Community Forums

doc · 05-03-2006, 11:47 AM

Please be easy on this question as I am pretty ignorant on these kind of things. I can work this computer, but that is about it.
We recently had the opportunity to get rid of the terrible cable system we had and got a deal on Dish network.
Previous attempts by local technician/installers said they were unable to get a signal since we live in the woods. This guy came out and immediately got a signal at 114 of 125 (whatever that means) But we did have a few trees cut year before last so that might make a difference. Any how this technician was pretty sharp and I respect what he had to say.
I mentioned the MH and he said to merely take one of the recievers with us when we are camping. He said all I needed was an antenna. I told him there was a dish on the MH, that it was a Winegard. He said he thought that was Direct and probably would not work with the Dish network equipment.

(I know I getting long here, but please bear with me)
1. Does anyone know if that is correct or will the Winegard work with Dish?
2. Winne has the dish on the MH wired up to an empty compartment above the driver's seat. If I use the current MH dish, will the tv's in the MH work? I know I'll have to turn the booster off.
3. If Winegard dish doesn't work, how do I wire a dish I buy compatible? Can I run it through the cable hookup in the electric bay?

I guess what I'm looking for is a 'look doc, this is how you do it to make it work' type answer.

Thanks in advance

doc · 05-03-2006, 11:47 AM

Please be easy on this question as I am pretty ignorant on these kind of things. I can work this computer, but that is about it.
We recently had the opportunity to get rid of the terrible cable system we had and got a deal on Dish network.
Previous attempts by local technician/installers said they were unable to get a signal since we live in the woods. This guy came out and immediately got a signal at 114 of 125 (whatever that means) But we did have a few trees cut year before last so that might make a difference. Any how this technician was pretty sharp and I respect what he had to say.
I mentioned the MH and he said to merely take one of the recievers with us when we are camping. He said all I needed was an antenna. I told him there was a dish on the MH, that it was a Winegard. He said he thought that was Direct and probably would not work with the Dish network equipment.

(I know I getting long here, but please bear with me)
1. Does anyone know if that is correct or will the Winegard work with Dish?
2. Winne has the dish on the MH wired up to an empty compartment above the driver's seat. If I use the current MH dish, will the tv's in the MH work? I know I'll have to turn the booster off.
3. If Winegard dish doesn't work, how do I wire a dish I buy compatible? Can I run it through the cable hookup in the electric bay?

I guess what I'm looking for is a 'look doc, this is how you do it to make it work' type answer.

Thanks in advance

rebelsbeach · 05-03-2006, 11:50 AM

Doc's coach is a 2000 Itasca Horizon 36 footer...

E Z Livin · 05-05-2006, 08:13 AM

Doc, I can not answer many of your questions but can answer one. I had a Winegard installed on my RV and use it with Dish Network. I set up on Satellite 119 since it has the most channels. Satellite 110 has a few and you will not be able to go back and forth with the standard size Winegard. Take the receiver out the house would be fine. I elected to buy a new one and pay the extra $5.00 month to avoid switching and leave it in the RV.
Can not tackle the installation questions. I have talked to people that hooked a portable dish to the external cable connector, cut off the booster and said it worked fine. Others state that the cable in their RV was not capable of carrying the digital signal.
I have a box mounted and the cable goes from the dish to this box. I can switch from antenna, to DVD, to cable to Satellite by pushing the button. You will not be able to run the bedroom TV without either installing its seperate receiver and a dual horn or either put a splitter wire from the front TV to feed the back. If you went this way, the back would only show what you have the front set on. I elected not to do all this and use air antenna for rear and the Dish Network for the front TV.
Expect not to get all the channels in the RV that you get at home. I went on line with google and found a list of what shows are on which satellite. dish network listing 110 119
This is all of the little I know.

