Forum Discussion

longislandcampe's avatar
longislandcampe
Explorer
Sep 09, 2016

Can't Get DirecTV To Work in Trailer....

So my sister has DirecTV but no one else in the family does. We decided to get our parents a DirecTV HD dish so they could watch TV when camping. So far I haven't been able to get it to work. I'm good with tech stuff but I have no experience with satellite TV.

For starters, here is the HD tripod we got. HD Tripod

My sister got the receiver box and the b band convertor straight from DirecTV. Even though this is an amazon link, this is the box we got. I just wanted to show you what model it was. Receiver Box

The first thing I did was hook the dish up to the outside camper cable outlet and then disconnected the jumper camper under the TV and hooked everything up as instructed. I then went from the box to the TV with HDMI and when I plugged the box in I got DirectTV on the screen and it said something about step 1, searching for satellite. After a few minutes I got an error message 775 saying that the box could not connect to dish. I checked all the fittings, unplugged the box for a minute and then plugged it back in but got the same error message.

At this point I unplugged the box and then got a new coax cable and went directly from the dish into the satellite finder box and bypassed the camper wiring completely. My connection went dish to satellite finder to b band box to receiver. Again I got the same message, 775.

I unplugged the receiver, then I took off the satellite finder and went dish to b band box to receiver and I got the same 775 message.

Last but not least, I took off the b band box and went dish directly to receiver and plugged the receiver back in. Again, I got the 775 error.

Am I missing a part or something? For what it's worth, there were times I saw a light come on inside the satellite finder but I have no idea how that happened.
  • 2oldman's avatar
    2oldman
    Explorer II
    Sep 09, 2016
    First, that tripod has to go. Go to tv4rv.com and check their good tripods for HD. Why do I say this? HD is much more finicky than SD, and you need to insure the mounting mast is as plumb as possible.

    I use a SWM lnb so I don't need any boxes. That requires separate power. You didn't say anything about what direction you aimed the dish.

    I hope your parents aren't all that old and have a lot of patience. Learning to aim one of these things by hand can take effort.
  • Ivylog's avatar
    Ivylog
    Explorer III
    Sep 09, 2016
    You cannot use the trailer's cable connection. You must run a coax from the dish straight to the receiver.
    That tripod will make it hard to get all three sats for HD. The mast must be plumb/level so the tilt of the dish is correct.
  • longislandcampe's avatar
    longislandcampe
    Explorer
    Sep 10, 2016
    Does the dish have to be in pretty much the exact proper position when attempting to setup the box? I was under the impression that I could position the dish close enough to begin with.
  • Chuck_thehammer's avatar
    Chuck_thehammer
    Explorer
    Sep 10, 2016
    NO, you must have box activated by Directv.. over the phone.

    then align, using box and select setup.. satellite, signal..

    when adjust antenna (dish) till you have some signal.. and fine tune to max..

    this can take 20 to 30 minutes for the first 3 or 4 times.... till you learn to do it quicker. very frustrating till you learn how.

    and you can NOT use the CABLE lines/adaptors.. must be satellite or nothing.
    I added a satellite outlet outside and inside *behind each other* on wall

    as far as aiming dish .. its like finding a very small SPOT in the sky and its invisible. very small adjustments.. up/down/left/right/tilt angle.

    my advice.. have television, receiver, dish, power cord.. all outside.. to align dish... so you can see signal on TV screen.. not someone else telling you..

    I have a 19 inch flat screen just for this task. as I have a 32 inch inside trailer. and I am not moving it outside.
  • 2oldman's avatar
    2oldman
    Explorer II
    Sep 10, 2016
    cm11599ps wrote:
    Does the dish have to be in pretty much the exact proper position when attempting to setup the box? I was under the impression that I could position the dish close enough to begin with.
    Where are you getting this information?

    satellite tv -aim a dish
  • MarkTwain's avatar
    MarkTwain
    Explorer
    Sep 10, 2016
    Save yourself a lot of time and frustration!!! Call the Tech. support for Dish and they will walk you through the set up steps and they can run tests from their office or call Dish and have send a tech out to set the system up for the 1st time. Then carefully watch the steps they go through and after that it should not be that much of problem. Or, you can buy an automatic Satellite dish for the roof of your RV and then it should just find the right satellite automatically!!
  • USAFBILL's avatar
    USAFBILL
    Explorer
    Sep 10, 2016
    djgarcia wrote:
    Save yourself a lot of time and frustration!!! Call the Tech. support for Dish and they will walk you through the set up steps and they can run tests from their office or call Dish and have send a tech out to set the system up for the 1st time. Then carefully watch the steps they go through and after that it should not be that much of problem. Or, you can buy an automatic Satellite dish for the roof of your RV and then it should just find the right satellite automatically!!


    READ the post...he has DIRECT and NOT DISH
  • MarkTwain's avatar
    MarkTwain
    Explorer
    Sep 10, 2016
    USAFBILL wrote:
    djgarcia wrote:
    Save yourself a lot of time and frustration!!! Call the Tech. support for Direct TV and they will walk you through the set up steps and they can run tests from their office or call Direct TV and have send a tech out to set the system up for the 1st time. Then carefully watch the steps they go through and after that it should not be that much of problem. Or, you can buy an automatic Satellite dish for the roof of your RV and then it should just find the right satellite automatically!!


    READ the post...he has DIRECT and NOT DISH
  • MarkTwain's avatar
    MarkTwain
    Explorer
    Sep 10, 2016
    djgarcia wrote:
    USAFBILL wrote:
    djgarcia wrote:
    Save yourself a lot of time and frustration!!! Call the Tech. support for Direct TV and they will walk you through the set up steps and they can run tests from their office or call Direct TV and have send a tech out to set the system up for the 1st time. Then carefully watch the steps they go through and after that it should not be that much of problem. Or, you can buy an automatic Satellite dish for the roof of your RV and then it should just find the right satellite automatically!!


    READ the post...he has DIRECT and NOT DISH


    Same difference, they both have tech support. I have Dish:)
  • donn0128's avatar
    donn0128
    Explorer II
    Sep 10, 2016
    Except direct tech support sucks a big one since att bought them out. They wont even talk to you if you are in an RV.
    Now, to the OPs problem. First, he needs to get a sat signal. To do that he probably needs to run a RG6 coax cable directly from the dish to the receiver. B band converter? Depends on receiver
    Lacking the correct tools, he needs to perfectly level the dish. Then from the setup menu input the location zip code. Direct will tell them the elevation, latarude angle. Then you need to position the antenna making absolutely sure there is no obstructions. Then with the receiver in setup mode start moving the dish a little at a time until you get a beep.
    You will need at minimum a bubbly level and a compass

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