I am seriously considering the purchase of a dish tailgater for our Voltage 3200. We already have Dish at home so the monthly cost is minimal.A couple of questions to those that have one of these satellite dishes. 1. Will I have to rewire something on the inside to get the signal from the outlet outside to the receiver location? I have heard on some trailers there is a splitter in the line between the connection outside to the one inside that prevents the signal from getting to the receiver properly.2. What will be the easiest and least expensive method to get a signal to the other TV's? The ones I would most like to get the picture to (knowing they would all be the same picture) are the ones in the living area, the bedroom and the one outside. I really would prefer not to run a wire outside the trailer to get a signal to the outdoor TV.

The Tailgater coax needs to go directly to the vip211k receiver, not thru some intermediate device. Going thru a short internal coax from the outside connection to an inside connection is OK. If you have an external coax connector labeled satellite, and you can locate the internal end of that connection, then a coax from that to the receiver should work fine.The vip211k receiver has HDMI output to the primary TV and a coax output to another TV. I only have two TVs. My internal wiring is such that I connected the coax output to my existing internal coax wiring to get the signal to the bedroom TV. Have no idea what you can do for an outside TV.

Tailgater is a great investment, we love it.

You probably already know this but just in case you don't- The "Tailgater" will only work with a couple models. The VIP211K, and I think maybe 2 other models that end with the 11 number i.e. 311/611 maybe?The "Tailgater" is super simple to use- totally automated. It comes with about 50 feet of RG6 coax cable to run from the antenna to the box. I'm guessing with your newer model Voltage is that you have 2 coax jacks somewhere around your utility cabinet (water/dump tanks etc.) Hopefully they are labeled correctly. One for satellite and 1 for cable.Next the inside hook up- On my fuzion and hopefully on your Voltage at the main TV you will have 2 more coax jacks. Mine weren't labeled so it was a process of trial & error, but they correspond to the previously mentioned outside Satellite & cable jacks. Hook your 211 via RG6 coax to the Sat jack. Then use a HDMI cable to your main TV. I hear many Satellite receivers no longer have a coax output to TV. Fortunately my 211K has both the HDMI output & Coax out. As I said you run the HDMI to the Primary TV and now you can backfeed the coax into the cable jack & it will go to any other TV's that are hooked into your cable coax wiring. The Tailgater/211 is only capable of one channel watching at a time. What ever channel you put your receiver on is what you will have to watch on all the TV's.A little more technical data that I have dug up for your reading pleasure- The Tailgater locks on the Dish Network's western arc satellites only- 110, 119 & 129. if you are in the Northeast U.S. you may have difficulty getting signals if you are near trees, especially the 129 sat as they are lower on the horizon, and the 129 the lowest. There are eastern arc sat's at like 61.5, 70 & something else which are higher on the horizon in the Northeast/east, I know the dish installer at my home set our antenna up for those, as the trees were blocking the western arc birds.It probably doesn't matter to you, as I see you are in Texas and the Tailgater will probably serve you very well, but there is an alternative-. The VuQube antenna looks identical to the tailgater and I believe was the predecessor. It has a dual tuner (can be hooked to a second receiver for alternate channel viewing) and I believe can work on both eastern or western arc satellites. It apparently is compatible with Dish or Direct TV as well. It also costs more maybe as much as $200 more. I didn't know about it when I was buying my satellite system, and I can't say that I could have justified the extra expense even if I did.*One last note* You mentioned a splitter causing problems. The only thing I can think of is the over the air antenna booster. That little jack that has a 12 volt power supply and a little black button that turns the booster on/off. If that is turned on I hear it messes with cable signal on the cable line as it shares the same coax. This shouldn't mess with your satellite signal on it's dedicated line, however if your are backfeeding your signal to other TV's using the cable coax you would want to make sure that the booster is turned off.

flyinguy68 wrote:You probably already know this but just in case you don't- The "Tailgater" will only work with a couple models. The VIP211K, and I think maybe 2 other models that end with the 11 number i.e. 311/611 maybe?The "Tailgater" is super simple to use- totally automated. It comes with about 50 feet of RG6 coax cable to run from the antenna to the box. I'm guessing with your newer model Voltage is that you have 2 coax jacks somewhere around your utility cabinet (water/dump tanks etc.) Hopefully they are labeled correctly. One for satellite and 1 for cable. I have one coax connection outside in my utility cabinet labeled "Satellite/Cable". flyinguy68 wrote:Next the inside hook up- On my fuzion and hopefully on your Voltage at the main TV you will have 2 more coax jacks. Mine weren't labeled so it was a process of trial & error, but they correspond to the previously mentioned outside Satellite & cable jacks. Hook your 211 via RG6 coax to the Sat jack. Then use a HDMI cable to your main TV. I hear many Satellite receivers no longer have a coax output to TV. Fortunately my 211K has both the HDMI output & Coax out. As I said you run the HDMI to the Primary TV and now you can backfeed the coax into the cable jack & it will go to any other TV's that are hooked into your cable coax wiring.On the inside, I have one coax jack on the same plate as the antenna booster. Right next to that, I have another plate with two coax jacks that basically have a coax jumper connecting them together. I have not tried to pull the cables to see which devices are impacted when disconnected.

