# Camos Satellite



## Kontiki (Feb 27, 2013)

This is the first time I have had an automatic dish, all you should have to do is select which satellite & off it goes :rolleyes2:. I accept when down the south of Spain I am limited what I can get, I couldn't get anything at all on Astra 2 south, we used Hotbird & Astra 1 for the news programs. I am now in France at Saint Jean du Luz & spent ages trying to get the dish to find Astra 2 South, all that would happen was it would spin around find something, the light would flash for Astra 1, Hotbird or Hispasat this would g on for about 5-10 minutes then all the lights would flash & nothing. After numerous attempts I tried Astra 2 north & it found it. To my surprise I seem to have radio & TV??????? I thought I could only pick up anything on the north beam in the UK or possibly northern France, I hadn't bothered even trying it down the south as I wasn't expecting to get any on that satellite.
Reading the Camos manual it says it should take no more than 3 minutes to find a satellite, nothing is mentioned about if it gives up & you are left with the box just flashing all the lights. This system was already fitted to the van, I would personally prefer one you can use manually, my old suitcase one which I didn't bring with me, I could have it setup & running in less than 5 minutes.
I would have expected the Camos dish having found one satellite such as Astra 1 or Hotbird should then know pretty much here the other satellites are in relation to it? With mine it seems to need to go through a blind search each time. Can the box be re-programmed or software upgraded?


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## Devonlad (Feb 27, 2013)

I had trouble with mine, sent it back to Roadpro (the box), they updated the firmware for it & had it back to me day after they received it.
Now works great.


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## lotty (Feb 27, 2013)

we have a Camos on our van, I've found it to be the biggest waste of money! If you are within any distance of a tree or lamppost it can't get a signal. 
i spoke to the fitter and he said it relies on clear line of sight to the satelite and just try moving forward or back a few feet and try again, this isn't always possible! He said he once went out to a customer who was parked in a layby who couldn't get a signal, when he got there, there was a lampost in the way so they moved 6 feet forward and no problem!! 
I believe it is due to the actual size of the receiver dish in the dome being small compaired to an actual roof mounted dish?? or is that just excuses?? I don't know, all i know is after spending £1500 to buy and have it fitted I wish I hadn't bothered!!

I hope you have better luck than us. Please keep us updated with any progress you have with yours, I would be interested to see if there is anything that will help with our viewing (or not) pleasure.


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## BGT180 (Feb 27, 2013)

Kontiki said:


> This is the first time I have had an automatic dish, all you should have to do is select which satellite & off it goes :rolleyes2:. I accept when down the south of Spain I am limited what I can get, I couldn't get anything at all on Astra 2 south, we used Hotbird & Astra 1 for the news programs. I am now in France at Saint Jean du Luz & spent ages trying to get the dish to find Astra 2 South, all that would happen was it would spin around find something, the light would flash for Astra 1, Hotbird or Hispasat this would g on for about 5-10 minutes then all the lights would flash & nothing. After numerous attempts I tried Astra 2 north & it found it. To my surprise I seem to have radio & TV??????? I thought I could only pick up anything on the north beam in the UK or possibly northern France, I hadn't bothered even trying it down the south as I wasn't expecting to get any on that satellite.
> Reading the Camos manual it says it should take no more than 3 minutes to find a satellite, nothing is mentioned about if it gives up & you are left with the box just flashing all the lights. This system was already fitted to the van, I would personally prefer one you can use manually, my old suitcase one which I didn't bring with me, I could have it setup & running in less than 5 minutes.
> I would have expected the Camos dish having found one satellite such as Astra 1 or Hotbird should then know pretty much here the other satellites are in relation to it? With mine it seems to need to go through a blind search each time. Can the box be re-programmed or software upgraded?



Hi

I have had a Camos 40cm for about 5 years with few problems. You do need line of sight to the satellite but all receivers need to have it. Just bear it in mind when parking. Also we recently returned from Spain and could not get Astra 2S but got Astra 2N??? When arriving on site and switching on, the device appears to locate a signal from any satellite and then finds Astra 2N ie today we are in Bridlington and the Camos found Hispasat, then Hotbird and finally Astra 2N so I think it does use the first one for reference. If you find the box is unable to find a satellite and lights up sequentially I switch off and start again - if i have line of sight to the satellite it has never taken more than 2-3 mins to get a signal.
Barry


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## Chris K5 (Feb 27, 2013)

All satellite dishes need line of sight to pick up a signal.

