King Tailgater not picking up all available satellites in new Big Country

[D_BTravelers]

We have had a Dish Tailgater for several years and used in in our SOB 35' travel trailer with no issues. Put it on the ground, connected the 50' coax to the trailer's exterior input and it found the satellites. We purchased a new 2016 Big Country 3650RL last January and have had nothing but issues getting it to work properly. Sat the Tailgater out in a clear area, turned to face the south, etc., etc. When the receiver is turned on we get the normal startup screens, but it takes forever to hunt for satellites and eventually comes back "Partial Signal Loss, ERROR 202" which means we have about 1/2 of the stations we should have. So while traveling this past fall, we thought we might have damaged the Tailgater over the years and plunked down the money for a new King Tailgater which would give us two outputs for two tvs. We got back to camp and connected the satellite and receiver, authorized it, and started through the startup process. Partial Signal Loss, ERROR 202! It was not a good day to visit with me. Same exact issues as we had with the Tailgater, just $450 and more aggravation later. I ran the coax directly through the window of the Big Country and connected to the receiver...BINGO everything works as advertised! Set up quickly, found all the stations, etc. Not exactly happy about having to run the coax through a window so I can watch sports or NASCAR.

I have a Klein coax tester and have tested every piece of coax from the exterior connection to the plate behind the TV, everything test OK. No shorts, no open circuits. I took the trailer in to my local repair for the last of the warranty items and to have the King satellite roof bracket mounted. The tech there said they would add a 5 Gh splitter and that would resolve the issue, and they have used it before. ? I just visited with Matthew Rauser with King and he said that a booster would not help and might damage the antennae. Any help from someone experiencing this issue would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Kbvols]

I have the same issue with my Big Horn. I replaced all the barrel connectors and ends with higher quality ones and that helped somewhat. What seems to work is when I run the coaxial cable directly from the tailgater to the receiver get a good signal then disconnect and run thru RV. This works a majority of time but a pain. Hopefully someone will have some suggestions for this.


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[D_BTravelers]

I have the same issue with my Big Horn. I replaced all the barrel connectors and ends with higher quality ones and that helped somewhat. What seems to work is when I run the coaxial cable directly from the tailgater to the receiver get a good signal then disconnect and run thru RV. This works a majority of time but a pain. Hopefully someone will have some suggestions for this.


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Good suggestion, I hadn't thought of replacing the connectors. When I go pick up the BC, I'll let you know if the splitter with amplifier worked. The coax run from the roof mount will be shorter, so that might work anyway, but sometimes I'll have to take it off the roof and set up on the ground which is where the issue pops up. Either way, I'll post results, thank you KBvols for the suggestion and response.

 

[wrgrs50s]

I recall reading about this before and the solution was changing out the splitters with a higher quality splitter, but not amplified. The factory splitters were interfering with the signal.

 

[D_BTravelers]

Seems a common theme: factory coax ends and splitters are not good quality. Thank you for the suggestion. I'll swap them out, they aren't expensive for a decent one, and pickup some new coax terminal ends while I am at it.

 

['Lil Guy']

If you have the connection in your storage bay wall and are not going o use a TV in that location, remove the splitter there and hook the cable direct and leave the splitter hanging off of that connection. I believe this is how Ed Potts fixed his problem in his LM. Easy job by just unscrewing the tv connection panel and pulling the wires out far enough to disconnect and reconnect the cables. Good luck.

 

[D_BTravelers]

If you have the connection in your storage bay wall and are not going o use a TV in that location, remove the splitter there and hook the cable direct and leave the splitter hanging off of that connection. I believe this is how Ed Potts fixed his problem in his LM. Easy job by just unscrewing the tv connection panel and pulling the wires out far enough to disconnect and reconnect the cables. Good luck.

Thanks for the suggestion. It is in the shop right now getting some warranty items taken care of so I can't go look. And it is 20 degrees outside also. However I have had the basement panel off and there is no splitter in that location; checked all connections for tight also. I have tested all the coax runs and all checked OK. I do plan on replacing the coax ends with better quality when I get it back home...and it is warmer. There is a splitter in the cabinet above the TV, and I suspect that may be the issue as suggested above; I'll replace it with a gold plated one. The RV repair place is getting me a quote for them to replace the splitter, but I will most likely do it myself. Thanks for your comments.

 

[mlpeloquin]

Thanks for the suggestion. It is in the shop right now getting some warranty items taken care of so I can't go look. And it is 20 degrees outside also. However I have had the basement panel off and there is no splitter in that location; checked all connections for tight also. I have tested all the coax runs and all checked OK. I do plan on replacing the coax ends with better quality when I get it back home...and it is warmer. There is a splitter in the cabinet above the TV, and I suspect that may be the issue as suggested above; I'll replace it with a gold plated one. The RV repair place is getting me a quote for them to replace the splitter, but I will most likely do it myself. Thanks for your comments.

