Need help: Wally & King Tailgater won't cooperate!

[gr8fun]

Received Friday the Wally and King Tailgater for our camper. Brought it with us to the Catskill Mountains in NY where we are camping for a week. Tried to get the setup going and I cannot. Spent hours on the phone with Dish outdoors and they're telling me the two aren't compatible. Ummm... They sold is the bundle! I'm so frustrated after being told it must be an issue with the antenna and am passed to King only to find them closed till Monday! Maybe my wisest decision would be just to send it all back and demand a refund...

Short of it, connecting Tailgater DIRECT to Wally, clear line of sight south, the antenna setup doesn't get past the 058 screen. Progress gets to about a third, stays there over 5 minutes, and then goes back to the screen to select state and scan. I aimed with an App that was recommended by Tech as if my compass and sense of the sky was inferior (all aligned). I moved the Tailgater up 2, 3 and 5 feet off the ground to no avail. We can hear the Tailgater moving, but it doesn't seem to find any satellites. The Wally setup is, well, dumbed down compared to any of the other receivers I've hooked up. So, doesn't give me a clue what's the matter. I also tried another RG6 cable that was shorter. I'm at my wit's end. I don't think folks at Dish are very familiar with this equipment yet. One tech gal said she needed to get the receiver activated to see what's going on! Ummm... Ms., my problem here is that I cannot locate any satellites so how exactly are you going to activate this for me???

Any help would be appreciated - sincerely!

Thank you!!

 

[HIFI]

Your wally will have to be connected to a 1000.2 dish for the initial download, after that the wally should be able to work with the tailgater.

 

[rvvaquero]

The King Tailgater appears to be even smaller than the original Tailgater. Your location makes it a real challenge to receive the western arc sats on such a tiny dish. What are the atmospheric conditions?

 

[Neutron]

We have the Wally and dish playmaker. We were told what hifi said; you have to activate it with your regular dish first.


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[rvvaquero]

We have the Wally and dish playmaker. We were told what hifi said; you have to activate it with your regular dish first.


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Edit: I just looked on the King Control website. The King Tailgater requires the solo class receivers, like the 211, 411. Doesn't the Wally require the new hybrid LNB?

 

[Neutron]

Nope. Our Wally works just fine with the playmaker and tailgater. You just have to do the initial activation at home first.


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[HIFI]

Edit: I just looked on the King Control website. The King Tailgater requires the solo class receivers, like the 211, 411. Doesn't the Wally require the new hybrid LNB?

The wally will work on a tailgater, I have set up many for rv customers, you just have to do the initial setup on a standard dish.

 

[gr8fun]

Interesting... So I may need to "bump start" the Wally using our home dish? Totally contrary to instructions and what I was told. The bundle of the Wally and King Tailgater was purchased from Dish. They sell them together, so my expectation is they are compatible.

The conditions were hazy, hot and humid and 92 degress. Skies were partly cloudy. I spoke to a neighboring camper just as he was leaving because I noticed he had a Winegard carry out. He said he wasn't able to hit 129, but was ok otherwise.

 

[dfergie]

Welcome to SatelliteGuys! sorry you were mislead.

 

[gr8fun]

Thank you for responding to a new guy on this forum so quickly!

 

[Neutron]

That's what we are here for!


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[gr8fun]

Batting 500 here folks...

Wally set up on home Dish antenna just fine - I had to make an unplanned journey home tonight while the family is still at camp. Took a good hour to do, but got it fully activated and surfed the channels. This is the positive.

The negative... I think this King Tailgater I've purchased may be junk! Beautiful clear night tonight and I've got it pointed just where it needs so it should find the satellites effortlessly. Well, it never gets out of the 058 Check Switch. I stopped it and was able to see 110 and 119 had good strength and tried to exit out of the Mobile Antenna Setup and it won't. Tried all sorts of ways to try to trick it out of this step - no joy. I am posting after letting it try to complete the Check Switch now 2.5 hrs after starting it on a fresh reboot of the Wally. Gotta head back to camp now, but I cannot believe this is normal behavior. So, I think there's an issue with the antenna. Oh, forgot to mention I had a buddy come over with his Winegard X2. Sat it right next to the King. With the Winegard, the Wally FLEW through this step and the Guide was downloading in all of 15 min time!

Any great advice? Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be able to call King before Friday. Maybe a Winegard is the better choice. I really need something my wife can hookup when she's by herself. This is not looking like that!

 

[JSheridan]

Isn't the Tailgater exclusively western arc?

 

[gr8fun]

Isn't the Tailgater exclusively western arc?

Yes, it is. Either arc has good sight from my home though. Strengths for 110 and 119 were just as strong as my Easterm Arc readings for the house. This long drive has me thinking that I'll give King an hour for Tech Support. If unresolved, back it goes for a Pathfinder X2. I may be the lucky lemon holder so I'll strive to make lemonade!

 

[rvvaquero]

First of all, I will never buy another King Controls product. I've owned the VuQube and the Tailgater and both are inferior, inconsistent products. The X2 is a better choice.

Secondly, your location is a real challenge to get 129 through such a small reflector. The X2 has a larger dish.

Third, if you set up your receiver at home on EA dish, then you need to run a check switch with the dish disconnected. Save the results, then hook up the Tailgater and try again. I used to flip flop between an EA dish and the Tailgater and had the best results by following that routine.

Good luck.

 

[gr8fun]

Following up for FYI.

I spent 8 hours trying to make a King Tailgater work with a Wally. In short, that is not currently possible with the latest Wally software!

After 2.5 hours on with King tech service, they were convinced I had gotten a defective antenna. They arranged for me to trade it in with a 3.5 hour round trip drive. New Tailgater, same problem! After an hour with King, conferenced in an incredibly knowledgeable tech at Dish who knew all about the Wally and just received the latest training. Very quickly found why the two cannot current work together. To test out the theory, had an incredibly kind neighbor at the campground that came with his x2 AND his old dish on tripod. Zero issues with either and the Wally and he loaned is the tripod to use - he and his wife enjoyed my smoked baby back ribs with my family!

A Wally software update will be needed to work with the Tailgater. Given updates are automatic, I fear for users that are okay now but may not be after a early morning update from Dish! Not waiting around for that.

Picking up our new Winegard tonight.

 

[Neutron]

Sorry to hear that you are having those issues. We nearly ordered the tailgater with our Wally but ended up getting the playmaker.


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[Tampa8]

Following up for FYI.

I spent 8 hours trying to make a King Tailgater work with a Wally. In short, that is not currently possible with the latest Wally software!

After 2.5 hours on with King tech service, they were convinced I had gotten a defective antenna. They arranged for me to trade it in with a 3.5 hour round trip drive. New Tailgater, same problem! After an hour with King, conferenced in an incredibly knowledgeable tech at Dish who knew all about the Wally and just received the latest training. Very quickly found why the two cannot current work together. To test out the theory, had an incredibly kind neighbor at the campground that came with his x2 AND his old dish on tripod. Zero issues with either and the Wally and he loaned is the tripod to use - he and his wife enjoyed my smoked baby back ribs with my family!

A Wally software update will be needed to work with the Tailgater. Given updates are automatic, I fear for users that are okay now but may not be after a early morning update from Dish! Not waiting around for that.

Picking up our new Winegard tonight.

My only question, would it have worked it you first set it up with a Hybrid home install?

 

[Neutron]

That's what was required for our Wally.


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[HIFI]

Have had the same problem a couple times with customers, did you run a check switch with no dish connected to the wally to clear the matrix and then connect the tailgater back up and run a check switch?