I am a bigger cheapskate than you 1retired06. I actually built a double plywood platform (to make it heavy and low profile so as not to be blown away). I then use a satellite app in my tablet to find a clear path through any trees to start placing this base. I permanently fastened a vertical satellite dish-compatible post. The platform is marked with a North, which I then aim north. I also have 3 capture bolts like a tripod near the edges of the platform that I use to screw up or down and use a level on top of the post to make level. I then drop the HD satellite dish on top of the post then move side to side and/or up/down slightly to find the signal. I also use the Satellite app to find the general direction of the satellites I need and point this to help with the aim. It takes about 5 minutes to set up the hardware and about 5 minutes to find the signal at the campground where we spend about 70% of our time fulltiming. We spend 1 out of 4 weeks (25%) at our house (and just tap into the house satellite connection; no dish needed). I think I got pretty good at it. The last 5% for those of you doing the math, is at other places we vacation (Yosemite, San Diego, various deserts, other cities, etc.) This means that minor adjustments are made to my aim to obtain signal.
You guys with your deeper pockets just gotta watch out where you park. And your automation allows you to travel way more places than I do, which could make aiming a dish much more difficult due to the variety of the aim. So far my platform/dish hasn't been stolen, so now that you know, I'm expecting any one of you to steal my setup since it ain't nailed to the RV.
