I am purchasing a Salem TT and I had a question on how to go about using a satellite dish on the trailer. If I install DirecTV at my house, can I use it on the trailer? Do I have to buy everything seperate? What does everyone else do?
I have alwsys had cable in my house so I have never had satellite before. I love the great outdoors but I would like to watch the races and football games on the weekends when we are gone.
Thanks in advance!
Hey Ducksquasher,
We had to have our NASCAR while camping so we did the same thing you want to do. Get DTV at the house and take a reciever with you when you go camping. I bought a Slimline HD dish and mounted it on a PVC low profile stand. Gotta have NASCAR in HD!! I can set it up in 5 minutes with just a compass. Not a big deal. You just have to have a clear shot at the satellite. Have about 75' of cable if I need to move it to a clear spot.
It's all easy. Don't be scared..
Regards, Hamshog
* This post was
edited 11/14/09 05:53pm by an administrator/moderator *
On a good day with clear line of sight I can get a signal in 10 min(sometimes a little more-sometimes a little less) I used to just use the signal meter from the receiver but with age it's harder to hear all the time. I now also use a sat finder(the cheap one) and it does work-too good, it will find any and all sats out there, but if you start out in the general direction it's not bad. The dish i got free when mine was updated(ask the guy, usually have no problem giving/selling one to you) the tripod from radio shack. I also added 2 dedicated connections to the TT-you can get these from most RV type stores. I have 2 receivers for the TT and shut them off in the fall and back on in the spring.
Have had this TT 3 yrs now and have yet to use the bat wing, sofar have always been able to get a signal-granted some took alot longer than normal but beat listening to the DW (happened once-never again)
2004 silverado 2500HD crew cab 4x4 long bed 8.1L gas hog
2006 skyline nomad 3260 platium edition, prodigy, reese dual cam
1 very part time camping son and 3 full time camping, 4 legged fur balls
1 SU (spousal unit) who loves rv'in as much or more than me
DeutscheMan wrote: We ordered our trailer with an auto satelite dome on the roof. We have two receivers we leave in the trailer. One in the bedroom and one in the living room. Turn on the receiver, turn on TV, turn on dome. Dome searches for signal, locks signal in. Turn off dome, watch TV. Takes about a minute for lock in. In those cases where the dome is blocked by a tree, we carry a portable dish and 100' of cable with in line signal finder. Better than a portable dish however, would be the "Cube" which is similar to the auto dome with auto search. We use some early model Hughes DirectTV receivers in the trailer that work fine, just no High Def. But, when you're camping you have to "rough it" sometimes.
At least you admit to roughing it
2003 Excursion Limited PSD 4X4
2009 KZ Spree 289KS
Equalizer / Prodigy
DW, DS, DD, DS, and 100#'s of dog
Semper Fi
Lots of good ideas to choose from, but if you go with the tripod, then get a set of walkie takies one for you and the other for the one in the trailer, helps the flustration level when looking for the signal. You will need a compass, and some practice, about 20min to get it.
You can download a self installation guide for Direct TV on their website. It will tell you every thing about installing and aiming the dish.
I use the small tripod with the level and compass. Once you set the thing up if you camp in the same general area it is a snap to align it. Point the N on the tripod to north and make sure it is level and it will find the satellite fine. When traveling I get the local zip code and input it into the receiver and the receiver will give the azimuth and inclination. Set them. Level it and point the N to north and it will be there 99 times out of a hundred.
For Traveling Direct TV will even sell you a portable dish.
2003 E350 Super Duty 6.8L V-10.
2005 Jayco Eagle 322FKS
PullRite 20,000#
Prodigy
55 feet of fun!
"I refuse to tiptoe timidly through life only to arrive safely at death!"
I'm far from an expert as I just started taking the dish and receiver with us this year but even with my limited experience I can have a picture within 5 minutes of beginning setup... I use only a standard definition round dish so the setup is a bit less complicated than HD...
I find THIS SITE to be an excellent aid for establishing whether or not I can get a good signal... You can draw your line out to potentially blocking objects... I usually type in the CG address and look at the aerial views of the sites and that pretty much tells me if I can get a signal or not although sometimes you can shoot thru the trees and get enough signal for an acceptable picture... I also use a meter similar to the one pictured below for set up...
BTW, I take a receiver from the house and use a dish a buddy gave me... I also built one of those low profile PVC dish mounts...
Good Luck
Les
2000 Ford F-250SD, XLT, 4X4 Off Road, SuperCab
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there are several way to do this. Youi can be like my BIL and level, get the az/el and try to set it and hope every thing is perfect, or the easy(imo)way. I use the meter like LAdams showed along with the built in receiver one. the meter will find a sat(all of them) and the sat box tells you if it's the right one. I have a 3 lnb dish with a short tripod so i have 3 adjustments, not 2(az/el/slew) the slew, once set is fairly forgiving, have to be somewhat level but not perfect. i loosen the el nuts, aim somewhat south, tilt dish up/dn, rotate tripod a few degrees toward SW (right)and repeat till i get a tone with the portable meter. I'll tighten 1 el nut to hold dish(and keep signal noise) and check the tv screen to see if i got the right sat. if not i'll loosen nut and repeat the process. if it's the right sat i'll adj az/ev for strongest signal, turn down sensitivity on meter and get highest reading(fine tune signal), tighten both ele nuts, stake down tripod and remove meter(sidenote-signal will raise 3-5 points when meter taken out of line)
like said in previous post, have yet to use batwing on present TT and have both a reg and HD receiver(HD pickier on signal) and have no problem getting both.
for you pureists out there that will do the leveling, reading compass(yes i have one and sometimes glance at it to get general direction if someplace new) and set ele, my BIL can start before i do and usually gives up and hooks up to my dish(have 4 connections)-come to think of it, can't rem the last time he even tried. have used this method over 6 yrs and assorted locations-even the middle of a forrest(LBL) with no problems. sometimes it takes longer and may have to move the tripod to a different location but it works and with practice you can get pretty good/quick at it.
I do pretty much like Robbie does except as stated I don't have HD so I have no slew adjustment... I use my compass and meter... I do not level but try to pick a level piece of ground for the dish... I then point the dish in the general direction as indicated by the site I referenced and my compass and swing the dish back and forth and up and down until I get a signal... I usually get two signals like Robbie mentioned but so far the correct signal is the one with the dish pointed lower to the horizon...
Once I get the signal, I tweak the dish for maximum signal using both the meter and the signal meter on the TV and we're good to go... It may be worth mentioning here that I did my own satellite install at the house years ago, but that was so over 10 years ago and I would have forgotten everything I learned by now (senior moments )...
It really is easy to do as long as you have a pretty decent shot to the south/southwest and I do enjoy having my satellite programming along with me... Maybe someday I'll go HD both at the house and TT but for now the standard definition is good enough for us...
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