New to Satellite TV

[sbslinde]

We are looking to add a Satellite system to our Race Rig.  We travel mostly down I-75 and west to St. Louis.  Not looking to spend a fortune.  Are there any systems that we should stay away from?  I have been reading up on the subject but there are so many conflicting stories I am not sure on which system would work best.

 Thank you

 Jeff

[Mark and Dale Bruss]

How many TVs?

[LindaH]

There are so many choices depending on what you're looking for!

Are you willing to manually set up a dish, or do you want something automatic?  Do you want to watch HD programming, or will SD be sufficient?  Will this be something you'll want year around, or just from time to time when you're traveling?  Do you often park under or near trees that might block a southern view of any roof-mounted dish?  Do you want the option to record a program while watching another at the same time?

[Twotoes]

You must first choose a provider and then you can determine what equipment you will need. Your 2 choices of providers are Dish and DirecTV. Then you have to determine if you want a roof mounted satellite dish or a portable one. Many of DirecTV are SD only. With Dish you can get portable dishes and receivers (211k, 211z) that are HD. You will need a external hard drive to record programming on he 211s. Dish also has a Pay as You Go program offer. Both Dish and DirecTV offer the same programming with a few exceptions of channels. Both have music channels but Dish is Serious/XM like in your vehicle. 

[Mark and Dale Bruss]

We can derive some info.  Race rig means trees will seldom if ever in the way.  Also, Race rig sounds like part-time and not full timing.

Dish is the best for part-timing.  You can pay as you go.

A Dish Wally will support one TV.  A powered USB drive can be added for a DVR function.

A auto ground dome like X1 or X2 will give easy setup for a Wally.

[sbslinde]

We will have 1 TV.  Trees are never a problem.  Part time.  No recording of programs needed.  Dish would be the provider. HD would be nice.  Ease of setup is a bonus.  Being that we travel in the eastern time zone will I need a Dish that sees the eastern satellites or will one that only sees the western ones work.  The furthest south and east would be Valdosta Ga.

 

Thanks

 Jeff

[chirakawa]

Winegard Pathway X2 dish and Wally receiver.

[Chalkie]

1 hour ago, chirakawa said:

Winegard Pathway X2 dish and Wally receiver.

The Pathway X2 does do both arcs, but it is also more expensive than a Playmaker or Tailgator. It is also the ONLY antenna that Dish offers that does both arcs. Even the very expensive Trav'ler only does the western arc.

Does anyone but me wonder why this is?

[chirakawa]

A Chevrolet is more expensive than a Schwinn.

[Chalkie]

Just now, chirakawa said:

A Chevrolet is more expensive than a Schwinn.

Hey, great non-answer! 

[chirakawa]

Just now, Chalkie said:

Hey, great non-answer! 

Thanks. 

I can't answer for Winegard.  For what it's worth, IMO it would make sense for them to write the software to allow the Travler to use the EA.  I don't know why they haven't.

[DKRITTER]

Been there done that.

 

First off if you already have satellite service at home it’s probably easiest to get a portable system for the same provider. If you don’t have sat at home I think Dish is more accommodating with the pay as you go plan. We have had Dish at our house for several years, so we just stayed with them, so all of my references are only based off Dish network.

When we decided to add satellite service to the RV we initially bought a Tailgater and a 211Z (now Dish has the Wally). When we got home I hooked everything up and immediately noticed the signal strength of the Tailgater was about half of the dish on the house. We took it with us the next weekend and weren’t happy with the reception quality.

So, we took it back and upgraded to the Winegard Pathway X2 and it worked almost as well as the home unit. We used this for a year or two adding both an external hard drive, so we could record and an over the air (OTA) adapter, so we could get locals while on the road and not have to change our service address which effected our home DVR.

We found we were spending a lot of time in the RV for both work and personal, I had had a good year, so I bought a Winegard Trav’ler and another Hopper2 for the RV which gives me the same experience as home.

A few takeaways; we would still be using the X2 if we used the system infrequently. We found using the “chat” feature of Dish online much easier to turn on and off the system and when we used to change locals.

My son is an avid football tailgater, he and a few buddies have built a trailer for this. They have a couple of the X2’s and a few Wallys they setup to watch several games while they tailgate. They activate them when season starts and shut them off at the end of season. They have had no issues doing this. I’d probably recommend this based on what I’ve read here and experienced first hand.  

 

 

[Mark and Dale Bruss]

1 hour ago, chirakawa said:

Thanks. 

I can't answer for Winegard.  For what it's worth, IMO it would make sense for them to write the software to allow the Travler to use the EA.  I don't know why they haven't.

You can aim the Trav'ler to each of the EA satellites in Manual mode.

Automatic mode is not possible as the satellite spread is different (72.7-61.5=11.2 degrees) compared to the WA (119-110=9 degrees). 

It is not a software problem, it is a physical issue.

Now if you could change the LNBF head from WA to EA, then it would be nice to auto-aim the EA.  But Winegard is not going to accommodate user changing of the LNBF head.

[sbslinde]

After much net searching and reading we have decided on a Winegard X2 with a Wally.  Purchasing though Amazon Warehouse for significantly less than through Dish.  We shall see how this progresses in the next couple weeks.

Thank you for the replies.

 Jeff   

[Twotoes]

Make sure you are getting a new receiver from Amazon. Many times they are used and have an overdue balance and Dish will not activate the receiver until the overdue account is paid in full. I called an independent Dish installer who came to my campground with the Pathway X2and receiver (211k) and set everything up for free with a 2yr contract. I also got 1/2 off for the first yr by signing a 2yr contract. 

[chirakawa]

4 hours ago, Mark and Dale Bruss said:

You can aim the Trav'ler to each of the EA satellites in Manual mode.

Automatic mode is not possible as the satellite spread is different (72.7-61.5=11.2 degrees) compared to the WA (119-110=9 degrees). 

It is not a software problem, it is a physical issue.

Now if you could change the LNBF head from WA to EA, then it would be nice to auto-aim the EA.  But Winegard is not going to accommodate user changing of the LNBF head.

Of course, you're right.  I had a brain fart.

[KodiakJack]

Check eBay.   I just paid $359.33 for a new Winegard X2 and a Wally with free shipping.  They both fired right up and DISH authorized without a hitch. 

Later, J