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Old 03-23-2017, 06:25 AM   #1
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Differences between satellite antennas?

We are going to purchase a satellite antenna for our Windjammer. We are looking at the King Tailgater and Winegard Pathway. Will use Dish service on either of these. The pieces are different on the two satellites but I don't see any technical differences. Both say the week ruin two tvs, both use receiver for power. What is the difference of the pathway is $100 more?
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Old 03-23-2017, 07:11 AM   #2
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I believe the Pathway uses both Eastern and Western 'Arc' satellites, where the Tailgater2 uses Western[110,119,129HD]...
technically having access to both arcs of satellites gives you more options to receive signals, such as if you are unable to access the Western arc sats, you can try the Eastern arc sats instead... but... in over 2 years of using our Tailgater2 in all of the US and even Eastern Canada, we've never had any issue finding the Western sats.

also, physically the two are different. The Tailgater2 can be easily carried, it has a handle and a smaller size, and can be mounted on the roof, whereas the Pathway probably can not, so it must be stored somewhere everytime you move.

both may be able to power 2 different receivers, BUT, the second(secondary) receiver will be piggybacked off of the primary(Main) receiver. Because it has a single LNB antenna, it can only pick up a single satellite at a time. The main receiver is programmed first, then the secondary receiver is programmed, acquiring only the satellite that the main receiver was on at the time it was programmed.
In essence, if the main receiver is on Channel112, HGTV HD, on satellite 129, then the secondary receiver can view this channel, and all other channels on sat 129, but not from the other two satellites. And, if the main receiver changes channels to one of the other sats, the secondary receiver will show the 'Channel Not Available' message, at least while the main receiver is not back on the same satellite.

this gets a little confusing at first, but once you get used to it, you can easily use both outputs to run two receivers/tvs successfully. We use sat 129 normally because it is all HD channels, and has most of the channels we watch anyway, especially if the LOCAL channels(ABC, CBS, etc) are on this satellite for the area we are parked.
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Old 03-23-2017, 08:40 AM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by formerFR View Post
I believe the Pathway uses both Eastern and Western 'Arc' satellites, where the Tailgater2 uses Western[110,119,129HD]...
technically having access to both arcs of satellites gives you more options to receive signals, such as if you are unable to access the Western arc sats, you can try the Eastern arc sats instead... but... in over 2 years of using our Tailgater2 in all of the US and even Eastern Canada, we've never had any issue finding the Western sats.

also, physically the two are different. The Tailgater2 can be easily carried, it has a handle and a smaller size, and can be mounted on the roof, whereas the Pathway probably can not, so it must be stored somewhere everytime you move.

both may be able to power 2 different receivers, BUT, the second(secondary) receiver will be piggybacked off of the primary(Main) receiver. Because it has a single LNB antenna, it can only pick up a single satellite at a time. The main receiver is programmed first, then the secondary receiver is programmed, acquiring only the satellite that the main receiver was on at the time it was programmed.
In essence, if the main receiver is on Channel112, HGTV HD, on satellite 129, then the secondary receiver can view this channel, and all other channels on sat 129, but not from the other two satellites. And, if the main receiver changes channels to one of the other sats, the secondary receiver will show the 'Channel Not Available' message, at least while the main receiver is not back on the same satellite.

this gets a little confusing at first, but once you get used to it, you can easily use both outputs to run two receivers/tvs successfully. We use sat 129 normally because it is all HD channels, and has most of the channels we watch anyway, especially if the LOCAL channels(ABC, CBS, etc) are on this satellite for the area we are parked.

Well said. I use a Dish 1000.4 Eastern Arc manual dish mounted to a surveyors tripod which is modified to also accept a western arc LNB if needed. As you said, 129 which is one of the western arc trios carry's most of the spot beams for locals along with most of the HD channels.

When you aim for western arc the alignment sat is 119 and where we are in western PA its elevation is roughly 28 degrees which is not very high comparatively. Even if your in a field and have a tree line to the southwest it can be problematic without taking into account 129 is even lower @ 21 degrees.

