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Old 02-27-2020, 12:03 PM   #1
DaveK
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Satellite TV

My 2019 Montana High Country will go to the dealer after I return home from FL in March. The dealer visit will be to fix issues before the factory warranty expires. Four issues, not major.

I have a Dish Satellite and could not get it to work. I hired a private satellite expert and he found that the Sat TV connections and cable to be inferior. He got it working by connecting directly to the inside cable, bypassing the factory ports. I still can't get HD TV because the cable appears inadequate. I get good reception if I run the cable in the window directly from the antenna.

Wondering if anyone here uses Dish TV and did anyone have issues? Did you have any problems getting Keystone to repair under warranty?
 
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Old 02-27-2020, 12:27 PM   #2
DoctorO21
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Same issue with my 2020 3120RL. I took out the fireplace and ran a 6' quad shielded coax cable from the wally to an outside port I installed in the side of the slider. Just drilled a 5/8" hole, ran the coax through the hole, and screwed it into a coax port on the side of the slider. When the slider in in, the new port is not exposed and is protected. So, for satellite, I bypass the KeyTV system completely and now have a direct run from my portable satellite dish to my wally to my TV. Works perfect now!
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Old 02-27-2020, 12:44 PM   #3
DaveK
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I'm impressed at your solution. I suspect that this is a weakness on all Montanas. I'm gonna see if Keystone will step up to the plate on this.

Does your port interfere with the slide seal or does it exit below?
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Old 02-27-2020, 12:59 PM   #4
DoctorO21
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It's a covered exterior coaxial plate from Amazon: Prime Products 08-6208 White Receptacle Round Cable TV. Works great. No problem with the seal when retracted.
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Old 02-27-2020, 01:03 PM   #5
lightsout
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You may already know this... The problem with Montanas is you have two TV one in the living area and the other in the Bedroom. most portable dish only support one TV (box) and if you hook up two boxes it will not work both TV will be dead.

Dish makes a special satellite for dual TV's requires two RG6 cables from the Dish, one to each box which the SAT input in the convenience center will not support since it is a single input. Also keep in mind that Dish portables recommend a max of 25' run of RG-6 cable, I have been able to use 50' (quality suffers a bit) I have also tried 75' with very poor results and will not try again.

If your dish is the single output type you can use a HDMI splitter and use a single box for 2-3 TV's off of one box, (max HDMI run is 50' though).

You probably know this info but thought I would through it out there just in case you were trying to set up both TV's as that would 100% kill your signal with a single RG6 exterior input.

I am this week adding the 2nd RG6 input so the LR TV and BR TV boxes have separate inputs, I have the Dish portable that has the two RG6 outputs.

I am also installing a 3rd TV in the Basement that will run off of the BR TV via HDMI.
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Old 02-27-2020, 07:33 PM   #6
DQDick
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The problem most folks have with dishes is that they use one of the tailgater models that gets it's power from the receiver. With 2 different Montanas I've never had a problem with Dish TV but I always used antennas like the Winegard G2+ or a Traveler that provides it's own power.
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Old 02-27-2020, 08:00 PM   #7
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My 2014 uses a Winnegard Traveler with Dish and supports three TVs with excellent HD picture quality. I use a Joey to run the bedroom tv, and an HDMI splitter to run the outside tv. My system uses existing cable from the factory except for the outside tv, where I had to run an HDMI cable to the basement.
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Old 02-28-2020, 06:44 PM   #8
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As for cable length, I have a Pathways II. I tried running 50 foot of cable thru the convenience center - no go. I traced down the inside cable in the trailer, and from the outside hookup it runs up to the attic, I think it was (maybe basement). Then the full length of the trailer to near the back wall. Then into the slide and forward another 6 feet, and finally up the wall about 4 feet. I estimated this to be something like30-35 feet. So adding in the outside 50 ft cable I didn't get any or much of a signal. I also put a connection thru the side of the slide directly to the TV. Now 50 ft cable outside works. Also, you really need 50 feet probably 1/3 - 1/2 the time. Trees one direction, so run all the way to the front opposite side, etc etc.
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Old 02-29-2020, 09:26 AM   #9
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Another option for your basic sat coax. On our HC 353, the coax is under the slide with the other cables. I cut the coax and put a connector on it. I connect my dish to this connector, which is about 5 feet below the TV. We have never had issues. I only had 1 tv hooked up as this all my dish would connect - and it was Directv.

