Need help choosing a satellite dish??

[joannel]

Hi all, so I read pretty much every thing I could and couldn't make heads or tails out of it. I need a simple answer to what to do.

We watch a lot of TV - a lot and oftentimes there is no cable. We've been talking about buying something that will allow us television watching.

What do you suggest??? My husband cannot install anything (maybe a lightbulb ) so easy is the way to go. Also I guess since we do a lot of traveling things on top of the MH will scare us - the a/c is bad enough and the antenna hits a wire when we back up into the driveway so we probably don't need another thing to worry about when we hit a tunnel, etc. But if that is THE way to go, tell me about that. We see a lot of satellite thingys at campgrounds on the ground or on a tripod.

I've been reading about Tailgaters, receivers, Dish, Direct TV, do we subscribe to something?? Thanks - you guys are always awesome!

[pagosajoe]

Hi Joannel,

For simplicity, consider the Tailgater. Sits on a tripod outside the RV. You'll need to subscribe to Dish or DirecTV, and you'll need the appropriate receiver for the service you choose. We have the Winegard Trav'ler on top of our coach - installed myself - and it works wonderfully. Once you have an AC on the roof, the rest of the "stuff" won't add any clearance problems.

If you have either Dish or DirecTV at home, you may be better off to go with that service. We have Dish, which lets us turn the RV service on or off at our discretion if the RV is stored.

There are other options beyond the Tailgater.

http://amzn.to/1GBhyZS

Be certain to get the antenna that is made for the service you choose - either DirecTV or Dish. They are not interchangeable.

Hope that helps! Others will be along to provide their opinion and guidance...

[MisterT]

last November I contacted DISH and they were happy to have their independent tech come out to our RV park with a DishHD satellite, Tripod mount(because we told them we would be 'mobile'), and three vp211 receivers(outside tv, bedroom, and living room[boys bunks have TV's wired to only cable and OTR antenna]). They installed the sat dish/tripod, the 3 receivers, and got everything working like a charm within 1 hour.
I subscribed to their lower entry 120 channel package, about $60 monthly.
I don't remember any cost for the equipment or install, though it could have been $50 for the tech fee.
We travel the country and I set up the dish/tripod everywhere I go. I use several apps like SatFinder and Dish Align to get the right area of the sky, and use the onscreen DISH receiver 'pointing' tool to find the exact coordinates(angle/skew). The onscreen tool also gives you audio and visual alerts when you have found the Satellite(s).
I would suggest you also ask for extra length of cable since you don't know exactly how much you'll need when you move. Mine is about 30', but I've also added another 175' for those times when you might need to avoid some trees or other RVs.

[Duoglide1]

Here on iRV2 there is a forum section entitled Systems and Technology. If you go there you will find hours of reading about pros & cons of each of the units and each of the providers. Have fun.


2005 Country Coach Inspire, C9 CAT

[Timon]

Originally Posted by joannel

Hi all, so I read pretty much every thing I could and couldn't make heads or tails out of it. I need a simple answer to what to do.

We watch a lot of TV - a lot and oftentimes there is no cable. We've been talking about buying something that will allow us television watching.

What do you suggest??? My husband cannot install anything (maybe a lightbulb ) so easy is the way to go. Also I guess since we do a lot of traveling things on top of the MH will scare us - the a/c is bad enough and the antenna hits a wire when we back up into the driveway so we probably don't need another thing to worry about when we hit a tunnel, etc. But if that is THE way to go, tell me about that. We see a lot of satellite thingys at campgrounds on the ground or on a tripod.

I've been reading about Tailgaters, receivers, Dish, Direct TV, do we subscribe to something?? Thanks - you guys are always awesome!

Going with a Tripod dish is cheep but you'll have to set it up manually all the time. A Trav'ler gives you completely automatic setup but you have to make sure you park your coach where it can find the southern sky. Don't worry about it being on the roof since it lower than any of the AC units. You also have to pick your provider up front. If you go with Dish you cannot convert the Trav'ler to Direct but it you choose Direct then you can convert back to Dish. Never understood why Winegard just didn't use the same motor assemble for both then let you select which dish to put on it.

