In motion sat problem

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Smoky

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Mar 11, 2005
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I have the KVH in motion Tracvision satellite.?

A recurring problem is sometimes when I arrive at a new location, occasionally it will not search.? In the past, moving the coach breaks this "lockup" and it begins searching.? This is a pain when I am in a park, slides out, sewage electric and water hooked up.? Not so bad on a WM parking lot.

Well yesterday we moved the coach to fuel up for QZ.? I made the mistake of fully hooking up upon return to the park, before re setting the sat TV dish.

I tried the reset procedure but it doesn't work.? The satellite dish refuses to search.

Is there any way besides moving the coach to get it searching again?? Maybe a clue to the answer would be figuring out why moving it a few feet always gets it searching again.? Very weird.
 
Smokey, since it's an in-motion unit why not turn it on at your last stop before getting to the campground?  That way it will already be locked up when you park (or am I missing something here?).
 
Caltex:

That is what I normally do.  Someone here suggested that a few months ago and that approach works great.  Unfortunately, I forgot this week, in the rush to get ready for QZ.

I am not going to unhook, make the adjustment, then hook up, only to unhook again on Thursday and rehook to my shiny new 50 amp pedestal with sewage at QZ.  ;D 

I will either wait until QZ to get it going again, or if I get really desperate, I will put out my portable ground dish.

In the meantime if someone could figure out why this happens and a Rube Goldberg method of jump starting it, it would save me a lot of grief.

Ron, have you ever tried getting a human being to answer at KVH?  ;D
 
I'm sure you can get a Motosat TV antenna at QZ.  Motosat answers their phones too :)
 
Ned:

Despite the cost I will give it a serious look.  Have they solved the problem that they cannot go on the Internet if the TV is being watched.  I do most of my internetting while watching TV.  I truly would like the conveneince of a fully automatic system.

As for my current problem, I got the following advice on the Newmar email list which I will try this morning:

Hi,

I am assuming you have the Tracvision L2 system. I am also assuming you are
using a D10 receiver from DirectTV or KVH. If this is correct you need to
contact KVH and request a replacement for the D10 receiver. You will find
the request form, a work around for the time you are waiting so you can
continue watching TV. It intails unplugging the low speed port (the one
that looks like the telephone connection) from the back of your switch.
Then press the search sat button to get it going plus ensuring the receiver
is set on sat 101 and transp 19.

The problem with this combination of equipment is that DirectTV down loaded
a software package that is not compatible with the L2 Tracvision system. It
will not allow the low speed side to search for your satellite. The
replacement is free and arrives quickly.

On the web site the work around is spelled out and is straightforward.
Good luck.

By the way, after following the guidelines mine works great now.
******

Maybe the above will work.
 
Sounds like the problem has been identified and a solution is available along with a temporary work around.  Looks like you need to get hold of KVH for the new receiver from them.  Just think you will have a week to get through to them while you are at QZ. ;D
 
Well actually it might be close to a month before we are stable again.  We figure to hit QZ, Mexico, California, Lake Havesu, and Sedona in the next few weeks.  I think I could live with the workaround on a permanent basis (have not tried it yet), but a new receiver might be nice.  wonder if they would give me a tivo???  ;D
 
No problem using a Motsat to watch TV while using the internet. ?They are two separate antennas. ?Motosat has a full line of Satellite TV antennas, including an HDTV model. ?I would never combine TV and internet on the same antenna. ?There are often times when I use one and not the other, and when changing satellites, you have to get a different BOW kit or at least reconfigure it.

Also, the Motosat antennas don't need a receiver to point the dish. ?They use their Nomad controller that uses the DVB signals from the satellites themselves to locate and identify the correct satellite. ?KVH is several years behind the times.
 
Thanks Ned.  If I knew all this when I bought the coach I would have gone right to it.  I was confused by the dealer who wanted, I believe, to sell me  KVH L3.  Somehow I thought that was the same technology as Motosat (didn;t know better at the time).  I thought why should I pay 4 to 5 thousand for a system where I cannot watch TV and surf the net at the same time?

Going with Ron's solution was a smart move for me given what I knew.  But now I wish I had thought through things more carefully.  I am still happy with what I have, but this is one area I could have thought about more carefully.
 
I thought why should I pay 4 to 5 thousand for a system where I cannot watch TV and surf the net at the same time?

Who told you that?  Even the Datastorm can do that on most satellites.
 
The Datastorm is a direcway dish mounted on the Motosat system and controlled by the Motosat system.  In most cases, depending on Satellite you are assigned, you can just add a BOW like we do on the tripod systems to get TV on the same dish.  The datastorm system cost the big bucks.  However Motosat also make a TV system that does not cost 4K-5K.  IMHO the Motosat TV antenna system is the best there is and unmatched by anybody.  I think Ned was originally suggesting replacing your KVH with a quality Motosat TV antenna.
 
I have an unusued BOW (Bird On a Wire) that I'm considering selling. Fits a standard DW-type dish and adjusts for various satellites.
 
Tom said:
I have an unusued BOW (Bird On a Wire) that I'm considering selling. Fits a standard DW-type dish and adjusts for various satellites.

Better jump onn that offer Smoky.  At least when you set up the DW you will have TV regardless of what the KVH has in store for you.
 
Karl said:
Smoky,

I think Tom's offer was for just the BOW. If you don't have a regular tv dish, it won't do you any good.

No the BOW can be used on the DW dish to allow receiving TV on the DW dish.  That is exactly what we have.
 
Karl said:
Smoky,

I think Tom's offer was for just the BOW. If you don't have a regular tv dish, it won't do you any good.

Eh  ???  The BOW works independent of any "regular" TV dish. As Ron and I both said, it attaches to a DW dish.
 
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