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PapaSmurf1's avatar
PapaSmurf1
Explorer
Dec 06, 2016

KVH TracVision QPSK to 8PSK Dish Network (How to re-program)

I finally figured it out, (For now!) I have an in Motion KVH TracVision R5 that stopped working at the beginning of the year because Dish Network upgraded their Left-hand (LHCP) transponder from QPSK to 8PSK encoding. I know there was a fix that gave the ability to lock onto 119 but that stopped as well. After some trial and error, I have been able to lock onto Dish Network 110 & 119 satellite. (I'm actually locking onto DirecTV for LHCP at 110 degree and both LHCP and RHCP at 119 degree).

You will need to manually program the board, below are the details you need to enter to setup Dish 500 with automatic satellite switching. Again I have the R5, but I believe this will work with the KVH TracVision R4, L3, S3, L2, and S2.

1. HALT
2. DEBUGON
3. SATINSTALL,ECHO_119,ECHO_110
4. ZAP
5. @DEBUGON
6. @SATCONFIG,A,53,12676,20000,67,0x0003,L,U,2
7. @SATCONFIG,A,53,12661,20000,67,0x0003,R,U,2
8. @SAVE,A
9. zap
10. halt (after switch test)
11. @debugon
12. @SATCONFIG,B,52,12603,20000,56,0x1006,R,U,3
13. @SATCONFIG,B,52,12618,20000,67,0x1006,L,U,2
14. @SAVE,B
15. ZAP

Enjoy!
  • Bill_Satellite's avatar
    Bill_Satellite
    Explorer II
    Dec 10, 2016
    You are correct. I should have said it would not be worth it "to me". I stand corrected.
  • PapaSmurf1's avatar
    PapaSmurf1
    Explorer
    Dec 10, 2016
    Worth is subjective.

    For some it may be worth:
    • Not having to pull out a separate antenna
    • having a second backup antenna
    • having an antenna that works in motion (if equipped)
    • having the ability to watch separate programming on two different satellites (if pairing with another antenna)
    • Ect


    I know up until the beginning of the year, plenty of people were using their KVH as their primary antenna, this can bring some additional life back. If HD is your "worth" this won't help.
  • Bill_Satellite's avatar
    Bill_Satellite
    Explorer II
    Dec 10, 2016
    If you can't get 129 then no matter what you do it's simply not worth it. Almost all of the Dish HD programming is on 129. I get that that getting some of the Dish channels in SD is better than getting nothing but this solution would not be one that would be acceptable for me.
  • PapaSmurf1's avatar
    PapaSmurf1
    Explorer
    Dec 09, 2016
    Dish network changed all of its Left-Hand (LHCP) tracking transponders from QPSK to 8PSK (There are still some active Right-Hand tracking transponders using QPSK), KVH uses both Left Hand (LHCP) and Right Hand (RHCP)to find and lock onto a satellite.

    This is where the programming I have above gets interesting. KVH TracVision R4, L3, S3, L2, and S2 can find and track both Dish Network and DirectTV satellites. DirecTV has satellites in the same orbital location as Dish Network with Left-Hand Tracking transponders with QPSK encoding. Essentially, I am telling the KVH antenna to find and lock onto a DirectTV satellite, however the Dish Network receiver is picking up the signal from the Dish Network Satellite in the same orbit.

    For the 110 Satellite I am using:
    LHCP (QPSK) - DirecTV
    RHCP (QPSK) - Dish Network

    For the 119 Satellite I am using:
    LHCP (QPSK) - DirecTV
    RHCP (QPSK) - DirecTV

    It's a work around but for many, it means they could get their investment up an running again, that is until DirecTV upgrades their encoding!
  • RonaldNC's avatar
    RonaldNC
    Explorer
    Dec 08, 2016
    PapaSmurf1 wrote:
    Dish Network uses 3 different satellites (110, 119, & 129) for all of their channels (if on Western Arc). If you are only connecting to 119, you are only getting a portion of the channels you subscribe to. Programming your KVH dish antenna to 110 and 119 will include more of the channels in your programming package but not all of them. You may not receive the entire lineup in your package because the manual programming above does not give you a connection to the 129 satellite. (I found the 129 satellite has the majority of the HD programming, the same station is often on 119 satellite in SD).

    My older KVH Tracvision R5 does not have the ability to lock onto 129 because it uses QPSK to find and lock onto the signal, the 129 satellite uses 8PSK encoding. (8PSK is more efficient and can get more programming into the bandwidth available).

    Here are a list of channels on the 110 satellite: http://www.lyngsat.com/packages/Dish-USA-110W.html

    Hope this makes sense!


    Thank you. However, I thought that 110 also used 8PSK? When I talked to KVH, they indicated that 119 was the only remaining orbital to use QPSK and gave me the coding to program my satellite dish to only seek that one. They also indicated that 119 would likely change sometime in the near future.

    Because of all of this, I bought a Winegard X2 Pathway portable dish. I couldn't stomach spending over $1,000 for another roof mounted dish that will likely be obsolete in a couple of years.

    However, if I can get 110 to work... I will reprogram it per your suggestion... it will make a good backup.

    Thanks,

    Ron
  • PapaSmurf1's avatar
    PapaSmurf1
    Explorer
    Dec 08, 2016
    Dish Network uses 3 different satellites (110, 119, & 129) for all of their channels (if on Western Arc). If you are only connecting to 119, you are only getting a portion of the channels you subscribe to. Programming your KVH dish antenna to 110 and 119 will include more of the channels in your programming package but not all of them. You may not receive the entire lineup in your package because the manual programming above does not give you a connection to the 129 satellite. (I found the 129 satellite has the majority of the HD programming, the same station is often on 119 satellite in SD).

    My older KVH Tracvision R5 does not have the ability to lock onto 129 because it uses QPSK to find and lock onto the signal, the 129 satellite uses 8PSK encoding. (8PSK is more efficient and can get more programming into the bandwidth available).

    Here are a list of channels on the 110 satellite: http://www.lyngsat.com/packages/Dish-USA-110W.html

    Hope this makes sense!
  • RonaldNC's avatar
    RonaldNC
    Explorer
    Dec 07, 2016
    What does this reprogramming allow you to view? I have a R4 with Dish and can only get 119... does this programming give you something else?

    Thanks!

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