Direct Tv woes ( hi def and swm box)

wildwest450 · 08-15-2014, 06:28 PM

Ok, finally got a picture with the satellite cable going directly into the swm box. Now if I unhook that and try to go through the rv wall hookup as soon as I touch connector to the swm box, the green light goes out and no go. Surely a 2014 camper would have RG-6U cable in it? There has to be a better way than having to push cable through the slide floor.
Stupid first world problems.

eightydo · 08-15-2014, 08:42 PM

Is the amplifier for the off air antenna off (it should be off).
Do you have good connections from connector(F connectors to wire)

Pirate · 08-15-2014, 11:54 PM

My 2014 Voltage Epic has a single "Cable/Satellite" Coax connection in the "wet cabinet" on the outside of the trailer.

That coax runs to the center shelf of the left hand cabinet below the Living Room television.

The outlet on the center shelf is a Winegard outlet. If the outlet is "hot", the green light is on, as noted by eightydo, the amplifier for the off air is powered. That is an amplifier for the "rabbit ears" type antenna mounted on the roof of the trailer. If the button next to the green light is pushed in, and the green light is off, then the coax is a direct line to the coax in the "wet cabinet".

Your DirecTV antenna should be connected to that coax. That coax then goes to your DirecTV receiver, non-HD DVR receiver that is.

If you are going to use a portable DirecTV HD antenna, then the coax coming out of the antenna, goes to the SWM Power Inserter, from there a coax comes out of the SWM Power Inserter and goes to the DirecTV HD DVR.

To test, as I did, I pulled the Winegard outlet out of the wall, identify the coax coming from the outlet in the "wet cabinet".

Connect that coax to the input of the SWM Power Inserter, then run another coax from the SWM Power Inserter output to the DirecTV receiver.

Hopefully this will work, and you can work backwards to get the setup you want.

I had the Winegard SK-SWM3 Slimline antenna mounted on the roof. It has its own coax coming from the antenna to the SWM Power Inserter and then to the DirecTV HD DVR.

And it works great. Plus I retain the ability to connect to RV park cable TV and use the amplifier and antenna on the roof of the trailer.

Just some thoughts,

Pirate

wildwest450 · 08-16-2014, 01:52 AM

Winegard amplifier is off. I even pulled the outlet out and disconnected all wires and plugs, still didnt work.
Thanks for the help.

eightydo · 08-16-2014, 04:39 AM

I don't know if you looked is it a SWM LNB on your dish. my first trip with DirecTV I did not have a SWM LNB on my dish I got nothing on my TV.

wildwest450 · 08-16-2014, 02:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eightydo

I don't know if you looked is it a SWM LNB on your dish. my first trip with DirecTV I did not have a SWM LNB on my dish I got nothing on my TV.

It works 100% fine until you connect it through the camper. I pushed the cable through my slide and hppked it up. Nothing like tripping over a coax cable in your brand new camper.

wildwest450 · 08-16-2014, 02:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pirate

Just some thoughts,

Pirate

Thanks for the detailed write up, my brain is a little fuzzy this morning, I think I'll attack this thing when I get home. I do have an outside tv so I'll have to figure that out as well. Im going to pull the inside tv down and remove the false wall behind it so I can hopefully cut out a place for the receiver to sit. Then I'll be able to see where all the wiring goes.

Pirate · 08-16-2014, 08:34 PM

If you have DirecTV and want to use it with multiple TVs in your RV. Think about doing what I have done.

We upgraded to the DirecTV Genie HD DVR. Right now you can only have one Genie HD DVR per account. So we move it from house to RV and back.

Then, I purchased from SolidSignal.com a DirecTV "wireless video bridge" and two Mini Genie wireless devices.

So instead of trying to figure out how to run HDMI cables throughout the trailer...

The coax from the SWM Power Inserter goes into the "wireless video bridge" there is another coax port on the bridge and that goes to the input on the Genie HD DVR.

One of the Mini Genie devices is connected to the bedroom TV. All that's needed is the power supply and an HDMI to the TV.

Same for the TV in the garage.

