3 output SK-3005 Conversion to SWM-8

He DOES HAVE an SK-3005. That means he gets 99, 101, 103, 110 and 119. There just happen to be 4 outputs from the LNB but Winegard only ran cables from 3 of those to the base. He needs all 4 to update to SWM.

It sounds like he has a very viable solution. "The only resolution I have heard of is running a new 4th cable from the LNB, down the arm and wrapping an external cable around the base to allow for rotation."

In that case I wouldn't hesitate to add the coax, run it on the roof and down to the required location. Lots of calk and Dicor and it solves the problem.

CA Traveler wrote:
It sounds like he has a very viable solution. "The only resolution I have heard of is running a new 4th cable from the LNB, down the arm and wrapping an external cable around the base to allow for rotation."

In that case I wouldn't hesitate to add the coax, run it on the roof and down to the required location. Lots of calk and Dicor and it solves the problem.

No, the 4th cable remains on the roof. It only need to extend from the LNB to the base of the antenna where the SWM8 switch is located. From there he just connects the existing cables from the antenna to the SWM8 and he's back in business. No caulk necessary except for a few daps where you screw the SWM8 to the roof.

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

Sounds like you got the standard Winegard tech support. It is really a disgrace when a companies tech support is so untrained that you need to go to a forum to get correct info. I have also been a victim.

Glad to see you got it fixed and provided info if someone else has the problem.

az99 wrote:
Sounds like you got the standard Winegard tech support. It is really a disgrace when a companies tech support is so untrained that you need to go to a forum to get correct info. I have also been a victim.

Glad to see you got it fixed and provided info if someone else has the problem.

I don't think it's a matter of training. Everyone I spoke with tried to be helpful and seemed knowledgable. They actually went out of their way to find out if they could sell me a refurbished assembly to try and save me some money. Sounds like a company policy type of thing. Something decided by their management.

My guess is they determined installing the SWM-8 in the base like I did might be a support nightmare for them because it did require diassembly of the antenna, drilling holes and routing the cables in a careful manner such that they don't hang up on the receiver which juts out from the bottom of the turrent. You know as well as I do that if they were to offer support for such a "do-it-yourself" type of thing the support for those that may not really have the skills would spiral and they'd be spending a lot of people time answering those calls. Not good for the bottom line. As a businessman/entrepreneur my self. I know all the burdens a company has to endure and support costs a lot of money.

However, what I believe they SHOULD do is, for those who got stuck with the 3 output SK-3005, they should sell the additional cable with a sheet or two of instructions on how to install it since those with the 3-output did kind of get a raw deal when it comes to this SWM support. Even if they sold the kit for $100-$200 to help cover some of the support questions I think most people would accept that and it would be a real positive in terms of customer satisfaction which translates directly to the bottom line in the long run.

Anyhow, let's not beat them up too badly but for those of you with a 3-output SK-3005 I suggest you strongly request they sell you the cable from the LNB head to the turret base. I think most people can handle installing that and drilling one hole.

Cheers,
Ron

deleted, it was covered.

Just a personal opinion post here!
I would not recommend that anyone do the install as Ron has done. The 4th cable setup is excellent and very well done but the SWM8 (again, my opinion) should have been mounted outside the turret to ensure there are not future issues. There are too many things that could get caught by other things to liking. The new 4th cable just needed to be run to a new 4th output hole and then all 4 cables run to the SWM8 switch.
The interior cabling run also needs to be thought out (as Ron did) by those considering such a change as it's not just drop it in and go. You need plenty of cabling to allow for turret rotation.