KVH Tracvision G4 with Vip722

[heathriel]

Ok, I'm having a little bit of trouble.

First off, for anyone who searches for this on the internet:

<psa on>
YOU CAN GET HD CHANNELS THROUGH DISH NETWORK ON A KVH TRACVISION WITHOUT THE HD ADAPTER ON THE 110w SATELLITE. DON'T BOTHER WITH DIRECTV.
</psa off>

Ok, now that that is out of the way (and sorry for the caps, but nowhere, anywhere, was I able to find that little bit of information until I actually tried it myself), here's my question:

Does anyone know if the Tracvision is a "Dishpro" satellite? The Vip722 keeps giving me the "there is an error with your switch" screen and making me retest it every day because it won't give me signal on the second tuner through the diplexer. What I'm trying to figure out here is if I need to get a powered switch, specifically the DPP 44, to get input 2 working, or if I'm going to have to get the 810 and give up on having an HD DVR.

Or, is there a single-tuner HD DVR? I'm guessing that if I only have a single tuner, I won't be getting a "Switch" error, because there won't be a switch to error out. I'd prefer to have the DVR in HD, but I'd rather have HD however I can get it, and if I have to go single tuner to get rid of the error, then, I'll do that.

So, to recap:

The Tracvision antennas *can* get HD channels from the 110 satellite without having to purchase that $1000 multi-switch they sell for DirecTV.

It isn't getting any signal through the switch that came with the Vip722 to input 2, causing a switch error every time the thing comes out of standby requiring me to re-test the dish.

I'm wondering if a DPP 44 will fix that, or if there is a single-tuner HD DVR.

Any help will be appreciated

 

[SmityWhity]

I've never used any of those KVH Tracvisions, and don't see a G4 model.

But here is some information that may help you figure it out.

Legacy Dish equipment, particularly the Legacy LNBF, sends either the Right or the Left Polarity down the coax depending on the voltage sent by the receiver; while the DishPro LNBF will send both the Right and the Left Polarity signals down the coax at the same time. Therefore, you can have one cable for both R & L.

The DP34 and DPP44 will be looking for both R & L signal going into the switch for each Satellite Position it sees. And they don't work with Legacy LNBF.

DishPro Plus LNBF (DPP Twin) or DishPro Plus Switch (DPP44) feeding a DPP Separator into a DishPro Plus Receiver (722) will allow both R & L and/or 2 satellite locations at the same time on a single coax cable. Such as 110 R & 119 R, or 110 R & 119 L. The DPP Separator is not called a splitter or a Diplexor.

If your KVH G4 is not DishPro compatible, and only picks up one satellite at a time, then hopefully the G4 has 2 outputs, so that you can connect one to each Satellite Inputs (Sat 1 and Sat 2). If it has 2 outputs and they are both R & L or V & H, then you can run 2 cables. If each output only does one polarity, then you may need to feed these two outputs into a Legacy switch that will provide at least 2 outputs.

If the KVH G4 only has 1 Output and is not DishPro compatible (Band Stacked), you have 2 choices.
- Buy a second KVH G4 for Sat 2 Input
- Run the 1 Ouput into a 950 - 2150 MHZ hi-amp Splitter
However, when going through the splitter, TV1 and TV2 will only be able to view Right Polarity (Odd) or Left Polarity (Even) Transponders at the same time.

I hope the above helps.
If you have more info on the G4 specs, particularly its outputs, let us know and I'm sure someone will help.

Also, let us know how it works out, one day I would like to get one or two of them.

EDIT: By the way...
- Generally Dish Legacy Receivers will only work with Legacy LNBF and/or Legacy Switches.
- Generally newer receivers (DishPro & DishPro Plus) are designed to work with DishPro/DishProPlus LNBF but are also backwards compatible with Legacy LNBF and/or Switches.