Just because the splitter has gold plating doesn't mean it is a good splitter. Gold flashing is cheep. It is what the specs are that count. Purchase splitters that DISH or Direct TV use.

https://www.solidsignal.com/pview.a...MIsOaop8bf2AIVGbXACh2hXAfFEAQYAiABEgJBp_D_BwE

Check out all of Solid Signals two way splitters: https://www.solidsignal.com/search.asp?q=2 way splitter&p=2&r=&s=&f=

 

[D_BTravelers]

See? I learn something helpful everyday. For Dish or DirectTV use. Got it, and thanks.

 

[dave10a]

I have Wineguard that is equivalent to the Tailgater and have had no problem what so ever. However, It always connect thru the UDC bay satellite connectors that go directly to the satellite receiver. I don't understand why would go thru a splitter. Please explain.

 

[boatto5er]

I replaced my end connectors. Got a 50% improvement. (Found All satellites half the time). While visiting my audio/visual tech son in MN last year he suggested I replace the Walmart 6’ cable going from the wall connector to the satellite receiver box. He brought me one of his high quality cables and “viola”, nearly 100% success in finding 3 satellites first try.


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[DaveTyler]

I have Wineguard that is equivalent to the Tailgater and have had no problem what so ever. However, It always connect thru the UDC bay satellite connectors that go directly to the satellite receiver. I don't understand why would go thru a splitter. Please explain.

Not sure exactly where but when tv’s in slide out. Coax goes down and follows with wires and goes to inside hole in frame. Several times have pulled on coax and pulls out a barrel connecter that is loose. From inside frame. Couple times had to let down coloplast to find connection. This has worked many times. To bypass udc run New coax down from tv then hook up satellite right there. Dave




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[carl.swoyer]

We have had a Dish Tailgater for several years and used in in our SOB 35' travel trailer with no issues. Put it on the ground, connected the 50' coax to the trailer's exterior input and it found the satellites. We purchased a new 2016 Big Country 3650RL last January and have had nothing but issues getting it to work properly. Sat the Tailgater out in a clear area, turned to face the south, etc., etc. When the receiver is turned on we get the normal startup screens, but it takes forever to hunt for satellites and eventually comes back "Partial Signal Loss, ERROR 202" which means we have about 1/2 of the stations we should have. So while traveling this past fall, we thought we might have damaged the Tailgater over the years and plunked down the money for a new King Tailgater which would give us two outputs for two tvs. We got back to camp and connected the satellite and receiver, authorized it, and started through the startup process. Partial Signal Loss, ERROR 202! It was not a good day to visit with me. Same exact issues as we had with the Tailgater, just $450 and more aggravation later. I ran the coax directly through the window of the Big Country and connected to the receiver...BINGO everything works as advertised! Set up quickly, found all the stations, etc. Not exactly happy about having to run the coax through a window so I can watch sports or NASCAR.

I have a Klein coax tester and have tested every piece of coax from the exterior connection to the plate behind the TV, everything test OK. No shorts, no open circuits. I took the trailer in to my local repair for the last of the warranty items and to have the King satellite roof bracket mounted. The tech there said they would add a 5 Gh splitter and that would resolve the issue, and they have used it before. ? I just visited with Matthew Rauser with King and he said that a booster would not help and might damage the antennae. Any help from someone experiencing this issue would be greatly appreciated!

With my direct TV satilite I had a bad power cord. I was getting some DC volts but not enough to completely power my dish. I verified the DC power as insufficient. Replaced the power cord and I now have all my channels. I also have to turn off my antenna booster

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[Techwriter]

I have Wineguard that is equivalent to the Tailgater and have had no problem what so ever.

Winegard Pathway X2?

If so, then it may be because your Winegard Pathway X2 can acquire DISH's Western Arc (110, 119, 129) and Eastern Arc (61.5, 72.7, 77) satellites. The Tailgater can only acquire DISH's Western Arc sats.

Some of you Tailgater users may be camping in areas served by Eastern Arc sats.

Here's a coverage map of both arcs -- https://rvseniormoments.files.wordpress.com/2017/09/dish-tv-station-markets_9-12-17.jpg

 

[richheck]

Dish Network receivers do not work well with splitters, your UDC should be direct to the bedroom and living area without splitters on the sat feeds. The OTA/Park cable will have splitters to accommodate the OTA/park output locations but the sat feed should be direct for “Dish”. Direct tv will work with splitters inline but Dish will not.