Connect DTV H24 to 18" round dish

[amateurw7vp]

This has been discussed before but here is my experience.
H24 is hooked up for HD at home with a dish separate from the house. It uses a SWM device.

I had previously used a simple SD receiver in the trailer that worked only with the 18" dish. It had a beeper that made it easy to set up the dish when RVing. The H24 does not have that feature. Trying to find the satellite alone was futile.

I went to Camping World and bought the Winegard satellite finder. (Note it had been previously opened with an Exacto knife and taped up in a way that was not evident without careful inspection). When this was inserted the dish cycled in a sequence which I finally decided was the receiver sending different voltages to test the connection. After many tries with the receiver settings using multi switch and 18" round dish I moved the dish multiple times pointed at the expected azimuth and elevation trying to avoid trees. Finally the satellite finder stopped cycling and allowed me to max the satellite reception. The receiver then showed suitable values in the transponder and allowed me to finish the setup. Much effort but I can now use SD reception in my favorite campgrounds.

Bill W7VP

[photobug]

want to hear a really weird one? I've got a winegard g2+ dual hooked up to an hr24. fire up the power and let the receiver and dish set up. Then I get a signal loss at line 2 error. I go into the set up menu, dig down to the signal strength page, then back out without changing anything, now got full functionality. (no hd, won't receive on small dish)

[WNC]

Is there a "wiki" page(or thread) for a basic (SD) RV satellite setup? I have a H24-700 Directv box I will be using for the camper. It is out of a spare bedroom that never gets used, so once it is setup for the camper, I don't plan on changing settings. I am currently hunting(Craigslist, FB, etc) for a free dish to use with it at the camper. I gather I should be looking for just an 18" round, correct? Do I need a slimline? What's the cheapest place to get a tripod for it, once attained?

Been researching this and am lost amongst the various acronyms and what gear is/is not required for SD vs. HD. Along with my H24 box, what is the necessary required equipment I will need and how do I go about initial box setup for the dish and then getting it setup and aligned with a signal at the campsite. I plan to do a dry run in the backyard before I attempt at a campground.

Thanks for the help!

[Bill_Satellite]

http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/27694224.cfm

[amateurw7vp]

I have built a mechanism to fine tune the elevation angle of my 18" round dish. How do I post a picture of it here?
Bill

[amateurw7vp]

Still won't work. There is only one connector on the outside of the trailer for that receiver. It must be switched between the HD dish at home and the SD dish when camping. Thus there is only one cable from the dish on the inside of the trailer and it must go either to the SWM or the receiver. It could be done your way by adding another connector to the outside if the trailer but that is not going to happen. So now draw it with only one connector from the dish. Can't be done can it? Much easier to build a bypass switch (maybe an hour to build) and make two short RG6 connectors to go with it. Less than $5 all up with stuff from the junk box.

[Bill_Satellite]

I still must not understand the setup. My apologies. This is a standard 2 coax setup allowing to different antennas to connect to the same receiver. This was all I was talking about but I can't be sure that's the way your system is setup.

[amateurw7vp]

When we are home the HD dish is attached to the rear of the trailer with two RG6 cables. One of the cables is attached to the SWM from the inside of the connector that goes through the wall to the outside. The other side of the SWM is connected to the receiver. The receiver is set up for LNB3 with single wire multi-switch (SWM). The second cable from the HD LNB goes through the wall directly to the bedroom receiver.

When we are camping we use a 18" round dish withh a dual LNB and without a SWM. The first cable comes in through the wall and must be connected directly to the receiver thus bypassing the SWM. In order to do that the SWM must be disconnected from both the LNB cable and the receiver so that the LNB cable from the dish can be connected directly to the receiver.

To avoid all the cable switching I built the DPDT bypass switch with 4 connectors. I know if no way an A/B switch with only 3 connectors can be made to work.

[Bill_Satellite]

I may be wrong. It sounded like you had 2 different coax runs depending upon which antenna you were using. You know your setup better than I do.

[amateurw7vp]

I am still not getting it. The SWM LNB the cable from the LNB first goes to the SWM through a wall cinnrctor and from the SWM a second cable goes to the receiver. For the 18" dish the cable from the dish goes directly to the receiver so the cable inside the trailer that comes from the connector coming into the trailer from the dish must be disconnected from the SWM and connected to the receiver after disconnecting the receiver from the SWM. That can't be done with just an A/B switch but can be done as I have described it by completely bypassing the SWM thus permitting the receiver to send the proper voltages to the 18" dish.

[Bill_Satellite]

It will work but I don't know your exact setup. The SMW is connected to your coax. If one side of the A/B switch has the SMW power inserter and the other coax line does not then there you have it! I only know that it works since I have done it but, again, I cannot be certain of your particular setup.

[amateurw7vp]

I dont think an A/B switch will work Bill, since the line from the SWM to the receiver must be removed from the receiver and the line from the LNB to the SWM removed and attached to the receiver.

[Bill_Satellite]

An A/B switch install in the coax lines works also. One have the PI and one does not.

[amateurw7vp]

Switching from a SWM dish to a 18" round dish means disconnecting the SWM and running the input cable directly to the receiver. This is a hassle and means getting behind the tv. So I built a bypass switch into a small aluminum box with 4 F- type connectors and a DPDT switch. Tested with the modified dish and works great. Easy to go back to the SWM dish too by resetting the dish configuration.

[amateurw7vp]

After trying for many hours to get my 18" dish to work again with the H24 receiver after it blew over I gave up. I was trying to use the Winegard satellite finder and I could not locate the proper satellite.
After coming home I decided to do some maintenance on the dish.

First I replaced the tripod with one that is made for a dome type dish. The old tripod was very unstable and did not have a way to level the dish. The new tripod has spaced holes on the legs that allow them to be extended for levelling. It also has a built in hook for the tiedown. I mounted the part that takes the vertical mast of the dish on the new tripod and placed the levelling bubble on the tripod platform.

Next I drilled holes perpendicularly through the mast just above where it fits into the attachment plate using a 17/64 bit and tapped the holes with a 5/16-24 tap. I threaded a 5/16-24 rod through the holes and secured it against the vertical mast with lock washers and nuts and cut off the ends at about 6 inches. At that point I cut a piece of aluminum tube that just fit over the 5/16 rod leaving enough space for a nut on the end. By doing this I created handles for rotating the dish more precisely.

Next I replaced one of the short cables to the LNB that had a kink in it and repaired the attachment of the dish to the mast. I greased the base of the mast with lithium grease so it would turn more easily. At this point I placed the dish in the driveway and pointed it at the location of the satellite at home. It took a while for the satellite finder to find it and hold the tone but I finally found the satellite a bit to the right from where it was listed for this zip code.

Frankly the old receivers were much easier to use since they produced a beep on the tv. I am seriously thinking of using them when I am camping.

If I could figure out how to attach a picture of the dish I would do so. Any suggestions?
Bill