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Old 04-02-2013, 04:17 PM   #1
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Cheap Easy Sat Dish/ Any such animal?

I remember snickering about those sisified campers who could not go camping without satellite TV. Well, I want to join the club!

I tried with very limited success to hook up my home receiver to a tripod mounted dish. Is there an easier way without spending a fortune on one of those sisified electronic push one button and voila dishes?

What about receiver compatability?

I have DISH TV
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Old 04-02-2013, 04:45 PM   #2
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Check for previous threads, there has been plenty of discussion of this subject
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Old 04-02-2013, 05:30 PM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lumatic View Post
I remember snickering about those sisified campers who could not go camping without satellite TV. Well, I want to join the club!

I tried with very limited success to hook up my home receiver to a tripod mounted dish. Is there an easier way without spending a fortune on one of those sisified electronic push one button and voila dishes?

What about receiver compatability?

I have DISH TV
Cheap and easy do not normally apply to RV satellite systems with one button. Check out Wingard.com and see what they have available.
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Old 04-02-2013, 05:46 PM   #4
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We've pretty much given up local TV since digital tv was brought about. Unless you can get some good elevation, digital signals are flighty and hard to zero in on. And unless the towers are in the same general direction, we have to constantly reposition the antenna or live with the drop outs. Campgrounds that used to have decent signals now are digital ghost lands. It seems that the only thing we can consistently get is PBS stations since their transmitters and towers seem to be located more in the rural areas. I assume this is due to the cost of land for tower and transmitter facilities. Here in St. Louis the most distant tower is the PBS station.

I decided this year to make the splurge and we bought a Dish Tailgater system and receiver. I'm waiting for delivery of both. I already have service from Dish so hopefully this will end up being a beneficial move. The good side is the cost is $7 monthly and I can receive the same programming as I do at home except for my locals which are on a spot beam. Dish will allow you to turn the service off and on and will prorate the service.

Cheap? Well it's considerably cheaper than a dish mounted on the roof of the trailer and I can move the Tailgater around to get a clear shot at the sky. I checked with Dish and the maximum cable length from the Tailgater to the receiver is 200'. Note that the latest and greatest receiver that operates with the Tailgater is the ViP211z. It is smaller than the more available ViP211k. Dish will not sell a 211z a la carte, and their current Tailgater/receiver combo does not guarantee you will receive a 211z. I think they are going to try to clear the inventory of the 211k units first. I ended up buying a la carte from an authorized Dish retailer who sold me the two for about $32 less than Dish's combo price.

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Old 04-02-2013, 06:19 PM   #5
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I spent $15-$20 (duh, I don't remember...) on an Iphone app called DishPointer 'DP AR'. It uses the camera in the phone to let you 'see' where the sat's are. I have used it under full tree cover to locate a 3' diameter hole for the dish to point at the sat. It's easy to setup the tripod mounted dish now.
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Old 04-02-2013, 07:26 PM   #6
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I like the smartphone satellite finder, I watched a guy use one once, pretty cool. (I however dont have a smartphone) With some practice, I've gotten pretty good with a pocket compass and a magnetic bullet level (one with vertical, horizontal & 45 degree levels) There are a handfull of sites out there where you can put in the zip code where you are and it will tell you the correct Skew, azmuth & degrees to point your dish. So even if your in a new location every night, you should be able to find signal.
Make sure your tripod center post is perfectly vertical, otherwise all the other relatively "easy" settings will be completely off! :-)
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Old 04-02-2013, 08:39 PM   #7
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Jcanavera, I would be very much interested in how the Tailgater works out. I assume getting the dish pointed is simpler than the moustache trimming technique I now employ with the dish on a stick I now have.

As a matter of fact I was emailing about this very subject with DISH earlier today. If the guy on the other keyboard knows what he is talking about I can return one of my 2 current home receivers, buy a 211 (there are also 411s) which will still work with my home roof dish and still only have to pay the monthly rate for 2 receivers.

And in case you did not figure it out I was being fasitious when I used cheap and easy in the same sentence in my original post. But, I'm not addicted to the point I need an automatic dish that sets itself up for you. But, if it had a bottle opener that might do it.
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Old 04-03-2013, 05:03 AM   #8
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We use a Wingard carry out dish that stores in it's own case which doubles as a platform that the dish sits in to rotate for adjustment. Paid $159 at camping world. Used for one season and it works great. Setting it up for the strongest signal had me outside and my better half inside letting me know when the signal peaked. Purchased a signal meter that goes in line so I'll be able to set it up quicker and easier. Purchased an extra cable so it could be moved to avoid obstructions. This unit worked in the Adirondack mountains with lots of tree cover. Yes you need to find an opening through the foliage that is aligned with the dish (longer cable helps with this).

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Old 04-03-2013, 05:15 PM   #9
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Jcanavera,
Found a VIP 211 on Craigslist for $75 obo, used 1 season. Does this sound like a good deal?

Do you know what the diff is between the Tailgater and the King Controls Flex?
It looks like the Tailgater can only be used with DISH and the FLEX with both DISH and DIRECT/TV. And of course the FLEX costs a couple of hundred more.

Also found out Winegard has some refurbished units at a good price 90 day warranty and same return policy as new.
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Old 04-03-2013, 07:45 PM   #10
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Made a decision. got the VIP211 for $50 plus $15 shipping. Gonna order the Tailgater tomorrow. There are a bunch of You Tube videos on the Tailgater that convinced me.

FYI This satellite guy I talked to said as far as automatic dishes, stay away from the Winegard Anser Model
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Old 04-08-2013, 09:40 PM   #11
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Quote:
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Jcanavera,
Found a VIP 211 on Craigslist for $75 obo, used 1 season. Does this sound like a good deal?

Do you know what the diff is between the Tailgater and the King Controls Flex?
It looks like the Tailgater can only be used with DISH and the FLEX with both DISH and DIRECT/TV. And of course the FLEX costs a couple of hundred more.

Also found out Winegard has some refurbished units at a good price 90 day warranty and same return policy as new.
I got the 211z receiver new for $89 plus $8.99 for shipping. I got it over the 211k because of its smaller size. My receiver will be sitting on the platform that houses our microwave and food storage cabinet. That same platform holds the TV and the chargers for the cell phone. Space is limited.

I know King Controls makes the Tailgater and sells an identical looking Tailgater for Direct and the Flex. One difference with Direct is that the Tailgater type units cannot pick up the Direct HD satellite since it requires a different type of LNB for HD. The rooftop Direct dishes have that HD LNB mounted next to the LNB for their other satellites.
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Old 04-09-2013, 08:06 AM   #12
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I negotiated the above 211 K for $50 plus shipping.

Anyone want to buy my old dish on a stick cheap?
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