The beauty of eastern arc is the alignment sat of the 3 is 72.7 and its at 43 degrees elevation and almost due south azimuth. The lowest of the 3 on eastern arc is 61.5 which is @ 40 degrees elevation.

Personally I have tried two different models of the motorized dishes and went back to the manual setup. Once you are comfortable with the alignment it does not take much more time to do the setup. The larger manual reflector will also not be affected by rain fade as much as the automatic dishes which have a much smaller reflector.
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Old 03-23-2017, 11:18 AM   #4
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If you are going to use just one receiver check out the "Dish Playmaker (PM)" antenna. I have not had or heard of any issues with this antenna. I switched from the "Tailgater (TG)" but not because of any issues with it. The PM is a domed antenna and more stable than the TG. The auto antennas do have a smaller dish and tree issues that would not affect a manual antenna due to their larger dish can affect the auto's.
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Old 03-23-2017, 11:40 AM   #5
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These answers are great! This is very helpful, thank you. I will study these than make our decision. We really like the size and style of the King Tailgater.
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Old 03-23-2017, 12:12 PM   #6
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The antenna on the Pathway is much larger.

We had a Tailgater originally and did not get a very good signal and took it back and got the Pathway X2 and it was almost as good as our home dish.



We have since moved to a Trav'ler and our Hopper 2.
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Old 03-23-2017, 12:43 PM   #7
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Just now at the end of a 4 month winter over in Florida, the tailgater worked well during this period, however,, the 211 receiver with an external hard drive sucks. You can only record the channel you are watching so if there is two shows you want to watch on at the same time you have to pick one and miss the other. On our next trip we will have a standard dish on a tripod and bring our home receiver with us. The Dish $7.00 per month extra top have all your home programming is a good deal and a quick phone call gets you the locals where ever you are, just be sure to tell them this is your RV and do not change your billing address.
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Old 03-23-2017, 01:02 PM   #8
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Originally Posted by DKRITTER View Post
The antenna on the Pathway is much larger.

We had a Tailgater originally and did not get a very good signal and took it back and got the Pathway X2 and it was almost as good as our home dish.



We have since moved to a Trav'ler and our Hopper 2.
We did the same - We upgraded from the Tailgater to the X2 and the difference is dramatic. The C2 is more robustly built me has a significantly larger antenna, so weather and tree interference is much less. I tried them side by side once, and the X2 gets about a 50% stronger signal. We have been quite a few places where the southwest satillites were blocked by trees, but we could hit the southeastern ones.

The X2 does take up a bit more room, but it is still light and easy enough to handle.
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Old 03-23-2017, 08:05 PM   #9
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Ok, so Pathway it is now in the lead! Reading the reviews here and online, it seems a Pathway could be a better choice. Now, which one the PA1000 or PA6002 X2. The X2 seems to more popular here but the PA1000 will work with the Wally receiver. Not sure we need the added features of the Wally receiver but maybe... Thanks again for the comments.
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Old 03-23-2017, 08:06 PM   #10
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I am selling my near new Winegard G2, 2 half years old, permanently in a thick forest. $425. with tripod. Ship not incl. Michael, Marysville, WA.
Thanks, we are in Ohio so the shipping would be a bit much to get it here.
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Old 03-24-2017, 07:19 PM   #11
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Old 03-24-2017, 10:04 PM   #12
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X2 on pathway, not mentioned but I believe the pathway has less rain fade/less due it lager dish. Manual setup has best Dish area, but can be troublesome to setup. Have both and generally use the pathway unless we are in very wooded area.
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Old 03-24-2017, 10:31 PM   #13
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Originally Posted by MCTroy View Post
Ok, so Pathway it is now in the lead! Reading the reviews here and online, it seems a Pathway could be a better choice. Now, which one the PA1000 or PA6002 X2. The X2 seems to more popular here but the PA1000 will work with the Wally receiver. Not sure we need the added features of the Wally receiver but maybe... Thanks again for the comments.
Pathway x1 is suppose to work with wally
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Old 03-25-2017, 08:21 PM   #14
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Thanks for ask the updates. I will Checj back after we get our antenna set up.
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