What's the problem with the satellite wiring?

[Chazman]

I have spent way too many hours this week trying to figure out why our new Pathway X2 won't get all the channels it should, and I've read a bunch of posts, but I can't figure out why the problem is with the satellite wiring inside our TT. (I get signals from all three eastern satellites in the mid 30's to upper 40's when hooked up to the trailer's coax) People say it won't work correctly with more than a 25 ft cable, so why do they supply it with a 25 ft cable? Don't they know that most RV's have interior coaxial wiring? I have tried numerous lengths of coax from the Pathway to the satellite input connection on the trailer, but the only way I can get all DISH channels is if I connect the Pathway directly to the Wally. I have checked the connections at the input on the outside of the trailer, and inside where you connect the Wally to the trailer wiring, both are tight.
So what's the problem with the trailer coax? It seems to be a decent grade of coax. Do you think it's pinched or cut somewhere? This is so frustrating. Anyone have any ideas or suggestions, short of drilling holes in the trailer and running a new cable?

[NMWildcat]

The fact that you get some channels and not others when going through the TT's wiring, is very strange. Usually it's all or nothing when compared to a direct connection between dish and receiver.
You might try looking behind the plates at the connections to ensure those connections are tight, and also look for any splitters. I have replaced OEM splitters with good quality power pass through splitters, or eliminated the splitter, that helped friends with sat connection problems.
Also, the 25' max cable length is a crock. We use 150' of RG6 cable at times.
You can always pass the cable through a slide out or window if worse comes to worst. No need to drill holes and install new connectors unless you just want to.
Good luck!

[Chazman]

Originally Posted by NMWildcat

The fact that you get some channels and not others when going through the TT's wiring, is very strange. Usually it's all or nothing when compared to a direct connection between dish and receiver.
You might try looking behind the plates at the connections to ensure those connections are tight, and also look for any splitters. I have replaced OEM splitters with good quality power pass through splitters, or eliminated the splitter, that helped friends with sat connection problems.
Also, the 25' max cable length is a crock. We use 150' of RG6 cable at times.
You can always pass the cable through a slide out or window if worse comes to worst. No need to drill holes and install new connectors unless you just want to.
Good luck!

Thanks for your reply. It is weird, isn't it? I have been on the phone numerous times this week with DISH, and have gotten different responses to my inquiries from different reps, but they always end up blaming the trailer wiring, which is probably true. I just don't understand why FR wouldn't run a straight shot of coax from the outside to the inside connector, if if fact, they didn't. Being that the coax is built into the trailer it would be difficult to check for splitters without pulling the cable out. (sealed bottom trailer) I did check the connections, and they are tight. I'm a little OCD, and like to do things "right". I would like to be able to "plug in" as the design is intended, so the window or slide idea would just really bother me. Do you also have a Pathway with a Wally, (Pathway powered by the Wally) or is your Antenna powered separately?

[NMWildcat]

I actually have a Tailgater and an older receiver, but several of my friends have your exact setup. All powered through the coax. I wouldn't own one that had a separate powered cable to the dish.
Have you taken the faceplates off where your trailer coax connecters are and checked behind them? I have seen them loose there and also found splitters behind the same faceplates in the wall or the cubby behind. Actually I have found splitters behind all kinds of panels and cubbies. I've also found staples and screws penetrating the coax cable. Amazing, right?
And yes I agree, how hard is it to run quality coax directly from quality connectors, outside to inside?

[Chazman]

Originally Posted by NMWildcat

I actually have a Tailgater and an older receiver, but several of my friends have your exact setup. All powered through the coax. I wouldn't own one that had a separate powered cable to the dish.
Have you taken the faceplates off where your trailer coax connecters are and checked behind them? I have seen them loose there and also found splitters behind the same faceplates in the wall or the cubby behind. Actually I have found splitters behind all kinds of panels and cubbies. I've also found staples and screws penetrating the coax cable. Amazing, right?
And yes I agree, how hard is it to run quality coax directly from quality connectors, outside to inside?

I did check the connectors behind the faceplates, and the one on the outside connector was a little loose so I tightened it, but that was early on, and it didn't make any difference after I tightened it. Guess I'll have to do a bit more "exploring" and see if I can find any compromised coax. Thanks again for your replies.

[cristofer.a]

When I contacted winguard about that exact satellite system they told me that I could not use the existing satellite wiring to the outside of my camper because the satellite gets its power from the receiver and there is too much power loss from splitters or wall plate connectors.
That I would have to have the satellite plugged directly to the receiver for the satellite to work properly.

[J.Shea]

I have a 2015 forest river Evo that had similar problems. If you have only one cable port on the outside of your trailer it will only work for cable TV.
I tried mine & it wouldn’t carry a satellite signal. They are different frequencies.
I bought a special splitter and a new wall plate and installed two connectors in the wall by the tv. The splitter was installed behind the two wall plates. The 2nd wall plate is just for satellite. The splitter changes the frequency on the satellite side. Works great.

[NMWildcat]

You can replace existing splitters with power pass through splitters rated for satellite. Can also upgrade connectors. No biggy.
I fixed several of my buddies RVs after techs told them the same things. I figure the techs were just lazy.

[CedarCreekWoody]

Have you tried using the other pair of cables On the RV? Sometimes they label them wrong.

