satellite antenna

CAMPDOG · 05-11-2005, 02:00 PM

Anyone installed one of then domed sat. antennas? I'm lookin for the stationary model love sat. tv like to have everything as automatic as possible. (I'm to lazy to set up and aim a dish.)

Rusty · 05-11-2005, 02:20 PM

But it is so easy to set up the tripod.

And it is a heck of a lot cheaper then the dome kits!!!!

D&M · 05-11-2005, 03:19 PM

One other thing if you are in an area with a lot of trees you may not be able to get a signal. With a portable you can move it till you get an open shot at the satielite.

Rusty · 05-11-2005, 03:27 PM

Some of the places we frequent are very deep in the woods, last year we camped in some very thick forest and the signal was around 85%.

I have a cheap tripod I purchased at Radio Shack, and 100 ft of cable. Lots of fudge factor to set it up, as long as I do not have to go through my neigbours spot!

Badge · 05-11-2005, 05:59 PM

Nothing wrong with having both. I have a crank up on my rig and a tripod for when I am deep in the trees. It takes me about 5 minutes to crank up and get a signal and it is much cheaper than a automatic.

Happy Camping!
Badge

rverdlm · 05-12-2005, 07:50 AM

Another point, the automatics are a smaller dish and many times will not lock on in an area where you can lock on with a tripod or crank up dish.

Rusty · 05-12-2005, 09:14 AM

Good point rverdlm.

Another point is, if you plan on going way up North you really need the bigger dish. I realize not everyone here is going to be going up to the Yukon or Northwest Territories, but if you do go North of 60 you need to have that bigger dish and the flexibility of 100 ft of cable.

Motor31 · 05-22-2005, 01:02 PM

We have an auto seek Winegard and love it. Our next rig will also have an automatic unit. So far most of the parks we've stayed at have not been a problem. We will get a second portable dish for those times when we need it. The second dish isn't all that expensive and it will give us some flexibility.

MDTdriver · 06-28-2005, 07:16 PM

I have a King-Dome sim-auto $850 I am sitting in Northern Wi. with trees to the south west of my rig. the roof of my rig is 13ft high no problem going over the trees. I also have a 3lnb Directv dish stores on my ladder use with surveyor tripod bought at Home Depot wt. is 8lb. Spend a lot of the winter in Ca./Az. trees are not much of a problem.

rotaxman · 07-26-2005, 08:01 PM

Motor 31
Glad to hear that post about the Wineguard I ordered one on my 06 36TK3 never had one before but I'am also lazy. I already carry a Direcway portable dish and have had no trouble aiming it at all. I just think it would nicer to just turn her on and see what happens.

mbatte · 08-23-2005, 08:59 PM

With my dish, I struggled to get it aimed right...back and forth, back and forth, looking at signal strength on the TV. The BOSS got tired of my frustration, and got me a meter....what a deal! Just SORTA aim the dish, and fine tune with the meter. It is even fun to do.

Tell you a funny...I was doing my aiming before I got the meter, using a cheapo Chinese-made compass. According to it, I was on target. But I WASN'T. I got so mad I put the sat dish back in the basement. I went into town the next day, and asked the Radio Shack guy if they had reception problems, (West TX). "Nope, we use transponder 11."

Well, I set up, again, got on transponder 11, and got the message: "Wrong Satellite", again.....just like before. The only possible thing I could think of, was that I was off in azimuth. AH, HA...I got a GPS receiver! Took it out and got a bearing. The Chinese compass was off a mere 18 degrees! Aimed. using the GPS, and trotted inside to watch TV.

If we ever have a war with them, I hope the Chinese aim their missles using their compasses. Seems to me, a compass is about as high tech as a hammer....

Sharron · 08-30-2005, 10:48 PM

Hi All,

New to the forum, but we have a portable dish with a directional finder. Works great. Even with lots of trees around (which we have a lot of in British Columbia, Canada) can still get a signal. Our friend has a roof mounted dish and always has trouble locating the signal when we camp together. Usually ends up coming over and watching ours.

JEBar · 09-28-2005, 03:54 PM

for the last 3 years we have used a Winegard dish (purchased from Camping World) and a Bullseye Dish Mount:

http://www.rvdishmount.com/

this mount has proven to be simple to set up and is extremely sturdy ... our dish has been through numerous thunder storms and strong winds that have leveled tents, destroyed awnings and toppled tripod dish mounts and so far it has not only remained standing, it has yet to lose signal ... it was recommended to us by folks who are fulltimers and has become one of our most trusted/valued pieces of equipment

Jim

MDTdriver · 11-27-2005, 02:08 AM

We got tired of camp ground land line & cell phone (slow) internet.
We now have RV Direct Way internet with Directv on same dish.
Would you like a larger tv dish how about 23"x39" dish, takes a lot to make this pixal.
Like more info e-mail me will send you phone # or internet sites for D-Way.
Larry & Kathy