 

[heathriel]

Here's the technical manual for the satellite.

http://www.kadlec-broedlin.de/KVH_540150F_TV4TM_9.03.pdf

The antenna can only track one satellite at a time, which is fine - I just have to hit the A/B switch to change from 110 to 119. It gets annoying though when I have to redo the point dish thing because I have to reset the entire thing and make sure it gets both satellites integrated into the guide again.

The really annoying thing is the KVH and DirecTV are working together to sell a $1000 add-on to a $5000 satellite to get HDTV channels on a band that DirecTV won't even be offering them on for more than 2 more years, and you're locked into a commitment with DirecTV.

So, I deal with the glitches with Dish, with no commitment. I'm sure I'll get this working.

Where can I get that amp - Radio Shack good enough or do I need to go to a different type of electronics store?

 

[SmityWhity]

I didn't see your response during my previous logins, but just logged in to see if there were any additional responses for this thread. Thanks for the link to the manual, I've downloaded it and will take a look at it.

Amp -- I meant a splitter that could handle higher currents. But now I'm thinking the receiver does not provide much power to this unit, so probably a regular splitter may work.

I haven't figured out how you chanage from 110 to 119 using an A/B switch, but will read the manual tomorrow or the next day.

However, right now I would say this model will only receive one satellite at a time, but one receiver could receive Right Polarity signals while a second receiver could receive Left Polarity signals. I don't think you would need any expensive equipment to do this after reading a little bit of the manual. It may be compatible with switches using either DiSEqC Commands or Voltage switching.

Page 2-14
Programming DSS Plus IRDs
If you are using multiple DSS Plus IRDs and intend to shift from
one satellite to another, only one of the IRDs can be configured as
a two-satellite receiver. All other IRDs must be configured as onesatellite
receivers. The two-satellite IRD will determine which
satellite the antenna is tracking while the other receivers can
watch any channels available via that satellite. Refer to your IRD
user manual for complete details on this process.

However, I suspect the receiver will go into error whenever Sat-1 Input is looking for 1 satellite (110) and Sat-2 Input is looking for a second satellite (119). You may be able to temporarily hook-up a second dish through an inexpensive switch to download program guide and not have a problem except when TV1 and TV2 are both on and looking for different sats. But if the receiver is removed from power, it will reboot and look for the sats and probably go into error.

Will check back after I read some.

 

[heathriel]

Here's a link to the A/B Switch - it doesn't have a manual of which I'm aware -

KVH TV/SAT Switch

Basically, it just keeps me from hooking up the computer to the satellite's port and typing in "@L,A" "@L,B" and "ZAP" codes.

I've discovered that the DVR still records even if I've got the switch error displaying on-screen, so that just interrupts *viewing*, not recording. This is much more manageable. I still would rather not have to redo the switch every morning, so I've ordered a different splitter than the one that came with the VIP722 to see what happens, and I got a line amp too but if you don't think that's necessary than I won't put it on.

 

[heathriel]

Just wanted to give an update:

I bought a Pico Macom HPS-4P Splitter (1 in, 4 out, power pass on all 4) and they sent me the wrong one (power on only one). I tried it anyway, and it worked.

I'm leaving it alone.

I also bought a line amp, since I did end up getting a 4-way splitter, just in case I want to get another box at some point. All is now good and right with the world, except the guide doesn't download XE-TV HD channel data. Gets everything else, just not that. Very, very odd. If I want to switch to a 119 channel, just have to go press the autoswitch and between 30 seconds and 2 minutes later, gyro has locked on. To switch back, same deal.

It no longer gives me a switch test error, and both guids are fully integrated. Some channels won't come in, no matter what I do, but it depends on where the boat is at the time. For example, if I'm on the other side of the city, I can't lock on to EWAM. It just tries to get to whatever transponder or spotbeam that one is on and can't, but when I'm at dock, it can.

I'm happy with the outcome - thanks for your help!

I hope this helps someone else out there who is looking for this same answer in the future.

Oh, and I can lock on to 129 as well, but have to drop 119 or 110 to do it.