fotodog
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Re: Connecting Winegard Traveler to Dish Hopper
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! Tim1.2KViews0likes0CommentsRe: Connecting Winegard Traveler to Dish Hopper
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.1.2KViews0likes0CommentsConnecting Winegard Traveler to Dish Hopper
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! Tim4KViews0likes11CommentsRe: Towing Jeep Trailhawk
I tow a 2015 Cherokee Trailhawk, and will state upfront that it is problably my favorite vehicle I have ever owned, and I’ve owned quite a few. But I had several bad experiences with Death Wobble before having the wiring harness installed. I towed for 2 years with no problems before the first incident. The first time occurred at only 35MPH when braking moderately hard for a stop light. I had no clue what caused the problem, and my mechanic and I could not replicate the problem. We thought it was a one time occurrence, and didn’t know if it was the Jeep, the tow hitch, or the motorhome. The second, and worst incident happened while on the freeway at 65MPH. California has some awful road conditions, and I went over a pothole while a big rig was passing me. The shaking was severe, and a real safety hazard. I pulled over to the side, and the problem was gone as I slowly continued to my destination. I was on the phone for several hours the next morning trying to determine the problem before one guy vaguely remembered hearing about this. There was not as much information on the subject a few years ago. I contacted Jeep and found out about the wiring harness, which keeps the power steering activated while towing. I had it installed and continued my trip without any problems. There are 2 steps to activate the harness when the Jeep is being towed, and they must be done in the correct order to avoid problems with the electronics. First is flipping up a lever which is installed in the center console, and second is installing a 10 amp mini fuse in the harness under the hood. When you unhook the Jeep, these steps are done in reverse. It definitely pays to use a cheat sheet. You must be careful installing the fuse, because the harness is flexible and it’s easy to not have the pins on the fuse properly aligned. This happened to me once, so the fuse was not engaged and I had another incidence of wobble. Now that I understand the problem, I’m confident that the problem is behind me. But just as a precaution, my final check when towing is to make sure the steering wheel of the Jeep rotates easily to indicate that the power steering is activated. One last note to this rather long post: you should have the wiring installed to make sure your Jeep battery is being charged while towing, otherwise the battery might be dead after a day or 2.1.2KViews0likes0CommentsJeep “Death Wobble”
I want to share my experience towing a 2015 Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk, as it might help others avoid the problems I have encountered when towing. It’s known as the Jeep Death Wobble, which I’m sure some of you know about since it’s well documented on the internet. It also affects other model Jeeps including Wranglers, and some other vehicles with fixed front axles such as Fords. I have towed my Cherokee for 3 years with no problems using a Ready Brake hitch, but had my first bad experience a month ago when braking moderately hard for a stop light at about 40 MPH. I suddenly felt the entire coach rocking back and forth. I pulled over, made a full inspection, but couldn’t find anything that looked out of place. I slowly went to my RV mechanic, and after trying to duplicate the problem with multiple test drives with and without the Jeep, we couldn’t find any problems. We both concluded that the surge brake system might have temporarily stuck, since I haven’t driven my RV much over the last year. 2 weeks ago I started a trip to Arizona, and while traveling at 65 MPH hit a bad bump on the freeway. Once again the coach started shaking violently. I had to pull over, and noticed in my rear view camera that the Jeep was swerving back and forth. Once I started up again, everything was normal, and I slowly proceeded to my next stop. I was on the phone the next morning, and to make a long story short, eventually found out about this condition. For towing, it specifically affects 2014 - 2016 Cherokee’s, but from what I’ve read was corrected on some later 2016 models. Jeep has issued a fix, which is a wiring harness which provides power to the steering system while towing to compensate for the wobble. There is a switch installed inside the center console which much be activated when towing, and a 10 amp inline mini fuse under the hood which also must be installed. Both of these must be deactivated when not towing, in the proper sequence. I had the harness installed in Arizona, and everything worked well on the return trip. The downside is that your Jeep batttery can be drained after several hours, so I’ll have the wiring installed to provide a charge while towing. I love this Cherokee otherwise, it’s one of my all time favorite vehicles. Just be aware of this problem if you own one, as the results can be dangerous.5.3KViews0likes16CommentsBeware of this scam while on the road
I’m not a frequent poster, but I want to let everyone know what happened to us while traveling through Kingman, Arizona, although it could happen anywhere. My wife and I are both successful business people, live in a big city dealing with all sorts of individuals daily, and are not naive. And yet, we were almost scammed by a thief. My wife and I were returning from my daughter’s wedding and stopped for fuel. After getting back on the freeway, we were flagged down by a guy in a pickup truck driving beside us, waving for us to pull over and pointing to the back of my motorhome. Since I had experienced some problems towing my Jeep on this trip, it seemed likely there was a possible problem. Once pulled over, he told us that he had entered the freeway just behind us, and every time we went over a bump, there were sparks coming from under the coach. He presented a business card and showed me a business license showing that he was a licensed mobile RV tech. He suggested getting off the freeway at the next exit and follow him to a truck stop. At this point I was not comfortable driving across remote desert stretches in 100+ degree heat, so I decided to do that. Once stopped, he inspected the rear shocks and told me that the right rear shock was bad and needed to be replaced, along with the left side. I thought he was only inspecting the shock, but he actually removed it entirely before I could object. According to him, to clearly see the part #. He made af few calls, and recommended that I replace all 4 shocks. They needed to come from California at a cost of $960 + $400 labor. Since it was Sunday, it would take 2 days for the parts to arrive from California. I was cautious from the beginning, but at this point I was becoming suspicious. And then came the clincher; his “chip reader” was down, so we would need to go to the bank or Walmart to get cash for the down payment on the parts. I told him I wasn’t comfortable doing that, and all the while he kept telling me that he was an honest businessman. He told me he did work for people staying at the local KOA, and they could vouch for him. Since the possibility of a problem had been raised, I wasn’t going to continue across the desert until I had the coach inspected anyway, so I told him to go with us to the KOA and talk with the people there. We did this, and the awesome woman behind the desk (thanks Dee!) told him they had 2 other people over the last few weeks with the same story. He insisted he was telling the truth, but when she suggested that we call the Highway Patrol to resolve the issue, he left. But not before telling me to be sure to call him in the morning to order the parts. So now we were stuck in Kingman on Sunday, on our way home to San Francisco where I had a big backlog of work waiting for me. I started calling phone numbers from the legitimate business cards in the KOA, and by sheer luck Russell, at Russell RV Repair picked up. He heard my story, opened up his doors for us, inspected the shock which was perfectly good, and reinstalled it. Russell told us that 3 other people had the exact same story as ours over the last couple of months. He is a true gentleman, an honest businessman, and saved us a tremendous amount of grief. I paid him well, gave him a nice bottle of Sonoma Valley wine, and we were on our way, So be careful out there! No matter how much you think something like this could never happen to you, it can happen very quickly.8.1KViews0likes54CommentsRe: Is Mt. Hood, Oregon worth a couple of days?
Dennis, I hadn't seen that route, looks interesting. Does it have a lot of tight curves and grades? My wife is fine for most roads, we've been all over the Sierras in California, but she gets nervous when things start getting too squirrley :-)444Views0likes0Comments
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Prefer to camp in a travel trailer? You're not alone.Feb 06, 202544,025 Posts
