Roof Satellite Antenna

[valandsheri]

We have a 2014 Silverback 33RL and would like to mount a satellite antenna on the roof. On the roof there is a hole that says "antenna hook up here " with a soft spot thru the roof, so it is obviously pre-wired for the antenna. Three questions: 1. Is there also power up there, due to the fact that some antennas require a seperate power supply? 2. Are there two cables, one for the bedroom and one for the living room? 3. Which satellite antennas have people used with Direct TV without getting into the 2,000.00 bracket that work well?

Thank you for any help!

Val

[Weezer]

We use the Winegard Carry Out (automatic) with great success.

[Wayne & Kimmy]

Sorry in advance for the wordy reply; I tend to get very precise with my explanations...

I can't really answer the first question as I have a different rig, but will tell you I have had great results with Winegard Pathway X1, which is exclusively for Dish Network. They have a comparable model, the Carryout G2 (Winegard Carryout G2 - HD Portable Satellite TV Antenna) which works with Direct TV or Dish. My X1 is powered by the receiver so there is no need for a separate power cable, a big plus for me; the G2 does have a separate power cable. Both of these units can be used free-standing (ground, table, tri-pod, etc) or mounted to the roof with a mount kit that is like $50 (Roof Mount Conversion Kit for Winegard Portable Satellite TV Antennas). Both support 2 receivers; mine came with 1 25' coax so you'd have to supply your own for the other.

I plan on cheating a bit and hooking up to the dish and cable in some campgrounds, partly to avoid losing some channels on the secondary receiver (it is somewhat dependent on which satellite the primary is tuned to; don't know if Direct TV works that way, but Dish has 3 satellites tto choose between) and also to provide cable feed to my outside TV coax as I haven't bothered trying to reconfigure wires to send Sat signal out there. Plus the cable won't go haywire during heavy rains. I did it last trip and worked to perfection!

One advantage of not mounting to roof (I haven't done mine that way yet, and may not) is that is you are in a shady area and view of south sky is blocked by trees at least from the roof, you can move the unit to an area that is not blocked and get a signal. I had to move mine off to the side of the rig on my last trip, and once I did things worked great!

Below is a link to site to view their other options; I bought mine on sale from Camping World and got a $50 gift card in mail to boot!

Portable Satellite Dish - Winegard Portable Satellite Antennas, Mobile DIRECTV, Mobile DISH Network

I wish you luck in your search.

[Kampnnit]

I have the same rig as you. I went with a portable tripod antenna. Much cheaper and easier to position in worded areas. Here is the way I wired my directv up.


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[SilverbackMel]

Have 2015 Silverback 33rl. We have the Winegard Pathways Fully Automatic from CW. Works Great! Before you go roof mount, research WHY experienced campers go with this latest technology. I HAD the Tailgater and returned it as a defective unit. Did my due diligence on a roof mount and subsequently made my choice. Yes, you have to stow it. Yes, you have to CHAIN it to your rig. Yes, you need a shot at southern OR WESTERN sky ( on Dish it will zero in on multiple satellite groups). Sets up and watching TV by the time full rv set up is done. Yes, "optional" tripod is a MUST to avoid standing rain water. Yes, you will be happy after 1st set up.
With the roof mount fixed, good luck in any park with trees, which is about 99%! No cable, no TV .

[Weezer]

We have the tripod for our Winegard.....BUT....Old Coot made a couple of alternative mounts for us. One allows the dish to sit on the 5er pin box and the other one allows us to hang it on the ladder.

I have a thread here with pictures:
http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...unt-64259.html

I've seen some people simply set their dish on one of those plastic "bread box" type storage crates to keep it off the ground.

The beauty of what OC made us is that DH was able to fabricate an adapter than enables us to use the tripod base plate for all three situations: tripod on the ground, pin box mount and ladder mount and ALL THREE of them holds the dish in place by weight/gravity alone. Of course we'll *secure* the dish in case there are sticky fingers around.

[Campingnut]

To the original if it is like the Cedar creek I have it is pre wired for a Wineguard Traveler automatic dish with 2 coaxials. In a closet somewhere is were the Wineguard conection is made for the controler.