Connecting Winegard Traveler to Dish Hopper

[fotodog]

Hello All,
My apologies if this has been addressed, but I can’t find any information with a search. My old Dish receiver bit the dust, and I’m now trying to connect the new Hopper to my Winegard rooftop satellite dish. The problem I’m having is that my 2008 Tiffen uses a control box which connects both TV’s to either the rooftop analog antenna, campground cable, or satellite dish by pressing the appropriate switch, but it only has coaxial connections.

With my old Dish receiver, I plugged the incoming satellite cable into a splitter, with one leg going to the receiver and the other leg going to the control box. But the new Hopper only has one coaxial input, so I don’t have a way to connect it to the control box.

Do I need a new control box? If anyone has experience with this, I would greatly appreciate your help. Thanks! Tim

[LouLawrence]

Since everything is still SD using the RF modulator should work. You will only be able to watch the same channel on both TV's but for many folks, especially if you watch very little TV, this is just fine. If you ever want to add the option to add a 2nd receiver/Joey you will want to take the BOMB (Box Of Many Buttons) out of the satellite TV loop.

[TechWriter]

fotodog wrote:
I’m not clear on how to connect the DPH42 to the dish. The RV Tech who installed my Winegard system has always done great work with attention to detail. He ran one of the lines from the dish to the Winegard box, the second line plugs into the Dish receiver, and the third line is unused. Your wiring diagrams never indicate how the Winegard box is wired, or maybe they do and I’m just not seeing it.

On the base of a Winegard Travler, there are several connectors like so:



A, B, and C in the photo above get connected to the DPH42 switch.

The Interface Box cable connects to the Winegard control box.

Since some DISH receivers (like a Wally or 211) only need one coax connection, that's all that was run on your RV.

However, Hopper 3's require different connections.

[fotodog]

Gentlemen, thanks again for all your replies. Everyone has been so generous with your time and sharing your knowledge. I have spent the last few hours doing more research and, as with many things, it’s more complicated than first thought. Compatibility is a big problem as technology advances so quickly. I found that out in my business once photography went digital. Top of the line camera systems became practically obsolete in 5 years.

My 2008 Allegro was one of the last years with analog SD TV’s. Since our RV trips are limited and we spend much of our time outdoors, TV was never a priority and we never upgraded to HD. So for now, a RF modulator would probably be fine if that, combined with the DPH42 , would allow me to use my current setup to view both front and rear TV’s.

Tom, you obviously have a LOT of experience doing this. Much of my research was reading your writing on the subject. I’m not clear on how to connect the DPH42 to the dish. The RV Tech who installed my Winegard system has always done great work with attention to detail. He ran one of the lines from the dish to the Winegard box, the second line plugs into the Dish receiver, and the third line is unused. Your wiring diagrams never indicate how the Winegard box is wired, or maybe they do and I’m just not seeing it. Can you please clarify? Thanks!
Tim

[TechWriter]

A couple of assumptions on my part . . .

You're using a Hopper 3. Your Tiffin control box in connected to the ANTENNA IN of your TVs.

If that's that case, you could probably still use your Tiffin control box for OTA TV and park cable, but I don't recommend using it for HD TV.

Here's what I did . . .



A couple of notes . . .

- I used a Channel Plus Video Amp. You could probably still use your Tiffin box.

- I used hard wired Joey 2s. You could also use wireless Joeys, or wireless HDMI. However, I do NOT recommend a RF modulator unless you want crummy looking TV.

- If your Winegard Traveler is newer (2018+), you can install a DPH LNBF on it. Then you can run a single wire from the Winegard instead of three. Plus, you won't need the DPH42 switch.

[LouLawrence]

The RF modulator will take your HD output from the Hopper and convert it to SD even if the TV is HD capable. I was assuming you would like to have HD TV on your TV's. You were clear but a simple answer is not available.

[Dutch_12078]

Here's another modulator option:

HDMI RF Modulator Coax Adapter 1080P Input Coaxial Output Converter with Male F Type Cord

[Retired_JSO]

Use an RF Modulator which uses the video output in your receiver to send the signal to a cable.

[Thunder_Mountai]

Do a search on using a Dish Hopper3 in an RV. Start by reading this: https://rvseniormoments.com/tech-docs/dish-tv-for-rvs/hopper-3-use-in-an-rv/dph42-switch-hopper-3-option-instead-of-modifying-your-travler/

[fotodog]

Thanks for the replies gentlemen, but I may not have been clear in my first post. I need a way to connect the Hopper to the video control box. Right now I cannot watch satellite TV on the main TV, much less the 2nd one.

The Hopper only has one coaxial connection for the incoming signal, where the old Dish receiver had that plus a “home distribution port” coaxial connection that would connect the receiver to the control box. If the only solution is running new cables in the RV, I might be better off buying an older receiver off Ebay.

[CarnationSailor]

You could also use a wireless Joey at the 2nd TV location.

[LouLawrence]

If you are talking about getting the TV signal from the Hopper to more than 1 TV there is no coax option available as the output is HDMI. You could add an wireless HDMI splitter/repeater and connect that to the 2nd TV but they are not cheap. If you have the ability to run a new HDMI cable from the Hopper to the 2nd TV then you only need the splitter to get the signal there. You may find some HDMI to coax (usually poor quality picture) or CAT6 Ethernet if you don't have room to run a new HDMI cable. Keep in mind you could run the coax up through the ceiling to the roof, across the roof and back into the RV at the new location, it just takes a longer cable.
If you do have the Winegard Trav'ler SK-1000 for DISH, you can also just run a 2nd coax to the 2nd TV from the antenna and use a Joey at that location.