tc0nn
New member
- Joined
- Nov 13, 2015
- Posts
- 1
I just wanted to share my experience with setting up and using the Tracvision R5SL (factory installed on our new-to-us 2009 Fleetwood Discovery 40x) with DirecTV .
Here's my experiences and hopefully some tips that might help someone else.
1) Tracvision R5SL made in 2009 and previous will not work with DishNetwork (maybe just an LNB upgrade - not sure...)
2) Do not call DirecTV directly until you're ready to active and you have a good signal on the Free-view channel.
3) Use the B-band converter before the receiver
4) Setup the Dish/Switch settings as: 18" dish with Multi-switch (I think the switch is in the antenna - not sure, but no other combination seemed to work)
5) Run the transponder check repeatedly until the antenna gets lined up (this took many hours the first time because I wasn't on the right screen and the receiver was "giving up")
6) Plug a laptop (COM port 9600,n,8,1) into the maintenance port if you want any clue to what the antenna is doing. Be sure to do the flash upgrade and set the SATINSTALL,DSS_101,DSS_110 command once you're done.
7) Make sure you're on the right coax. In my RV, I found a disconnect coax labeled RF1 which coincided with RF1 on the antenna rear plate. RF2 has been useless for me.
8 ) Make sure all transponders on the 101 satellite have good signal quality (mine was mid-90's).
Good luck getting the receiver and antenna to communicate... Here's the whole story:
First I bought this RV at PPL in Houston. Previous owner took his receiver (rightfully so).
I then bought a refurbed H24 (could also have bought any one of the non-HD D10,D11 or D12 receivers) on Ebay for $50. No card was included.
I then (after many phone calls in the order of: DirecTV, Winegard, KVH/Tracvision) was able to purchase a card from KVH for $25.
I then received the card, stuck it in the receiver and called DirecTV to activate once I figured out the whole antenna/signalling portion of this story.
DirecTV hears "RV" and will almost hang up on you. So be prepared... You may need to call several times to get the right person.
I finally convinced them that I owned legitimately the receiver, had legitimately bought the card from KVH and was ready to subscribe.
On a separate note... When I first plugged into the maintenance port, my antenna was logging "LE Switch Test Failed". When the antenna first fires up, it drops the elevation until a small double throw lever switch which is mounted on the antenna arms, hits the chassis of the antenna flat against the roof. This tells the computer where 0 degrees elevation is. My switch was bad so I rigged a small wire to connect the red wire from the switch, to the chassis when it dropped. I don't plan on visiting the north pole in the RV, so this should work fine until I find a replacement switch (maybe this one: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00E4WNRKU/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A3O3SSGGJLKX15 ).
If you see the message "NO RF Signal", it means the receiver isn't in the right mode to bring the antenna online, or the signal just isn't making it to the antenna.
Can anyone provide details on RF2? What's it used for, where is it (different area of the RV for a different receiver or right along side RF1)?
Here's my experiences and hopefully some tips that might help someone else.
1) Tracvision R5SL made in 2009 and previous will not work with DishNetwork (maybe just an LNB upgrade - not sure...)
2) Do not call DirecTV directly until you're ready to active and you have a good signal on the Free-view channel.
3) Use the B-band converter before the receiver
4) Setup the Dish/Switch settings as: 18" dish with Multi-switch (I think the switch is in the antenna - not sure, but no other combination seemed to work)
5) Run the transponder check repeatedly until the antenna gets lined up (this took many hours the first time because I wasn't on the right screen and the receiver was "giving up")
6) Plug a laptop (COM port 9600,n,8,1) into the maintenance port if you want any clue to what the antenna is doing. Be sure to do the flash upgrade and set the SATINSTALL,DSS_101,DSS_110 command once you're done.
7) Make sure you're on the right coax. In my RV, I found a disconnect coax labeled RF1 which coincided with RF1 on the antenna rear plate. RF2 has been useless for me.
8 ) Make sure all transponders on the 101 satellite have good signal quality (mine was mid-90's).
Good luck getting the receiver and antenna to communicate... Here's the whole story:
First I bought this RV at PPL in Houston. Previous owner took his receiver (rightfully so).
I then bought a refurbed H24 (could also have bought any one of the non-HD D10,D11 or D12 receivers) on Ebay for $50. No card was included.
I then (after many phone calls in the order of: DirecTV, Winegard, KVH/Tracvision) was able to purchase a card from KVH for $25.
I then received the card, stuck it in the receiver and called DirecTV to activate once I figured out the whole antenna/signalling portion of this story.
DirecTV hears "RV" and will almost hang up on you. So be prepared... You may need to call several times to get the right person.
I finally convinced them that I owned legitimately the receiver, had legitimately bought the card from KVH and was ready to subscribe.
On a separate note... When I first plugged into the maintenance port, my antenna was logging "LE Switch Test Failed". When the antenna first fires up, it drops the elevation until a small double throw lever switch which is mounted on the antenna arms, hits the chassis of the antenna flat against the roof. This tells the computer where 0 degrees elevation is. My switch was bad so I rigged a small wire to connect the red wire from the switch, to the chassis when it dropped. I don't plan on visiting the north pole in the RV, so this should work fine until I find a replacement switch (maybe this one: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00E4WNRKU/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A3O3SSGGJLKX15 ).
If you see the message "NO RF Signal", it means the receiver isn't in the right mode to bring the antenna online, or the signal just isn't making it to the antenna.
Can anyone provide details on RF2? What's it used for, where is it (different area of the RV for a different receiver or right along side RF1)?
