DISH Playmaker w/ Wally only 1 satellite?

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Neutron

Neutron

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Nov 7, 2003
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Is it possible to have the Wally only use 1 satellite? We are in a spot where our RV is surrounded by trees and I'm having trouble getting the check switch process to finish. When I look at the summary I can lock onto 110 easily, 119 not to easily.


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The Wally should deal with what you can find. Recently I was heavily surrounded in trees and I didn't want to put up the ground tripod. I put the Winegard Trav'ler in manual mode and finally could lock onto 77. The Hopper 3 deal with the SD channels I could find on 77.
 
I can't get the Wally into any kind of manual mode or past the switch check screen. Guide won't pull up at all.


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I've come to the conclusion that I will need to get a 1000.2 dish for our RV since I need to get a 75' coax cable at the minimum to get line of sight for both satellites. The Playmaker manual says no longer than 50'.

What LNB will I need to get in order to be compatible with the Wally? I'll have to mount this on a pole in a bucket of cement.


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At this point, Wally will work with standard WA or EA LNBF heads for the DPP 1000.2 dish. When I had a VIP 722, I have used 250' of cable to get a clear shot.

The Playmaker is probably limited on length because of the power being run out the coax cable.

For my tripod, I use a TV4RV.com HD tripod because the legs are length adjustable to get a vertical mast. I use two 5 gallon buckets about half full of water for ballast bungee corded to the tripod. Very stable and yet very easy to transport. The weight (water) goes on the ground and the empty buckets stack and can carry stuff.
 
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Thank you!! Would a hybrid LNB work as well? Do I need a switch?


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I would check with Dish on cable length. My Tailgater dish came with 50 ft of cable. I'm using a 211z receiver. I called support and talked to someone who directly supported the Tailgater who noted that if I used 3 ghz coax my 211z could easily support up to 100' of distance. He noted to be sure to consider the length of the coax run inside the trailer. Once my existing coax goes bad, I'll probably get an 80' run.


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Solid copper core can carry more current which is an issue for powering the Playmaker farther away. Distance for the satellite signal is a frequency thing. 3 Ghz will handle that.

Solid copper core is more pliable and lasts longer.

But I am an advocate for a tripod DPP 1000.2. So much more functionality compared to the ease of a dome. I use to put a tripod DPP 1000.2 about 40 times a year until I got a Trav'ler. Always had a DVR and any kind of dome cripples a DVR.
 
Will this work? Saw this on Amazon. Specifically the LNB is what I'm concerned with. I'd link it but it won't let me. It's the antenna and tripod. Here's the description.

COMES WITH THE 1000.2 HYBRID WESTERN ARC LNB.
Single Dish Antenna for Standard & High Definition Channels
1 5/8 in OD MAST INCLUDED
FOR USE WITH THE NEWEST HOPPER AND JOEY SYSTEMS ONLY
USE FOR SATELLITE 110, 119, 129
 
The link to Amazon doesn't go to a product. But I am going to guess that the tripod will be a fixed leg type. If you are going to only camp in one location, it might be okay. If you plan on traveling, a variable length leg tripod would be far better to be able to get a vertical mast on rough terrain.

The HD Tripod from TV4RV.com is a better investment. The Kit has value for the extra items included. Add a DPP 1000.2 for about $75.
 
What about the LNB? Will the Wally work with a hybrid LNB or do I need a different one? This one comes with a hybrid LNB.


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At the current time, the DPH Hybrid acts like a DPP unless a Hopper 3 is attached via the Solo Hub, so the Wally should be fine. Supposedly, either the Wally or a derivation of a Wally will use DPH in the future.
 
So I have the Playmaker on a longer span of coax and at a different location. The check switch goes 100% and I hear tv audio but the check switch box doesn't go away. When I go to summary I see that it's locked into 110 and 119 and I can see signal on 129 but the switch doesn't see it.

Any way to fix this? I've tried different spots where I have the best view of the southern sky.


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When you say "the check switch goes 100%" do you mean it finished and asked to save the new satellites found? If it doesn't do the save. it wasn't finished. If it is not finishing, you might be beyond the cable capability of the Playmaker.

The only satellites that can be used are in the SwitchStatus table. The satellites in the drop down table are hard coded and do not mean those satellites were found. Even if you see signal, the satellite has to be in the SwitchStatus table.
 
I got that even with the 50 footer. That's not counting the run inside the RV though.

The check switch bar was at the end but would just sit there.


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So I brought the Wally home and connected it where our H3 is at just to see if it will connect. The first time it went through the check switch only saw 110. Second time after a reset it went all the way through and got stuck on the guide download screen. Third and 4th tries it went back to only seeing one satellite, this time 119. I rebooted it again and it's back on the guide download screen with no status bar like before.


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