Satellite dome - Montana Owners Club

foggyb · 06-24-2006, 02:57 AM

Has anyone mounted a satellite dome on their Montana roof? If so, how did you get the cable routed to the satellite cable input to the trailer. The one I am looking at has auto lock on so it must need either 12v dc or 110v ac power. Have to assume ( hate to use that) the unit would be mounted on the front roof leaving a long haul to the back satellite input. Any input would be appreciated. Thanx Dan

HamRad · 06-24-2006, 07:16 AM

Hi Dan,
At the Shasta MOC Rally there was a fellow who had installed the huge DirecWay auto dish. He ran everything down into the bedroom behind the TV. Then used a wireless router to transmit the signal to the rear of the rig. He had a 3295RK. That does not answer your question. Sorry wish I'd paid closer attention to all he'd done. Good luck and let us know what you end up doing.

Dennis

ols1932 · 06-24-2006, 08:50 AM

You should remember that if you have a roof mounted satellite dish it will be difficult for you to receive the satellite signal if you are parked amongst a lot of trees. I prefer my dish mounted on a piece of 2x6 where I can move it about into a place where I can get a clear shot at the satellite.

Orv

gitrdun · 06-24-2006, 10:48 AM

I have a Wineguard dome and have no problems with signal. Had it installed at CW they were offering free install with purchase. Sometimes have half off install.

drhowell · 06-24-2006, 11:47 AM

HamRad was talking about Dennis Engdahl of Mount Shasta. I am sure you can e-mail him and he will give you any information about his system. Very nice guy and has done some nice work on a power inverter installation along with the DirecWay dish. engdahl is his user name.

Imp · 06-24-2006, 01:29 PM

We have a Kingdome on our 3400 and it is mounted on the upper forward (King pin) end of our rig. We had it installed by the dealer who worked with the dish network technician. We have two receivers and it also has two hookups on the outside when we need to hook up to a dish (like under the metal roof of our garaport in Texas). It does make your rig taller. We measure in at 13' 6". They followed the wiring harness for our antennae. It is important whether you have one receiver or two that each line has no splitters or connections in order to get satisfactory reception (per Bob) Hope this makes sense...
Myrna

dsprik · 06-24-2006, 02:04 PM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by Imp

... It is important whether you have one receiver or two that each line has no splitters or connections in order to get satisfactory reception (per Bob) Hope this makes sense...
Myrna

Really??? Rich do you get that? May be the reason for the slight "fuzz" on one of your sets? Thanks, Myrna!

yvonnenid · 06-24-2006, 06:17 PM

We also just had a King Dome installed on our 06 3670. It has worked super on the two trips since the installation. We have direct tv. We opted for one receiver because your can use cable, dvd, or antenea on the other tv or watch the same satelite program as the main tv.

richfaa · 06-25-2006, 03:13 AM

Here is the secret, it is simple, dome, tripod, anything..." a clear and unobstructed view of the satellite.The clearer and more unobstruced it is the better signal you will get.We would really like to have a dome because I am the "push a button and it happens" kind of a guy..When we get on the road we will see if a dome makes sense..It has not thus far.

Lije Baley · 06-25-2006, 12:42 PM

I've parked in several places where only a tripod mounted dish could get a signal. At Lake Siskiyou I had to hunt forever to find that perfect gap in the trees. I suppose the esthetics of a dome mount are appealing, but I really prefer the flexibility of a tripod.

ken · 06-25-2006, 04:30 PM

Dan
We had Camping World install a dome satellite antenna on the roof of our 2005 3475 Montana. It is mounted on the flattest part of the trailer in the center. They routed the wires through the front cap and then through the roof spars to the kitchen area. From there, they lay on top of the cabinets to the slide where our tv is. I have a short pigtail that I connect when the slide is out to make the connection. It makes the height 13'2" of the coach now. There were no holes drilled in the roof except the mounting screws and they were sealed. Were well pleased with the installation. You can see where the dome was mounted on our signature picture.
Now I agree that some of the time you can't get satellite when a tree is in the way and a ground mounted antenna might take care of that problem. But having a satellite mounted on the roof on two Montana's now and carrying a second antenna around, I never used. We finally sold the ground mounted one one. I just watched where we parked leaving the southern sky visible for reception.

dsprik · 06-25-2006, 05:17 PM

This seems to me to be a wide split in opinions on this satellite dome vs portable dishes. Some, like Ken (and others) say they never have a problem with thier dome and they never need a ground mount. Others with ground mounts say that dome mounts are waste of money because there is no way that they can get a clear shot at the S. sky a lot of the time...

