Setting up a portable DTV HD Dish

[relgel]

Hi--I am in the process of setting up a HD direct tv dish for on the ground use ( I use a KV in motion on the road) and am looking for any pictures you have of how you dealt with this dish.

Thanks in advance,

Jim Legler
06 Diplomat/00 Cherokee

[Route 66]

I had a 6"x2" dia. piece of stock welded to a 12"x12"x1/8" plate and bolted that to a piece of plywood.

It works great.

[golden]

Quote:

Originally Posted by relgel Hi--I am in the process of setting up a HD direct tv dish for on the ground use ( I use a KV in motion on the road) and am looking for any pictures you have of how you dealt with this dish. Thanks in advance, Jim Legler 06 Diplomat/00 Cherokee

Jim,

I noticed you haven't had any responses and I may not be a lot of help. A couple months ago I was trying to decide whether to go HD on the ground (portable) or on the roof (which is the way I ultimately went). I posed several questions on this and other forums and received numerous answers. Perhaps if you were to phrase your question a little differently, perhaps not asking for pictures, you might get a few responses. Did you do a search yet? I know there are quite a few people here who can help.

Denny

[Don/Lou]

This site may give you some info
Its what I use
Don
Satellite TV for RV Support Information - TV4RV.com - support information, assistance and questions
See photo in signature

[94-Newmar]

Jim, I use a folding 5' tripod that was intended for the older large VHF/UHF antennas mounted up on Home roofs. I found it at a garage sale for $2.00. I had tried board mounting and other types of "portable" tripods but the wind could always blow the dish over easily, or people walking around wouldn't see my ground mount and trip on the antenna, or people walking in front of it would always cause the signal to cut out.

The 'feet' on it, if tightened up just enough to move, are great to use for leveling the tripod too and you can easily use the existing holes in the feet to anchor it down in case of realllly strong winds.

This thing must weigh 25lbs but it folds up really small and fits easily in my basement area along with the dish... haven't had any blowovers yet.

MCM sells the exact same tripod I have for like $40.00 or so.

Link:Easy-up 5 Ft Tripod Roof Mount | EZ48-5ABX (EZ485ABX) | Easy-up

[StStg1]

Here is the ground mount I use. I don't have HD but I don't see a problem with using the mount for HD. I've had it in pretty strong winds and No problems. It's easy to make and for me easy to get the sat signal.

sat

[codgerbill]

Does the HD dish for Direct TV use the same type of mount as does the SD defnition dish and is the weight close to the SD dish? If so.... I used the tripod (shown above in 94 Newmars post) for my direct (SD) TV. If you do use the tripod you might want to get a pipe that will sit on the ground (4-5"length?) and also extend at least 6-8 inches above the tripod (that will allow you to rotate the dish freely in any direction). I also used the long nails (tent spikes?) to anchor each leg of the tripod once I leveled the tripod

[Route 66]

The SD dish has a 1 1/2" dia mount and the HD dish has a 2" dia mount.

[62Morgan]

see: Satellite TV for RV - Tripod - Slimline - Dish - DirectTV - RV television - Recreational Vehicles - RVers - DishTV - Satellite Dish - FTA - Tripod

I used this setup. It uses a standard surveyor's transit tripod.

Tripod doesn't have to be brand new.... Some can be had 2nd hand at a good discount.

[195pilot]

Jim,

I use TV4RV's heavy duty tripod. He offers a kit that includes the tripod, a compass and a bubble level, plus a cheap signal meter. I love every component except for the signal meter which I subsequently upgraded to a better unit.

The tripod and its accessories are very easy to use and a little care in placing the tripod makes for a very quick alignment (using a printed copy of the azimuth/elevation/skew settings by zip code). I am using a Dish 1000.3, I think, for HD and I can be set up and watching TV in ten minutes or less.