Satellite TV - Montana Owners Club

Bill Hill · 02-10-2005, 03:32 AM

Tomorrow we are getting rid of cable TV and having Direct TV installed at our stick home. The main reason for this is the cost of cable going through the roof, but it will also allow us to use a satellite TV box in our Monty.

Question: what experiences has anyone had with using a carry-out satellite dish versus a roof mounted system. Certainly the cost of the carry-out is attractive, but then you have to find the satellite. The roof-mounted systems will automatically find the satellite but are kind of pricey, starting at about $1K.

Love to hear from you all . . . .

Montana_883 · 02-10-2005, 04:05 AM

I have the "King Dome" roof mounted. I really enjoy it and has worked extremely well. Very convenient. I have heard many complaints about them loosing the signal in cloudy weather, but this is not the case for me. I think a lot has to do with the installation, if you go to a roof mount, shop for quality installers as well.

mobilrvn · 02-10-2005, 04:41 AM

Have had the ¨carry out¨ antennas for years and besides the cost aspect, is their flexibility. Often you have to park in an area that is blind to the satellite and with enough cable, you can usually find a place that you can get a signal. Now have both TV and internet. The internet came with a tripod (surveyor type) and it is very easy to set up and very stable with a five gal. bucket of water suspended beneath it. Like it so much, got one for the TV.

jrgwdenner · 02-10-2005, 05:20 AM

We recently purchased an RV (portable) satelitte dish and stand on Ebay. It was delivered promptly and seems to be well made. That said, we haven't had a chance to use it yet. It's folds down flat for easy storage. We like wooded campsites so the roof mounted unit probably won't work for us.

dieselguy · 02-10-2005, 05:59 AM

Hi Bill. I've used the tripod type antennae setup for years ... I glued one of those round bubble levels right on top of the post that the dish bracket mounts to. This makes leveling a breeze. You can buy a signal strength meter to help find the strongest satellite signal or simply pull up the signal strength screen on your TV and look thru the window as you adjust. (My satellite receiver is a Sony) Granted the roof mounts are fully automatic, but as previously stated, many times you are parked in a shaded area that won't receive a signal. With the tripod and say a 50' roll of antennae cable you have the flexibility to find that signal. While traveling, the tripod folds up and goes in the storage compartment and the dish and cable roll rides on the bed.

Montana_2635 · 02-10-2005, 08:31 AM

I had a full timer tell me that Dish 500 had him sign a statement that he would use it only with a roof mounted system. He said he signed it and just did what he wanted. Just wondered if anyone else experienced this.

Thunderman · 02-10-2005, 08:59 AM

I have the Dish 500....I told the people at dish what I intended to do. They agreed that many of their customers use one receivor with the rv when not used in the home. No problems.
It took me a while to set it up the first time but after that it is easy. I would reccomend the satellite finder, campers world about $30.
I use a tripod from Radio Shack about $29.
Good luck!

Bill and Ann · 02-10-2005, 09:30 AM

We have our dish from Canada with us in Texas. We have a tripod mount dish and 2 receivers in the 5th. Two receivers at home with a roof mount dish. Works great. Just download the settings from the web and set it up.

DiananColin · 02-10-2005, 10:32 AM

Bill & Ann: Are you with Star Choice or Bell Expressvu. If you are with Bell they are now sending out new Smart Cards which have to be reset and this requires you to dial up to Bell to get reactivated. Hope this does not cause you any problems.

lightningjack11 · 02-10-2005, 10:58 AM

I mounted a roof top system and wired it so I have an input to each TV receiver selectable by co-ax switch.

It takes no more than 5-7 minutes to crank it up and point to the SAT.

I use the menu setup to select azimuth and elevation. Signal meter is on the TV screen. I align my reference dial to true north with a compass. No need to go outside.

The external hookup is fine if you stay in one place for a while. With the roof top system it is very quick. Cost was about 200 at CW,

I always get good reception with cloud cover. The main thing that causes the signal to go off are thunderstorms between the antenna and SAT. Trees are the biggest problem.

OntMont · 02-10-2005, 11:47 AM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by DiananColin

Bill & Ann: Are you with Star Choice or Bell Expressvu. If you are with Bell they are now sending out new Smart Cards which have to be reset and this requires you to dial up to Bell to get reactivated. Hope this does not cause you any problems.

