Dish Tailgater

[RKassl]

After many years of using a tripod and aiming the dish by hand, I thought it was time to try something different. I did a lot of research and gave the Dish Tailgater a try. I must say I am absolutely amazed how well it works. One of the selling points is how simple the setup is and that is an understatement after you hook things up, select your state and press scan. Usually it takes about 8 minutes to lock on to all three Dish Network satellites, 110, 119 and 129. When changing channels you don't even notice that the Tailgater had to move to possibly a different satellite depending on the program. Price wise, for what ever reason it is always around $350.00.

I am very happy with it so far, I hope it has durability for the long haul.

[wingerphil]

we like ours as well. The only drawback is it is only good for one receiver, otherwise it is perfect for us!

[mlh]

I have the Wineguard Carryout. It is about the same thing as the Tailgater. They are PM pure magic.
Lynwood

[lonnie smith]

We purchased a tailgater also, but have not used it yet. How did you run your cable in, through a window or drill a hole? If a hole, where did you drill it? Thanks

[wingerphil]

quote:Originally posted by lonnie smith

We purchased a tailgater also, but have not used it yet. How did you run your cable in, through a window or drill a hole? If a hole, where did you drill it? Thanks

I purchased a new outside cable plug set up at camping world and drilled a hole through the wall of the slideout into the cabinet the TV sits in for the cable (the plug mounts with 2 screws and covers the hole). I plug the cable from this new plug into the Sat receiver, use an HDMI cable to the TV and then plug the tailgator into the plug in on the outside of the slide out. Doing it this way I can switch from sat. to antenna to cable (if the park we stay in has that option) with out having to change the wiring around in the TV cabinet and seemed to be the easiest way to go. Of course this is what works for my 2007 3400RL, yours may different depending on the year and model.


Phil

[DarMar]

Recently purchased the Winegard Carryout and I totally agree both these auto systems make setup a real breeze. Not sure why we struggled with the manual dish and tripod for so long. RKassl, etc. where do you usually set up your system and what have you done to secure your unit so it doesn't grow legs. At our seasonal I have just recently placed it on top of our bedroom slide out,(Rv facing West/East) with just a short route of cables down to the convenience center. Haven't decided how to secure it there and if high winds might slide it around.

[Champ_49]

When I purchased my carry out they gave me a tripod free. The plate for the tripod I simply bolted it to the ladder on the top of the unit where the ladder goes flat. I simply took to U-bolts and drilled a couple holes in that tripod plate and used wing nuts to hold it in place. I then put the dish on that plate twist it in place and there you are. If the line of site works it works great for security and signal. NO I don't leave the carryout up there while going down the road. A simple twist off the plate and its off. I do leave the plate up there all the time.

I have since bought the Winegaurd Traveler and that is the perfect one for the HD and record-able dishes and multiple receivers. But its mounted stationary on the roof, so if you don't have a line of sight your in trouble. For me I just put the carryout up. Yes I do like my TV ............LOL

Dave

[wingerphil]

We have the tailgator and it has metal loops that you can padlock a cable to (I boutght a bicycle lock cable) and I secure it to the hitch on the back of the 5th wheel, a tree, post etc. I have also sat the unit on the roof at the top of the ladder between the upper ladder rails and the wind in S. Texas didn't move it around any.
Securing the unit will not deter a determined thief but may keep it from looking like an easy snatch and grab.

Phil

[Chasnracin]

Are any of these auto satellite pointers yet set up for HD? Last time we looked into them, they were all still standard def.

[wingerphil]

Dish Tailgator is HD.

[BB_TX]

OK. I hope you guys are leading me down the straight and narrow. I just ordered a Tailgater after last weekend's trip. Thought I had the tripod thing all figured out but I was wrong.
Had a very hard time last trip last year getting it aimed correctly. But went to the storage facility before the first trip this year to check everything including the Dish setup. Set up the tripod and had TV signal within about 10 minutes. Thought to myself that I now knew how to set it up. Nope. On last weekend's trip it took about 45 minutes before I finally go it sighted in.
So I gave up and ordered the Tailgater. Looking forward to trying it out.