[JGB]

Our Direct TV broadcast on three satellites requiring a 3 LNB antenna, the system that came with our Isata 5 36DS is only a 2 LNB dish so by default we do not get the channels that are on the third satellite. Fortunately only a few channels are omitted. We also found that our local channels are available when we are in the local viewing area but somehow when we are out of town all local channels are blocked which include the network feeds.

[Sfgoble]

The connections on my puma were all mislabeled bedroom and living room were swapped it all worked great once I figured that out . The dealer said they normally check them and apologized said about 1/2 the time they are mislabeled when they get them but I wasn’t getting anything. Could be cable and satellite labels wrong. Worth a try

[Bnrc73]

I use a tailgater with a Wally. I installed a connector in the side of my entertainment slide and ran direct to the Wally. Works great. If the hole scares you, you can just run it through the slide seal before it seals open.

[CedarCreekWoody]

" We also found that our local channels are available when we are in the local viewing area but somehow when we are out of town all local channels are blocked which include the network feeds."

Local channels are on a different satellite with small coverage areas. It is easy to drive outside your coverage area.

[1ed]

Just purchase a 2020 Rockwood Mini Lite and had the same problem and the same equipment as you have. When hooked up to the sat plug on outside of trailer--nothing
when hooked up to sat plug inside--nothing. Ran cable thur window to wally and bingo it worked. So, what I did was take the two screws off of the faceplate and pulled the faceplate away from the wall. Saw three colored wires. Then went outside right to where the outside plug is located and took out the two screws and pulled the plug away from wall and there was a orange color so I knew there that was the one I wanted to connect too so I put that plug back on the wall. Went inside and separated that orange wire from the others and made that the sat feed and then put it all back together and have enjoyed sat for the last week. PIECE OF CAKE. I TURNED THE PAGE AND REALLY DON'T CARE WHY IT WAS LIKE THAT......I'M JUST ENJOYING MY DISH.....

[The Newsoms]

Originally Posted by cristofer.a

When I contacted winguard about that exact satellite system they told me that I could not use the existing satellite wiring to the outside of my camper because the satellite gets its power from the receiver and there is too much power loss from splitters or wall plate connectors.
That I would have to have the satellite plugged directly to the receiver for the satellite to work properly.

Ours runs through our outside connector with no problems. Pathway X2 and 211z receiver.

[BandJCarm]

Local channels operate on a 'spot beam'. Imagine a physical cone from satellite to earth. Outside the footprint of cone, no channels. Your package and smart card in receiver tells the system which local channels you are to receive, but only if there is a signal for them.


The cone is often pretty big. I can get local Little Rock channels at Toledo Bend Lake, LA/TX. To get local channels, I simply change the tv remote to 'source' and select OTA or whatever yours may be called. Then do a channel scan (once). I don't have to change any cabling. I can't record them, though.


I did what 1ED did and I'm lucky that all mine are labeled correctly.

[Chazman]

Originally Posted by cristofer.a

When I contacted winguard about that exact satellite system they told me that I could not use the existing satellite wiring to the outside of my camper because the satellite gets its power from the receiver and there is too much power loss from splitters or wall plate connectors.
That I would have to have the satellite plugged directly to the receiver for the satellite to work properly.

Thanks for your reply. I was out there today and all three satellites were locked in with signals in the 47-53 range. Every channel was coming in perfectly. Go figure. I'm still convinced that there's just too much signal loss through the trailer wiring when the signal isn't that strong.

[Chazman]

Originally Posted by 1ed

Just purchase a 2020 Rockwood Mini Lite and had the same problem and the same equipment as you have. When hooked up to the sat plug on outside of trailer--nothing
when hooked up to sat plug inside--nothing. Ran cable thur window to wally and bingo it worked. So, what I did was take the two screws off of the faceplate and pulled the faceplate away from the wall. Saw three colored wires. Then went outside right to where the outside plug is located and took out the two screws and pulled the plug away from wall and there was a orange color so I knew there that was the one I wanted to connect too so I put that plug back on the wall. Went inside and separated that orange wire from the others and made that the sat feed and then put it all back together and have enjoyed sat for the last week. PIECE OF CAKE. I TURNED THE PAGE AND REALLY DON'T CARE WHY IT WAS LIKE THAT......I'M JUST ENJOYING MY DISH.....

Now that's something I hadn't considered trying, swapping the orange and black cables. I'm going to give a shot. Thanks for your suggestion!

[Chazman]

Originally Posted by BandJCarm

Local channels operate on a 'spot beam'. Imagine a physical cone from satellite to earth. Outside the footprint of cone, no channels. Your package and smart card in receiver tells the system which local channels you are to receive, but only if there is a signal for them.


The cone is often pretty big. I can get local Little Rock channels at Toledo Bend Lake, LA/TX. To get local channels, I simply change the tv remote to 'source' and select OTA or whatever yours may be called. Then do a channel scan (once). I don't have to change any cabling. I can't record them, though.


I did what 1ED did and I'm lucky that all mine are labeled correctly.

Thanks for your reply. I did see that, "SPOTBEAM" show up in Diagnostics, and wondered what it was. If it's not on spotbeam it's on one of about 20 transponders. More good info, thanks again!

[Chazman]

Thanks again to all who replied. I will update if/when I get it all figured out.