Hi All,

I called ExpressVu while we were still home in Canada, and the smart card swap only applies if you subscribe to certain of their more "exotic" channels. It did not apply to us. We are using our dish here in "the valley". It is working fine except for a few channels that we can't get, but nor can anyone else in this park who is using ExpressVu. I think it is because we are on the very edge of the satellite's footprint.

azstar · 02-10-2005, 11:48 AM

Howdy Bill & Shari,

We've been using the Winegard collapsible carry out dish from Camping World for 7 yrs. now. Works out just fine. Takes about 5 min. to set up. I too use the signal finder from Camping World and a hand held compass. After you do it a couple of times it's a piece of cake. The good news here is your going with DirectTV which only requires a dish with one head. This really simplifies the setting up.

Happy Camping

Montana_2230 · 02-10-2005, 01:26 PM

Let me tell you about my recent experience.. We moved to Florida last March and transferred our direct TV to Florida. We only had one box, but when we got here asked Direct TV for another box to use in our bedroom and travel trailer. Everything worked fine until about a week ago I decided to get a tripod (from Radio Shack for $29) and mount the extra dish that I had used on our pull behind. For days I could not get it to work. I live in some trees and just thought I was missing the satellite with my aiming, even thought I had it pointed just like my roof dish. Well to make a long story short...the receiver had quit working. I found this out, after trying a number of other things, by exchanging it with the working box in my living room. I called Direct TV and explained my problem and they sent me another box, which I received in two days. I was able to used my old card in the new box and got it set up real fast. All is well now and I have even decided where I will carry the tripod...secured to my Monty's roof ladder.

The point of my post is.... If you have problems finding the satellite, it might be equipment failure, rather than a poor aim.

I lighten the tripod quite a bit by using 1 and 1/4 "PVC to nount the dish on rather than gavanize pipe as suggested by Radio Shack.

Chester · 02-10-2005, 01:28 PM

I have used the Bell Expressvu system at home and in the Monty for 3 years. In the Monty I normally mount the dish on the ladder but when I can't get a sight to the satellite I put it out on the tripod. I carry about 50 ft of cable and have always been able to get a line of sight from somewhere on the campsite. There are many sites we've had where a typical roof mounted dish would not have been able to see the satellite. Typically I can get the satellite within 5 mins using only a compass.

For those with Expressvu....John I did not call Expressvu to check on the new card issue but I got new cards for all 5 of my receivers including the HDTV (6000)receiver and all of the older non specialty ones (2700 and 3100). I hope you're right on not needing the new cards but I'm not sure about that.

Bill Hill · 02-10-2005, 03:34 PM

This is all super information, thanks. Has anyone actually used both?

OntMont · 02-10-2005, 03:58 PM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by Bill Hill

This is all super information, thanks. Has anyone actually used both?

Not personally, but I know people who have a roof mounted one and still carry a tripod mounted one for those difficult locations. (I even saw someone take their roof mount off the roof and move it to a ground based location).

I think a lot depends on the sort of places you like to camp. If you lean towards heavily treed areas like many state parks you will find a tripod handy, if you stick to more open spaces, the roof mount will be a very nice to have goodie. I kind of like the challenge of finding that pinpoint in the sky.

OntMont · 02-10-2005, 04:05 PM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by Chester

For those with Expressvu....John I did not call Expressvu to check on the new card issue but I got new cards for all 5 of my receivers including the HDTV (6000)receiver and all of the older non specialty ones (2700 and 3100). I hope you're right on not needing the new cards but I'm not sure about that.

Hi Brad,

Well, I only know what their customer service people told me, but they checked my profile and said I was OK.

There is a couple from your home town camped next to us here in Mission, Texas. They have an older Coachman 5er. Small world, eh?
Tim Horton coffee day on Saturday in our park, shows you that there a lot of us Canucks down here!

Thunderman · 02-11-2005, 03:56 AM

I have the Dish 500 system, but only for a short time, maybe 60 days.
When I got the system I chose to get the free DVR and one receiver. The DVR will accommodate 2 rooms, in our case the living room and one bedroom. The extra receiver is used in the third room or in the Montana as needed. The new equipment from Dish does not require the Smart Cards. The installer said they were no longer used by Dish due to people buying "bootleg" copies of the cards. FWIIW. Have a good day!

richfaa · 02-11-2005, 06:42 AM

Easy to use the carry out satellite dish takes about 5 mins to set it up. Finding the sat is easy..Boy scout compass and in line signal meter work fine..Roof mounted units may not be worth the cost. Parked under or near a tree.Can't get a clear shotat the Sat.You can carry the mobile dish 50/100 feet away and find a clear shot at the sat. The Manual roof system would be more cost effective and it is simple to lock into.We will get the manual system on our New Montana only because I like gadgets..will still have the tripod on board.....

smc · 02-11-2005, 02:56 PM

Does anyone know if we can get a dish in the US that will work in Canada? When I talked to the Dish Store, they said they would look into it. Haven't heard a word. We plan to spend winters down here and summers in Canada.

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