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gemsworld

Arizona West Coast

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Posted: 02/15/12 10:22pm

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I have a Carryout and place it on the ground 99% of the time without any problems. My two previous mohos had roof mounted automatic antennas and there were times when trees blocked the signal rendering the antennas useless. I did carry a portable antenna and hated having to set it up.

Executive

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Posted: 02/15/12 10:22pm

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I have both. When traveling in the Northern States I can't pick up the sats due to their low location in the skies. So I switch to the portable with 100' of coax. That way I can put the dish wherever I wish to find a clear view of the satellites.....Dennis

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msmith1199

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Posted: 02/15/12 10:23pm

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2oldman wrote:

Depends on his desire/skill at aiming a portable dish. If it's HD, that's harder than SD.

As to the 'better' reception up high, pretty much nonsense unless you're simply above the RV parked next to you.

Being up high does make the dish closer to the satelite so that should help the signal a little. Those satelites are only in orbit about 22,000 miles out. That extra 12 feet can make all the difference in the world. [emoticon]

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BrokenElbow

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Posted: 02/15/12 10:52pm

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I have a slimline HD antena mounted on a tripod from www.tv4rv.com (modified the dish so the LNB arm collapses for storage). I got the Orbit Tracker Plus signal meter that allows finding the strongest signal in a matter of 2 mins.(made for Directv and Dish...cost about $160 on sale). I setup the tripod, dish and have a strong signal in less than 10 mins. The portable has the advantage of placing it wherever I need to get a signal (i.e. no tree problems). I just love technology that works.

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bfast54

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Posted: 02/15/12 11:06pm

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Since being up Higher is better....esp. for a Satellite dish, I always carry a 100 ft tower, with me, to mount the dish on [emoticon]

It makes NO DIFFERENCE how high it is AS long as it gets a clear view of the sky , in the correct direction. [emoticon]

I carry a portable dish....since the campgrounds get a litle upset, when you cut down trees ....to clear the sky view. [emoticon]

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kjburns

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Posted: 02/16/12 12:14am

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If he's only looking at feeding one receiver and not recording while watching another program, a dome or carry-out is fine. If he wants to do more, the Winegard Trav'ler is a better option. It can feed multiple dual tuner receivers that can record.

My wife likes to record a lot so we have a Trav'ler and carry a tripod with a Dish 1000.2 for those times when trees are an issue. Either will feed the dual tuner receivers we have in the living room and bedroom. Both receivers can record while we watch something else.

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DanTheRVMan

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Posted: 02/16/12 04:23am

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msmith1199 wrote:

2oldman wrote:

But you are neglecting the fact that the dish would be roughly 0.00001% difference in distance between the two locations.

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Dale.Traveling

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Posted: 02/16/12 04:40am

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Former owner spent the money for an in motion antenna mounted on the roof. 90% of the time it's view of the satellites have been blocked and I set up a eBay special dish that cost me $30. I like the trees and the Virginia State parks so the roof antenna isn't very cost effective for me. Manual set up and aiming really isn't that hard after a bit of driveway practice. Takes me about 10 minutes.

Personally from what I know and have experienced and if I had the budget I would get a carry out automatic that has the option of a ladder rack mount. Best of both.

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Devocamper

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Posted: 02/16/12 04:56am

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We use a portable and have had no problems, I used to set it up myself and sometimes it was hard to get the signal but with a little effort I would get it tuned in. Now we have the carryout by wingard and it is great ,no problems at all hook it up , level it and your all set . Just remember with the winegard carryout if your looking for HD it doesnt work with Direct HD but does work with dish HD. I dont think placement of a dish higher up has much bearing on getting the signal from my days of hunting the right settings with the old manual dish I had. Others are right you can get a protable out from under trees if you have too.

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rgatijnet1

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Posted: 02/16/12 05:02am

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I have a portable antenna and the Traveler mounted on the roof. When I check into an RV park I always tell them that I would like a parking space with satellite access. In the last two years, I have used the portable antenna ONCE. The rest of the time my rooftop antenna worked fine. On our next trip, I will NOT carry the portable antenna since the odds are that I will not need it and it is just taking up space.