SOLVED: Dish Tailgater and ViP211k Receiver issues

[Rodbuster]

Hoping some of you can help us out with this...my wife and I are getting a little frustrated. (especially me)
We purchased the Dish Tailgater at the Tampa RV show in January. We purchased the ViP211k receiver online from Campers World. Neither my wife or I are familiar with terminology that has to do with these systems...so please be "gentle" with your answers.


First, when the instructions say to point the dish towards the unobstructed southern sky, does that mean...point the handle towards the south or the opposite side with the lettering on it?
Second, In the docking station in my Key Largo, I have 5 places to attach a coaxial cable. One single connection on the right wall (for my cable hookup) and then two more recepticles that have 2 places "each" for a cable hookup. The two on the left (towards the tow vehicle) say satellite and the 2 on the right say bed satellite. I would guess that one of the 2 connectors on the left would be where I hook up the cable for the Tailgater....but, which one?

We have been trying to get this "pay as you go" plan activated since 9:15 this morning. The only thing that we're getting is "unable to activate receiver. Contact where you purchased it".

We have called the 1-800-472-1039 number that we got off the internet where they state
"We have operators standing by to help you order Dish Network for your RV. Our friendly call center representatives stand by ready to assist you.
All we get is an automated system....this certainly does not help with our frustration.
BTW, the Sunday hours are 9 AM to 11 PM.

Would really appreciate any help.
Dick

 

[pegmikef]

Re: Having a rough time with Dish Tailgater and ViP211k receiver

I have always assumed the handle was the rear so I alway point the front (non-handle side) in an unobstructed general southern direction. Once in a while I have had to tweek in just a little when it reports that it was missing a satellite.

I'm not familar with your rig, but I would think that either satellite connection would work assuming that there are counterpart ports in the living area to hook the receiver into.

I'm pretty sure that your satellite dish and receiver have to be hooked up and turned on before they can activate it because they do it via satellite, When you initially hook it up it will scan for and find the satellites, but then it will report that it needs to be activated before it can download programming. I just followed the step by step directions and it worked fine the first time.

Hopefully a Landmark owner can enlighten you about the connections.

 

[danemayer]

Re: Having a rough time with Dish Tailgater and ViP211k receiver

Hi Dick,

I don't have one but I took a look at the quick reference and I see it's not very clear. The very small picture appears to show the handle facing the southern sky. Also, it provides a different phone # - 1-800-333-DISH (3474) for activation.

In the UDC, there are 4 satellite connectors. One pair for the bedroom and the other for the living room. One side of each pair goes to the bedroom or living room; the other side of each pair goes to the roof to connect to a rooftop dish if you get one. The left of each pair is probably the side that goes to the bedroom or living room but there are no guarantees that every coach is the same or that the labels are correct. Since you're already having problems, I would stay away from the UDC until after you have the system working. Run the coax through a window to the VIP211k receiver while you're setting up. After you've got it working, go back and connect via the UDC. Keep in mind that in the bedroom and living room, there are separate connectors for satellite. Satellite doesn't share the TV/Cable connectors. I've attached a drawing that illustrates the UDC satellite connections.

 

[Hastey]

Re: Having a rough time with Dish Tailgater and ViP211k receiver

1st, the handle is the back so use it that way to point the dish holding it like a coffee cup so to speak.

Next is the receiver. If you purchased it new then it may not have downloaded the software. When I purchased my tailgater dish, I already owned the VIP211 receiver. I spoke to Dish about software and they said that since I was hooked up already with dish service and just moving the receiver to the 5er that the necessary software should be automatically downloaded and it was.

So when you plug everything in and get powered on the first screen you should see is a menu asking what state you are in. If you have that then you have the right software. If not, we need to figure out how to get it downloaded for you.

But I'll bet that you need to find the southern sky.

If you have an iPhone then there is an app called My Dish for RV that you can use to point with.

If you need more help let me know. I'm going to PM you my phone number.

 

[rjr6150]

Re: Having a rough time with Dish Tailgater and ViP211k receiver

Dick
Sent you a PM to give me a call believe can get you up and running.

 

[Wmnmy]

Re: Having a rough time with Dish Tailgater and ViP211k receiver

http://www.campingworld.com/shoppin...-automatic-portable-satellite-tv-antenna/7589 this is what I got the tailgater was way to difficult to aquire a signal with this one just put outside or on ladder and plug in it finds all three satellites and signal real fast . And I don't have to have dw yelling at me cuz I can't get a signal so she can watch tv lol. Well worth the price. Also it's portable and lighter than tripod .

 

[GOTTOYS]

Re: Having a rough time with Dish Tailgater and ViP211k receiver

I have a Tailgater and love it! Just call Dish Customer Service and ask for their RV dept. I got right through and talked to someone that was very helpful. He had all the info needed to set up my receiver. I hooked my receiver up to my Dish system at home for the initial set up. Took about 5-10 minutes. Now when I plug it into my trailer while using my Tailgater it takes about 5 minutes to initialize the system and I'm good to go. It works perfectly...Don

 

[Rodbuster]

Re: Having a rough time with Dish Tailgater and ViP211k receiver

Once again I've leaned on you for help and once again you come through like champs. I couple of you even sent me they're phone numbers so they could walk me through this process.

After reading all of your posts I can say that what you have suggested is what I have done.
I get as far as the prompt asking what state I'm in and then it starts scanning. My problem is when I make the phone call to activate the system (or receiver ???) it says "unable to activate receiver. contact where you purchased it".
It's like it's not recognizing my receiver.

This is where we are now. Yesterday, my wife e-mailed the outfit that activates the system. We received a very polite e-mail back saying that a person will contact us sometime this morning.
Let's see how that goes before I start bothering some of you people with phone calls.

Thank you very much for your help so far
Dick

 

[pegmikef]

Re: Having a rough time with Dish Tailgater and ViP211k receiver

Only one other thing comes to mind. I seem to remember that they need a couple of pieces of information about your receiver. Maybe you need to reverify that you are giving them the correct info. I think it was some kind of serial numbers.

 

[Rodbuster]

Re: Having a rough time with Dish Tailgater and ViP211k receiver

Well, we got that phone call this morning. What a difference it makes when you can talk to a "live person".
Everything is activated and we indeed have great reception.

Once again, I want to thank the people that responded.

Dick

 

[pegmikef]

Re: Having a rough time with Dish Tailgater and ViP211k receiver

Great! Enjoy.

 

[Hastey]

Great that you got it going and enjoy. Glad you called today, sorry I had to cut the conversation short but seems that every now and then I have to work. Not often but sometimes I do.

 

[Wmnmy]

Great glad you got it working I live out here in the desert seemed to take forever for me to get all satellites.