Doesn't seen to be any blending of these two opinions. I'm sure there are some, just not reading them, I guess.

I would love a dome if I could get a clear idea one way of the other of the "Yes, you'll be fine with a dome" and "It will be a lesson in frustration if you don't have the ground mount ability".

Best idea may be ground mount for the first year out, waiting to see how our CG habits would allow a possible dome mount.

Wrenchtraveller · 06-25-2006, 06:17 PM

Dave, that is what we are going to do as well. I tried to buy a dish on the road this year and found out I had to get this set up at my stick house first. We got our money back but it was very annoying as the store that sold us this Star Choice system said there was no problem setting it up at the campground we were at. When I phoned Star Choice it was a different story.

Lije Baley · 06-25-2006, 09:04 PM

Dave,

The success of dome dishes probably depends upon the forests in your region and whether your RV park/campground use puts you in the middle of any of them. If I were in Texas, New Mexico and many parts of Arizona, I'd first wish I were somewhere cooler, but probably have an open view of the southern sky in most places. In California, we go to too many places with heavy forestation to make the dome worthwhile.

richfaa · 06-26-2006, 02:31 AM

Folks who have never had a problem acquiring a signal with a dome have done so because they have had a CLEAR AND UNOBSTRUCTED VIEW OF THE SATELLITE.There is no simpler way to say it and there is no in between...either you do have a clear view or you don't....that's it. If your travel is such that you will always or most of the time or can choose were you park...the the dome is for you.I hope that one day we can say that and if so will have a dome. Those of us that do not have a dome it is because that the majority of our camping is in areas where we can not get a clear and unobstructed view of the satellite/////Period.

HamRad · 06-26-2006, 11:17 AM

It would be great if we could always get a good signal with a roof mounted dish but the way we camp that simply isn't going to happen. There is often an obstruction of some sort in our way. We've been fortunate on this trip. Even as far north as we are (which is not all that far) we have been able to get a signal. Even at Dick and Ton's place which is totally surrounded by trees we were able to get a good signal. There just happened to be an opening. If we had the roof mounted dish we may not have been able to get the signal. Here at Tunnel Mountain RV park in Banff, Canada we had to run our cable about 50 feet south of us to clear all the trees. If I ever get a few extra $$$ I'll try installing a dish on the roof but I'll always carry the tripod setup.

If you go from open campsite to open campsite then by all means a roof mounted dish should work just fine for you.

Good luck.

HamRad

virgil47 · 07-01-2006, 06:21 AM

Hey Rich, I think we got the "clear and unobstructed view' message.

To Dave's point, is it possible to have two connections...one connected to a roof mounted dome and another that could connect to a tripod mounted dish? The tripod and dish are not very expensive. I have a tripod mount and it sure is a pain in the beehind to set up each time we move. I am (or at least would like to be) a button pusher.

ols1932 · 07-01-2006, 04:38 PM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by virgil47

Hey Rich, I think we got the "clear and unobstructed view' message.

To Dave's point, is it possible to have two connections...one connected to a roof mounted dome and another that could connect to a tripod mounted dish? The tripod and dish are not very expensive. I have a tripod mount and it sure is a pain in the beehind to set up each time we move. I am (or at least would like to be) a button pusher.

I don't see any reason why you can't have two connections. You would only be using one at any time. I believe there are others who have done that. I don't have a dome so I can't speak from practical experience but my long ago electronic experience tells me that it can be done. I'm sure there will be someone who has done it who will come along and share how they did it.

Orv

Countryfolks · 07-01-2006, 06:29 PM

I don't have a dome but I would guess that it would have a cable directly to the sat receiver input. If that is the case you could connect the ground mount dish thru the cable/sat connector already in place. The only hassle would be disconnecting/connecting the sat receiver antenna input between the two antenna. The splitters commonly used for connecting multiple tvs will not work with sat because they do not pass power the antenna horn needs from the receiver. There may be an antenna switch for the appropriate frequencies that will work available in the amateur radio world.

Skip

Parrothead · 07-02-2006, 07:21 AM

Skip
We have our satellite reveivers set up with splitters here in the stick house and it works great. We put the splitter on the "out to TV" and then ran cable to two separate TV's. We have two receivers and did them both that way so we can have 4 TV's running. (For 2 people!)
Happy trails............................

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