satellite tv help

Hello -
I just bought our first trailmanor!!! It is a 3124Ks 2001 - it is in Texas and we are going to pick it up in June to take it to Colorado. I am interested in having a satellite dish - my kids are addicted to pbs and noggin - and we need a break from them often!!! So, I was on ebay and bidding on the dome type - but don't know what I really need or if we can install it ourselves on this trip - anyone have any info or advice? Thanks
Suzanne

[Denny_A]

Originally Posted by suzanne

Hello -
I just bought our first trailmanor!!! It is a 3124Ks 2001 - it is in Texas and we are going to pick it up in June to take it to Colorado. I am interested in having a satellite dish - my kids are addicted to pbs and noggin - and we need a break from them often!!! So, I was on ebay and bidding on the dome type - but don't know what I really need or if we can install it ourselves on this trip - anyone have any info or advice? Thanks
Suzanne

......and took it on the road with me. Bought a simple single LNB dish, an audio/visual satellite tuner, and a portable mount (which has a 2D bubble level, compass, and adjustable azimuth/elevation).

I had 50 feet of coax cable so the dish could be positioned so that there was a decent line of sight to the appropriate satellite. Side note: had I had a fixed mount antenna, there would have been many times when the satellite could not have been acquired.

After setting up our TM, it would normally take 10 minutes or so to tune the satellite (except when trying to find a line of sight in a heavily treed site). It goes w/o saying (I'll say it anyway) the Dish (or DirecTV) set Top Box is also taken on the trip.

Example; Dish TV setup as follows: Go into 'Main Menu", then to "Setup", then to 'Installation", then to 'Point Dish', scroll up to 'Peak Angles' and enter. At this point you'll see a box to enter 'Zip Code' of current location. Once that has been done a list of 'Elevation' and 'Azimuth' angles will be displayed for the currently entered Zip Code'. These values are used to point the dish. The audio/visual (tone/meter pointer) assists pointing the dish precisely. On reading this, it SEEMS difficult! In fact, it is not - the second time. I practised at home, setting up the dish on my deck. So when we hit the road it was a piece of cake!

If the system is Direct TV, I'm sure a similar process will be used.

Anywy, the portable antenna will allow the flexibility that a fixed mount won't!

IMHO

Denny_A

I usually take a small tv with me. Sometimes that's all I use. I take the TV and receiver to the dish and line the dish up with them both right there with it. It just works easier for me when I have the tv right there while I'm moving the dish alignment.

I had just recently read that if you already have Dish or Direct tv you can get service for $5 a month more for your Rv? Is this an accurate statement?

Midwest Dave

[Harry Womack]

The extra reciever is $5.00 per month. If you find a spare receiver, you can take the card out of your home unit and use it on the road for free. Or take your home unit.

It is correct that if you use an extra receiver it is $5 per month extra, and also true that you can take one from home for no charge. Another consideration is this. With dish network your local stations over satellite are on a spot beam satellite. If you get outside the spot, you can't pick up your local stations or any network stations. For a $5 fee Dish will add a network packacge to the dish receiver and card that you specify. You must sign a document to the effect that you only use this in your rv or your over the road commercial truck. You can then pick up network broadcasts from certain cities in the US, but not necessarily from your home stations. I'm sure that Direct has a similiar system.

That's what I like about this form! It's great! Thanks guys.

Midwest Dave

Hi: You really dont need to payany fees, all we doo is we take the receiver from our room, set it up as some of the other posts have said, only drawback youll have is your localchannel will follow you wherever you are,, no problem exccept maybe for the local weather report, if you buy a receiver from EBAY ,etc, and take your card, you will have to call Direct Tv to reset your card, cause they will go blank till you call and reset,nowdays your card is matched to your receiver,ntaking the whole receiver and card keeps me from calling, all you do is align and enjoy,could be different in other parts of the country, dont know that, no need to call and tell you are in an RV.

[Denny_A]

Originally Posted by victor310

Hi: You really dont need to payany fees, all we doo is we take the receiver from our room, set it up as some of the other posts have said, only drawback youll have is your localchannel will follow you wherever you are,, no problem exccept maybe for the local weather report, if you buy a receiver from EBAY ,etc, and take your card, you will have to call Direct Tv to reset your card, cause they will go blank till you call and reset,nowdays your card is matched to your receiver,ntaking the whole receiver and card keeps me from calling, all you do is align and enjoy,could be different in other parts of the country, dont know that, no need to call and tell you are in an RV.

My procedure is just as you say. It takes about 2-3 minutes to disconnect the home (in my case) "dishTV" receiver and put it in the trailer just before closing. No additional charge. I carry plenty of coax AND barrel connectors plus the dish, satellite finder and tripod. I've even called dishTV from my trailer to change service (needed OLN to see the Tour de France). No problem. They had no idea I was on the road (until I tol' em ).

So, carry your own receiver from your home (or wherever...) and use it. Provider doesn't care.

Denny_A

I read an article recently on tips in an rv magizine and the writer suggested that if you are using a stand alone dish on a tripod that you not use standard coax cable to connect it to the reciever at the trailer. He suggested getting RG-6 cable vice the household RG-58 cable. Anyone have any experience with this?

Bill