TracStar In Motion Satellite System Satellite Reception

[tuga]

Here's one for the record books! On channels 303, 304, 305, & 306 I received a strong signal and a beautiful picture on my TracStar in motion satellite system. However, on channel 307 the picture is scrambled, DirecTV calls it pixelated (I guess the pixels are jumbled up). Channels 360 & 362, the Fox News channel and the Weather channel are also pixelated.

I called DirecTV twice this morning and they are unable to explain it. My signal strength is 91% on the satellite that carries channels 303 thru 306. The channels that are pixelated the signal is about 75 but IT DROPS DOWN TO ZERO AND THEN BACK UP TO 75.

Anybody have any ideas or suggestions?





Prevost Forum, Newell Coach, Wanderlodge, Foretravel, Millennium Coach, Liberty Coach, Outlaw Coach, Marathon Coach, Luxury Coach

[Ron Skeen]

Hi Tuga,
What satillite are you lock on, 101, 110 or 119? Also do you have H/D service? I have a King Dome in motion and can pick-up 101-110 or 101-119 at the same time. I also have a Wingaurd H/D slim line automatic I use when stationary to pick up all channels inclluding H/D channels. I can get H/D when moving but have to tell the K/D which Sat to lock on. Channel 360 & 362 and 360H/D 362H/D use different Sat To received Sig.

[encantotom]

pixelated is when the receiver is not getting all the bits. it is a digital signal and the squares you see moving around along with the black or white squares are because it is not getting a continuous data stream or it is getting one with errors.

old analog over the air sets would just get weaker and weaker reception. digital receivers will just pixelate worse and worse until there is no picture.

its all about 1's and 0's.

to my knowledge, there is not an in motion HD sat receiver system available.

tom

[tuga]

Ron,

I am on locked on 101. The pictured is pixelated when I am stationary on certain channels. My Sony Bravia is HD but I don't subscribe to DirecTV HD, nor do I have a HD receiver. The channels were working fine yesterday: 360, 362, etc.

Tom,

Why would some channels be pixelated and other not pixelated?

I tried changing transponders but when I would go into the menu and change from Transponder 11 to 10 the system would change back to 11 as soon as I exited the menu.

How do I go about changing satellites?

Also, what is the difference between a transponder and a satellite?

[Ron Skeen]

The antena system is TRAV'LER DIRECTV SLIMLINE KU/KA SK-3005 which bring in all H/D satellites. This bring in both KU and KA Bands. Also the King dome which I think is the same tectnology as the Tra Star also will bring in 110 & 119 which Directv is still using for H/D. Direct will be going in the furture to most of their programing on 103 which is their Sat. You do have to have a ka converter for the king dome. I do get serveral H/D station with my in motion but get all when sationary with the Wineguard. I use a directv HD DVR reciever # HR 22

[Ron Skeen]

Tuga,
101 is where most of directv non H/D station are broadcast. Call direct and ask if the are having trouble with the 101. They have to keep using the 101 because of the KU band that all the home that have not upgraded to the slim line and 5 lnb with the KA band.

[prairieschooner]

Tuga,
You go to the Menu, then to Parental, Fav's & Set Up and then System Set Up. If I am remembering correctly then you go to Satellite. I just checked and we are both using the same Satellite but I am in So. CA and Stationary.
I have had real good luck entering the Lat and Long for where I am. While I am new to this Traveling stuff this has helped me get TV when we move the Coach a few hundred miles.

[Ron Skeen]

Tuga,
Is your in motion a tracstar a SV360 and dose it have a display unit? The display unit should show the sat and the strength of the signal. Your directv control will also show the strength but may not show which sat the antena is lock on but the display unit does.

[encantotom]

you guys are more current in the exact hardware he has so i will leave the advice on it to you.

each satellite is of different age and technology. some are quite old.

a satellite will have a number of transponders which take a channel in and amplifies it and re broadcasts it.

the reason some channels on the same satellite can be ok and some not is that they can have a different transponder. a transponder can do a number of channels. so channel 300-309 could be fine and 310-313 could be goofy because that transponder might be having trouble....the transponder is in the satellite.

of course there are many other reasons as well. the channel and transponder list changes all the time and is part of the programming your sat box has in it that is updated all the time. the box that aims your dish just know the coordinates for a specific sat and will find it. since the number of satellites is not real high, it doesnt need to be updated real often. in the case of an in motion dish, then it will track it.

i have a T2 Automation in motion dish on my coach.

i am no expert, but know enough to be dangerous.

tom

[tuga]

Tuga,
Is your in motion a tracstar a SV360 and dose it have a display unit? The display unit should show the sat and the strength of the signal. Your directv control will also show the strength but may not show which sat the antena is lock on but the display unit does.

Ron,

Yes, my dish is a Tracstar SV360 and it does have a display unit. The display unit shows that I am on 101; 9 Southwest Locked on.

I went into the menu and checked the LAT/LONG and my numbers were 44 322 which was way off. I entered my correct LAT/LONG and nothing changed because I also had my zip code entered correctly in the system and it was using my zip code not LAT/LONG.

Tom,

Thanks for the explanation of transponders; it is starting to make sense now. Also, I have noticed that my display unit is toggling between 85 & 86. I assume that 85 & 86 are transponders; maybe that's why I can't lock on to certain transponders.

