TracVision R4 Woes - What to do...

[ncrowley]

I have TracVision R4 and Dish Network. The dome can only receive the 119 satellite right now. The KVH folks said if I purchased about $300 in parts and $100 in their help, I can upgrade the software and some hardware and be able to connect to all the Dish satellites. They also said I could have someone do the upgrade.

Talked to the closest place that can do the upgrades. They recommended I not waste my money because the domes are not reliable. It might work when it is at their place but then not work the next time I used it. He also said that all domes are vulnerable to not working when Dish makes satellite changes.

Question: is it true that I should not even try the update?

If I should not even try the update, here are my options:

Get a second Dish antenna and a tripod mount and set it up and manually point it.

Get an external automatic dome, like the Tailgater. My concern is the portable ones are dome satellites and will have issues down the road. I am also worried about my coax wiring and whether I have a direct coax from the external cable connection to the receiver.

Get a dome that can be mounted on the roof so I can take advantage of the existing wiring.

Get a new pop-up antenna but that is much too expensive at around $3K installed.

Any help would be appreciated.

[Thunder_Mountai]

Do a search on my name plus KVH and you should have more than enough information to make the correct decision. I've documented my problems and commented on other's issues. Do yourself a favor and replace the KVH. It is outdated technology. We bought a Winegard Travler over two years ago and couldn't be happier.

[badboy368]

i have a KVH and went through the same thing. i did have the software upgrade and still had problems. loooooong story short, i had to put a power booster from the 12v power supply to the antenna. it was determined that the antenna wasn't getting enough voltage to work properly. Since then all is well. you may want to look into that.