I will be interested to hear if Keystone will do anything to improve the issue. Good luck
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Old 03-01-2020, 12:28 PM   #10
MARK A
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Davekendall1@yahoo.com View Post
I'm impressed at your solution. I suspect that this is a weakness on all Montanas. I'm gonna see if Keystone will step up to the plate on this.

Does your port interfere with the slide seal or does it exit below?

It's not worth arguing with Keystone, you could have it fixed right, before you get off the phone.


Mark
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Old 03-04-2020, 01:27 PM   #11
soconor
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I replaced the factory splitters with diplexers. Had to do some spaghetti work in the basement to have rooftop satellite work along with park cable.
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Old 03-04-2020, 03:16 PM   #12
boisesmith
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Your observation that the existing trailer cable being almost as long as the maximum length recommended (50 feet) for the Pathway is bound to solve the problem many of us have. I suspect the solution is going to be adding a new coaxial port nearer the television as suggested by others in this thread. On my 2017 3000RE, the satellite cable was bad (per a tone generator test) so we used the cable t.v. cable port.
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Old 03-04-2020, 03:48 PM   #13
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I’ve come to the conclusion that most of the third party equipment is pretty good but just about anything requiring significant assembly or installation completed by Keystone will fail or require a repair or new innovative solution. I couldn’t believe when I first read it on this blog that the face trim that fronts the slide out had completely fallen off some ones slide out and then it happened to us. Not sure who at Keystone thinks it’s a good idea to jam a handful of staples and a little glue onto this heavy trim as it travels down the highway. New tires every 10,000 miles despite the dealer saying the alignment falls within spec. Most of the trim I have reattached. Jack falls down and won’t power back up. And the list goes on. Don’t get me started about that piece of crap sliding door setup on our master walk in closet. $65,000 plus the ongoing repairs. Best in industry???
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Old 03-04-2020, 06:23 PM   #14
pitman44
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When we got our camper hooked up to the neighbor's pole mounted dish the first thing the sat guy did was to check the signal. He ended up remaking each cable end and the signal was fine then. I'd look there first.
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Old 03-04-2020, 06:37 PM   #15
pitman44
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Originally Posted by Trailer Trash View Post
I’ve come to the conclusion that most of the third party equipment is pretty good but just about anything requiring significant assembly or installation completed by Keystone will fail or require a repair or new innovative solution. I couldn’t believe when I first read it on this blog that the face trim that fronts the slide out had completely fallen off some ones slide out and then it happened to us. Not sure who at Keystone thinks it’s a good idea to jam a handful of staples and a little glue onto this heavy trim as it travels down the highway. New tires every 10,000 miles despite the dealer saying the alignment falls within spec. Most of the trim I have reattached. Jack falls down and won’t power back up. And the list goes on. Don’t get me started about that piece of crap sliding door setup on our master walk in closet. $65,000 plus the ongoing repairs. Best in industry???

I'm not going to defend Keystone or any RV manufacturer, but I will point out that quality issues are endemic in any industry that's price sensitive. I own a residential HVAC business and have been in business over 30 years. We're one of the go to contractors in the area people call when they have issues. Last year we got a call from some folks whose AC wasn't working in their new in 2016 $515,000 home. They had a plethora of issues. The paid us around $16k to replace their gas furnace and AC as well as a few remedial issues.



They have many other issues with their home. Concrete sidewalk canted and breaking. Steps have sunk. Interior cracks.


Their GC uses the cheapest subs he can find. I suspect any RV manufacturer is located where they are in part because wages are low.


My point is often the installed quality of anything has been suffering for many years. IMO, it's likely to get worse before it gets better until more people enter trades and are able to start their livelihood w/o oodles of college debt.
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Old 04-28-2022, 11:42 AM   #16
HondoSwatdog
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yes.... same problem with my 2021 Montana. When I try to connect to the roof connector on the Winegard 360+, no reception. When I connect to the lower connector by the water control panel, I can get some signal. I even put in a booster that Winegard sells... doesn't seem to help. I think its ineffective wiring that is the problem.
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