Help with RV installation

Stanleyz

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Original poster
Jul 16, 2011
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ATL
Hi, I'm in fort myers fl with my RV and my neighbor has a strange problem. Dish 500 system, I set it up for him and it was working fine for a couple weeks. I had used a Radio shack signal meter during installation and I left it in the line. Every thing worked, both 110 and 119 signals were very strong on the point switch page. I removed the meter and installed a connector, lost 119. reinstalled the meter and both satellites very strong. Tried another connector, lost 119. reinstalled the meter and got strong signals. Removed my working connector from my system and installed it in his,lost 119. Reinstalled the meter and it has very strong signals on 119 and 110. What the heck is going on. Thanks for the help.
 
The RV may only have RG59 in it. I know mine did, but it simple to use the cable in it to pull the new cable. And mine is 2013 model.
 
run a switch test without the meter in line and report the results including status and switch
 
The wall plates in the rv are designed for cable and antenna use only.
Too broad of a statement. Some RVs today are wired for satellite.

The Cable In outside connection and the Antenna Plates should not be used.

I'm wired from LNB direct to Dish receiver with only 1 connection.
Is the connection the barrel connector where you put the meter? Could be as simple as a bad connector.

What color is the center of the connector white/clear don't use with DISH.
I had no problem with white center barrel connector fo 6 years. But in preparation for the Hopper, I did go through and replaced all the barrel connectors with3 GHz ones. Only issue is that the 3 GHz connectors are a little longer and the outsside covers don't close all the way.
 
Hi, I'm in fort myers fl with my RV and my neighbor has a strange problem. Dish 500 system, I set it up for him and it was working fine for a couple weeks. I had used a Radio shack signal meter during installation and I left it in the line. Every thing worked, both 110 and 119 signals were very strong on the point switch page. I removed the meter and installed a connector, lost 119. reinstalled the meter and both satellites very strong. Tried another connector, lost 119. reinstalled the meter and got strong signals. Removed my working connector from my system and installed it in his,lost 119. Reinstalled the meter and it has very strong signals on 119 and 110. What the heck is going on. Thanks for the help.

When you say 'connector', are you referring to a barrel connector that joins two ends of cable together? Are you sure there is no wire braid wrapped around the center conductor in the fittings at the ends of the cable?
 
I'd check the cable ends that you're screwing into the connector. Could be your meter is more tolerant of a shortened center wire. Are the ends on the cable self made, or factory?
 
The RV may only have RG59 in it. I know mine did, but it simple to use the cable in it to pull the new cable. And mine is 2013 model.

What looks like rg59 could actually be plenum rated cable,some of which can be rated up to 3ghz.
This would make sense due to its fire (off-gassing) rating
 
OK, here is a follow up. Yes the connector is a barrel type. I tried three different ones. Cable end is one manufactored one made by me (very carefully) Today I removed the meter and installed one of the conectors that wouldn't work yesterday. I went to the point dish page and had a very strong 110 signal but lost 119. I left it that way to see what would happen. Went to the dog track and lost some money, when I returned about 4 hours later everything was fine. Strong signal on both sats. So, why was I able to get an immediate strong signal on 119 through the meter but had to wait some amount of time to get it through the connector. It just seems strange. I've been RVing with a dish system for 12 years and never had this problem. Thanks to everyone for your help.
 
As an RVer, do yourself a favor. get a reasonable coax stripper and a compression fitting tool and a bunch of compression fittings. You can find reasonable quality tools at Home Depot or Lowes.

The reason the tools are a good investment is 1) compression fittings are the only thing to be using and 2) it is wise to put new ends on your cable every couple of year. The center conductor corrodes over time. Putting new ends means you will be cutting off the corrosion.
 
If you are in FM, why not try 61/72 (EA) with your 500. You'll get all the programs and should get easier signal location. Most of the WA HD programing is on 129. Just a thought. I've run my Dish connections both thru the coach wiring and also a separate line directly to the sat receiver. Both work fine. Must have RG6??
 
As an RVer, do yourself a favor. get a reasonable coax stripper and a compression fitting tool and a bunch of compression fittings. You can find reasonable quality tools at Home Depot or Lowes.

The reason the tools are a good investment is 1) compression fittings are the only thing to be using and 2) it is wise to put new ends on your cable every couple of year. The center conductor corrodes over time. Putting new ends means you will be cutting off the corrosion.

Thanks, I have a compression tool, but it's at home. I'll get a stripper and be sure to re do all the ends. The unit I had the problems with is next to me. The guy had no idea how to set it up. He has an auto seek on the roof but is blocked by the trees so I'll pass this to him also.
 
If you are in FM, why not try 61/72 (EA) with your 500. You'll get all the programs and should get easier signal location. Most of the WA HD programing is on 129. Just a thought. I've run my Dish connections both thru the coach wiring and also a separate line directly to the sat receiver. Both work fine. Must have RG6??

Well the main reason I don't do it is because I have no idea how to do that. My reciever is a VIP211 and it offers me a dish 500 or a dish 1000, as far as I know that's all I can get. But I'm always willing to learn if you can point me in the right direction.
 
Well the main reason I don't do it is because I have no idea how to do that. My reciever is a VIP211 and it offers me a dish 500 or a dish 1000, as far as I know that's all I can get. But I'm always willing to learn if you can point me in the right direction.

It works, but the coordinates & skew aren't in the DISH receiver software. So you'll need to find them elsewhere. Dishpointer only shows the results for the full EA dish. I don't remember whether or not those co-ords are close enough to work. I use this setup for my home dish, and got the aiming results from Satcalculator.net - That site doesn't seem to work anymore.
 

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