PDB · 05-05-2006, 08:35 AM

EZ Livin has it down pat. I have a Winegard MovingOn automatic dish on the roof of my MH. It drives the LR TV, and I get both 119 and 110.
I also have a 'BOW' on a Motosat internet dish driving the BR TV, both 119 and 110.

There are some dip switches on the Winegard unit where you can set it to seek the satellite you want, be it Dish or Direct. Of course you have to remove the dome cover to get to the switches.

If you do remove the cover be sure to silicon the screws when you put them back in, else rain will get in the dish mechanics without a way to dain out.
Paul

doc · 05-05-2006, 09:02 AM

Thanks guys. I am working on figuring this thing out now. I wish this roof top thing was an automatic locating dish. You just crank it up after leveling the coach and then use a compass for direction to orient to north. It does have an elevation read out.
There is a compartment for the reciever and a lead from the dish to it. There is a bunch of switches that allow you to select 'cable', 'antenna', 'VCR', 'dish' and 'other' on the front and rear TV.

With a bit of luck I will be able to put the receiver in the compartment, hook the leads up and find the satellite and have a peaceful time watching the History Channel next time we are in the boonies. Other than that, I may just get an outside dish on a stand.

E Z Livin · 05-05-2006, 11:53 AM

You have it made. Turn receiver on and get into setup. Dish alignment and then signal strength.

Move your red arrow on the turn crank to north. Crank you dish up to the correct elevation. There is a lock/unlock knob that prevents the dish from moving with the wind. Unlock this and move the dish to correct compass setting. Example 357 SW.
If you have the red toward north this should put you close. Lock the knob back. If you do not have a strong signal or no signal, try cranking up and down first to see if it comes in. If not, then put height where it should be and play very slowly by moving the dish little left little right. Sometimes this takes me 1 minute and other times several. I do have problem finding 119 sometimes but find 110 right away. I have found that I can go down and to the left a little and find 119. Good luck and enjoy.

Easyrider · 05-06-2006, 06:34 PM

Also when you put your receiver in your mh and turn it on go to your menu, sat setup, and change your dish type from oval(you likely have an oval dish on your house if you get local channels and all the others off your dish) to round which will be what you have on your mh. Then remember to change it back when you put it back in the house.

mbrooking · 05-07-2006, 01:39 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Easyrider:
Also when you put your receiver in your mh and turn it on go to your menu, sat setup, and change your dish type from oval(you likely have an oval dish on your house if you get local channels and all the others off your dish) to round which will be what you have on your mh. Then remember to change it back when you put it back in the house. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Thanks Easyrider. This was the information that I needed to move the receiver from my bedroom to the RV. Works well when you are set to the correct dish type.

PDB · 05-08-2006, 01:47 PM

And don't forget to unplug, not just turn off, but remove power from the receiver when you drive the coach. Else you may be buying a new hard drive.

Colesmeister · 05-31-2006, 11:53 AM

Hello, all. Found this thread and thought I'd ask my question here. We have an appointment to have a Winegard MV3500A installed on our motorhome. I just heard a horror story from someone in the office who said these systems lock onto the first satellite they find, no matter what it is (TV, spy, whatever) and that you have to keep pushing the button until you get to the satellite you want. Based on what I've read here, I assume there are switches you set at installation that tell the unit what satellites (119 and 110) you want to lock on and it will only stop there. Is this a fair assumption? It sounds to me like the person I spoke with didn't have their unit configured correctly.

Greg

PDB · 06-01-2006, 12:05 PM

I have the Winegard MV3500A and have never had nor heard of such a problem. Sounds like a remark a salesman from some other brand would make.

Do you have Dish or Direct? With Dish, you click on the satellte you want to lock on to and the MV does it. It will flash you with names of other birds it finds as it is seeking, but it never tries to lock on to anything exept what you have selected on the screen.

And, if you have Dish 500, it continues to seek and lock on the 110 after locking the 119. Then, when you change channels from a 119 channel to a 110 channel it knows exactly how to move to immediately grab the 110 bird automatically.

Paul