Then, I purchased an extra Mini Genie power supply. So for the TV outside, there is a mounted power supply and HDMI cable. I just unplug on Mini Genie take it outside, plug in that power supply and HDMI...and voila...

All this added to my DirecTV bill was $6 a month for each Mini Genie device.

Hopefully, its not going to be that long before I can add another Genie HD DVR to my account.

Just some thoughts...

Pirate

wildwest450 · 08-17-2014, 01:27 AM

Something to ponder, thanks.

shafe · 08-18-2014, 07:04 PM

I have no power to the Leveling touch pad. I have turned the battery switch on and off a few times to make sure it is on

Thanks

wildwest450 · 08-18-2014, 08:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shafe

I have no power to the Leveling touch pad. I have turned the battery switch on and off a few times to make sure it is on

Thanks

Someone has been hitting the sodas early.

eightydo · 08-18-2014, 08:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dawniewest

Someone has been hitting the sodas early.

He forgot the Ice also.

Chalkie · 08-18-2014, 09:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dawniewest

Ok, finally got a picture with the satellite cable going directly into the swm box. Now if I unhook that and try to go through the rv wall hookup as soon as I touch connector to the swm box, the green light goes out and no go. Surely a 2014 camper would have RG-6U cable in it? There has to be a better way than having to push cable through the slide floor.
Stupid first world problems.

I posted a similar response in another thread, but here goes again.

When we switched over to DirecTv at our home we did so not only to save money over cable, but so that we could take the Genie with us on the road. The installer changed out all the splitters (the cable was fine) in our house with a special splitter for use with SWM. I asked why and it quickly became a technical answer I did not follow, however, the short answer is that it has to do with the frequency of the signal being passed thru.

Now, I asked if that was going to be the same issue with our camper and he told me that it likely would be and while he was there was nice enough to test the cabling in the camper for me. It is indeed an issue.

He told me I could get splitters in a number of places that would work. I have not done it yet, it is going to be a late fall project, but here is an example of what you need:

http://www.amazon.com/DirecTv-MSPLIT.../dp/B003H2HNQW

Hope this helps a bit.

wildwest450 · 08-18-2014, 09:29 PM

Thanks. I thought I may need to get one of those.

Pirate · 08-19-2014, 01:24 AM

shafe,

You lost me. Leveling touchpad? DirecTV issues?

Pirate

birdlady · 08-19-2014, 03:20 AM

Just as you have discovered, Direct TV will only work with a coax cable that runs from the satellite dish to the back of the direct TV box. So you are going to have to run a new coax into the trailer that feeds the back of the satellite box. It won't work any other way.

Pirate · 08-19-2014, 04:25 PM

birdlady,

Out of curiosity, so the coax "panel" in the cabinet on the outside of the trailer...marked satellite/cable cannot be used for satellite input?

Thanks,

Pirate

birdlady · 08-19-2014, 05:31 PM

Direct TV will not allow a splitter. So, we had a separate satellite cable wired into our trailer. We could not get our Direct TV to work by using the existing cable on the outside of the trailer. We have seen many people camping who run a separate cable through their windows to accommodate the Direct TV set up. We didn't want to do that, so we had the trailer wired specifically for satellite. We also had satellite radio cable run inside the trailer. An antenna was installed on the roof to accommodate the radio. We also installed a second TV in the bedroom with a DVD player and had to add a second box for Direct TV. We can use our cable outlet on the outside of the trailer for cable TV and that works just fine, but we prefer satellite TV. Hope this helps.

Pirate · 08-19-2014, 10:55 PM

Birdlady,

Excellent information!

One note, the DirecTV SWM3 roof mount antenna comes with the Power Inserter...the output goes to a DirecTV splitter. Each output from the splitter goes to another DirecTV receiver.

Thanks for the info!

Pirate

eightydo · 08-19-2014, 11:09 PM

Pirate;
I did run a separate cable for my Satellite. I had the basement walls off for checking water connections and wire clean up. I decided to install a separate cable. I did find some splitters for DirecTV I have to look where I got them from. Will get back.
http://www.thesatelliteshop.net/dire...er-p-2596.html

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