Satellite Dish, what to do?

[HavocSun]

I have a 1991 Fleetwood Pace Arrow with a Chevy 454, on the roof I notice a Satellite dish which has a cable going into the overhead on the passenger side of the RV. I called Direct TV to make it live when they came in to replace my land line (Time Warner Cable). The sales person said it would be no problem but when they came to my RV they said they could not connect to that dish.

So what are my options, I don't want super HD or anything like that. Just basic Satellite reception. Is there a company that can get my dish connected?

Havoc

[Lt Dan]

It depends on the satellite dish. If it's a manual crank up type, then you might be able to connect to DirecTV by tuning it manually. Since DirecTV's SD programming is on one satellite, you don't have to worry about re-tuning. If it's an automatic of that vintage, it probably won't be able to recognize the correct satellite. On my old Itasca, I had that problem with a Winegard 2003 that would not lock into the correct satellite. Winegard said it was because the technology was designed when there were fewer satellites and now it could not recognize the correct one.

Your options depend on how much you want to spend. You can get a portable dome type dish for $400-500. A tripod mount manual antenna can be found for under $100. Since you said you don't want HD, then either one of those would work. The ultimate would be something like the Winegard Travelr at about $1500-1600 for the DirecTV version and you would be able to get HD on DirecTV. Some of the portable dome type antennas can be roof mounted. I replaced that Winegard 2003 with a Pathway X1 dome type automatic.

[srh]

Originally Posted by HavocSun

I have a 1991 Fleetwood Pace Arrow with a Chevy 454, on the roof I notice a Satellite dish which has a cable going into the overhead on the passenger side of the RV. I called Direct TV to make it live when they came in to replace my land line (Time Warner Cable). The sales person said it would be no problem but when they came to my RV they said they could not connect to that dish.

So what are my options, I don't want super HD or anything like that. Just basic Satellite reception. Is there a company that can get my dish connected?

Havoc

The sales people will say anything to sell you their service contract - this is in part because they know nothing about what you have and how it will connect to their service.
If it is 1991 vintage, you might be better off replacing it. I did that on my 08 Affinity. I had TracStar and after much hard work, I couldn't get it to work with Dish. I bought a Wineguard RoadTrip In-Motion. It will probably cost you around $1,200 and the are pretty easy to install.
Good Luck

[HavocSun]

I agree with both of your responses, Thank You. I did some checking & found many options for replacement of the dish. Honestly we are not even sure yet if we want to keep this RV. It was basically given to us by a neighbor. Its very clean inside and only used a few times. It has less then four thousand miles on it. The RV sat for most of its life, there's damage to some of the electrical, nothing major. Just a few things don't work. (Rats we think got into the wiring) The hydraulic levelers is one & I think some of the wiring to the engine sensors that control fuel mixture. It burns to much hydrocarbons & wont pass smog. The mechanic thinks it has something to do with the MAP or engine coolant sensor or the TBI it self. (Throttle Body Injection Carburetor). It starts right up every time & runs very strong but with it burning to many Hydrocarbons I'm wondering is its even worth adding all these suggestions. I was able to get it to pass smog by filling it up with 1/4 tank of Ethanol. (No Hydrocarbons) Then after the smog check I filled the remainder of the tank with regular gas. But I can tell the RV's burning to much gas & if I keep driving it I will burn out my Cat. So in the meantime I use it as a small retreat, enjoy a beer & nice cigar. If there is a way to just get the existing Satellite dish connected even with a minimum service. For now that would be perfect. Direct TV installers didn't even look at it close. They just said if we connect up your RV it has to be with a new dish. I asked my neighbor more about the dish. Her husband had it installed a few years after the bought the RV. (he passed shortly after the dish was put in, that's the reason it sat for so long). She remembers the cost being about $1700. Here's the funny part, it was threw Direct TV. LOL

[Gary RVRoamer]

Local DirectTV or Dish installers will rarely touch an RV satellite dish or dome. It's outside of their experience, and fraught with potential difficulties that can soak of hours or days of the tech's time. The installers simply aren't trained (or paid) for that sort of thing. An RV shop might be able to help, but they mostly just set up new systems as well. Getting an old one to work may get expensive in labor, even if feasible. And sometimes it is not.

