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donn0128's avatar
donn0128
Explorer II
Aug 08, 2017

Winegard Again!

Well, this is the second Winegard Travler on the roof of my fiver that has died. First time was my SK-3005. It dies after 15 months. 600 dollars plus freight bqck qnd forth with Winegard and it was still DOA. So after 10 days in a shop at their expense they finally understood it was toast and gave me a new SK-SWM. Fast foreword to June 1. Tried to start the Travler. It immediately went to full verticle, spun a couple of times and parked saying no LNB voltage.
Just got done swapping the LNB for a known good one, swapped the coax. All with the same results. So I guess I have another dead Travler. Yea, its been on the roof for a few years, but come on Winegard. For 1600 dollars you should be able to make something more reliable. Geeze, my 400 dollar water heater used a lot lasted much longer.

7 Replies

  • Bill.Satellite wrote:
    The SK-SWM3 gets its power from the Trav'ler during the search routine and then turns the power over to the power inserter after location.

    Thanks, Bill. I was wondering whether a "No LNB voltage" message would indicate a Trav'ler or receiver problem. If it's occurring before the search completes then, it would appear to be a Trav'ler problem.
  • The SK-SWM3 gets its power from the Trav'ler during the search routine and then turns the power over to the power inserter after location.

    You never have answered whether you have done the Calibrate EL routine and what happens when you do.
  • it was repaired/replaced a few years ago
    and June this year was the first time you tried to use it ?
  • Bill, does the LNB get its power from the Trav'ler or the DTV receiver...
  • Well, June was the first time this year I tried it. It has been on the roof for several years.
    Today I replaced the LNB, the coax from LNB to base. All with the same results. I suspect it has sucked the control board. Strange, when iy powers up it goes straight to a verticle position and never goes to its first locating position, which should be about 45 degrees.
  • LNB voltage is never (OK, never say never!) the LNB. Could you provide a bit of clarity on the time frame? The SK-SWM came out in 2013-14 time frame. Did you get the new antenna in June of this year or a few years back? Something happened in June (this year?) and now it's August.
    Have you done the "Calibrate EL" routine and if so, what was the result? Your $400 water heater has NO moving parts so this is not a reasonable comparison.
    I agree that you should not be having this many problems. I have an SK-SWM3 that was installed when the unit first came out 3-4 years ago and have not had any issues that were not easily resolved with the software.

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