The Truth about the AS-2003

[rogerm]

Want to know why your AS-2003 automatic Satellite system won’t work? A few minutes of research on the Internet and I had my answer. Here’s the scoop:
The AS-2003 uses on-board GPS to determine its location, then uses two of the pre-programmed satellites in its brain to figure out where it is supposed to find the satellite you have set it for. All was well until August, 2008 when Echostar 4 and Echostar 6 were re-located from 110W and 119W to 72.7W and 77W (Echostar 10 & 11 are now at 110W and Echostar 7 is at 119W). This confuses the brain of the AS-2003 because it finds these satellites but they are not where it thinks they should be, and thus won’t lock on to ANY satellite.
I spoke with a tech support person at Winegard and unless your system is less than two years old (still under warranty) you are SOL. To date, Winegard can’t/won’t provide any support for AS-2003 owners. Their solution is to either upgrade to a newer system or to watch the signal and when you see what you think is your satellite, quickly shut it off and hope your signal is good enough to lock on to.
I for one am not anxious to spend two grand every three years (it is anyone’s guess when a satellite is going to be moved or de-commissioned) for an automatic satellite system with zero support from the manufacturer.
My plan is to salvage the motors from the AS-2003 and wire in a controller so I can manually maneuver the dish – that way they can move satellites around all they want....

[Winegard-Mobiletech]

SOL is not the best way to describe the situation.

The AS-2003 is no longer going to receive updates. If you have a non working AS-2003 contact me at

mobiletechhelp@winegard.com

I handle these on a case by case basis.

[rogerm]

I sent you the following email on June 16 and got no reply...

My situation is this:

On a previous post (AS-2003 Woes), I indicated that I bought the AS-2003 in the fall of 2007. I was mistaken. I purchased the 5th wheel trailer on Dec 12, 2006, and asked for a few custom upgrades, one of which was to install the satellite dish. I took delivery of the trailer on May 8, 2007, but did not use the satellite dish that summer. In September, 2008, my brother-in-law borrowed the trailer and wanted to watch a football game that weekend. He tried unsuccessfully to get it to work, and I didn’t really give it much more thought at the time. In May, 2009, I was getting the trailer ready for the season and decided to try to see if I could make the satellite dish work. After no success for several days trying different things, I gave up. That’s when I put my first post on the Winegard website (AS-2003 Woes).

I then went on the internet and did some digging and discovered the reasons why it does not work (see below).

You say SOL is not the best way to describe the situation. I called the toll free tech support line you gave me (1-800-788-4417) and told her my situation. She told me that there was no warranty and there was nothing she could do to help me. Her advice to me was “to either upgrade to a newer system or to watch the signal and when you see what you think is your satellite, quickly shut it off and hope your signal is good enough to lock on to.” I don’t know what you consider SOL, but that is the way I felt when I hung up the phone…

Comments?

[Winegard-Mobiletech]

The satellite companies have made several significant changes to the number and type of satellites they use since we phased out the AS-2003.

Replacing the system is pretty much the only option that doesn't involve the words "Stand with your finger on the button to stop the system when you get a signal"

We do have a few things that we can offer but for what it would cost you to upgrade the AS-2003 to work with all the changes that DISH and DIRECT have made, you would be better off replacing the system. The electronics would need to be changed, these sold for approx. $500.00. However, we would have to add a few fairly expensive components to the electronics and re-write the programming. This would increase the cost of the unit.

There are also not very many people who would not want to upgrade so the increased cost would not be spread out.

If your unit is still covered by the warranty, it is less expensive for Winegard to replace the AS-2003 with something else.

If you unit is not covered by the warranty, it is less expensive for the Customer to replace the AS-2003 with something else and if you call we should have some options available.