Satellite connection

[timrands]

I have a 2018 Montana high country 380th. There is 2 connections in where you fill up with water and one inside the same door in the storage area. I just bought a satellite and not sure how to hook up. Thank you in advance for any help.

[Carl n Susan]

I don't believe the High Country has the KeyTV system (lucky you). Can you post some pictures? That helps a lot for us non-HC owners.

[seasure1]

You would think when you see a satellite connection it would work. Well on my unit and most that I have seen, you have to run a direct cable from the satellite dish to the tv.

[timrands]

Sorry I guess you have to use a computer to download pictures. Not near one

[Carl n Susan]

No you can upload photos from your phone or tablet. Many here do.

Start with reading the topic Forum Posting 101 and Account Help (Posts #8, #19, & #25) at https://www.montanaowners.com/forums...ad.php?t=70323

[Foldbak]

Your sat dish connects to the input marked sat in the wet bay. Your sat receiver connects to the wall plate at the TV marked sat. It's that easy. What did you get? Dish or DTV? King or Winegard?

[Mikendebbie]

Here is a pic of my connections - but the two sat connections do not work with my Dish Tailgater (probably due to the poor quality OEM splitters). I rigged up a direct connection to the back of my wally black box. My coach cable connection works fine to all 3 of my TVs.

[timrands]

Thank you for that info. It helped a lot.

[seasure1]

Satellite signals will not work with a splitter. The tailgater is powered thru the coax cable. If you reduce the voltage by using a splitter you will not have enough current to start the satellite system

[AnArky]

I’ve never heard of the satellite input connection actually working in a Keystone Montana. Has anyone ever had it working as standard, no mods?

[jhudson]

This looks just like my 2014. I run directv through them with no problems. HD with a genie with with the mini genie all with the SWiM tech. Works great.

[jhudson]

As for splitters, yes you can use them as long as they are designed for satellite service. With Directv and SWiM tech, there is only one cable coming from the satellite antenna. Thereby this signal needs to be split to each of the recievers in the camper. With my unit, those connections in the wet bay run a single cable to the bedroom and another one to the living room. Both recievers then connect respectively to the cables. My unit came this way from factory with labeling stating satellite ready.

Been using it this way since 2013.....

[Carl n Susan]

That also looks like my 2012 setup. DTV SWM genie with a cable connected mini-Genie has been working flawlessly since day one. Splitters do cause a slight signal loss but are not show stoppers. Crappy connectors are more of an issue.

The problem occurs when Montana started using a diplexer to to combine multiple cables into one to save $0.05. Diplexers don't react well to satellite signals and DC power feeds.

[Foldbak]

Originally Posted by AnArky

I’ve never heard of the satellite input connection actually working in a Keystone Montana. Has anyone ever had it working as standard, no mods?

Works on mine. Even through the KeyTv multiplexer.

[Flipper]

Originally Posted by AnArky

I’ve never heard of the satellite input connection actually working in a Keystone Montana. Has anyone ever had it working as standard, no mods?

Mine works fine for dish network. When I had direct tv I had to modify quite a bit though.

[masterdrago]

Make sure to go behind the convenience center and make direct connections from those connectors to your Dish antenna to the bedroom and living room terminals. Our dish antenna has two outputs, cable to the two convenience center terminals, cable in the rv direct to the receivers in living room and bedroom, hdmi from receivers to tv

[InspectorCurt]

The other water connection is for winterizing on mine its the upper.Should be cable connection inside same door,one will say satellite.we have 2021 3121rk and I hooked directly to A360 on roof unit(Dish)...theres port w/ cap if yours has it

[TennTom]

I have the 381th, almost the same. I also have Dish with 3 LBN's. I use the top Sat for input and it works just fine. Make sure you turn off the power to the OTA antenna. It's that small button with the green light where the cables come in by the TV. Open the left bottom cabinet door to find it.

[Foldbak]

Originally Posted by TennTom

I have the 381th, almost the same. I also have Dish with 3 LBN's. I use the top Sat for input and it works just fine. Make sure you turn off the power to the OTA antenna. It's that small button with the green light where the cables come in by the TV. Open the left bottom cabinet door to find it.

I believe it depends on the year. You're referring to the OTA booster? The Winegard 360 doesn't have an on off switch. I think we have multiple conversations going on here lol

[Tonykling]

My 2019 3560RL factory installed satellite connections did not work with my Dish Playmaker. The coax cable was too long for the satellite dish to receive sufficient DC power to operate. To shorten the length of the coax and reduce line voltage loss, I added an external connector to the slide where my Wally unit was located. This cut down the length of the coax from around 35 feet to less than 4 feet and everything works fine.