Satellite dish install

[FunWaggin]

Has anyone removed the factory installed antenna and replaced it with a satellite antenna? I am purchasing a King Tailgater. Should I go to Camping World to install or is it a diy project? Thanks.


FunWaggin'

[Msmoto]

Talk to BAB. He has extensive experience in this stuff.


Ms. Tommie Lauer
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[Protagonist]

A suggestion for later…

The stock Interstate has a maximum height of 9'8" at the air conditioner. Your installed satellite dish will be taller than the A/C, so after the install, measure your maximum height at the dish and post a label on your dashboard with the new height, just as a reminder.

[UKDUDE]

A friend recently bought a Grand Tour and had a DirecTV dish installed. I asked him if it was the newer flat and wide dish, and he told me the installer had said that one was too wide for the available space on the roof. So he went with the older taller dish, which looks a little ugly but still remains below the level of the AC unit.
I haven't seen it - just passing on his comments!

[jerhofer]

The Tailgater I have is a portable unit. You set it somewhere where it can see the southern skies and run a cable either directly to the receiver or hook it up at the cable inlet on the side of the AI and then hook up the receiver to the cable in jack that is located in the front overhead storage area.

I don't think they can be mounted permanently. Being portable there is no reason to remove the original antenna. You can use it to receive local channels for those times you don't want to contact Dish to have the local channels at your camping site added to the Dish program guide.

[73shark]

Unless it's an in-motion dish, not sure why you'd want to mount on top.

[bugsbunny]

On a FedEx Critical Delivery van parked at a truck stop overnight, a tailgater was temporarily hung externally, via a bracket, on the drivers window. It was an interesting solution.

[FunWaggin]

We've decided not to mount it right now. Heading up to the Finger Lakes and Adirondack Mts for a couple of weeks. We will try it out as a portable. Sounds like it's pretty easy to set-up. If we do eventually mount it I will definitely consider our new clearance requirement. (The new King Tailgater is mountable and comes with brackets to install.) Thanks for everyone's input.


FunWaggin'

[Teamaron]

We mounted the Winegard in motion unit with direct TV package.

No clearance issues.

Very happy with it. But had the tracvision system in our previous interstate and it was good as well.


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[Teamaron]

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[Teamaron]

It's not much higher than AC unit

Maybe 2-3 inches


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[carver 1]

My Wineguard

[FunWaggin]

Need help from anyone using the Tailgater. I am unable to get satellite reception when I connect directly to the coach at the cable port in macerator compartment. I have connected the receiver to the satellite cable pre-wired above the drivers seat. I have removed the wire used to complete the cable connection from the coaxial plate as instructed in the AI manual. Please let me know if I am omitting a necessary step. I am hopeful it's not a coach wiring problem.

(I am able to get satellite service when I connect the receiver directly to the satellite.)

Thanks!

[CanoeU70]

The purpose of this post is to describe the Airstream setup and use of the new King Tailgater as a means of watching HD TV no matter where you plan to camp. While free HDTV that comes through the roof top antenna is great, it is not available in most of the state campgrounds in Florida unless you are very close to major metropolitan area.


Visit Dish network before you plan to call in sign up to select the level of service you desire. Since my channel requirements were Fox, History Channel, Discovery and NatGeo, my wife requires HDTV. For us, that translated to the so-called “Top 120” which cost about $80 when we signed up for the single month of July, 2015.

It took me more than a day to make my system work because I mistakenly thought that just hooking the satellite antenna cable to my factory installed external RG6 connector via the antenna’s F-male screw connector.

For some strange reason, my use of campground supplied cable TV versus my HD-through-the-air antenna has always been confusing due to an unexplained switch inside my trailer to which my #1 TV connects. I can never remember which way the push button switch should be (green light push button switch on or off?).

This confusion results in many a false search for local stations in the TV’s “set up installation mode –search for channels.”

As a result of this confusion, I bought a cable connector data tester from Lowes:



To my surprise, this tester revealed that my external RG6 was operating but the internal plug was not conveying sufficient signal strength. Here is the solution to that problem for me: under my dining table on the rear bulkhead near the deck. In my fingers is a patch cable I removed which cross-connected my exterior connector with the interior connectors. The white coax cable now connected to the “Cable/Sat In” RG^ is the coax cable to the back of my satellite receiver. My receiver is connected to the receiver via a 25 foot HDMI cable which I snaked behind the couch cushions to the #1 TV. This arrangement minimizes line loses and HDMI assures great HD.


This 25 foot cable also gives me the option of connecting the #2 TV in the forward bunk compartment albeit by snaking the cable down the passageway. However, by locating the satellite receiver on top of a laser printer under the dining table, I can change channels from the bunk area.

[Titus]

Do any of you with satellite TV experience know the current draw? I have a battery monitor and can turn on the invertor and the TV to see how much power that draws, but I would like to know how much I have to add to that to power the satellite and its associated box. Presumably these require 110 V AC - and not 12 V DC, and thus require use of the invertor. Correct? (Not that it really matter since the invertor has to be on anyway to power the TV.) I don't want to buy the satellite if the only practical way to use it for any appreciable length of time is with the (noisy) generator running or when plugged in.

[Rolland]

Hi-We just returned from a long trip, and I used the dish a lot. I used a 140 watt inverter plugged directly to the receiver, and it handled it well. (Pick a 12v power point with nothing else on it to plug in the inverter. If there is a quick voltage drop the receiver will have to reset itself) When we are on shore power I plug it into 110. I made a connector for our flat screen and run it directly on 12v DC all the time, with a shutoff switch so it doesn't draw when not in use. Only used the generator when the batteries were getting low and no sun for solar panels. (To top off batteries and allow Nancy to use hair dryer and curling iron) Good luck, we liked having 3 choices of channels while traveling. Cable in campgrounds (sometimes), local channels from antenna (sometimes), and Directv when I had the ambition to set up the dish! Happy Trails, Rolland


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