Community Forums

Tom 62 · 11-04-2017, 11:05 AM

I have a 1 st Gen tailgater thats octogonal shaped. We spend alot of time at out property on the Washigton coast. When it rains we loose the signal....and it rains alot on the coast. Anyone else have this problem and if so what did you do. I am looking at a roof mounted model but they are very costly....last resort would be a pole mounted perm dish. Any suggestions aout there?

Scarab0088 · 11-04-2017, 12:48 PM

Signal loss due to weather obstruction was possibly the issue...as long as the Tailgater did not get wet inside (left in standing water)

That happened to us once in OR in a rather extreme storm. There's a higher risk of this in more northern latitudes...being farther from the SAT.

To overcome this, please note all dome antennae have smaller reflector panels than the fixed dish or the Trav'ler. No obvious alternative.
A mast or rooftop mount would not make a bigger difference unless you are viewing the SAT's thru trees that are blowing in the wind.

We have placed our Tailgater on the RV's roof. Maybe try that to see if there is any improvement, before you spend the extra money (?)

Since you stated this issue is "at our property", why not mount a fixed style dish on the property and hook-up to that when there?
Second hand antenna are very cheap on Craigslist from apartment folks moving. We got one with a weighted base for $20.

Best luck

vsheetz · 11-04-2017, 01:11 PM

The physically smaller the antenna reflector the greater impact of rain fade. Treating the antenna enclosure or dome with RainX may help somewhat.

rgvtexan · 11-04-2017, 01:17 PM

I once lost the Sats, we had a heavy dew, just wiped it dry and they were back.

The RainX may help. Maybe an overhead cover to keep the water off of the Tailgater.
It may then work through the raindrops and clouds.

But a used dish is easy to setup and be done with it.

Or you could come over to the Dry Side. lol

MSHappyCampers · 11-04-2017, 01:34 PM

Hi Tom!

Welcome to IRV2! We're sure glad you joined the gang!

I thought all satellite dishes lost signal in the rain! Keep her between the ditches!

Good luck, happy trails, and God bless!

georgelesley · 11-04-2017, 05:24 PM

Waxing the tailgator will help and make cleaning it much easier. After I waxed ours rain fade was less because water runs off easier. BTW, so does snow.....

TLGPE · 11-14-2017, 10:07 PM

Actually, Joe, we use a Winegard X2, and it is very tolerant of rain and storms. Our Tailgater was quite unreliable in bad weather.

Tom

WeBeFulltime · 11-15-2017, 06:26 AM

Why not set up a standard residential fixed dish on your property and leave it there. Economical and works great.

sfrantz · 11-15-2017, 08:19 AM

We have one too and we like it. But it does have a smaller dish than the fixed units; no way around that. Rain will always affect reception.

I'm not convinced that waxing the case helps, but it wouldn't hurt. I think the rain problem is all the rain in the air between the receiver and the satellite, not the thin layer on the case.