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ALANSD · 05-29-2005, 07:37 PM

I have Direct Tv at home, and really like it. My batwing TV antenna on the MoHo leaves a bit to be desired, especially in the mountains where we camp often.
My questions are-
If I take my Direct tv receiver with me, how do I find the satellite for reception? Should I buy one of those little sat finders?

Isn't the actual dish itself and LNB for Dish Network and Direct Tv the same, just the receiver varies? The reason for this question is I have a Dish 500 large oval dish and LNB that I could use, needing only the tri pod stand, but as I said above Direct Tv is my provider at home so I would use that receiver.
I assume that with a little proper set up this would work?
Thanks for any insight into the RV satellite set up.

juel · 05-29-2005, 08:09 PM

My Direct TV retailer (who also sells Dish Network) told me that he would sell me a used sat dish on a tripod for $75.00. He says I can take this little dish anywhere and as long as I have one of my home receivers I can get sat TV in the trailer. I haven't tried it yet, but he says it will work if I have a clear view of the Southern sky with the sat dish. Sounds like a solution to me. Judy

Pick · 05-29-2005, 08:38 PM

Those little Sat finder meters work great. They cost around $30. They are worth the money in my opinion. Sure beats having to set up your receiver and TV right next to the dish to aim them. Yes, a Dish dish will work on DirecTV and vise versa.

baldeagle · 05-30-2005, 05:52 AM

Been doing it for a few years. Not so difficult with the "clear view". Can't get reception thru trees. Of course, the additional receiver must have a valid (read monthly fee) card. Have fun. The setting up is well worth having DirecTV on the road.

Cracker · 05-30-2005, 07:22 AM

Another vote for the sat finder meter! Too much frustration without it. The sat reception meter on the TV screen doesn't seem to respond fast enough - and by the time I locate the sat my wife is ready to divorce me!

ALANSD · 05-30-2005, 07:45 AM

thanks. I will get that meter. Sounds easy and I know it will be worth it if only for the music! My extra home reciever is easily disconnected for road use.

Tarheel · 05-30-2005, 08:52 AM

I have been using it for about 4 years and have been very happy. The extra reciever that I have costs me $5.00 a month. When you get to your site you just turn on the reciever and plug in your location zip code, the tv displays your compass direction and dish angle. Don't even try it without the meter unless you have more patience than Job. It can work and it will work without it but the older I get I find that I have less tolerance for pain.

ALANSD · 05-30-2005, 02:23 PM

I bought the meter, and next I will buy a tri pod so I should be all set.

Hit'nMiss · 05-30-2005, 04:25 PM

Whats a LNB?
Are we certain about the same Dish and LNB working with either reciever?
I see the dishes in the garbage all the time, guess when customers switch from one to another, the install crew throws out the other. If the other would work, why would they throw it out???

Is it possible to buy the thing that you are charged $5.00 a month for?
Or is that a user fee?

If I just unhook my main home reciever and take it on the road, do I need to pay the $5.00 fee? Does the satalite know Im not at home? does it care?

How do you get the zip or area code of your location out in the boonies?

And is there a decrease in quality of reception if the coax run from the dish to the reciever is very long? Any idea of what is too long?
Also I have heard that a particular type of coax is required (not plain old cable tv coax) Is this true?

Flicka

ALANSD · 05-30-2005, 04:41 PM

-the dishes are the same as I have had confirmed. I bought mine at Goodwill for 3 dollars with two LNbs on it and lots of coax. The LNB is the little receiver thingie( so technical!) that points at the dish, its white plastic covered.
-The only reason to know the zip code is so you can manually enter the satellite configurations or use the auto set up. As I now understand it you can use the sat finder meter to do thst instead, and then just point it at the sat and let the guide set itself up for programs. The finder takes no time to get the signal.
-The second home receiver is five dollars extra over the inital charge per mo, I pay $41 for both with local channels and no premiums, but lots of tv channels and music channels.
-The reduction in reception is supposed to be minimal until you get really long on the cable distance. You can use a heavier coax to eliminate that issue. I have heard 50-70' is no problem.
I'm new to the mobile part, but have had satellite at home for five years, its terrific. I only lack the DVR to make my system perfect for us. (TIVO)

