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Old 10-24-2010, 06:10 PM   #1
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Anybody use a satellite dish and an FTA receiver?

Wondering if anybody is using a regular Dish Network or DirecTV dish and a FTA receiver while camping? Seems like it should be easy enough but I have never tried to set up a dish at a campsite either....

I know they have those high dollar dish setups that auto seek the sat for you, a wee bit out of my price range for a weekend warrior setup.

Anybody else use an FTA receiver?

(For those that do not know what it is, Google is your friend)
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Old 10-25-2010, 10:18 AM   #2
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Never heard of it before your post. I might take a look though. I have cable at home and I am very happy with the channel lineup I have. But cable does me no good on the road. I have looked at Dish and Direct TV and can not anything I would be satisfied with. Also, a two year contract for something that would get 3 months use per year at best doesn't seem to me to be worht it. I am also looking into satellite internet. So far a similar issue. Contracts, high cost, plus lower speed than I have at home.
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Old 10-25-2010, 10:54 AM   #3
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Nice to see another Ford V10 TV
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Old 10-25-2010, 11:55 AM   #4
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I do not use Direct TV or Direct but i do have Shaw. It is very easy nto use. Your supplier will give you the Info needed to aim your dish from different locations. Just run the cable from the dish to the TT sat. connection. Inside the TT run a wire from the sat. to box and then use rca cables to hook up to the concertone system. I can not use my dish at the campground that I am spending the winter because of the trees but they include cable with the fees.

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Old 10-25-2010, 01:54 PM   #5
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I have used both Direct TV and Dish and other than the occasionial setting the dish up issue I have had great luck with it. As has been stated you have to make sure you have a campsite that has an unobstructed view of the SW sky.
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Old 10-25-2010, 10:19 PM   #6
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I am with kz08h5 here, I do not want to get a traditional sat service with a 2 year contract and maybe get 2-3 months use.(I can not use sat at
My home either)
For those that do not know, FTA is "Free To Air" basically it is free satellite service, there is no provider or supplier, you are not in a contract, you are just receiving the free signals that are already out there.
I used to have dish network so I am familiar with sat service and aiming the dish and such I was just concerned with being able to do it out at a campground, getting the vertical level, azimuth and inclination degrees and such. I may get a cheapo FTA receiver and try it out.
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Old 10-26-2010, 06:40 AM   #7
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I use Dish Network on a Weingard tripod. The tripod comes with a bubble level that you use to adjust the three legs for a level platform.

The 3 sats I need to aim for I can check out with an app for my Android phone. You need a clear shot to them.

Then I use a sat meter to aim for the 3 sats. The aiming takes about 40 seconds with the meter. Without it, this whole aiming could take 10 minutes or so...maybe longer

Good luck
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Old 10-26-2010, 07:26 AM   #8
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I use direct tv at home and camping. It is easy to set up. satellite finder at radio shack about $10. also if you are a new direct tv customer they will give you an extra dish and tripod and 50' of cable free ,if you tell them you have an rv. You take one of the recievers from the house with you camping.
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Old 10-27-2010, 04:26 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bill and theresa View Post
I use direct tv at home and camping. It is easy to set up. satellite finder at radio shack about $10. also if you are a new direct tv customer they will give you an extra dish and tripod and 50' of cable free ,if you tell them you have an rv. You take one of the receivers from the house with you camping.
Same here nothing to it, but I do not use a satellite finder I look around at the campground to see where everyone's dish is pointing.
I do not use a standard tripod for the dish, I converted a halogen light stand to hold the dish.
If you look at the pic look at the back of the truck on the drivers side you may see it.
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Old 11-21-2010, 09:43 AM   #10
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Hey Guys, This is my first post on this site[just joined] and I have a question or 3 about camping TV service.
My brother has "Direct TV" and says that he can get an additional receiver for an extra few $ per month for HIS In house use.
Question’s:
If I get a dish, can I use his second receiver for my camper a couple of hundred miles away from his home without any problems? He is willing to let me pay the extra $ without paying for a NEW FULL SRVICE.
I noted that Direct TV wants the owner of the camper to register the RV title… BLA BLA BLA for use of a second receiver away from the original home set up. Whats up with this and is it necessary?
My brother and I camp together alot and I wonder since he has the DIRECT TV set up and I OWN the camper if there will be a problem?
Thanks for any input.
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Old 11-21-2010, 10:22 AM   #11
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Lightbulb

DishPointer.com can be useful when looking for satellite co-ordinates. I've used it when camping in OH & IN.
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Old 11-21-2010, 10:36 AM   #12
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Hello: We use our Directv dish all the time when camping. I went to Ebay and bought a dish for $ 10. brand new, it's the 18in. I take one of the boxes I have at home. Not the High def box, just the normal one. I mounted the dish on a Camera Tripod that I had and it works great. I got a compass and signal meter from radio shack. I think it was about 15 bucks and it works great. Just have to take your time setting it up, then I stake it down or weigh it down once I got the signal. But check Ebay, there's tons of them for sale. I guess the simple dishes are a dime a dozen now a days. good luck.
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Old 11-21-2010, 11:27 AM   #13
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Nice

The dish I use for DishNetwork aims at 3 satellites at one time, thus a tad bit harder to tweak...

Good luck
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Old 11-21-2010, 12:17 PM   #14
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We have two receivers for our Direct TV here at home and added a dish in our other Rockwood and had Camping word in Masa AZ. mount and hook up the dish on our roof. You push a button inside the camper and the dish goes up and finds 5 sattelites and locks onto the best three. It's so easy and worth the expense to have it hooked up.
When we traded the Rockwood for the Cedar Creek 5th wheel, our dealer where we ordered switch the DTV dish to the CC roof top and now turn it on and push the button and it's up and going.
We have three receivers now and one is mobile and it's great.
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Old 02-16-2011, 10:34 PM   #15
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Yes, you can use your brother's "extra" receiver. DirecTV has no way of knowing where that receiver is, unless you plug it into a phone line. Leave it plugged into the phone line at the brothers house, but keep it unplugged while camping. The Sat service is one way, so they can't tell.

Now, if your personal ethics stop you from doing this, well, that's a different problem that I'm not qualified to help with.
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