Dish HD sat dish

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Dish HD sat dish

September 19, 2016, 04:39:11 pm

We have never used the sat dish that the previous owners(Richard and Betty Bark) were nice enough to leave on their old coach and long ago I let it find the satellite with no problem. Dish on screen said to call to initialize the receiver.

Tried it today with the tv on reg digital channels and it never locked. Un obstructed sight lines.

Did dish change satelites? I think it is a motosat?

Re: Dish HD sat dish

Reply #1 – September 19, 2016, 04:47:02 pm

Bob, I remember that Dish was making some changes with their Western and Eastern Satellites so that may be the problem. We changed from DirecTv to Dish about five years ago and like the flexibility and customer service of Dish much better. They have a new Flex plan at only $39.95 per month that can be suspended when not in use but I don't know that it is available for an RV Program where you can change your local channels wherever you are. Locals are vital when you are staying in Tornado Alley which now includes about 1/2 of the country.

Re: Dish HD sat dish

Reply #2 – September 19, 2016, 04:59:06 pm

We just did upgrade to the Dish system, Used a traveler exposed dish (up to 3 tv's) and "Wally" receivers, so far so good.
Using the coach as 2 extra bedrooms for our home on the Dish contract.Also have a Jack antenna for the local stuff if needed.

Re: Dish HD sat dish

Reply #3 – September 19, 2016, 05:02:39 pm

Trying to recall the steps. If you are using the 211. Go to menu, then setup, then point. Plug in your current location zip code? should see signal bar come up. Also make sure your dip switches are not set for New England. Then call them at their service number, Internet, sometimes you end up talking to Mombi but be patient. We really appreciate Dish.

Re: Dish HD sat dish

Reply #4 – September 19, 2016, 05:18:08 pm

Quote from: George and Steph – September 19, 2016, 05:02:39 pm

Trying to recall the steps. If you are using the 211. Go to menu, then setup, then point. Plug in your current location zip code? should see signal bar come up. Also make sure your dip switches are not set for New England. Then call them at their service number, Internet, sometimes you end up talking to Mombi but be patient. We really appreciate Dish.

Sat dish controller has an automatic sat locate. Will not stop searching. Used to.

Re: Dish HD sat dish

Reply #5 – September 19, 2016, 05:53:32 pm

We suse DISH and have been happy with it for the most part. The previous owners may have left the smart card in the receiver which allowed you to use it until their cancelled the service. If this is correct you will need to contact dish to initialize the card for your account. With Dish we have to call to change our location to acquire local channels even thoiugh you can change to location via set up.
John Underwood Newbie to the forum but Foretravel owner for 9 years

Re: Dish HD sat dish

Reply #6 – September 19, 2016, 06:24:23 pm

Quote from: John Underwood – September 19, 2016, 05:53:32 pm

We suse DISH and have been happy with it for the most part. The previous owners may have left the smart card in the receiver which allowed you to use it until their cancelled the service. If this is correct you will need to contact dish to initialize the card for your account. With Dish we have to call to change our location to acquire local channels even thoiugh you can change to location via set up.
John Underwood Newbie to the forum but Foretravel owner for 9 years

The sat controller has a card in it.

When locking in before the on screen dimmed out dish page said to contact them and to give them the number on the screen to setup service.

Now the dish cannot find the satellite. Either something is wrong or the current satelites used do not match this dish's Mechanical LNB' setup.

In other words does your dish network satellite antenna receiver if five years or older still receive dish channels.

Or did you have to change out the sat dish?

Re: Dish HD sat dish

Reply #7 – September 19, 2016, 07:16:13 pm

You should call Dish Customer Support to setup an account for you. The card in the satellite receiver may have been rendered invalid when you attempted to register your receiver connected with a closed account. Depending on which satellite antenna you have, it may not lock on without a valid card in the sat receiver. In that case, Dish can mail you a new card. You won't know until you talk to them.

Good luck.

Re: Dish HD sat dish

Reply #8 – September 19, 2016, 07:34:11 pm

Quote from: Caflashbob – September 19, 2016, 06:24:23 pm

The sat controller has a card in it. In other words does your dish network satellite antenna receiver if five years or older still receive dish channels. Or did you have to change out the sat dish?

DISH only runs on two modems anymore, ours is a 211, prolly four years old. Go on-line or give them a call, they have always treated us fair & square.

Re: Dish HD sat dish

Reply #9 – September 19, 2016, 07:41:01 pm

In March, 2016 Dish changed the way their transponders worked. At that time, a lot of older satellite antennas could no longer lock on. That included Tracstar, Winegard, King Dome, and others. Some antennas could be reprogrammed to work, otherwise, the only option is a new antenna.
Larry

Re: Dish HD sat dish

Reply #10 – September 19, 2016, 07:49:35 pm

Quote from: ltg – September 19, 2016, 07:41:01 pm

In March, 2016 Dish changed the way their transponders worked. At that time, a lot of older satellite antennas could no longer lock on. That included Tracstar, Winegard, King Dome, and others. The only option is a new antenna.

That weeds me out with a King Dome, I'll just leave it up there, make sure it's caulked, and enjoy the Tailgater.

