Dish Trav'ler 1000 Satellite - Montana Owners Club

GT500KR · 02-26-2020, 06:59 PM

Hello, I'm getting Ready to purchase a Wineguard Trav'ler 1000 Satellite for My 2018 3121RL, hopefully it will function better than my Pathway X2.

Purchasing from Camping World and they will be doing the installation. Aside from the total purchase/installation Price of $2,200.00, has anyone installed this Satellite on their 5th Wheel?

Lots of good reviews about this system. I travel about 6 - 7 months and my boss needs to watch her Hallmark TV, Happy Wife Happy Life..

I know the Pros/Cons about using a Satellite, however just interested on people's results using this set up.

Thanks John...

KEG · 02-26-2020, 07:50 PM

I have that unit and love it. We use dish with Wally HD receiver's fantastic pic quality. When we get to a location we call Dish and have them update to the local channels. Very Easy.

Hblick48 · 02-26-2020, 08:02 PM

Installed one myself about 4 months ago. I used a Pathways X1 for a few years, still have it in case Traveler is blocked.

I setup Traveler to use my Hopper 3 from S&B. Really love the new setup. 16 tuners plus over-the-air.

Installation was pretty easy. I used the Winegard full mounting plate and plenty of Dicor self level. Brought the control cable and coax through the roof right into the entertainment center. Got mine from Amazon open box for $1,100. It was brand new, although it looked like it had been previously unpacked.

**DQDick** · 02-26-2020, 08:08 PM

Have had one on each of our Monty's and love them. Had them both installed by Elkhart Satelitte systems. Really nice job and in both rigs we had Dish with a Hopper in the livingroom and a joey in the bedroom.

rohrmann · 02-26-2020, 09:20 PM

We had ours installed in January 2013 by CW in Las Vegas. Works great unless we are in the rare location with trees, and then just don't watch TV, but sometimes can get OTA.

PNW Fireguy · 02-26-2020, 10:19 PM

Love ours with Hopper 3 DVR. Added a standalone dish for the occasional time when the turret does not have a clear view of the sky. It’s only happened twice in 2 years. Had a motor failure just about a year ago and found out that it must be shipped back to Winegard. No field replacement of turret motor. Also at that time the tech support / customer service phone support was a bit frustrating but they do monitor some of the forums out there. My customer service frustration was eliminated and they fixed my unit free. I have had no reason to contact them again since then but I felt that my concerns landed on someone’s ears that could make a difference. I am still a happy camper.

mazboy · 02-27-2020, 06:16 AM

I love our one button operation. $2200 sounds about right. Like every dish trees are a pain...and don't forget to drop it BEFORE you disconnect the electric:-)

Note: we are in the process of selling our 3402 and taking the Traveler with us. If you do that in the future, make sure you leave the base plate on the trailer (get another plate from winegard) and take the little GPS box/cable if you have one.

jimandlaurie · 02-27-2020, 10:57 AM

we got ours last year on the recommendations here. So far so good, we still use our Pathway as a back up if in case we are parked in a bad spot.

**Carl n Susan** · 02-27-2020, 11:51 AM

You might look at the RF Mogul Eagle antenna. https://rfmogul.com/satellite-tv/ Great support and if something is wrong they ship the parts to you rather than removing and returning the entire unit. And should you ever decide to change from Dish to DirecTV (or Shaw) you can easily, and inexpensively, convert it yourself (once again no need to return to the manufacturer). I used a local guy to install and maintain and was very pleased.

lightsout · 02-27-2020, 01:15 PM

While it is a great Satellite, roof top mounted satellites are problematic, let me explain. We had Class A's for many years all had rooftop satellites, however we found that maybe 20% of the campsites we found had a clear view to the satellites. Now we are in the NW but for the most part the west coast (non Desert) campgrounds have trees. The issue is with a roof mounted Satellite you have no choice to place the satellite where you can get the best view if at all, it is not like you can move your RV around to find that clear satellite view.

Even though we had rooftop on our Class A we also bought a portable and ended up using it the other 80% with a 50' RG6 I could usually find a clear view of at least 1-2 satellites. So when we purchased our new 2019 Monty we are staying 100% portable, why waste the $$$ when rooftop is so limiting.

Here is the other reason we decided not to do roof top. The newer Monty's are 13'5" (top of AC) most of the higher end satellites dishes when mounted would sit slightly higher than the AC putting me above 13'6" which is potentially problematic for some bridges and underpasses. on the older Monty's and Class A's the roof's are mush lower and this is a non issue, but with the increase of height of the 5ers these days could also be problematic

PNW Fireguy · 02-28-2020, 09:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lightsout

While it is a great Satellite, roof top mounted satellites are problematic, let me explain. We had Class A's for many years all had rooftop satellites, however we found that maybe 20% of the campsites we found had a clear view to the satellites. Now we are in the NW but for the most part the west coast (non Desert) campgrounds have trees. The issue is with a roof mounted Satellite you have no choice to place the satellite where you can get the best view if at all, it is not like you can move your RV around to find that clear satellite view.

