Satellite TV - Montana Owners Club

Travelling Three · 03-26-2018, 09:00 AM

I know theres been lots of satellite tv threads but I need to get this issue resolved. I talked to Patrick from dish who I told very clearly and several times that we full time in our camper and we wanted pay as you go and we wanted a tailgater with two outputs feeding two receivers, one in the living room and the other in the bedroom. A couple days later the dish tech shows up with two receivers and a tripod, no tailgater. He said this is what his boss gave him. He hooked it all up, got everything running and ordered us a tailgater with two outputs which I paided for on my credit card. The dish gets here and its a single output tailgater. Then I get a email from dish asking me how satisfied I am with dish. I told them we had dish five years ago and were totally dissatisfied with them so much we bought out our contract. My thinking was with satellite sales down due to streaming video their support might be better, not. I get a call from dish this morning, they told me that they don't guarantee the second receiver will receive all channels on a dual output tailgater. I told her this doesn't make any sense, dishs name is all over the shipping box for dual output tailgaters and now they say it may not work. I told dish during this mornings telephone call that Patrick clearly deceived us and that I would not sign up for dish if the second receiver wasn't going to work. I guess my question is, does anyone out there have a dual output tailgater utilizing two receivers that receives all channels on both receivers? To me if dish programs both receivers to receive all the channels why am I now being told it may not work? Seems like they sign you up then you find out all the limitations. Dish is suppose to call me back and let me know if they support a second receiver, don't you think they should know this for sure already? in other words the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing. By the way did I mention we didn't get signed up for pay as you go, dish offered no reason why we didn't. The dish dance continues.

BB_TX · 03-26-2018, 09:22 AM

Don't know which one they sent you, but you need a Tailgater 2.

https://www.dishformyrv.com/king-tai...le-with-wally/

Phil P · 03-26-2018, 09:24 AM

Hi

We have both the Tailgater and the Carryout. Both units will operate 2 receivers.

However because both Dish and Direct use more than one satellite then one receiver will be the primary receiver and the second one will be limited to receiving only the channels on the satellite the Primary receiver is using.

The problem we have using either automatic antenna is when the secondary receiver is tuned to a channel that is not available on the satellite the primary receiver is using the secondary receiver “locks up” and it is difficult to get it back on a good signal.

By the way we have both antennas we purchased the Carryout first but because the Carryout antenna had an intermittent problem that Winegard could not seem to fix we purchase the Tailgater.

When Winegard called from the service facility to talk to me and told me they found nothing wrong with the unit I told them to keep it I didn’t want it back. After several hours Winegard called me back and gave me a new antenna.

This is customer service something Keystone knows nothing about.

Phil P

PS: I find the Tailgater to be easier to set up than the Carryout.

dieselguy · 03-26-2018, 09:29 AM

I'm going to take a shot at answering even though I have a Pathway X2. The Tailgater's main receiver only receives programming from one satellite at a time ... your second receiver will also receive programming from the same satellite. If you want to watch a different TV channel on the second receiver ... it'll have to be any channel off that satellite. Tailgater cannot receive a signal from two satellites at the same time. I'm guessing what the tech tried to say is yes you can watch TV on both receivers ... no you cannot watch absolutelyany combination of channels using two receivers as Tailgater cannot point to two satellites at once. My Pathway X2 can only point to one satellite at a time as well. Depending on what channel I choose it moves to the satellite that broadcasts that channel. I was typing while other were responding ...

topjustice · 03-26-2018, 09:32 AM

The Winegard Pathway X2 comes with two receiver outlets. We've been using it trouble free for over three years. It works with both western and eastern arc satellites.

**Carl n Susan** · 03-26-2018, 09:35 AM

Dish is technically correct. They utilize three satellites to deliver the programming. With their large antennas, used at home, there are three LNBs (each LNB collects the signal from one of the three satellites). Consequently when a receiver wants a channel from a specific satellite it merely needs to make an electronic switch from one LNB to another.

With the Tailgater (or any of the portable dishes) they only have one small antenna with a single LNB. They have to physically move the antenna inside the Tailgater from one satellite to another when a channel you want is on a different satellite. This happens pretty much transparently to you although it takes a few seconds.

The primary receiver controls which satellite the Tailgater is pointing to. If there is a second receiver it can not cause the antenna to movie if it wants a channel on a different satellite as this would affect the primary receiver. Therefore the second receiver is limited to watching ANY channel on the same satellite the primary is looking at.

Bottom line the second receiver can see any channel as long as it comes from the satellite the primary receiver is watching.

Grzly03 · 03-26-2018, 12:21 PM

Diesel Guy, and Carl n Susan, I wish I had had the benefit of your explanations months ago before I started my DISH Pay-as-you-go journey. I might have not had my expectations quite so high for the most frustrating piece of electronic gear I have every purchased, including my first desktop computer about 35 years ago. To hear DISH explain it, the Tailgater 2 and Wally boxes jump out of the box, hook themselves up, and you can watch any channel in the package you purchased on either output at any time and any place. NOT SO FAST! It took me several calls, hours on the phone, and a lot of serious digging to get them to admit that every channel isn't available on every satellite. Couple that with the realization that the 3730FL wasn't wired/labeled correctly, and ........ You know the rest, probably including the part where the wife says "Send it back."

topjustice · 03-26-2018, 12:53 PM

The solution for RVs is to install the rooftop Dish Trav’ler which does pick up all three satellites at once.

BB_TX · 03-26-2018, 01:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by topjustice

The solution for RVs is to install the rooftop Dish Trav’ler which does pick up all three satellites at once.

This if you want an automatic antenna. Or buy a tripod mounted 3 LNB antenna if you can live with manually aiming it each time you set it up.

About 60-70% of the Dish satellite channels are on 119. But that leaves a lot on 110. But PPV sports is mostly on 110. And when you get into major network channels for local cities they are on 110 or 129 depending on city. And some cities have local SD on 110 and the same channel in HD on 129. This may or may not be a problem for you depending on what each of you like to watch.

dieselguy · 03-26-2018, 02:22 PM

Any rooftop mounted dish is a very limited solution for us. We camp at lakes a lot and many times the only way we can get a signal is use our tripod and string coax as there is no clear view of satellites from the roof due to trees.

topjustice · 03-26-2018, 02:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dieselguy

Any rooftop mounted dish is a very limited solution for us. We camp at lakes a lot and many times the only way we can get a signal is use our tripod and string coax as there is no clear view of satellites from the roof due to trees.

That's why I use a carry out as well. Yes after the roof top method, the tripod is the next best way of acquiring all signals (assuming no obstructions). Personally the Pathway X2 handles everything we need as we only use one receiver in the RV. Never had a need for multiple stations at the same time.

richfaa · 03-26-2018, 03:16 PM

We use the tripod for directv and also have a G2Plus

Phil P · 03-27-2018, 04:59 AM

Hi

The roof top is limiting as well if you get parked in a group of trees you may not get any signal.

Using one receiver on any of the automatic antennas you can move it around to get a signal thru the trees.

The automatic antenna moves when you change to a channel that is on one of the other satellites. You can stand near the automatic antenna and have your other half change channels and you can hear it run.

The best solution is two automatic antennas. I removed the telephone connector from the side of the trailer and replace it with a coaxial connector and run a cable to the TV closest to it. Then ran a new cable to the second TV the cabling from Keystone in our 2009 will not support HD TV.

Phil P

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