Legacy and SW21X - Error 004

[padgett]

OK, I have had the home setup for years but was thinking about using one of the receivers with an RV.
I had been given a pair of Sony 18D2 dishes and bought a JVI SW21X switch (which reports as a SW42). There is a new 50ft cable of RG-6U to the switch and two six foot RG-6 leads to the dishes. Checked for at least 2 mm of lead beyond the connectors. The specs on the 21X say it can be used in place of a SW21.

Took one of the 4900s (legacy system) which works fine with the home installation. Hooked everything up before plugging it in. Check Switch worked fine. Several times.

Both dishes - one pointed at 110 and the other at 119 - are each reporting over 80% but when I switch from one to the other there is often (not always) 15 seconds to a minute of "Error 004" that suggests running "Check Switch" before it locks in.

It never does this when connected to the residence system with a SW64 that has power injection . Have tried reversing (after unplugging) leads from dish 1 to dish 2 but acts the same.

I was wondering if there might be a power issue in this setup. The specs on the JVI SW21X say it can pass 225 ma while the Sony LNB secification page says 3w max (about 330 ma). I do not know what the 4900 is capable of providing.

This is something that is not necessary since I do not even have the RV yet but would like to have everything ready when I do purchase one (besides I enjoy tinkering) so would like to know if this combination is a problem and if so what do I need to correct it ?

 

[Skibum]

I've only ever had trouble with the 21X switch whenever I've worked on them in RVs. Honestly, I've only seen them used on the motorized dish systems on an RV roof. Why don't you find an old Dish 500 and get a legacy twin if you only need the 110/119? You can probably find 'em cheaper around town, but here's a setup from one of the Gold Sponsors for $50: The Dish Store - Powered by Metro25

 

[vegassatellite]

Find out where a local installation office for Dish is, and check the dumpster behind the shop. You can find a dish 500 that way.

 

[padgett]

Had a bit more time to try the rig and found something interesting: Replacing the 50 foot lead of standard RG-6U with the same length of Philips "Quad Shield" which claims much less signal loss dramatically dropped the incidence of "Error 004".

In the residence the SW64 is only a few feet from the receivers but for the RV test rig I put the SW21X at the end of the 50' lead and next to the dishes. Signal loss in the coax is apparently a factor.