Where is the clear view of the southern sky???

[DonandBonnie]

We have had a tailgater for about 6 months now. Only once, right after we bought it, have we received all of the Dish stations that we have subscribed to. Our question is what constitutes a "clear view of the southern sky". If we say that straight south sighting out ground level is 0 degrees and straight up into the air is 90 degrees, what angle do we need to maintain for a clear view? Where we are currently parked, trees about 150 yards out block the sky below 30 degrees. BTW, the channels that we don't receive are not always the same at every location we park.

[davidaf]

Can't answer your question directly but I use an app on my smartphone called Dishpointer it helps tremendously. Only one time in the last year that I've not been able to find a spot to place the dish.

[BB_TX]

I use the dishformyrv app on my iPhone. Does a pretty good job. Currently parked in a site with lots of trees on TX/OK border. Used the app to find a small opening thru the tree canopy. Initially came up 3-4 times on the screen saying it could not find all the sats. But when I clicked on watch live TV it loaded the program guide and appears to have most if not all the stations we watch.

In this area of north TX the sats are slightly to the southwest. With the cover off my Taillgater when I first power up I can watch the dish first go to a southerly direction, search there, determine that is not correct, rotate to the east and search, determine that is not correct, rotate toward the southwest, determine it is finally correct, connect to the sats, and download the program guide. Don't know why it goes thru those gyrations since I have to tell it my location to scan. Part of a preprogrammed sequence apparently.

[DonandBonnie]

Perhaps our question can't be answered specifically. Forgot that the angle of the satellite in the sky will vary with different geographic areas. We have been aiming strictly to the compass south. Will try moving toward the southwest and firing for effect. The disformyrv app is not available on our android phones, but there are several satellite finders to choose from. Hopefully the rain here in Ohio will stop overnight. Will try the experimentation with direction in the morning.

[bigskyjimmy]

I know this sounds wacky, but in the Manual it SHOWS the handle as being the Front and facing South which is wrong ,it almost messed me up when I saw the pic in the manual showing that, but I could the see other tailgaters in the campground pointed in the 0pposite direction and I asked them and they said yep the handle is the rear and the other side front......DISH outta fix that pic in the manual......I'm just asking and I am sure it has screwed a few folks as well,just last year I was at a campground in Oregon and there was a couple was making that mistake and asked them how many channels you getting they said abut 20...WELL I told them their Dish is pointed the opposite direction and after that everything was fine

[NCFischers]

Try an app called satellite finder or satellite locator. It shows you all the satellites in the sky.

[DonandBonnie]

Just downloaded satellite finder. Will see how it works in the morning. Guess we didn't read the manual. We always figured that the handle was pointing to the rear and that the name on the tailgater pointed forward.

[BB_TX]

With the cover off and watching mine, when first powered on the dish rotates CW until it reaches the area of the handle, then rotates CCW a full 360 degrees until it reaches the area of the handle from the opposite direction. So the handle area seems to be the rotational limits of travel. I think the only reason not to point the handle south is if it happened to be in direct line with the sats the dish may not be able to make the slight side to side movements to switch between sats when changing channels. When I first got mine I did not pay much attention to direction and it worked no matter how I oriented the handle.

[DonandBonnie]

Another point to check. We thought the unit was sealed. Didn't know the top came off.

[cdaniels]

Are u sure its not a Dish issue? There are times we dont get all our channels and we call Dish. They do some updates on thier end and we redownload the guide and they show up. Its worth a try! Thats after our signals locked in. Just a thought...

[DQDick]

quote:Originally posted by davidaf

Can't answer your question directly but I use an app on my smartphone called Dishpointer it helps tremendously. Only one time in the last year that I've not been able to find a spot to place the dish.

Same here. That app works great. Have had to move the rig forward or back a couple of times, but we've been able to get them all almost everytime.

[DonandBonnie]

Well we have progress. We used the pointing app and have improved our reception significantly. We still can't get all of the stations, but HD is back and there are fewer missing stations. I guess the "clear view of the southern sky" is a misnomer. The app says that we should be pointing almost straight west. That's where we got the better reception. Thanks everyone for your advice and help.

Next we are going to check our cable. It's a 100' that we used when we had the DirecTV dish. We've read that DirecTV cable may not be a high enough grade to carry the Dish signals. Don't know whether that's a fact or a marketing ploy, but it's worth a check.

[bigskyjimmy]

I went to a 25ft High quality thick RG6 made for sat. and it has made nice difference as well,Dish told me to replace the cheap 50 footer they give ya and to try the 25ft because the further North you get the weaker the signal and I live in the NW so it makes sense to go with the shorter thicker cable and they were right

[BB_TX]

I also bought a new high quality quad shielded RG 6 cable. Seems to do much better than the one that came with it.

[mlh]

I just got the Dishpointer app. Works great THANKS.
Lynwood