Country Coach Owners Forum

Country Coach Restoration, Repair & Parts Forums => Country Coach Archive => Topic started by: George Magee on April 06, 2015, 05:50:06 pm

Title: TracStar Satellite System
Post by: George Magee on April 06, 2015, 05:50:06 pm
Yahoo Message Number: 100097 (http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Country-Coach-Owners/conversations/messages/100097)
Greetings Everyone,

I have a TracStar SV360 on my 2006 Inspire. I signed up for Direct TV for the first time since buying the coach in Sept.2014 so I have never used the system before. When the install tech was here we turned on the system and were able to hear the dish trying to find a satellite but it would not lock on to anything. I have set the system to my area of the country SW and tried the 0- Calibrate with no success.
The DTV tech told me it was most likely a bad LNB since he had run in to the same problem before, although he wasn't sure it was a TracStar system.
Before spending a lot of money I was wondering if anyone else has had a similar problem and if so how did you solve it.
Thanks

George Magee
06 Inspire 51639
Title: Re: TracStar Satellite System
Post by: Dennis on April 06, 2015, 06:05:54 pm
Yahoo Message Number: 100099 (http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Country-Coach-Owners/conversations/messages/100099)
Call trackstar direct and they will walk you through it and help you trouble shoot if needed If it has major issues then I would recommend a dish such as RF Mogul eagle rather than spend much on a trackstar Denny Parker
06 Intrigue
Title: Re: TracStar Satellite System
Post by: Lonny & Diane Livingston on April 06, 2015, 06:35:09 pm
Yahoo Message Number: 100100 (http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Country-Coach-Owners/conversations/messages/100100)
We did have a bad LNB on our TracStar satellite but there are things you should check first. Some of these you probably already know but we didn't when we started learning.  If DirecTV installed the receivers which they usually don't, they don't really understand RV satellite systems and won't do service calls on them.

1. Are you where there are buildings or trees in the line of sight for the satellite. You have to have a clear view of the southern sky.

2. Did you get a basic receiver?  If not, it may not be compatible.  We have the D12-100 or D10-300 receivers.

3. you can troubleshoot the system via the menu.  DirecTV will walk you through that over the phone. That's how our sat tech found the bad LNB.

4.  Is the sat button pushed on the Winegard distribution box?

The person we have work on our satellite system is Dave at Sats2Go in Willis TX (near Houston). He is the RV satellite "guru" - We drive there from Florida for our satellite work. He told us that the TracStar dish is better than most of what they make today.  He upgraded ours to the latest software and replace some parts and it's working like a champ in our 2004 Allure.  He added another LNB (kit available) so we could watch different shows in the bedroom since our Allure wasn't wired to do so.

Also the name of the company for TracStar is now Cobham and they are located in Orlando FL. They have been very helpful to us as well but only for things specific to their unit.
Title: Re: TracStar Satellite System
Post by: Barney on April 07, 2015, 03:39:42 am
Yahoo Message Number: 100106 (http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Country-Coach-Owners/conversations/messages/100106)
Hi George,

If you are looking for HD Directv service you will need a Winegard system like this.

Winegard SK-SWM3 Slimline Automatic Multi-Satellite TV Antenna (http://www.amazon.com/Winegard-SK-SWM3-Slimline-Automatic-Multi-Satellite/dp/B00AXXEL5Y)
Had lots of problems with my TracStar system and did away with it. Also wanted HD! (https://ec.yimg.com/ec?url=https%3A%2F%2Fs.yimg.com%2Fok%2Fu%2Fassets%2Fimg%2Femoticons%2Femo1.gif&t=1436973428&sig=108wP6S5kMtV0vz4WaLfOg--~C)

Good Luck,

Barney

07 Inspire 52059
Title: Re: TracStar Satellite System
Post by: Dclovis95 on April 07, 2015, 06:19:54 pm
Yahoo Message Number: 100111 (http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Country-Coach-Owners/conversations/messages/100111)
Hi George,

I have the TracStar and it will not receive HD.  However, I run two Direct TV receivers and it works great.  I also had the same TracStar on my previous motorhome and it worked great.  As you know they no longer make the dishes.  I have replaced my LNB in the past and it cleared up all my problems.  A very easy repair that I completed myself.

A great dealer in So Cal. carries the parts if they are still available.  Contact RV Satellite Systems, 714-630-7276.  He is extremely knowledgeable on all satellite systems.

Good luck.

David and Paula and Puppies
2007 Allure
#31554
Title: Re: TracStar Satellite System
Post by: Paulkthomas on August 24, 2015, 09:07:29 pm
Yahoo Message Number: 102467 (http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Country-Coach-Owners/conversations/messages/102467)
After 8 months of no RVing our TracStar would find DirecTV 101 but could not maintain a strong signal.  It would stay in the "Run Lock Verify" state for hours or lose the signal and then attempt several "Wide Scans".  We live in Florida and had visited TracStar some years ago for upgrades to handle DISH TV.  Now the old TracStar tel # reaches customer service at Cobham in Orlando. He referred me to Newsom Electronics also here in Florida.  Will Newsom was a TracStar dealer and says he obtained TracStar's inventory of systems and parts after Cobham took over TracStar's non-RV satellite business.  Will helped get our TracStar SV360 working again by running various diagnostics and by replacing the LNB.  Find him at newsomelectronics.com