Re: Dish HD sat dish

Reply #11 – September 19, 2016, 07:57:13 pm

Bob,
If you have the white MotoSat dish on the roof and the Nomad II antenna controller (it has the little SD card), then we went through the same problem you describe in April.
For HD reception, Dish uses satellites 110, 119, & 129; for SD it only requires two of those. I do not think you need an account with dish to search for the satellites, but not sure of that. Al Larry said, sometime in April'ish Dish made a change.
There are two ways we used that controller to locate the satellites. 1. Use the TV menu to navigate to the Point Dish menu, choose satellite 119. Start the controller searching and watch the signal strength indicator. If it gets above 50, Stop the Search by turning off the power to the controller. If lucky it will have a strong enough signal for all three sats. We did this for a month, the went to next method. 2. Contact an RF Mogul dealer and buy a new controller. They make one for those white MotoSat dishes. Expect to pay around $850!
Just our experiencel
Dick

Re: Dish HD sat dish

Reply #12 – September 19, 2016, 08:37:18 pm

I have Dish Network with a 211z receiver and tailgater that hooks up automatically 110, 119, and 129 for HD. when I stop at a rest area or Walley World I use my King Dome antenna to use 119 or 110 usually 119 and it locks on any time that I have a clear view of the satellite. I go to menu then 6-1-1 and set to dish 300 antenna. locks on to 119 for Programing in SD. Works for me.
Bill

Re: Dish HD sat dish

Reply #13 – September 19, 2016, 09:38:19 pm

Quote from: Dick S – September 19, 2016, 07:57:13 pm

Bob,
If you have the white MotoSat dish on the roof and the Nomad II antenna controller (it has the little SD card), then we went through the same problem you describe in April.
For HD reception, Dish uses satellites 110, 119, & 129; for SD it only requires two of those. I do not think you need an account with dish to search for the satellites, but not sure of that. Al Larry said, sometime in April'ish Dish made a change.
There are two ways we used that controller to locate the satellites. 1. Use the TV menu to navigate to the Point Dish menu, choose satellite 119. Start the controller searching and watch the signal strength indicator. If it gets above 50, Stop the Search by turning off the power to the controller. If lucky it will have a strong enough signal for all three sats. We did this for a month, the went to next method. 2. Contact an RF Mogul dealer and buy a new controller. They make one for those white MotoSat dishes. Expect to pay around $850!
Just our experiencel
Dick

Thanks. I knew someone would know,

So you kept the motosat dish and changed the controller?

Versus a new dish setup?

Follow-ups
- air bags

Re: Dish HD sat dish

Reply #14 – September 20, 2016, 02:46:37 pm

Yes. There is a risk that our MotoSat dish will lose a motor or some other part. But, my plan if/when that happens is to replace it with the RF Mogul dish. The replacement allows credit for the controller we bought.
Dick

Re: Dish HD sat dish

Reply #15 – September 20, 2016, 03:15:30 pm

Quote from: fredsmotorhome – September 19, 2016, 08:37:18 pm

I have Dish Network with a 211z receiver and tailgater that hooks up automatically 110, 119, and 129 for HD. when I stop at a rest area or Walley World I use my King Dome antenna to use 119 or 110 usually 119 and it locks on any time that I have a clear view of the satellite. I go to menu then 6-1-1 and set to dish 300 antenna. locks on to 119 for Programing in SD. Works for me.

Hmm, did I get bad information that my King Dome would not support DISH HD? We have the 211z receiver and tailgater since we were told we'd have to rip the whole roof thing apart and start over.

Re: Dish HD sat dish

Reply #16 – September 21, 2016, 03:45:57 pm

We use a Winegard Carryout Portable antenna configured for Dish with a VIP211K set box. The Carryout automatically seeks out the satellites. This unit was acquired from Camping World in 2008 and have not had to upgrade or change the configuration since we bought it. We suspend service occasionally if we are not traveling for an extended period and we have had a couple of billing issues related to this.

John

Re: Dish HD sat dish

Reply #17 – September 21, 2016, 04:35:05 pm

Quote from: John Underwood – September 21, 2016, 03:45:57 pm

We suspend service occasionally if we are not traveling for an extended period and we have had a couple of billing issues related to this.

We've had the same issues with DISH, the not best, but cheap way we've found, is to cancel for six months. We're moving to a new site soon, and the DISH account will be re-activated, where we'll see what the deal is. It's best, if you're moving back and forth and wanting DISH from time to time, to not cancel, it costs big to re-activate!

Re: Dish HD sat dish

Reply #18 – September 21, 2016, 07:25:12 pm

I would check with king controls with king dome model and ser number for compatibility. I am using my King Dome on sat 119 SD at the present time and will be using Dish tailgater next week HD. King control makes both the King Dome and the Dish Tailgater. Receiver is a 211z and a stand alone hard drive for DVR.
Bill

Re: Dish HD sat dish

Reply #19 – September 21, 2016, 07:27:19 pm

Quote from: ltg – September 19, 2016, 07:41:01 pm

In March, 2016 Dish changed the way their transponders worked. At that time, a lot of older satellite antennas could no longer lock on. That included Tracstar, Winegard, King Dome, and others. Some antennas could be reprogrammed to work, otherwise, the only option is a new antenna.
Larry

Larry is correct. Dish changed a frequency that was used to home in on the satellite. I already had the RF Mogul controller (and dish) so just needed to download the new firmware and load it on to the controller. You may need a new controller or may be better to update the whole system. I'd call the maker of your system.

see ya
ken

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