[joannel]

I really appreciate your help!! Thank you

[MikeandClaudia]

We started out with a "Tailgater" worked well for 13 months (we are full-timers) then just after the warranty ran out it stopped working. We like hundreds of others set our tailgater directly on the ground. The park staff(s) would mow, it would rain, the dirt would blow. When the technician took the tailgater part, the bottom has a bunch of little holes in the bottom, and the unit sucked up the water and the grass and the dirt and the electronic components looked like a compost pile where the fan sucked ll of that stuff in through the holes.

Not wanting to give the TG anther go, I found the Winegard Carry-Out 2 with a tripod. This keep it up in the air where it won't suck up all of thew crud.

I wipe it down, around the moving parts once a month or so and it has been working well for over a year now.

TA DA!

[FlyingDiver]

Originally Posted by joannel

Hi all, so I read pretty much every thing I could and couldn't make heads or tails out of it. I need a simple answer to what to do.

We watch a lot of TV - a lot and oftentimes there is no cable. We've been talking about buying something that will allow us television watching.

You need to answer two questions first - (1) Do you want HD programming, or is SD good enough. (2) Do you want in-motion capability (watch while on the move)?

Also, the rooftop mounted dishes are shorter than your AC units when in travel mode (stowed), so don't worry about that. Just make sure you actually stow them before you move the RV.

[NMRVer]

tailgaters are a good option, but having an roof mounted automatic antenna is the only way to go IMO (like a slimline system). here's my reasoning:
1. installation is a 1 time ordeal and most RV sales install them for a fee.
2. 1 button operation. It raises itself, finds the satellites for you and locks on without having hands on.
3. They offer the same quality as home based systems and switch between satellites without interruption.

Just my 2 cents..

[twinboat]

I have standard definition DirecTV. I had been using a $60.00 dish and tripod, outside the MH.

Last week I picked up a King Quest dome. I screwed it down near the old crank up antenna.

I used the wire from the antenna, taking It off the back of the antenna outlet, jack and hooking it to the power injector, then to my box.

Works great, without trees. I kept the tripod setup for trees.

[britcon]

If you watch a lot of TV, get a Winegard Traveller roof top dish which will allow you both HD / SD viewing and can use the Dish Hopper system giving you a ton of options with recording and playback. Traveller dish is automatic, stores low on the roof.

[bigben]

Not sure what you have at your home or if your RV is your home. For us, we had just switched to Dish. One of the reason was it was really easy to add Dish to our RV via a Tailgater. The Tailgater is easy to setup and because I was worried about the bumping, jostling or someone walking off with my Tailgater I built a ladder mount using Flag Pole Buddy. The setup is easy on the pole or off the pole - orient the handle generally north and turn it on. To make sure you get local channels - know the address you are at, go on online to MyDish, open a chat window, give the on line agent the new service address - done.


Cost of the Tailgater unit is about $400.
Cost of the Mount was about $90.
Cost of the incremental monthly HD service $7 when it is activated.

[gemini5362]

Quite frankly if you watch a lot of tv then the tailgater or the winegard carry out is a waste of money. The best solution is a winegard traveller like mentioned above. The second best selection is a manual dish like mentioned above and as mentioned above you have to manually align the dish in whatever weather you are in when you stop and want to watch tv. The traveller is totally automatic you just push a button it unfolds and finds the sattelites. If you buy anything else you will have wasted your money when you find out it does not work that well. Then you will go out and buy a traveller or a manual antenna.

[drfife]

I take offense that you claim the Tailgater is a waste of money. We've had one for 3 years and it works great.

We camp in state parks and COE's with trees. Roof mounted dishes would often be blocked by trees. No problem with the Tailgater and 100' of RG6 coax cable. It's very rare that I cannot get a signal within 100' of my camper.

If you always park with no trees and a clear view of the sky, get a Traveler. If you camp under trees, consider a portable dish.