[DarMar]

Bill, I think you will be very pleased with the Tailgater. I, like you, have many times thought I had the manual setup down to a science, but then the next thing you know it takes an hour of frustration to get things set up the next time. Another problem I frequently seemed to have was dealing with the winds blowing my tripod over after set up, nothing more frustrating than than having to re-aim the dish. Keep us posted on your thoughts once you receive your tailgater.

[BB_TX]

Got the Tailgater and took it to the Monty today to try it out. Connected it up, powered up the receiver, clicked a couple of buttons, and sat back and watched it go thru the whole sequence and pop up a channel on the TV.
You guys are great.

[DarMar]

Good to hear Bill, I now consider my Carryout to be one of my most valuable toy purchases!!! When it came to looking at the ladder bracket to secure it I cheaped out and thought $200+ was not worth it. Yesterday I took mine to a cousin who is a welder and he claims he can make me a mount for about $50.00, so I am waiting to see what he comes up with. Enjoy!

[RKassl]

Bill, glad to hear that you are happy with the Tailgater. I found out that the small tripod stand that is made for the Carryout also fits the foot print of the Tailgater perfectly. Set the stand up place the Tailgater on it and turn it to lock it down. What I like about that little stand it keeps the Tailgater out of the mud.

I have had mine now for about a month now and have learned a couple of things. Right now we are in Northwest Wisconsin and the 129 satellite is always the weaker of the three signals.

When I practiced at home with the Tailgater where trees or obstructions were not a problem, many times on the system info screen I would have green for 110 and 119, then and orange color for 129, but it was locked in. Here in the Northwoods and I mean woods, I have a clearing in the trees to the south and I am green across the board including 129. I can't explain this.

This thing has peaked my curiosity so I was talking to a Dish RV tech and wanted to know what is the best way to judge signal strength across all three satellites. He suggested to set the transponder to someplace in the middle of the spectrum, like 21. When I do this I normally have abut 40 to 50% on 110 and 119, while 25 to 30% on 129.
We have had some very serious rains over the last week and I have not lost signal due to rain fade.

I was very concerned that going from a Dish 500 system down to a much smaller dish would cause issues with receiving a good continuous signal but it is not an issue at all.

When we arrived at our new location I called Dish RV support and gave them our new address and they were more than happy to give us the new locals for our area. This saved us about $100 for the subscription to the distant locals that we had for the last couple of years through All American.

Another thing hat amazes me is that the lag time that has to occur when jumping from bird to bird is absolutely not an issue.

I agree this is the best Toy we have bought for the Monty! I would be interested to hear what others have seen using the Tailgater

[BB_TX]

I did notice the signal strength was not as strong as with the tripod mounted dish. Thanks for the info about changing the transponder number.
As for changing the locals, yes I have called and had them change mine on several occasions. Very friendly and helpful voice on the other end each time. Apparently they do not use an overseas answering service. Twice I have got the same lady who mentioned she was located in Denver. About a two minute phone call and five minute wait time for the change to occur. Works great.

[RKassl]

Had my first anomaly with the Tailgater, thought I would share it the group. The unit was working fine last night, this morning when I turned it on the Tailgater stated complete signal loss? No storms nothing changed, so I unplugged it for a few moments. Plugged it back in and came up to the scan screen so I did. It sat on check switch test 1 of 3 for at least 15 minutes, not good. Unplugged it and repeated but the same thing happened Tailgater sat on test 1 or 3 and would not move. Finally I plugged it back in and on the scan screen I did a power button reset by holding in the reset for about 30 seconds. The unit powered down then up to the scan screen. This time it went right through all the check switch tests and the usual screen appeared and I was back up once again.

If I have time today I am going to try and talk to a RV Tech at Dish and see what they think.

[mlh]

Bob thanks for the info. Keep us posted on what you find out. Dish also has a large plant near Roanoke in western Va.
Lynwood