KVH dome (1 Viewer)

slimbob

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I have a kvh dome had it fitted a year ago .
since then it has been one of the worst things I have ever bought .
just about every time we go to use it does not work for one reason or another .
I have just got in after trying to get it going again we are going away again and wanted the sat working .
luckily I did keep my digital aerial so we are able to have the tv
 

Emmenay

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Have you explained to company that fitted it that you have problems?
 

JeanLuc

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A few thoughts apart from talking to the fitter, which would be the first step:
  • Has the dome had software updates from the fitting dealer in order to cope with changes to Astra satellites? There is a reference to this on the website of the importer CA Clase.
  • If this has been done, have you spoken to Clase? I believe they are very helpful.
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  • Vanbitz in Taunton (Funster member) is the largest single installer of KVH in the UK and knows a lot about them (In fact Eddie VB has one on his own RV, so presumably he must be happy with it). If they were your installers they should be your first port of call, if not, they may still be able to help.

Good luck with it - I have a Camos so no direct experience of KVH but if I were having one fitted again, I would tend towards KVH now.

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Apr 23, 2010
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Hi Slimbob
Could you be a bit more specific about the problems your experiencing?
On my KVH dome after all the satellite transfers(transponders) I could no longer get my Dome to lock onto the signal.

Good luck for me and others, that Eddie(Vanbitz) put a solution to the signal lock on the forum.
First turn your TV on and set your viewing channel to QVC or Sky News,then turn your Dome on and wait for it to find said channel.
Once you have the channel and picture,turn off the Dome.
You should now be able to access all the channels that are on your TV.
Hope that is of some help?:thumb:
 
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slimbob

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well its working again but still think it was a waste of money and I would not buy another
 

Emmenay

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well its working again but still think it was a waste of money and I would not buy another

Reasons, details, anything..... Give us a clue then :RollEyes:

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slimbob

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my reason why I would not buy a sat system again .
the cost to start with .
each time I have gone to use mine I have had to have some work done on it before we go away .
and after the work it has not always worked
lnb thing has packed up once .
now I have been told that it wont work in france
this is less then a year old .
best stick to freeview on the telly.
and dvd
 

Teasy2007

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We have had our KVH for just under 3 years and it is excellent in UK and France as far as the Pyrenees. We had the upgrade in December and it is as reliable as it ever was.

We had a quote from CA Classe, who are brilliant and gave us the names of local dealers who could reset the frequency, they said 'If you are having a problem with your dome, it is not the dome it is the installer!!'

I would contact them they have an excellent technical support team.

Ginny

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slimbob

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We have had our KVH for just under 3 years and it is excellent in UK and France as far as the Pyrenees. We had the upgrade in December and it is as reliable as it ever was.

We had a quote from CA Classe, who are brilliant and gave us the names of local dealers who could reset the frequency, they said 'If you are having a problem with your dome, it is not the dome it is the installer!!'

I would contact them they have an excellent technical support team.

Ginny


as I said its working now .
I am only saying that I would never buy one again not just the kvh system but any of them .
kvh dealers by the way have been good in sorting the problems out
 

camcondor

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Well all you KVH owners are lucky compared to many of us with CAMOS systems - these have more or less been entirely abandoned by many, if not most, installers, even the reputable ones, particularly the earlier systems which are apparently "not upgradeable" so there goes two grand thrown away after only a few years. :Eeek: even though the hardware is fine, its useless as the software which locks the satellites apparently cannot be upgraded in the older CAMOS. Only way to know is apparently to climb up on the roof and read the label on the side of the dome :cry:

Ours has always been a bit glitchy - impossible to get any signal near trees but when it works it has a great picture. The idiot MH dealer who supplied our MH and installed the dome installed it in the wardrobe :Eeek: along with the freesat box, so to change channels you have to crank your neck around 90 degrees while opening the wardrobe door standing behind the TV :Doh: Fab!