Even though we had rooftop on our Class A we also bought a portable and ended up using it the other 80% with a 50' RG6 I could usually find a clear view of at least 1-2 satellites. So when we purchased our new 2019 Monty we are staying 100% portable, why waste the $$$ when rooftop is so limiting.

Here is the other reason we decided not to do roof top. The newer Monty's are 13'5" (top of AC) most of the higher end satellites dishes when mounted would sit slightly higher than the AC putting me above 13'6" which is potentially problematic for some bridges and underpasses. on the older Monty's and Class A's the roof's are mush lower and this is a non issue, but with the increase of height of the 5ers these days could also be problematic

Our experiences have been completely 180. Dish is not the high point on the roof, 99% of the time I have no issue with obstructions (excluding my current long term location).

lightsout · 02-28-2020, 10:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PNW Fireguy

Our experiences have been completely 180. Dish is not the high point on the roof, 99% of the time I have no issue with obstructions (excluding my current long term location).

It was the high point of our Class A it sat above the AC by 3" however our Class A was under 13' so not real issue like the stock 13'5" Monty. With that said it all depends on which satellite you have installed and where it is located on the roof.

I was just suggesting that this be considered, it was not a matter of fact on every rig.

I also brought this up as I recently encountered a bridge at 13'6" that may be problematic and if indeed my sat was above the AC it would be a problem. I would not consider any Sat that would compromise the 13'6" threshold.

it was simply advice and because one persons sat does not elevate above AC does not mean another would not all depends on equip, mounting and placement.

I do not know if you camp much here in the NW but we rarely find a campsite with satellite view due to trees (and the ones that do are usually booked up way in advance), for us it was a total waste of $$$, however the portable allowed us to find holes in the trees to get a signal in most of those sites where rooftop had no view (which was roughly 80% of the time).

Just because yours does not exceed the height of the AC does not guaranty someone elses will not, never hurts to be aware and vigilant especially with height issues.

PNW Fireguy · 02-28-2020, 11:10 AM

I think you have taken my two cents in a vein that was not intended. Your information was good to share. My experience was however different. It’s all good information for the next guy or gal to intake and determine what will work for them. Western WA can be a challenge wit regards to signal but central and eastern I have had no problems with. In fact up until now I haven’t had a reception issue in western WA. Luck perhaps. Now solar energy from my array in western WA is another story. Can’t wait to get back to Texas.

GT500KR · 02-29-2020, 08:35 AM

I appreciate all the information/responses. I will have this Dish trav'ler 1000 installed & will we keeping my Pathway X2 as a backup.

Happy Traveling to All.

Thanks John

PNW Fireguy · 02-29-2020, 01:51 PM

Hope your choice works out well for you.

Razrbk · 03-01-2020, 09:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DQDick

Have had one on each of our Monty's and love them. Had them both installed by Elkhart Satelitte systems. Really nice job and in both rigs we had Dish with a Hopper in the livingroom and a joey in the bedroom.

I too had Elkhart Satellite install one, along with two Hoppers, several years ago when I went up for a national rally — they’re great.

Ahdmeyer · 03-01-2020, 12:55 PM

is there a preferred location on the roof where you guys have installed the satellite dish? i have one that i bought for my previous motorhome i was going to install but no longer have the motorhome and now have the montana
al meyer
3931 fb

Hblick48 · 03-01-2020, 01:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ahdmeyer

is there a preferred location on the roof where you guys have installed the satellite dish? i have one that i bought for my previous motorhome i was going to install but no longer have the motorhome and now have the montana
al meyer
3931 fb

Depends on how your roof is configured. You can't have any obstructions higher than 8 inches in a 32 1/2 inch radius.

I installed mine in front of the ac unit. Ran wires behind dish into the top of my entertainment center. Picture viewed from rear towards front.

PNW Fireguy · 03-01-2020, 05:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ahdmeyer

is there a preferred location on the roof where you guys have installed the satellite dish? i have one that i bought for my previous motorhome i was going to install but no longer have the motorhome and now have the montana
al meyer
3931 fb

The Winegard installation instructions detail roof installation location requirements I think it is still downloadable from Winegard’s site.

GrahamLock · 03-04-2020, 01:34 PM

Just make sure that you have them run it up and demonstrate that reception is good. We are still away on our first trip with that unit and inspite of upgrades (which we did ourseysince we were away) cannot get sufficient power down from the dish to the box. Ours is scheduled back at the dealership on our return home in Apr.

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