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Old 03-10-2018, 03:14 PM   #1
donc1212
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Satellite Service

Throwing a question out there for full time RVing. Wife and I are thinking satellite service for our travels. Looking for suggestions (and why)
 
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Old 03-10-2018, 04:23 PM   #2
mlh
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Dish Tailgater. Reason, The Tailgater is cheap, EASY to setup hook up one wire choose your state wait 10 minutes and watch TV. It’s that easy even I can do it. I carry two one mounted on the roof and one portable.
I would also recommend an app to find your satellites so you will know if they are blocked by something like a tree, SatFinder Lite. Its better then cheap it’s free and it works.
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Old 03-10-2018, 05:31 PM   #3
DQDick
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We use Dish because, for us, it's more cost effective. We have a Winegard G2+ mounted to the ladder and a King tailgater that we usually put on a slide.
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Old 03-10-2018, 06:54 PM   #4
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Agree with Dish, have had good service from them.
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Old 03-10-2018, 07:09 PM   #5
mhs4771
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We had DirecTV at the S&B, so we just went with the Wineguard Travl'r roof mount automatic dish. We just take the Rcvr's into the S&B when we're not on the road.
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Old 03-10-2018, 08:30 PM   #6
Mikendebbie
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Dish with a tailgater. The tailgater will not work if there is a splitter between your black box (vip211z is my black box) and the tailgater. Basically the thing needs a direct coax line from the black box to the tailgater. There has been lots of discussion lately on how to find the splitters keystone installed and isolating the coax you need to connect direct to your black box. Search “satellite connection” or “cable splitters”. I currently have my direct line going thru a window using a flat section of coax (from camping world $12). The satellite finder app is a MUST - setup and making sure you have a clear line of site is easy with the app. I bought the $10 app -mainly because I did not search for a free app mentioned above.
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Old 03-10-2018, 08:40 PM   #7
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I use Dish since I only travel in the summer for 3 months and they let you stop at anytime. I got the (I think) Pathway 2 satellite because it is automatic and has a larger dish inside than some of the others. Theoretically that means better reception during rain, etc. I second the idea of a phone app for spotting the satellites. That helps you decide where to place your carryout satellite to avoid trees, etc.
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Old 03-10-2018, 09:06 PM   #8
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Like Tom, we use Dish and a Pathway X2. We didn't need a satellite feed to the bedroom, so I installed a separate coax connector in the wall of the slide with the TV in it. That way we have no issue with the configuration of the factory coax wiring and splitters. Here's what's on the outside of my slide wall. I just made a short coax cable and connected it between the exterior inlet and a regular coax faceplate inside behind the TV. The Pathway II is a bit sensitive to coax length, so this also solved that by not wandering around though out the OEM routing inside the fiver's walls.
http://www.campingworld.com/black-tv...SABEgL5d_D_BwE
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Old 03-11-2018, 07:31 AM   #9
donc1212
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Thanks to all, I'm still doing research. We are full time now but at a park for extended stay until July (retirement time) at that point we'll be on the road. The park we're at has cable but we're planning for down the road (no PUN intended here).
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Old 03-11-2018, 07:48 AM   #10
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We also use Dish Network, both on the road and at the house. We are on the road enough that we keep a receiver in the rig. We started out with a Tailgater antenna that worked well most of the time. It would occasionally have problems with satellite 129, which means some programs would default to standard def rather than high def. (BTW, DirectTV does not offer HD programming with a portable antenna.)

We were wanting to have the ability to use two receivers in the rig and also wanted to address the problem with 129, so we moved up to a Winegard Pathways X2 dish. Its a little larger/bulkier and about $100 more than the Tailgater, but a MUCH stronger signal with all the satellites.

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Old 03-11-2018, 07:59 AM   #11
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I also prefer Dish Network because they are more RV friendly. I prefer to use the standard 1000.2 dish with Hybrid LNB mounted on a surveyor's tripod and feeding a Hopper3 which has a huge DVR and 16 tuners. Most prefer the automatic dishes but I find this easy to set up and only takes me about 15 minutes. As someone mentioned, the automatic ones have a limit on how much coax you can use but I have used as much as 150' with my set up.

There are many ways to go about getting the signal and I'm sure you will find your preferred way.
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Old 03-11-2018, 03:06 PM   #12
RKassl
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Dish service all the way, if you already have it at home, it is dirt cheap on the road, get a Tailgater and enjoy! Even if you don't have a home subscription, you can pay as you go and stop when not needed.
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Old 03-11-2018, 04:10 PM   #13
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Dish is what we use. It is typically easy to set up with a pathway x2 satellite and two recievers. Use of customer service is great if you get the Texas location. If you get the off shore site it is hard to get any assistance.
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Old 03-11-2018, 04:14 PM   #14
prndl
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Question for Dish Users

Seriously, does Dish go out in the rain?

Thinking of making a change away from TimeWarner/Charter.
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Old 03-11-2018, 04:34 PM   #15
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Dish does go out under a heavy storm cloud. But normally no more than 5 minutes, rarely 10, as the clouds generally move over fairly quickly. Light rain not a problem.
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Old 03-11-2018, 04:40 PM   #16
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Dish with a traveler dish. Not many places that block the signal as the traveler dish is so big. Have a hopper and a Joye so I can copy 8 Chanel's and am able to watch on both TVs in the rig.

When I want to watch tv I want it to work and not have to meet arround with the equipement.
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Old 03-11-2018, 05:30 PM   #17
Mikendebbie
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My Dish setup (tailgater + vip211z) is not perfect 100% of the time. Like right now we have completely clear view of the southern sky and when i tuned it to HGTV the HD channel would not come in so I dialed in the SD version. Same thing happens from time to time for other channels. Yes I would rather watch the HD channel but oh well the SD is fine for this program. I have never taken the time to research why this happens and what to do about it. All things considered we have been happy with this setup.
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Old 03-11-2018, 05:41 PM   #18
RKassl
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ANY satellite service is subject to what is called "rain fade."
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Old 03-11-2018, 06:43 PM   #19
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Dish with Travl'r automatic system, 2 Walleys and a DVR hard drive. Very satisfied with it.
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Old 04-09-2018, 07:59 AM   #20
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I have experience several times where rain will block the sat reception. This is rare and must be a large storm. Of course it only happens when you really want to use it!! HAHA
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