So satellite domes are not my favourite accessories really .......:Eeek:
 
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slimbob

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Well all you KVH owners are lucky compared to many of us with CAMOS systems - these have more or less been entirely abandoned by many, if not most, installers, even the reputable ones, particularly the earlier systems which are apparently "not upgradeable" so there goes two grand thrown away after only a few years. :Eeek: even though the hardware is fine, its useless as the software which locks the satellites apparently cannot be upgraded in the older CAMOS. Only way to know is apparently to climb up on the roof and read the label on the side of the dome :cry:

Ours has always been a bit glitchy - impossible to get any signal near trees but when it works it has a great picture. The idiot MH dealer who supplied our MH and installed the dome installed it in the wardrobe :Eeek: along with the freesat box, so to change channels you have to crank your neck around 90 degrees while opening the wardrobe door standing behind the TV :Doh: Fab!

So satellite domes are not my favourite accessories really .......:Eeek:



and I thought it was just me .
would you buy another

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camcondor

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and I thought it was just me .
would you buy another

I don't think so. Although I would like a system that just works.......i end up having to faff around with a pole and an aerial and a Freeview box as we usually look for a nice sheltered spot and CAMOS domes don't do trees, sheltered spots etc. the price of the damn things is astronomical for what they are really - someone is making a killing from us mugs! :Eeek: As I get older and closer to retirement, I am reluctant to spend thousands on some gadget that is rendered useless in a few years time when the satellites are changed or re-aligned etc.......:Eeek:
 

Techno

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Roadpro to my knowledge will bend over backwards to help any camos owner.
I've known extreme generosity shown to an owner of a mark I
Before dismissing them as rubbish try contacting them
 

dave newell

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I've fitted loads of Camos domes and not a single one has come back with a problem during all the satellite changes. Installing a receiver in a wardrobe is fine IF its fitted with a remote IR receiver, without its just plain stupid! Why didn't you get the supplying dealer to reposition it when you discovered its daft positioning?

D.

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Chris

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Well all you KVH owners are lucky compared to many of us with CAMOS systems - these have more or less been entirely abandoned by many, if not most, installers, even the reputable ones, particularly the earlier systems which are apparently "not upgradeable" so there goes two grand thrown away after only a few years. :Eeek: even though the hardware is fine, its useless as the software which locks the satellites apparently cannot be upgraded in the older CAMOS. Only way to know is apparently to climb up on the roof and read the label on the side of the dome :cry:

Ours has always been a bit glitchy - impossible to get any signal near trees but when it works it has a great picture. The idiot MH dealer who supplied our MH and installed the dome installed it in the wardrobe :Eeek: along with the freesat box, so to change channels you have to crank your neck around 90 degrees while opening the wardrobe door standing behind the TV :Doh: Fab!



So satellite domes are not my favourite accessories really .......:Eeek:

Can't you get one of those gizmo's which attaches to the sat box and means you can change channels by pointing the controller at the gizmo rather than the sat box? Probably not very well explained, but Johns Cross attached this gizmo and drilled a hole through the cupboard wall where the sat box sat and stuck the gizmo right next to the tv. Vanbitz fitted our original dome complete with this gizmo and then we switched vans.

Really pleased with ours. Avoid trees is the only advice I would say but I suppose that applies to all sat systems.
 

camcondor

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Can't you get one of those gizmo's which attaches to the sat box and means you can change channels by pointing the controller at the gizmo rather than the sat box? Probably not very well explained, but Johns Cross attached this gizmo and drilled a hole through the cupboard wall where the sat box sat and stuck the gizmo right next to the tv. Vanbitz fitted our original dome complete with this gizmo and then we switched vans.

Really pleased with ours. Avoid trees is the only advice I would say but I suppose that applies to all sat systems.

I think you probably mean an infrared extender or similar so the remote can work despite the stupid location of the box! It's an option, but after the dreadful buying experience and awful dealer service I am only just starting to get over it now, years later and will do that once I have been able to check if the Camos we have is one of the doomed ones or not :whatthe:
 

Teasy2007

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Can't you get one of those gizmo's which attaches to the sat box and means you can change channels by pointing the controller at the gizmo rather than the sat box? Probably not very well explained, but Johns Cross attached this gizmo and drilled a hole through the cupboard wall where the sat box sat and stuck the gizmo right next to the tv. Vanbitz fitted our original dome complete with this gizmo and then we switched vans.

