RV/DirecTV for DUMMYS!

[Dragnflys]

I just aquired this DirecTV dish with the 3 knobs (I told you - for Dummys) It has 4 connectors on the backside of the 3 'knobs'. I will have only one TV in our 5th wheel. We have a 36" HD TV installed. I have DirecTVHD in my house. We are starting an extended trip in two weeks (3 months-9,000 miles). We would like to have our HD DirecTV service with us on this trip. Do I have everything I need? If not, what do I need to add to this system to make it work? And PLEASE-keep it simple!

[Bill Adams]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dragnflys I just aquired this DirecTV dish with the 3 knobs (I told you - for Dummys) It has 4 connectors on the backside of the 3 'knobs'. I will have only one TV in our 5th wheel. We have a 36" HD TV installed. I have DirecTVHD in my house. We are starting an extended trip in two weeks (3 months-9,000 miles). We would like to have our HD DirecTV service with us on this trip. Do I have everything I need? If not, what do I need to add to this system to make it work? And PLEASE-keep it simple!

There are 2 dishes that "appear" to have 3 LNB's. One actually does have 3 LNB's and one has 3 LNB's inside the center "knob". Does your dish say Slimline or SL5 ? If so, you are good to go and after you spend some frustrating time learning how to properly point that antenna you will be able to connect one coax (or 2 if you want to connect to a DVR) to one (or 2) of the available outputs and run them from the antenna to your receiver.

[Dragnflys]

'Multi-Satellitte' is printed on the dish. A stick-on tag under the 'knobs' says "Triple Feed/Multi-Satellite LNB with multi-switch".

[FlyingDiver]

Are all three of the "knobs" round, or is one of them slightly oval?

joe

[Bill Adams]

I am pretty sure that this is the old style antenna that picks up 101, 110 and 119. This antenna will not work with the new DirecTV satellites for HD programming. You need a Slimline SL3 or SL5 antenna that will pick up the 99, 101 and 103 satellites.
http://archive.tivocommunity.com/tiv.../159091-1.html

[Dragnflys]

All three appear to be identical - round!

[Dragnflys]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bill Adams I am pretty sure that this is the old style antenna that picks up 101, 110 and 119. This antenna will not work with the new DirecTV satellites for HD programming. You need a Slimline SL3 or SL5 antenna that will pick up the 99, 101 and 103 satellites. TiVo Community Forums Archives - triple-feed multi-satellite LNB/multi-switch?

We do still have one 'non-HD DVR' receiver in our house, so that I can record to DVD's. Will that receiver work with that dish? It's not the end of the world if we don't get HD - hopefully anyway. I just hope we won't experience 'grainyness' on the TV.

[Bill Adams]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dragnflys We do still have one 'non-HD DVR' receiver in our house, so that I can record to DVD's. Will that receiver work with that dish? It's not the end of the world if we don't get HD - hopefully anyway. I just hope we won't experience 'grainyness' on the TV.

Any DirecTV antenna ever made can be used to pick up the one main DirecTV satellite at 101. Set the skew to 0 and use the "round dish" settings in the receiver to locate the satellite. There is no such thing as "graininess" with satellite TV. Your connections can cause problems but with satellite TV you either get a perfect signal, no signal or one that breaks up into pixels (some kind of interference).

[Dragnflys]

Thanks very much for the education.

Bob

[nalcon]

Actually, I think the 0 skew is 90 degrees. At 90 mine acts like a round dish.