Inverter and the directv receiver

[Navy CPO]

I am new at the RVing! I have a 38' Sunnybrooke 5th wheel.. My tv system is directv. I have 1000 watt inverter and a 8D battery. I have hooked up the small 19" LCD tv and the DIRECTV receiver with no luck on it working. Reciever and TV come on fine work great, but the reciever satellite's fail.. So I hooked it back up to Gen Power(3000iuHonda) and worked great..Hooked it back up to inverter with no joy..
What is the Problem? Ther is nothing else hooked to the inverter just the reciever and TV.

 

[Ned]

It's possible the DTV receiver doesn't like the output of the inverter if it's a modified sine wave.  If so, it's the first satellite receiver I've heard of that wouldn't run on inverter power.  The other possibility is the battery isn't sufficiently charged and the inverter isn't putting out a true 120VAC.

 

[Ron]

Have you confirmed that you have 120 VAC power at the outlet that the directv receiver is plugged into when on inverter power?

 

[Ned]

He said the receiver comes on, but fails to lock on to the satellite.  This would indicate a probable power supply problem.

 

[Navy CPO]

every thing is 120 tv comes on reciever comes on but does not lock into satellites...

 

[Lou Schneider]

Try seperating the coax going to the satellite receiver from 120VAC and 12VDC lines.  Inverters put more noise onto these lines than does a generator and it's possible this is interfering with the signal from the dish.

 

[Karl]

Either Lou's or Ned's analysis may be correct. The LNB part of the antenna, gets its' power thru the coax cable that also carries the signal, and has electronics inside which are kind of picky about the level and quality of the voltage being supplied. If the inverter is noisy, this may be interfering with the signal; if the voltage is wrong (low battery charge?), the frequency of the local oscillator for the transponder it's trying to use may be way off. Most often, however, the problem will be in loose, corroded, or improperly installed coax plugs. Make sure they're up to snuff before doing anything else. 

 

[Navy CPO]

so just get the extention cord as far away from the coax cable as possible?  Extention cord is less than ten feet

 

[Navy CPO]

so just get the extention cord as far away from the coax cable as possible?  Extention cord is less than ten feet

You put your shoes on in the mourning...,but you never know who will take them off at nite unless you actually do it!

 

[John From Detroit]

I keep hearing from folks how Modified Sine Wave inverters are just as good as True Sine Wave (Some say better because they are more efficent)  I keep telling them they are not.  The reason.  Well reasons...

1: Some electronic devices do not like the modified sine wave, they object to it and refuse to play nice when using it.

2: (And this is way more common) Modified sine wave inverters are electronically NOISY, If you have the kind of radios I have they sound a lot like a buzz saw sawing on the antenna lead... Or your ear drum

It is possible that noise generated by the inverter is getting into your receiver's inpug and blocking the sat.  What radio types call "Jamming the signal"  Solution... True sine wave inverter  Or much better filtering on the receiver's power supply, either one.  You can do the first,  The second is up to Direc however

 

[Karl]

Hey Chief,
Do you get any kind of signal strength indication on the t.v. screen when you try going through the setup? What kind of antenna - Automatic tracking or manual?

 

[Navy CPO]

To all If you ever put an inverter in with a 8D battery make sure the damn thing is GROUNDED and it will work.....I grounded mine and it works great. Thanks for all the help....Ya'll come to Key West and fish..I am only here because Uncle Sam told me to come , but i am retiring in '10 in Yuma...See Ya'll there

 

[Lou Schneider]

Twisting the input and output leads will also do a lot to cut down on inverter noise.  2 to 3 twists per foot is all that's needed to significantly reduce radiated noise from the wires.  Dirty coaxial connections are another good possibility.

I like to try cheap and easy fixes before throwing money at a problem.