KvH TracVision 4 Sat runs continuously

[jff]

I have a KVH TrackVision 4 and four DirectTV tuners on my boat. As I understand it, the KVH is supposed to run until it gets a signal lock and then, as long as it stays locked (ie. you're not moving) it should stop spinning. You can tell when it is running because you can hear the gurgling type of sound it makes. For some reason my unit just runs 7x24, it never stops. Any ideas why or how to correct this?

Regards,
Jason

 

[Four Suns]

Are you losing signal at all?

 

[jff]

Not at all, TVs all work perfectly, no loss of signal.

Regards,
Jason

 

[Four Suns]

Well... This is the deal with those things. There is a "sleep" mode you can enable to turn the gyro and step motors off when there is no motion. You'll have to hook a PC up to the RS232 port on the thing... you should see the port next to the power switch... and then in the TV4 manual, they give you the commands to enable or disable sleep mode.

This is the issue though. I have NEVER had luck with sleep mode and I have it turned off so the gyro and step motors stay on. There is no such thing as "no motion" in a boat unless you are on the hard. If you are hearing the step motors kick in, that means your boat is moving a little. With sleep mode, you'll lose connection if your boat moves 1 degree or more and then the thing gets in a cycle and can take a few minutes to spool up and scan the sky to find out where you are... then it gets a new signal... then goes to sleep... then the boat moves back 1 degree... you lose connection... and the cycle repeats as you curse a lot.

Granted my KVH TV4 is now mounted on top of an electronics mast and on top of a hard top and on top of a bridge so I don't hear the thing... The motors are continuous duty so it's not hurting anything...

It's a trade off... I prefer to leave it running with no sleep and always have the thing tracking...

My 2 cents.

(Please ignore any drool or typos in this post as I'm on some serious drugs this morning... yoo hooo...)

 

[jff]

That sounds spot on Gary, thanks. Based on that, I think what I will do is leave it this way and just turn it off (I have a hard switch inside the salon) when I'm not using televisions. No harm in that right? This way when I do want to watch TV I will have less interruptions (I know what you're talking about, my 390 dome was apparently set to sleep and I often had signal loss when underway or rocking).

Regards,
Jason

 

[Four Suns]

KVH actually recommends to leave/turn the system on when underway (it's in the manual). That way the dish is not banging all over the place...

 

[Asureyez]

The reason the dish keeps cycling is that while you boat is not moving much, the earth is spinning at 1400 miles an hour. Small differces in sat orbit, time and your position create large diviance in the 5x5 aim of the dish. The software wants to give you the very best signal. It perfectly alright to shut the unit down when at the dock and the pic will be 90% great. Turn it on during your pre manuver checks.

 

[Four Suns]

It perfectly alright to shut the unit down when at the dock and the pic will be 90% great. Turn it on during your pre manuver checks.

Well... my experiences are different... I have to have the gyro and step motors running at the dock or it loses signal. It's not like it will just "drift back in" but the thing comes out of sleep mode and goes through the whole "where am I" algorithm which takes several minutes. I guess if you leave it turned off at the dock, it won't go through that cycle and just fade in and out... which sucks... because it fades out right when you want to hear something important.

Also, these are geosynchronous satellites so they should be in the exact same spot all the time.

 

[The Bill Collector]

We have the KVH M3 and it does run on at times, but for the most part it behaves itself. It doesn't like steep banks next to the dock or when we enter the boathouse and that is what the off switch is for.....

 

[Asureyez]

Gary, that shoulder is working fine again I see!

My Kvh allows me to shut off the antenna but leave the receiver on, and I still get a pass through signal from the dish. I don't know the design issues, but it does work that way.

 

[Four Suns]

Gary, that shoulder is working fine again I see!

My Kvh allows me to shut off the antenna but leave the receiver on, and I still get a pass through signal from the dish. I don't know the design issues, but it does work that way.

I understand... But you have to have your boat strung in the slip so you have absolutely no boat movement... I think you are just way TOO BUSY WITH YOUR LADIES to notice it drifting in and out...

I showed my wife the picture of 3 women on the boat with you. I've been informed my boat would not be floating if I enjoyed life that much.

 

[370Dancer]

I've been doing some entertainment system upgrades on a 65 Viking that sits in a very calm, protected slip. The sat antenna is constantly moving a bit. Noisy in the bridge, but not heard in the salon or elsewhere.