I think that this is DirecTV's problem, and hopefully it will be corrected shortly.

[tuga]

Tuga,
You go to the Menu, then to Parental, Fav's & Set Up and then System Set Up. If I am remembering correctly then you go to Satellite. I just checked and we are both using the same Satellite but I am in So. CA and Stationary.
I have had real good luck entering the Lat and Long for where I am. While I am new to this Traveling stuff this has helped me get TV when we move the Coach a few hundred miles.


Steve,

I will be traveling today (going to Newell factory) but I will try the Parental, Fav's & Set Up trick tonight or tomorrow. Thanks for your help.

[Ron Skeen]

Tuga,
The toggling between 85 & 86 is the signal strength not the transponders. Once you lock on sat 101 they are 32 transponders 1-32. This might help www.mytracstar.com/esupport/index.php?_m=downloads...2

[prairieschooner]

Tuga,
I am not sure but I would think that the zip code is for getting your local channels. If we were withing 100 miles of where we were there haven't been any issues with getting service but over 200 miles and I had to enter the new Latitude & Longitude. I just have used my GPS for the Lat & Lon and once the Lat & Lon were entered the reception was corrected. This may not be your problem and I am new to this stuff but good luck.

[Ron Skeen]

Most of the time local channels which you receive are spot beam. Usally going North-South in your local area the range is much more than E-W. You can appy for a East and West Coast feed from Direct to get to get the major net works but to get local feeds you have to change your home base. I received H/D East coast and stander west coast feed when I am out of my local area.

[encantotom]

there is a way to force a downloaded reprogramming of your receiver box that updates all that stuff. if you call whatever provider you have they can tell you how to do it. usually there is a button hidden under a panel somewhere to do it.

tom

[prairieschooner]

We had problems earlier with our Direct TV Box and had to reset it. If it is the same button as Tom is talking about it is just above the Access Card on our Boxes.

[tuga]

there is a way to force a downloaded reprogramming of your receiver box that updates all that stuff. if you call whatever provider you have they can tell you how to do it. usually there is a button hidden under a panel somewhere to do it.

tom

Tom,

I went thru the standard unplug, wait 30 seconds, plug reciever back in routine. Then next DirecTV re-sent the programming signal TWICE. Nothing works. I am having Newell look at it tomorrow (I am at the Newell Factory now).

Thanks for the suggestions.

[tuga]

I have now found that if the rear TV is on say channel 360 (Fox News) and the front TV is on channel 277 the front TV would be pixelated. Then if I put the front TV on 360 the picture is perfect! As long as both TVs are on the same channel the pictures on both are perfect.

Sounds like there is a bad LNB. Does anyone know where I can buy a replacement LNB?

[Richard and Rhonda]

Tuga, sorry to ask a dumb question, but you do have a two channel tuner, and two coax cables from the dish feeding it?

[tuga]

Richard,

There are no dumb questions; and if there are any I will probably be asking them!

Is a tuner the same thing as a receiver?

When the tech @ Newell checked out the picture (before he did anything) the picture was perfect on all channels (typical - the problem always disappears when the tech is trying it).
So then he got up on the roof and removed the cover on the antenna to see if anything was loose. Nothing was loose. Next, he moved the coax connection on the antenna from one connection the another one right below it. This made no difference; everything continued to work perfectly.

Hopefully, to answer your question I have one coax cable from the antenna to the splitter and then one coax from the splitter to each of the receivers. The splitter allows me to view satellite TV on one TV while watching VCR, DVD, etc on the other TV.

Until a week ago, both TVs worked fine on different channels.

I have a friend who has a spare LNB so we are going to try changing it out and see if the problem follows.

Thanks for the help.

[encantotom]

hi Tuga,

here are a couple of forums to look at and maybe post your questions on.

http://www.satelliteguys.us/index.php

http://www.abadss.com/forum/

i know how to do this stuff, but it is very hard to diagnose it without seeing it and knowing a bit more about your setup.

some setups have the switch built in, some dont, etc.

tom

[larryweikart]

Has anyone experienced this problem. My Datron 4000 has begun to pick up about 50% of the channels I used to get. I took the dome off and found nothing amiss. I admit, I know about as much about this problem as I know about the direction of our Washington "leaders" Thanks in advance for any information. One of these days we'll get out of this racing business and be able to attend a mini rally or two. Boy will you guys be sorry. 32 years driving motor homes and learning something new every day! I have 13,217 questions.

[Ron Skeen]

Hi Larry,
Are you using Directv or Dish? Direct have change some of their channels to a different Satillite which your Datron will not track. You need to call your Sat Provider and ask them if they have change. I think your Datron only track Sat 101 and this could be your problem.

[larryweikart]

Thanks Ron, I do have Direct T V and I will check with them. It's the original dish and receiver but it has always worked well. Thanks for the info.

[Richard and Rhonda]

Larry,

Direct TV is moving a lot of their programming to different satellites. I had to reprogram my MotoSat because of that.

I was able to download the reprogram from the Motosat site, and using my PC load it to the brains of the Motosat controller. I would suspect you are going to have to do something similar.

[larryweikart]

Thank You Richard, I'll give that a try when I get back home, next week. Sorry for the slow reply. Very difficult to get internet at the last 2 tracks. Lucky to have cell phone coverage.