Which satellite system?

Thurman · 06-19-2016, 04:55 PM

So, the WF (wonderful lady) in my life has put her foot down about TV reception while camping. Me--I could care less about a TV while camping. That's one of the reason's I go camping, to get away from the TV. We, yes us, have been looking online at different systems/brands. We have DISH currently in the home so we looked at the DISH Tailgater set-ups first. We also looked into "Wyngard" systems. The we have to decide whether an actual dish I have to set up or the "Tailgater" type that you just set down and aim the handle North. I've asked others when we go camping and I get postive and negative answers on every system discussed. So, share what your opinion is on which set-up to get.

BamaBob · 06-19-2016, 07:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thurman

So, the WF (wonderful lady) in my life has put her foot down about TV reception while camping. Me--I could care less about a TV while camping. That's one of the reason's I go camping, to get away from the TV. We, yes us, have been looking online at different systems/brands. We have DISH currently in the home so we looked at the DISH Tailgater set-ups first. We also looked into "Wyngard" systems. The we have to decide whether an actual dish I have to set up or the "Tailgater" type that you just set down and aim the handle North. I've asked others when we go camping and I get postive and negative answers on every system discussed. So, share what your opinion is on which set-up to get.

Use what you have at home, that way all you need to do it take your home receiver with you when you go camping

splong16 · 06-19-2016, 08:37 PM

We also have Dish so we went with the Winegard Pathway X2 with 2- 211Z receivers. Set it up point handle North and let it do it's thing. We love it and have not had any problems.

jgourlie · 06-20-2016, 12:05 AM

I have Bell the Canadian version of Dish. I use a Winegard Carryout g2 automatic dish and life is great. My wife is watching tv in 2 minutes or less

Thurman · 06-20-2016, 08:18 AM

Thanks for the reply's. "BamaBob" maybe I should have been more specific as I was wanting to know about the antenna's people prefer. I'm leaning strong towards the DISH tailgater. Most of the campers I have seen with antennae have these and like them. Or maybe I'll buy the WF a couple of petunia's so she will be happy and I can delay this a bit longer.

shughey00 · 06-20-2016, 08:51 AM

I have the Tailgater and works fine for me. I actually set it up on the roof...but I am a seasonal so thats out of my way. I also have just set it on a table or in the last park I set it under the back of my 5th wheel most of the summer as no one could park behind me and I had a clear shot of the sky.

It is light weight...easy peasy to set up and take down. Now it is a smaller dish antenna so the signal seems to drop easier in thunderstorms than a pole mounted home dish but only talking heavy storms.

Since you have Dish at home it is what..an extra ten bucks a month to add the Tailgater on.

Most of the complaints come from people like me who do not have a home account and have to activate and cancel Dish each season...and the price is stupid if you don't have a home account. So thats usually most of the complaints on using a Tailgater. But you have a home account so...no issues.

MrT · 06-20-2016, 06:04 PM

So soon enough we expect to become DISH customers. Our new Cedar Creek 38CK was ordered with HD Satellite Prep so we have a "drill here" sticker on the roof, and some connections for the the dish "controller" in the front closet. I've inquired with a local Elkhart firm to perform the install while we attend the FROG International Rally in Goshen, so that's in place. Our unit is very tall... perhaps legal max of 13' 6" according to the factory, so placement of the folded Winegard Trav'ler will be critical for clearance. Not having any experience with any satellite provider before, I assume I'll need a receiver for each of the two on-board TVs. Any other insight, especially from those with similar setups is appreciated. Cheers!

W5CI · 06-20-2016, 06:20 PM

I have Dish at home, Purchased a Tailgater,take receiver from home. then plug and play. same when I return home just plug and play. no aditional fees after purchase of the Tailgater.

spock123 · 06-20-2016, 08:03 PM

I started out with the Tailgator, it only picks up one satellite at the time. I still have it but now that I went with Direct I use a satellite dish now. The Tailgator always worked for me, I mounted it on a tripod and I could put that Tailgator 20ft in the air. I could care less about tv but DW loves tv I think more than she loves me. Her favorite tv show is NCIS

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DKRITTER · 06-21-2016, 11:27 AM

We have had a couple of different systems over the years so I’ll try to add my $.02. Sorry this is long.

You have several options with the first being which provider. This is important because most of the dishes from one provider won’t work with the other provider. We have had Dish at the house for some time and went with them. So all the references from me will relate more to Dish than Direct but they are almost the same. We currently have a 211Z receiver but may move up shortly.

There are from what we have found 3 different styles of dishes to choose from, the portable fixed unit, the portable electric unit and the roof top system.

The portable fixed would be my choice if we stayed in one place for a long time because; it offers great reception and is the least expensive. The down side is every time you setup you have to go through the process of manually aiming the system, which can take a little while. About $100.00

Seems like the portable electric is the most popular option. Simply hookup the coax cable set it out with a good look at the southern sky and it finds the satellites. First downside is it will only look at one satellite at a time so everything you watch/record at a given time has to be on that particular satellite. (Not really a big deal)
You have several different styles to choose from with the Tailgater being the most popular. We had one for a short time. We found the reception to be less than ideal and had complete signal loss when it had to change satellites. So we took it back and got a Winegard Pathway X2 and used it for over a year and it worked well but again had to move from one satellite to the other and set it up and take it down. They are around $3-400.00.