Tarheel · 05-30-2005, 07:09 PM

The biggest thing about manually setting the dish is to know the angle. There are 3 satelites at almost the same location. I was told and its the procedure I use, is to set the angle first, somewhere close to 30 degrees for me with dish net in North Carolina. I then swing it slowly at the compass heading, somewhere around 240 degrees. When I get a good signal I slowly move it back and forth to lock in the best compass heading. Then I adjust the angle to get the best signal. This works for me. Cloudy days and trees can overcome technology. I carry about 100' of coaxial so that I can look for a hole in the trees if need be. If your neighbor has the same system you can split his signal and leave you dish in the truck. That's one advantage of traveling with friends.

Boats13 · 05-30-2005, 07:48 PM

The older smaller cable will be labeled with various letter combinations... however the numbers "59" will be on the cable along the length a regular intervals.

On the newer cable it will have a "6". 6 cable is used on all the newer installations for digital and data carrying applications.

I do not know what these numbers signify, perhaps a metric diameter of the inner parts(minus the cover) maybe?

Our paperwork (and installer) stated that 120ft of reach was fine without signal drop.

CT

Tikihut · 05-30-2005, 09:03 PM

the cable you are refering to is RG59 and RG6.

baldeagle · 06-01-2005, 04:45 PM

I used my main home tuner on the road for a few years. No extra fee.

ALANSD · 06-15-2005, 10:49 AM

ok...guess I need a little more hand holding. I got the signal finder. Set my dish on the tripod out in the driveway and adjusted the angle and roughly hit the other settings. My signal meter db set to 5 and it sings like the signal is strong. I moved it around and the signal faded in and out some, so I locked it to where I had the strongest.
When I go to the recievr and tv, it goes thru the install process, but does not find the signal.
Am I missing a step here? When my 17 yr old comes home I might try moving the dish while he is in the rig to see if it makes a difference. But i thought uf the finder is singing then the signal is there and strong.

Big Dee · 06-15-2005, 11:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ALANSD

ok...guess I need a little more hand holding. I got the signal finder. Set my dish on the tripod out in the driveway and adjusted the angle and roughly hit the other settings. My signal meter db set to 5 and it sings like the signal is strong. I moved it around and the signal faded in and out some, so I locked it to where I had the strongest.
When I go to the recievr and tv, it goes thru the install process, but does not find the signal.
Am I missing a step here? When my 17 yr old comes home I might try moving the dish while he is in the rig to see if it makes a difference. But i thought uf the finder is singing then the signal is there and strong.

My signal finder has a knob for adjusting the sensitivity. After getting the first beeps, I turn down the sensitivity til it stops beeping and signal goes down. Then align the dish again to get signal again. This way you keep getting a stronger signal each time. Then repeat again. After a few times, I am dialed in with a strong signal.

trumpwer · 06-15-2005, 03:20 PM

Dont forget to remove the signal finder.

ALANSD · 06-15-2005, 08:01 PM

I will try that. I moved the dish around until the signal was strongest. When I went to the reciever it would never get a signal. I tried a few different settings for the switch, transponder. I will give it another try this weekend, after I come back from a short fishing trip. I did pull the signal finder out of the circuit one time, left it in the next, not sure what I was doing!

Pick · 06-15-2005, 08:28 PM

Alan, you could be getting the WRONG signal. If you have DirecTV you may be locked onto Dish Network,with the meter, or vice versa. Look for another signal peak on the meter, close to the same azimuth.

ALANSD · 06-16-2005, 07:05 AM

right, I had heard they were close together. Weird thing is with the reciver when i brought it back into the house and connected it up it took a long time to set up again . I even checked the settings versus my upstairs receiver, and they were the same. Maybe i should try that one out in the AS instead. Could be a bit finicky.