KVH satellite dish - no picture

[PABEAV56]

I purchased a 2006 Expedition with a KVH satellite dish and I have a DircTV receiver. I can't get a picture on my TV, but I get good signal strength from the dish on my settings. Any help or advice?

[garykd]

Hi PABEAV56,

Before mentioning possible solutions, can you answer these questions?

Do you hear the KVH finding the sat?

Do you know if the previous owner had the KVH programmed for Direct TV?

What do you see on the TV?

Has the setup ever worked for you?

[tbutler]

How are you able to assess the good signal strength from the dish? Are you reading that signal strength on the TV or with another instrument? If reading the signal with another instrument, are you sure you are reading signal from the proper satellite? There could also be set-up issues with the DTV satellite box. If you can't get the DTV menu on your TV then you have to solve that problem first.

If you are reading the signal from the DTV box on the television screen, you should be able to get picture. It might be that your DTV box isn't properly "authorized" by DirecTV. The first thing to try would be to turn off the box and unplug it for a minute or so to reset the memory. Then plug in the DTV box and turn it on. If you still don't have picture, call customer service and they can direct you through a reset process.

If you aren't getting your signal strength reading on your TV screen, your problem could just be a matter of getting the signal from the DTV box to the TV set. Assuming that all the cables are properly connected, there are several things that could be the problem. Most RV's have a video distribution switch box between the Satellite (DTV) box and the TV set. If you have a video distribution switch box and you get broadcast TV then you should be able to select the satellite switch (button) and get satellite signal.

You must make sure that the selection on that box is set for satellite for the TV you are using. The other selection is on the TV menu, usually titled input. You need to set the input to pick up the signal from the video distribution switch box. Once that is set, you choose your inputs through the video distribution switch box. If you are getting broadcast signals from the video distribution switch box to the TV then the TV input should be set properly. There is only one cable from the video distribution switch box to the TV so all signals will come through that one cable.

Having said all of the above, I recently installed a flat screen TV in our rig and have wired around the video distribution switch box for the incoming satellite signal. If you have a used coach, you may have to begin to dig your way to the rear of each of the components so you can trace wiring. Let us know what from above you have tried and what results you got and then we can offer more suggestions if it doesn't solve the problem.

[PABEAV56]

THANKS FOR THE INPUT. I DO HEAR THE SATELLITE SEARCHING FOR THE SAT. AND IT STOPS AFTER AWHILE WITH A SOLID GRREN LIGHT ON THE SWITCH. I DON;T KNOW IF THE PREVIOUS OWNER HAD DIRECT-TV OR NOT. WHEN I HOOKED UP THE RECIVER I GET THE DIRECT-TV LOGO AND IT SAYS SEARCHING FOR SAT. I GET THE SIGNAL STRENGTH FOR THE SET-UP MENUE ON TV FORM THE DIRECT-TV RECIVER. I COULD NEVER GET THE SET-UP TO WORK. I DO SWITCH THE BOX TO THE SAT BUTTON AND HAVE TRIED ALL THE OTHER BUTTONS ALSO.

[Guest BillAdams]

You MUST be getting a good signal on the 101 satellite for DirecTV. Are you sure that this is what you have the receiver set to? If you used this receiver with another antenna you might need to go through the setup routine and set it for a round dish (18") to let the receiver know to only expect a signal from one single satellite at 101.

If you are getting signal strength from 110 or 119 then the KVH was setup for Dish Network and you will need to have it re-programmed.

[tbutler]

So the connection between the satellite receiver and the TV is good. That simplifies things considerably. Now the focus has to be the DirecTV box and the set-up process. After you do the shut-down, unplug and restart procedure, try to see if you can get it set up satisfactorily. If not, I would call DirecTV customer service and ask them for assistance in getting the DirecTV receiver set up properly.

In the meantime, if we are to continue to help, we need to know what KVH dish you are working with and what DirecTV receiver you have. Are you getting an indication of the satellite identification? If you have standard service you should likely be on satellite 101.

[PABEAV56]

Thanks again for the info. the dish is a kvh tracvision LF/LS and the direct-tv reciever is either a d10-300 or d12-500.The reciver was used in my house with a different antenna . how do you know which satellite you are on and how do you set it up for a 18" dish. also read something about a low speed data line form switch plate to reciever.

[Guest BillAdams]

Sorry, since you said you were getting good signal strength I assumed you were already on those screens.

You will want to use the Menu button and then System Setup or similar. Most likely followed by Satellite. You should see an option to view signal strength and you want to see a strong signal on the 101 satellite. You may need to re-run the setup and it is here that you will find the 18" round dish option.

[tbutler]

PABEAV56

Your KVH LF/LS may be a dish model similar to the original one on our coach. We had to have a low speed data port on the receiver and none of the modern receivers would work with it. We had to use an old Hughes Executive Director with that dish. If that is the case for you, I have the old receiver, it still worked when I took it out last summer.

You should call KVH and talk to them. I checked the web site for KVH and they list the phone number, address and a link to on-line support on that page. Have all your information about the dish and receiver and contact them by whatever means you want. I think you'll find some good help there. Contact me if you need the old Hughes Executive Director.

[PABEAV56]

Thanks for all the help, I now know in what direction to go. My rv is in the shop right now for a week or two. Will do everthing that you all advise and will let you know what happens, will be in touch with you about that old reciever if i need it. Again thanks for all the help.