Cable length and tripod?

[Gonfishin]

I am looking into setting up a satellite dish for the Monty and had a few questions for you folks that have already done so. What is the general consensus on the length of cable to bring? What about tripods, I have seen a couple of different ones. Any you would suggest NOT to get?
Thanks,
Rick.

[Ishler]

I really like this system! http://www.rvdishmount.com/ it's very flexable in attachments. Along with an inexpensive signal meter it take me about 15min max to set up. I have several lengths of cable the longest being 100' which I only used once. I have several pieces about 25' and carry barrel connectors to link them.

[padredw]

I think Mike (above) is exactly right. I have several different lengths of cable -- rarely use all of them, but have the capacity to really get out there if need be. I can use a shorter one, a longer one, or combine to whatever length is appropriate.

I have a "home made" tripod that was given to me by a friend. It works just fine.

We just take our receiver from home and use it on the road. It also works fine, unless there are too many trees!

[richfaa]

Gonefishing..The mount described in the above Web site looks interesting..We have the short mount from Camper world and a longer sturdier one from Radio shack.Both work well. WE Carry 100 feet of RG-6 but rarely use more that One 25 foot section. The trick of course is to get the dish pointed in the right diredtion at the right elevation,,Signal meter and boy scout compass do the job.15 mins max to set up is a good estimate..usually takes more like 5 or 10...

[Charlie]

Rich is correct about the cable size. RG-6 is the only cable to use. I have a 50' length and only a couple of times have had to unroll the full length. The signal meter is also a must. I assume you know about finding angles from the receiver menu according to zip codes.

[BigBlue]

I use a roof mount tripod with a piece of 1-1/4 inch PVC as the pipe. The origonal pipe diameter was to small. I use 60 feet of RG-59 for cable and it works great.

[patodonn]

Two lengths of RG-6..one about 25 ft, the other one about 75 ft. One barrel connector to join them, if necessary. Had to do that once or twice only. I also use the RG-6 for hookup to regular cable TV at those parks which have it.

There is a little right angle "slip on" connector available at Radio Shack for a few $ for a set of two. They screw on into each end connector of the RG-6 cable, and allow you to just slip the connector onto the female connector on the RV connection panel. I really hated screwing and unscrewing the connectors every time we had to install or take down the dish antenna. I also added a short (3 ft) "stub" of RG-6 with a barrel connector to the antenna dish. That is permanently attached. The satellite finder attaches easily between the antenna RG-6 "stub" and the RG-6 from the RV, when I need to use the finder.

As for the tripod, I bought 3 six foot sections of dowel that fit exactly into the square tubing that forms the legs of the "standard" short (2-3 ft) tripod that came with my Direct TV dish. I cut the dowels to the length needed to make the tripod a comfortable height for me to use the satellite finder and adjust the azimuth, etc. A little gray spray paint on the dowels, and you can't tell it from original.

Lastly, I found a neat "leveler" which is a replacement for the vertical tubular part the dish antenna attaches to on top of the tripod. This 8 inch long replacement mount has a large ball joint near the bottom of it, where it mounts on to the tripod, and a level bubble in the top. All you have to do is unscrew the ball joint slightly to allow movement, get the top of the mounting level using the bubble, tighten down the ball joint, and you have a level mount for the antenna. Takes maybe 10 seconds, and you don't have to worry about uneven ground, shims and that sort of thing. I saw a similar setup in the August Trailer Life; Accu-dish leveling device, page 94. www.Accu-dish.com Tele 888-717-6270

[richfaa]

There is a significant difference between RG-59 and RG-6 cable.RG-6 cable provides better shielding and exhibits less high frequency loss over longer runs. RG-6 will pass the entirety of the digital signal.Google the subject and learn about the difference. ..When you are running sat in a house you normally do long runs 100 feet or more.The signal will degrade with RG-59 cable and with less shielding will be subject to interference.Yes RG-59 will work on short runs but RG-6 will work better.....

[Wordsmith]

Well, we are yet to use ours due to my reluctance to drill a hole in the side of the Montana to which I could hook up the satellite cable--did it yesterday, though --but I also bought the Bullseye mount when I started doing research on this back in the spring. It looks stable and I suppose we will try it out next weekend when we head to South Carolina for Labor Day.

Charlie, I printed out and saved your instructions, so, hopefully, Marsha and I will make this work!