3 output SK-3005 Conversion to SWM-8
I got stuck with one of the SK-3005 dishes which only has 3 outputs instead of the 4 required for using with a SWM-8. I won't go into the whole story but, to make a long story short, I thought I was b...
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Thanks Bill for jumping in. Now you know what I mean by "low signal to noise ratio"!
Anyhow, this was an easy fix. Had I just taken the antenna apart to begin with I would have seen how easy it was to fix. Unfortunately, I wasted a lot of time because Winegard tech support told me it couldn't be done and there weren't enough outputs on the LNB head and I believed them. They said no and that I must replace everything from the turret on up except for the reflector and that they would do me a favor and sell me the parts for around $900 and a refurbed one for about $600.Turns out the LNB head on the 3-output SK-3005 is the same as on the 4 output SK-3005. It's just that Winegard didn't include the coax to run it down to the base.
I want to thank Larry for the info that in fact there were 4 outputs on the LNB head. Once I crawled up on the roof and took the dish apart it became obvious how to solve this problem.
So, turns out there is no difference between a 3 output SK-3005 and a 4 output other than Winegard didn't provide the cable from the LNB head to the base of the turret. I didn't want to run cables outside the turret as Larry has done so I ran a 4th cable from the LNB head down to the base, drilled a hole and added a M-M panel mount coupler. Then I mounted the SWM-8 under the base of the turrent, connected all the coax' from the head to the SWM-8 and ran SWM-1 and SWM-2 from the SWM-8 to M-M panel mount couplers in the base. I used my existing cable into the coach to attach to the new SWM-1 and SWM-2 connectors. Make sure you use the terminator off the SWM-8 to terminate the SWM-2 connection inside the coach if you choose to run it and don't attach it to a DVR/Receiver.
I used the existing coax going into the coach and mounted the SMW-8 power supply in my A/V box and wa-la! it all works great. Total investment - about $100 including the SWM-8 and all the pre-fab coax I bought. I didn't have all my tools with me so I opted to just buy pre-fab lengths of coax instead of making them as I'd normally do. Was cheaper than buying a new crimp tool and all the connectors. Here is the bill of materials:
- (1) SWM-8 and powersupply
- (4) F-F feed-thru couplers
- (4) 3' M-M cables
- (3) M-M couplers
- (1) M terminator
I would have preferred to us the RG-134 (or whatever the small diameter coax Winegard uses from the LNB head to the base of the turret) but it wasn't anywhere to be found in Clovis, NM so I just used regular RG-6 with weather resistant connectors.
I had previously run all three outputs into my coach but didn't know which was which plus I needed to plug off the extra hole in the antenna base so I just put a coupler in the hole with a terminator on the inside and connected the extra coax to it as before. That way I could check the cables with an ohm meter inside the coach to find that unused cable. I had one cable that was grey and used that for SWM-1 output for easy identification. That one goes to the SWM-8 powersupply of course. You'll need to do whatever you feel necessary for this part.
Sounds more complex that it really was so I'll try to attach some photos. Pretty easy job though - took me about an hour once I had all the parts.
Thanks again to Larry for telling me that it could be done in contrary to what Winegard and others had told me.
Cheers,
Ron
New cable from LNB head routed along with other 3 LNB cables to turret base
F-F feedthrough mounted in a new hole I drilled with 4th LNB connection
You can see the larger RG-6 4th LNB connection bundled along with the other smaller coax LNB connections
Here I've mounted the SWM-8 at the bottom of the turret. There is plenty of clearance. Please note how I've rounted the cables though.
Showing how I mounted new F-F feed-thru couples and connected the coax going into the coach. The third one is (on the right) is not needed but I needed to plug the existing hole so I went ahead and mounted a feed-thru. I put a terminator on the inside simply because I had one and it made it a little easier to identify the cables with an ohm meter.
Final assembly
Anyhow, this was an easy fix. Had I just taken the antenna apart to begin with I would have seen how easy it was to fix. Unfortunately, I wasted a lot of time because Winegard tech support told me it couldn't be done and there weren't enough outputs on the LNB head and I believed them. They said no and that I must replace everything from the turret on up except for the reflector and that they would do me a favor and sell me the parts for around $900 and a refurbed one for about $600.Turns out the LNB head on the 3-output SK-3005 is the same as on the 4 output SK-3005. It's just that Winegard didn't include the coax to run it down to the base.
I want to thank Larry for the info that in fact there were 4 outputs on the LNB head. Once I crawled up on the roof and took the dish apart it became obvious how to solve this problem.
So, turns out there is no difference between a 3 output SK-3005 and a 4 output other than Winegard didn't provide the cable from the LNB head to the base of the turret. I didn't want to run cables outside the turret as Larry has done so I ran a 4th cable from the LNB head down to the base, drilled a hole and added a M-M panel mount coupler. Then I mounted the SWM-8 under the base of the turrent, connected all the coax' from the head to the SWM-8 and ran SWM-1 and SWM-2 from the SWM-8 to M-M panel mount couplers in the base. I used my existing cable into the coach to attach to the new SWM-1 and SWM-2 connectors. Make sure you use the terminator off the SWM-8 to terminate the SWM-2 connection inside the coach if you choose to run it and don't attach it to a DVR/Receiver.
I used the existing coax going into the coach and mounted the SMW-8 power supply in my A/V box and wa-la! it all works great. Total investment - about $100 including the SWM-8 and all the pre-fab coax I bought. I didn't have all my tools with me so I opted to just buy pre-fab lengths of coax instead of making them as I'd normally do. Was cheaper than buying a new crimp tool and all the connectors. Here is the bill of materials:
- (1) SWM-8 and powersupply
- (4) F-F feed-thru couplers
- (4) 3' M-M cables
- (3) M-M couplers
- (1) M terminator
I would have preferred to us the RG-134 (or whatever the small diameter coax Winegard uses from the LNB head to the base of the turret) but it wasn't anywhere to be found in Clovis, NM so I just used regular RG-6 with weather resistant connectors.
I had previously run all three outputs into my coach but didn't know which was which plus I needed to plug off the extra hole in the antenna base so I just put a coupler in the hole with a terminator on the inside and connected the extra coax to it as before. That way I could check the cables with an ohm meter inside the coach to find that unused cable. I had one cable that was grey and used that for SWM-1 output for easy identification. That one goes to the SWM-8 powersupply of course. You'll need to do whatever you feel necessary for this part.
Sounds more complex that it really was so I'll try to attach some photos. Pretty easy job though - took me about an hour once I had all the parts.
Thanks again to Larry for telling me that it could be done in contrary to what Winegard and others had told me.
Cheers,
Ron
New cable from LNB head routed along with other 3 LNB cables to turret base
F-F feedthrough mounted in a new hole I drilled with 4th LNB connection
You can see the larger RG-6 4th LNB connection bundled along with the other smaller coax LNB connections
Here I've mounted the SWM-8 at the bottom of the turret. There is plenty of clearance. Please note how I've rounted the cables though.
Showing how I mounted new F-F feed-thru couples and connected the coax going into the coach. The third one is (on the right) is not needed but I needed to plug the existing hole so I went ahead and mounted a feed-thru. I put a terminator on the inside simply because I had one and it made it a little easier to identify the cables with an ohm meter.
Final assembly