A good friend of mine ordered sky tv package, when the fitter arrived to install it on his home he couldn't get a signal due to neighbours trees blocking the line of sight.

I have a Camos dome and have never had any problems in finding Astra satellite, in wooded sites is when i get problems receiving a signal.


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## Kontiki (Feb 28, 2013)

When I have tried I have absolutely nothing in the line of sight, discounting the odd bird or airplane flying over.
I found this site that mentions about if you have any problems with a camos system to get in touch  Camos dome I'll be giving them a call when I get back.
Don't know how I stand as I didn't buy the system from new, it was just on the van I bought it. I have had it where it would lock almost straight away, other times I have tried for about half an hour to get any satellite.


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## madbluemad (Mar 2, 2013)

I have had a Camos Flat Sat Cranky for a few years now and I'm very happy with it. I can find Astra 1 in no time flat.

The line of site issue is interesting. I know that when I get into Spain I wont get a signal so I just dont bother. 

Whether it be France or Spain I have watched people park up under a canopy of dense trees and raise their Sat Dish and proclaim that they have picked up Astra 1. My experience is that this is impossible and I sometimes think that they must be playing DVD's or something.

Beats me.

Road Pro are excellent with customer care and I'm sure that they will be very helpfull with you.


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## Grazza (Mar 2, 2013)

I have had a Road-Pro 30cm auto skew sat dome for almost two years and have rarely had problems getting a signal.
The place it never works is on my drive! And that's because of nearby trees.

You just have to be sensible where you park up.
When I arrive at a site I do a quick check with a compass (you can download a compass app) and try to make sure I pitch up where I have a line of site to the south-east.
If I can achieve that I have no problems.

Satellites, I find, are more reliable than TV aerials. You often find on sites that there is no terrestrial signal at all.

Keep searching


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## BrianG (Mar 2, 2013)

I had an Oyster retractable dish on my last van and never had a problem anywhere in France and most of Spain. If nothing else you should be able to get Sky News , True Movies , Movies for Men etc. You will of course find it difficult at times to get bbc without quite a large dish.  These domes are much better looking but I think retractable is more efficient. I am off to europe soon with a 60cm dish on tripod and it will be interesting to see what we get.            Briang


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## ozzo (Mar 2, 2013)

dont bother - read a book or listen to the radio or go to the pub !!!!


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## Kontiki (Mar 4, 2013)

Now we are in South West France at Capbreton we can get pretty much all the channels, bigger problem is there is sod all on worth watching, luckily we have a few thousand books on our tablets to read. Also we are getting free wifi here from Orange, have to keep logging on every 30 minutes but it's reasonably fast. Another wildcamper was parked here until today, only noticed his sticker when he was getting ready to go, it was John  & Joan (think his username is John Thompson)


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## Siimplyloco (Nov 1, 2013)

Hi. I know this is an old post but....
The Hymer I collected today has a Camos dome but no manual. Can anyone assist please? I've looked online but no joy so far. 
Thanks
John
Gosh, the van is loverly.....


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## Wooie1958 (Nov 1, 2013)

siimplyloco said:


> Hi. I know this is an old post but....
> The Hymer I collected today has a Camos dome but no manual. Can anyone assist please? I've looked online but no joy so far.
> Thanks
> John
> Gosh, the van is loverly.....





There are 3 to download here :- Camos Europe GmbH - Downloads

They might be of help.


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## Siimplyloco (Nov 1, 2013)

*No joy*

Thanks Wooie for the link: unfortunately there are no domes in the list.

I switch on the telly in the MH (it came with one + a Sky box) and it works. I'm just a little concerned as to how to set it up when I fit my whizzbang Avtex 18.5" DRS!
Cheers
John


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## Wooie1958 (Nov 1, 2013)

I have a Avtex TV and it`s pretty straight forward and all depends on how you connect the TV to the Satellite Box.

Mine is connected via the Scart Lead when i use it and all i have to do is to press " Scource " on the remote then scroll down to " Scart " and press OK.

When i`m not using the Sat Box i go back into Scource and scroll up to DVB, press OK and it`s back on the Internal Digital Tuner.


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## Siimplyloco (Nov 1, 2013)

Thanks, I'll give it a go! It would be nice to have a manual though.
John


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