Winegard Trav'ler Direct TV antenna issue Updated on page 2

[TripleE]

Our antenna is a non SWM. A couple of days ago, when we turned the control box on, we got a message saying it couldn't identify the satellite. We tried turning it on and off a couple of times and even unplugged it. It had worked the day before just fine. My DH checked all the connections and everything seems to be tight. After about 6 hours we tried again and it worked fine. It stowed that morning with no problem. That evening when we got to another campground it wouldn't connect again. After waiting a bit (around 6 hours again) it worked. Last night after arriving at our campground it would not identify the antenna again and as of this morning still will not work. Anyone else have a problem like this?

We are planning on stopping at a campground later today and will be staying over the weekend so we have time to test stuff. We do have an appointment with a service place on Monday but would like to see if we can get it to work.

The antenna is about 2 years old. We have never had any other problem with it. Could the interface box go bad?

[TripleE]

I said I would post the solution when we got it so here it is -

We discovered that the problem had to do with the slide. If the slide was out the control box would not recognize the antenna. If the slide was in it worked just fine. We took the rig back to the original installer and he rerouted the cable and it works fine now. The slide must have been either pulling on or pinching the cable when it moved out. Took a bit of investigation to figure that one out, especially since once the antenna was up it worked whether the slide was in or out.

[Bill_Satellite]

That's going to be the loose connection I mentioned previously (I am guessing). If you have not checked the roof connection you need to do so and put some dielectric in there. Plug and unplug whatever you can find. My unit currently requires me to wiggle the connection inside each time I deploy but when I do it connects and goes right up.

[TripleE]

I said I would report back so here it is. We took the rig into our service place, who installed the Winegard, and now the stupid thing will not fail! It is working just fine! We have tried it multiple times over this week and it works every time. I just know when we leave this area it will fail again.

[Belgique]

Fingers crossed for you. Winegard was very good to me. I bought one on EBay that looked great but was a disaster with corrosion etc inside. Shipped to them and they "fixed" it for around $400. I think they gave me a new one because there was no way they could have cleaned up my old one that well.

[Bill_Satellite]

If the unit is out of warranty I doubt Winegard is going to make a deal on any sort of an update but they will repair the unit if necessary (at the owners cost, of course).

[donn0128]

Believe me it is going to get expensive! More than likely the control board in the head has a problem. Now might be a good time to try and make a deal with Winegard to replace it with the newest Trav'ler SWM.

[TripleE]

The DH climbed up and tried Bill's suggestion. It still isn't working but we have cable so we are fine until we take it into the shop on Monday. I will update when we find out the problem

[Bill_Satellite]

There was a time where some of the Trav'lers did not have enough slack in the base where the control cable connects. It has the same plug as is in the back of the controller and if that gets loose it will cause an intermittent connection and then no connection. I would go "upstairs" if you can and remove the cover plate with the 4 screws. You will see the black control cable continue on inside. Pull VERY GENTLY on this cable until you see the male/female connection. I like to disconnect it and put a tiny bit of dielectric grease in the fitting and then reconnect it. I usually connect and disconnect a number of times in case there's any corrosion. You should also be able to tell if there is or way any moisture in here. If there is any indication of water you have a whole different issue to deal with.

[diveman52]

Did you call winegard?

[TripleE]

No antenna communication. I assume there is a loose wire between the dish and the interface box.

[Bill_Satellite]

What's the message you are seeing in the display?

[TripleE]

Still not working after Bill.Satellite's suggestion. Guess. We will just keep messing with it.

[donn0128]

All to common of a problem. I suspect there were way more issues with the old Trav'ler's than Winegard wants to admit to. I had no end of issues with my two year old Trav'ler. I spent probably 40 hours in total emails, on the phone and on my own trouble shooting the problem. Ran coax directly from the LNB to the sat box, ran new wires, per Winegard tech support, installed a new LNB, different LNB arm, all for nothing. Finally Winegard said I had to remove the entire dish from the roof and ship it back to them for repair 80 dollars in shipping, 250 dollars for repairs and I finally got it back. Wrestled it back on the roof with help from SIL, hooked everything back up, powered it it and NOTHING! Exactly the same as before. By this time I had wasted over a month and was pretty steamed to say the least. So after a lot of phone calls and emails, I finally got someone in management who was sympathetic and authorized taking it to a Winegard dealer for further trouble shooting. Another 40+ hours of their labor later and they ended up in exactly the same boat as I was. DEAD!! Winegard finally gave up and installed a new SWM dish and it has been working perfectly for close to three years now.
I never found out what the problem was, but I suspect it had to do with the positioner and sat identifier control board. I use a Birdog sat meter for setting up my ground antenna, and after the Trav'ler would lock onto a sat, when it did, I would connect the Birdog and get no signal. Thus no sat broadcast signal. I even went so far as to try it on the coax directly from the LNB and same results. This is why i say the control board is probably toast. Trying to get it fixed from Winegard is really a c%^& shoot IMHO, as they said mine was working perfectly on the bench. But would not work in real life? Gee, maybe their bench needs recalibrating, ot they need to start testing in real life not just on the bench. i don't know.
Sure hope you have better luck than I did through out this fiasco.

[Bill_Satellite]

Try unplugging the control cable in the back of the controller maybe even plugging it in and out a couple of times. Of course the power should be off while doing this and hopefully when you power it on again the controller will connect.