need help with hooking up satellite to trailer

[Mark-Aileen-Gilmore]

Hello, My husband and I just purchased our first Heartland Big Horn and took it out for the first time this weekend for a shakedown run. Only found one small problem. We have Dish Network and hooked up the same as always but instead of installing direct to dish box I tried the Satellite connections in the RV. However, first problem there are 2 for downstairs and 2 for bedroom can't figure out which one to put it in and when I did plug it in it would not work. I tried all 4 outlets. Can someone tell me if there is a secret to making it work thru the rv instead of taking the cord thru a window and plugging directly into box in the coach. WE LOVE THIS TRAILER and need help PLEASE

 

[jimtoo]

Hi Mark & Aileen,

Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum and to the family. We have a great bunch of folks here with lots of information and all willing to share their knowledge when needed.

For your satellite connections 2 are for wiring to the roof/attic for installation of a dish, the other two,, one goes to living room and the other to the bedroom. You need to make sure the booster switch is turned off also. There have been some problems with bad connections/connectors also. You might contact your dealer, if close by, and see if they can help trace the problem down.

Be sure and check out our Heartland Owners Club. Join us at a rally when you can and meet lots of the great folks here and make friends for a lifetime.

Enjoy the forum and your new unit.

Jim M

 

[JohnDar]

When I first got the DISH set up for ours, I used a bent paperclip to short the connectors in the UDC (one at a time) and used a VOM to check the inside connectors for continuity. Found the right one and no problem since.

 

[Mark-Aileen-Gilmore]

Thanks Jim for your help. We just purchased a 2011 3185 bighorn and we did a test run this weekend everything was awesome. EXCEPT for the satellite problem. We have been looking at this year and brand for 2 years now. Very hard to find out here in the Pacific Northwest. It was well worth the wait though.

 

[etcmss]

http://manuals.heartlandowners.org/?man=/Electronics/Coax_Layouts/All_Brands


I had this problem in my Big Horn and had to replace a section of coax cable. The link provided is to user guides (maybe yours is in there) to see the intended wiring. Hoping that yours is not altered from original.
In some models the antenna booster being on has an impact on the TV signal. Mine does not as the cable input to the bedroom and the LR from outside do not pass thru the booster. If yours shares this cable to the TV then ensure the antenna booster is off.
My Big Horn has 4 coax connections in the outside bay---2 are to the roof, 1 for the bedroom unit and 1 for the Living Room. Mostly these are not used for portable dishes. They are for permanently installing a roof satellite and then connect to the TV's thru the other 2 connections.
The other 2 are for connection to the coax in the bedroom and to the LR.
I found it easiest to hook up receiver and satellite directly to the Living Room TV coax and make sure it works, then start troubleshooting. You may have to find the cable junction point under the trailer.
Signal tracers, using shorted coax connector are a couple of signal tracing methods others here have used. Be patient and sort thru it.

 

[maddog]

run it direct thru window or make separate connection thru trailer,,,rv wiring too long for reliable auto dish function...

 

[Lou_and_Bette]

run it direct thru window or make separate connection thru trailer,,,rv wiring too long for reliable auto dish function...

Not necessarily true, mine works great.

 

[maddog]

Not necessarily true, mine works great.

it depends if its the dish that requires a separate power cord or the one that gets power thru the cable line,,,also how they ran cable inside camper,,(heartland),so many had unreliable signal,,,one minute it would work,another nothing....

 

[danemayer]

LNBs that require power, like the SWM LNB used on a Directv Slimline3 dish, add a level of complexity.

If the power inserter is close to receiver, then the splitters must be of a type that pass the voltage back to the LNB. Our power inserter is at the receiver, but the splitter is in the UDC. The line going to the power inserter has to be attached to the correct connector on the splitter for the voltage to get back to the LNB. If there's an additional factory installed splitter somewhere in between the UDC and the receiver, perhaps intended to split signals out to multiple locations, it may not be the type that passes voltage.

When you set up your satellite, if it uses power, putting the power inserter in the UDC might fix some problems. Of course, every satellite setup seems to be a little different, and they change every few years. So there doesn't seem to be any simple answer.

Keeping up with it all is no small thing.

 

[janes]

I have a cable tuner that you can put one end of cable other end on a cable and get a tone or light if working with the same cable hope this works !!!