Is there a satellite receiver in the coach? Does it have a magnetic card inserted? If so, you or a friendly tech might be able to play around and see if they can get the free Direct TV test channel. If not, it's probably not worthwhile messing with.

If you want basic satellite while it sits at home, why not just let the local installer set up a tripod dish in the yard and run the coax inside? They supply the dish and the receiver as part of the package, so it doesn't really cost any more than using your own dish..

[Jim_HiTek]

Do you really need satellite? I ask because if you're parked reasonably close to your home, you can use WiFi, along with a smart TV coupled with a tablet.

Also, I don't know if you have OTA (Over The Air) TV in your area, but that's a way to go too.

Don't think you'd want to pour $1700 into a satellite system for that old a rig.

[HavocSun]

I thought I would add some pictures of the dish, from what I can remember its a older Windgaurd. I don't remember what model. I do remember how I could tell it apart from the newer series, the bolt patter on my dish is spread out further. I have to get a receiver for it since the one that went with it disappeared. I am wondering what receiver would connect up to it. I was told by a associate at camping world that for my year motor home most likely the model RV211Z would work, manufacturer unknown. (I guess he was to lazy to check)

The picture on the right is what it looked like new.

[VanSully]

Originally Posted by HavocSun

I thought I would add some pictures of the dish, from what I can remember its a older Windgaurd. I don't remember what model. I do remember how I could tell it apart from the newer series, the bolt patter on my dish is spread out further. I have to get a receiver for it since the one that went with it disappeared. I am wondering what receiver would connect up to it. I was told by a associate at camping world that for my year motor home most likely the model RV211Z would work, manufacturer unknown. (I guess he was to lazy to check)

The picture on the right is what it looked like new.

We just purchased the rv211z at Hershey show. It is for Dish tv. ( but I don't know how it works-- lol!)

[HavocSun]

All of these responses give many new avenues to try. I guess what my goal is, try to connect my dish back up so if & when I get the RV gas issue corrected I will have a TV for when I'm on the road. As its been mentioned before, I don't want to sink a lot of money into this RV.

I think I may just buy that receiver I was told would work with older dishes. Hook it all back the way it was. Call Direct RV have them sap the receiver to come alive and try to dial it in.

[Lt Dan]

As the previous post said, the 211z receiver is for DISH only and not work with DirecTV.

That dish looks like a hand crank up type. The reflector and LNB look almost like the Winegard 2003 I had, except the 2003 had a huge round motorized base. It would work with DirecTV when I could get it to lock into a signal, it just would not lock in automatically. I could watch the strength meters and when it peaked, turn off the unit and could use it sometimes. It was so iffy that I decided to replace it.

Something as simple as this will work with DirecTV, once you get the hang of aiming it. It is listed on e-bay for $69.99.

[GNP99]

That's a Dish Network HD receiver, the VIP211Z, it is not compatible with that antenna. I have that same dish on my RV, works well with a standard definition Direct TV receiver, current model is D12. If you already have direct tv at your house just call and ask the to send you a SD receiver, assuming the coax is good that antenna is very easy to point, you should be watching tv in about 10 minutes.

[chuckbear]

havoc, You will be able to resolve this very easily. Stick a pole in the ground out by the RV. Call DirecTV and tell them you want a standard definition receiver and a 18" round dish installed. If they tell you you can't, hang up and call again to get another representative. When they come out, have them install the dish on the pole and connect the receiver inside the RV running a piece of coax anywhere to connect up. After they are finished and gone, disconnect the dish they installed and connect the coax from your roof dish to the receiver. Get an app called SatFinder for your smart phone or look it up on your computer. It will give you the direction and angle to point the dish toward the 101 satellite. That is the one you will use for standard definition. It may take you while to set up the dish properly, but once you get the hang of it, no problem. Your receiver has a built in signal meter in the menu to tell you when you have the signal tuned in. Any signal at 90 or better will be fine to watch TV. Then your done. Another option is to buy a receiver and dish from a company like Solid Signal and set it in place yourself. Then call DirecTV and tell them to come out and activate it, since you have your own equipment. Good Luck. Chuck