2015 was a good year for business so I gave myself a bonus of the Winegard Trav’ler right after the first of the year. (We use the trailer both for business and pleasure.) Mr.T this is also for you. My 36CKTS was prewired for the Trav’ler.

CC ran coax from the living room TV and the bedroom TV to a spot on the roof kinda above the front door. They also ran a control wire harness from that same location to the little closet in the bedroom.
I did a lot of research and decided to do the install myself. (Get a PDF of the wiring diagram.) I unscrewed the plate from the closet and my wife fished out the harness. (smaller hands) I had gone up on the roof a couple of times and knew about the sticker that said cut here.
My wife and I hoisted the dish up on the roof (the most difficult part) and I found a good spot to mount the system and followed the instructions and you tube video’s to the letter. I spent more time on placement than anything else. I screwed down the Trav’ler by hand so as to not strip anything then ran all the wires, plugged everything in and used a couple of tubes of Dicor. Tested the system and it was perfect.

The Trav’ler has been by far the best system and the easiest to setup and take down (just push a button). The reception is the same as the dish on the house. But it is by far the most expensive at +$1200.00 for the Trav’ler and plate and a couple of hours to install. (The install really takes less than an hour but I took it real slow before I poked a hole in the roof.) I probably have a little over $1300.00 in this.

There a bunch of other options to choose from but this should get you started.

Ford Idaho · 06-21-2016, 11:35 AM

Dish Tailgater on a tripod, we have had to aim it North and South depending on where we are at.

Pay as we go package.

Teh boss she is camping happy now.

Like you I could have cared less about the tv....

DKRITTER · 06-21-2016, 12:35 PM

A very useful link from Dish

https://www.mydish.com/upgrades/products/tv-outdoors

Everything from Dish is real expensive so shop around.

zuterbru · 06-21-2016, 01:12 PM

I have the DirecTV version of this: https://www.amazon.com/KING-VQ4500-T...satellite+dish

What I really like is they make a removable roof mounting kit. So, you can mount it on the roof, but if you need to move it for obstacles or whatever, you can remove it easily and place it wherever it needs to go. I bought it back in September but they did not have the mounting kit. I was trying to figure out a removable mount myself, when I noticed they now have one, great option I think.

bob caldwell · 06-21-2016, 02:27 PM

Made my own mounts....one for pin box, one for ladder.......wired in connectors at each location, along with connectors in the curb side under the awning....now have no cables on ground ......with the King Flex, for Direct tv, as it supports 2 receivers, I bought a receiver off ebay to leave in trailer all the time, and when going on a trip where we'll be gone awhile, take a 2nd receiver from home.....now can watch 2 different channels, as the cook'n shows do nothing for me....next thing, will also run a length to the under awning area for park cable......this trailer has an outside 120 volt plug-in under awning and enough space in it to add connectors where they're protected from the weather

MrT · 06-22-2016, 05:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DKRITTER

...
CC ran coax from the living room TV and the bedroom TV to a spot on the roof kinda above the front door. They also ran a control wire harness from that same location to the little closet in the bedroom.
I did a lot of research and decided to do the install myself. (Get a PDF of the wiring diagram.) I unscrewed the plate from the closet and my wife fished out the harness. (smaller hands) I had gone up on the roof a couple of times and knew about the sticker that said cut here.
My wife and I hoisted the dish up on the roof (the most difficult part) and I found a good spot to mount the system and followed the instructions and you tube video’s to the letter. I spent more time on placement than anything else. I screwed down the Trav’ler by hand so as to not strip anything then ran all the wires, plugged everything in and used a couple of tubes of Dicor. Tested the system and it was perfect.

The Trav’ler has been by far the best system and the easiest to setup and take down (just push a button). The reception is the same as the dish on the house. But it is by far the most expensive at +$1200.00 for the Trav’ler and plate and a couple of hours to install. (The install really takes less than an hour but I took it real slow before I poked a hole in the roof.) I probably have a little over $1300.00 in this.

There a bunch of other options to choose from but this should get you started.

Your posts are really getting at what I'm looking for. Please allow me a few more questions:

What exactly is under the "drill here" sticker on the roof? I assume it is the control cable and 2-3 RG-6 coax cables? Are the cables terminated? Do you need to supply additional lengths of terminated coax to run from that spot to the connections on the dish?

I'm assuming that the side-to-side roof profile/curvature on your 36CKTS is similar if not identical to our 38CK. Did you find the dish to sit "flat" on the roof within the 3/16" gap limit Winegard specifies?

Thanks again!

DKRITTER · 06-22-2016, 07:34 AM

On my trailer was already a hole under the sticker so all I did was cut an X in the roof membrane. There were 3 wires in there, 2 RG6 cables that were about 3 feet long without ends on them. Then the power cable for the Trav'ler.
The 2 coax are different colors so you can tell which goes to the living room and to the bedroom. You can take the power cable off the Trav'ler before you hoist it onto the roof. In my case there was more than enough cable for my install.

The system doesn't quite lay flat on the curved roof. I put an extra bead of dicor around the outside edge and took special care as I screwed it down to keep it as flat as possible. Then more dicor.
I also got the little plate for the head to lay on.

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