, and I can demonstrate...  For sale or trade.. (Need a towed, blue ox baseplate prefered)

Pick up only, I"m currently in Southern Ohio, will move from here to Michigan.  This is a few thousand dollars worth of electronics new.. Motosat claims to have the best rain-fade figures (no need to use dome treatments)  I have some "expierence" hints I can give you that will help keep it working.. We've swatted all the bugs far as I know.

(dual LNB means it can feed 2 or more receivers (more with a switch) or a DVR)
 
Our Kingdome with Dish receiver does the same thing the OP complains about. Searches, gets green light, sometimes after searching for 15-20 minutes, sometimes never gets green light. We found that unplugging the dish receiver for 30 seconds then plugging back in solves the problem just like Marsha replied. Wish I'd read her response 3 months ago when we kept having the problem.

Ken
 
Marsha/CA said:
Yep...it's fixed.  It had to do with missing page 15 of the manual.  :D  You can manually choose which part of the sky to look for the satellite.  It seems when you do that the system locks on very quickly.

Marsha~

Marsha,  What am I missing?  I see nothing about manually choosing which part of the sky to look for the satellite on page 15.  It just has maintenance.  We have a  9702 low profile unit.

JoAnn
 
Joann,

  • Not having page 15 was our problem.  Our King dome was put in in 2002.  The instruction manual we got from King dome did not have a "manual" way to point the satellite to a specific area in the sky.  Page 15 in the newer instruction manuals gives you a picture of the US with latitude lines printed on it.  At the latitude line is how many clicks you need to manually program into the King Dome before it goes to search in that specific geographic area.  There is a specific way to do this.  My Page 15 and the instructions are in the motor home which is being worked on at the moment.
I'm wondering if you can call King Dome and ask them to send you that reference sheet.  If they can't do that for you, then when I get the coach later this week, I can make a copy, .pdf it and send it to you email.

  • We also found that the power had to be off at the receiver before we did a king dome search in order to "erase" the old location setting.  I'm not sure why we had to do that; but it seems to make a difference.  So, when we park at a new location, we make sure all power is off, including the inverter.  After my husband has plugged the coach in, he manually sets the satellite by clicking the number of clicks for the area we are parked, clicks the search button and the king dome locks on right away.
side note:  When we got our new DirectTV Receiver in 2009, it operated differently than our old one.  We found out that king dome would not lock on when it reached a full strength signal, so we would watch the signal strength and when it looked good,  (70 or above) we shut the search part of the king dome off which stopped the satellite from continuing.  Signal strength can be found by going to the menu part of the king dome and scrolling down to Signal Strength.  You also have to be on Transponder 101.

Another thought:  I don't know if you are taking your receiver out of your home to put it in the motor home; but if so, you may have to be sure you have chosen the correct style of satellite that is in the King Dome.  Our dish at the house is a different dish than in the coach, so we have to change from one to the other going either from the coach to the house and vise versa.  The coach uses "Slimline".  I can verify that when we get the coach back.

Hope this helps.  It's so frustrating when it doesn't work correctly.

Marsha~
 
Thanks for all the info Marsha.  I'll have my husband read it.  We just got back from a 2 week trip, so back to work it is.  It will at least be weekend before we get to this.  Each stop we made it finally connected but what a pain.  We got a new Direct TV box last year and yes it is the one from the house.  If I need more info I'll let you know.  Thanks again!

JoAnn
 
Not sure if the procedure is different between different DTV boxes but this works for me. Our Kingdome was replaced/reinstalled in '03 or '04 with an upgrade from the '02 model originally installed and have the DTV DR12 receiver. If we have traveled a long distance or are having difficulties locking in on a signal I use the "page 15" method. Basically, you click the satellite on, click "on" 12 or 16 times (depending on how far south you are, in AZ or NM use 16, further north use 12), press and hold the on switch for 3 seconds and then turn off.

Our normal procedure when setting up is, using "satellite setup" to turn to the signal strength meter on DTV and change the transponder to #19 and then have the Kingdome do the search. Frequently it comes up without a signal when it stops so I click the on switch again for about a second (just enough to start the antenna spinning again) to continue searching. Sometimes it takes 2-4 searches before it finds the right satellite. Once it is locked in and I have a good signal, I turn off the power switch on the satellite controller. That makes it easier the next time and I don't need to do the first paragraph setting again.

Trouble shooting guides, including the page 15 maps are available on the Kingdome web site. You'll need to know your model number.
 
Thanks again for all the help.  I can't wait for weekend to try it out. 

JoAnn
 
May 2017 - I have a late 2014 King Dome in motion satellite that will not lock on. I have Direct TV.  I have a controller with a green screen.  We tried everything, up on the roof, replaced cables, parts, etc. I called the company and found out they have changed the programming for these models and we all ALL just out of luck.  No repair, no updates, just told me to BUY A NEW ONE!  I just paid $2,500 for this dish to replace the last King Dome that didn't work.  No one told us or warned us.  There are no notifications on their website.  They said it is phased out.  PLEASE call the company before you do all the work to try and fix it.  What they've done is not right.  I don't mind buying an update or upgrade, but to tell me to buy an entirely new model (in just 3 years time) is just crazy.  We don't all use our RV's continually and many of us are just finding out what they've done.  These dishes are still being sold so be sure to WATCH OUT and check if the model still works before you buy it and have it installed!  I hope this helps someone. 
 
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