Really pleased with ours. Avoid trees is the only advice I would say but I suppose that applies to all sat systems.

It's called a magic eye and works really well on our Sky box which is a cupboard below the TV. They are not expensive and it works a treat. I am not sure if it works as well from a Freeview box.

Ginny

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Emmenay

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I've fitted loads of Camos domes [HI]and not a single one has come back with a problem during all the satellite changes[/HI]. Installing a receiver in a wardrobe is fine IF its fitted with a remote IR receiver, without its just plain stupid! Why didn't you get the supplying dealer to reposition it when you discovered its daft positioning?

D.
I still don't understand why there would be problems, (apart from the smaller footprint that is,) as I understand it the new satellites are/will be in the same 28.2 degrees group. My controller still locks on to everything, (down to Barcelona in August 2013) including the channel 5 group which is already on a new sat. Just so that I can understand, does the changeover problem lye with the dome controller or the sat receiver depending on the type?
 

camcondor

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I've fitted loads of Camos domes and not a single one has come back with a problem during all the satellite changes. Installing a receiver in a wardrobe is fine IF its fitted with a remote IR receiver, without its just plain stupid! Why didn't you get the supplying dealer to reposition it when you discovered its daft positioning?

D.


Because so much was wrong and it was of a far more urgent / safety related nature, such as dangerous backyard cobbled together tow bar, rearview camera installed behind the towbar, boiler wiring not connected, missing stuff, very badly installed Waeco aircon which failed immediately (replaced thank goodness by Conrad Anderson, who also did a superb installation compared to the cockup done by BCS in Herne Bay, inability to get the dealer to respond to many things, the fact the dealer was in Herne Bay and we were in Staffordshire.......and many other such reasons, of which the Camos dome was not the most urgent.

Worst buying experience of a lifetime which left us heartbroken and with a permanent mistrust of motorhome dealers and any allied services. At the time Adria MH were very new in the UK, our Vision one of the first imported, and the manufacturer franchised "support" via that stupid caravan outfit in Long Melford, was a joker called Mike Lake. There is a long thread on the Dark Side about it, and even after I had long left there, he came back and hurled vitriolic abuse about how we dared to expect to get what we had ordered and paid for.

Years down the line, I am finally starting to be able to rectify some of the disgusting botched rubbish minor installs that still remained after BCS had finally covered some of the worst safety related issues like the towbar and missing security system they claimed they had installed and that we had paid for. :Eeek:
 

camcondor

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I still don't understand why there would be problems, (apart from the smaller footprint that is,) as I understand it the new satellites are/will be in the same 28.2 degrees group. My controller still locks on to everything, (down to Barcelona in August 2013) including the channel 5 group which is already on a new sat. Just so that I can understand, does the changeover problem lye with the dome controller or the sat receiver depending on the type?



Something to do with the dome controller, not the box - its the dome controller which apparently can't be upgraded on older Camos systems. Mine might be an old one or it might not, apparently there is a sticker somewhere under the side of the dome up on the roof somewhere :whatthe: making it a tad inaccesible for me to check, but I will check when my solar panel is installed on the roof. sods Law and the crooked dealer Supplying the MH also supplied and fitted the dome, so very possibly a cheaply acquired older model!

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camcondor

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Roadpro to my knowledge will bend over backwards to help any camos owner.
I've known extreme generosity shown to an owner of a mark I
Before dismissing them as rubbish try contacting them

I think they were the only suppliers at the time my MH was purchased - I did email them but they want the domes details which are currently inaccessible so will need to wait till we do the solar panel install to check on the roof.

I have heard that they are so helpful but they did seem a tad disinterested and quite slow to respond when I initially contacted them about it. Will try again once the impossible to reach sticker has finally been reached! :thumb:
 

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