Satellite Connection Problems - BIghorn 3160EL

[GrayBeardSpey]

I am new to the Heartland world this summer. I have used this forum to resolve other minor issues and questions. It has been very helpful so I have high hopes on my first attempt at asking a specific question.

I am in the process of hooking up a new DISH Playmaker with a Wally receiver to my BH 3160el. I set it all up first going directly from satellite to Wally to the TV...in an effort to make sure I had no hardware issues. Once everything was working and without moving the sat or changing anything else, I hooked the sat coax to the sat port in the UDC and have tried the coax coming off of the Wally on both open ports in the entertainment cabinet. No signal from either. I have double checked hooking it directly again and it still works that way. What am I missing?

I do have a couple of pictures from both ends of the RV connections but apparently I don't have enough Hearthland forum seniority to post them yet.

 

[danemayer]

Hi GrayBeardSpey,

The first thing is to make sure you're using the right connection in the UDC. Most Bighorns have 4 coax connectors running along the top of the UDC and another on the side. The one on the side is for CableTV.

If you have 4 coax connectors along the top, they're paired. The right-hand connector of each pair goes to the roof to enable a Winegard Trav'ler installation. The left of each pair goes to the inside of the coach.

The far left connector is probably the one that goes to the living room.

If it doesn't work, try the other three.

After that, you'll have to check that connectors behind the UDC and behind the wall plates are tight. On newer rigs, it's less likely that the coax connectors themselves are the problem, but it's still possible.

 

[osims]

On my 3160 the sat connection for the living room is the third connector from the left, don’t know if that will help you but maybe

 

['Lil Guy']

Third sounds right. I think it is also written on the left side and shows the connections and labels their use. It should say to the living area.

 

[mlpeloquin]

Question is from a non DISH owner, but my sister does own one that I installed the wiring and connectors for, does the DISH Playmaker power the Wally receiver directly? If so, you may have to replace the rigs internally installed splitters with "power passing" splitters to get the power to the Wally. If the Wally has a separate power cord, then your problem maybe an incorrectly installed splitter or a bad connector with a short. Some have reported splitters installed with an input and output connection swapped. A few have reported ground shield shorted to the center connector.

 

[GrayBeardSpey]

Thanks everyone. Dan got it right. Livingroom and bedroom cross wired in the UDC. Resolved with a couple of stick-on labels.