soonernation wrote:........I have one coax connection outside in my utility cabinet labeled "Satellite/Cable". ...........On the inside, I have one coax jack on the same plate as the antenna booster. Right next to that, I have another plate with two coax jacks that basically have a coax jumper connecting them together. I have not tried to pull the cables to see which devices are impacted when disconnected.That is the way my Montana was wired. The external connection goes via coax cable to the dual coax plate. One of the connectors is the incoming from the external connection, the other goes to the antenna amp/switch box. The jumper plate simply redirects the signal to the ant amp/switch box and gives a place to connect to a sat receiver if desired.Initially I removed the jumper and determined which connector was coming from the external connector. Then added a short coax cable from that to the vip211k receiver input. Then an HDMI cable to the living room TV (my plate was conveniently located in a cabinet under that TV). Then I connected a coax cable from the vip211k coax output to the other side of the dual plate. That sent the sat signal to the bedroom TV. That would probably send it to both of your other two TVs.If I wanted to watch park cable instead of setting up the Tailgater I had to disconnect the coax to the vip211k and replace the jumper coax. Often did that for quick overnight stays rather than setting up the Tailgater.To simplify matters, I added a second external coax specifically for the satellite. In my case it was pretty simple since the location of my TV cabinet allowed easy access to a side wall and I simply drilled a hole in the outside wall and installed a new external coax connector with a rubber cap and a short RG6 coax to a new single coax wall plate at the TV. And I added a bidirectional splitter in the old line so that the park cable signal and the coax signal from the vip211k both went into the existing internal coax wiring at the dual coax wall plate.With this arrangement I can watch sat on the living room TV, and simultaneously watch sat or park cable or external antenna on the bedroom TV.Have only done that to see if I could, but the ability is there.In case you are not aware, when you travel outside your home area and cannot receive your home locals, you can call Dish and give them your new "service address" (address of the RV park) and they will reprogram you for the local channels of the nearest city. If you do not know the exact address just give them "111 Main Street, nearest local town". Your "billing address" does not change. Nice to get network programs in the correct time slot if in different time zones and to get local news and weather information.

Dish Tailgater | Good Sam Community

soonernation
Explorer
Oct 14, 2013
I ended up purchasing the Tailgater. We have used it now for a couple of weekends and it seems to work great.

I plan on setting up my hard drive to record/transfer shows from my home DVR. I would be nice to catch up on some shows in the evening when I go to bed as I don't watch TV during the day while out on the weekends.
Strabo
Explorer
Oct 13, 2013
We record to our direct tv dvr all that we would want to watch, then we just take the hdmi cable and we can watch all we want, just not live tv.
outdoorswoman
Explorer
Oct 12, 2013
I would not get a tailgater. Unless you are in the middle of a frozen lake with not a tree in site you will have signal issues. Tech support at Dish is lucky to know what a tailgater even is- so troubleshooting is useless with them. We camp and if we even have a tree or two around us- we can't get signal. Bad investment in our book... if you have any suggestions, we're open... but as of now, we searching for other options!
Fire5er
Explorer
Sep 17, 2013
dpkimmel2001 wrote:
I've been using the Dish Tailgater with the VIP receiver since late last year. When we aren't using the Tailgater I plug the receiver into our dish at home. I keep it active all the time so I've never really had to have them ping it. If you are worried about arriving at a remote location with an unauthorized receiver just take the 10 minutes at home any day prior to departure and have it authorized. It shouldn't be an issue then when you get there. As far as boondocking goes..... I hear ya. I guess we are all somewhat spoiled when we have to wait the 10 minutes for our HD TV? I hate it too but it's worth the wait.

dplimmel2001
Do you have the Dish Hopper system at home, or and older Dish system? The reason I ask is I tried hooking up my Vip211k receiver to my home antenna which supports my Dish Hopper with sling and it would not work. When I called Dish they told me the two were not compatible.

I have been having issues with my Tailgater and Vip211k not finding satellites. It was working just fine last winter and then about April I couldn't get it to work. Had to send the Tailgater back to King Controls (Manufacture of the Tailgater) (at a cost of $75 to me) and they found a bad motor. King Controls replaced the bad motor, check all system, and sent it back to me. When I hook the Tailgater up to my Vip211k it still couldn't find satellites. Called Dish and they said it was the Tailgater, and when I called King Controls they said it was Dish's 211k receiver. Dish is sending me a new 211k to rule out the receiver as the problem.

Anyone else have a similar problem?

Up-Date: King Controls had me send the original Tailgater back and they sent me a new unit. New unit works fine. So it was the Tailgater the entire time and not the Dish 211k. Once again have a working system...just don't know how long it will remain working.
Doughboy12
Explorer
Sep 16, 2013
WhitehouseLV wrote:
Also is there a device that allows you to switch channels from any location in the TH. If the receiver is mounted in the main living room but kids later on want to watch something from the garage or I want to watch something from the bedroom you'd have to have line of site with remote.

They are called RF remotes... (RF=Radio Frequency)
Google it...I don't want to get into a brand battle... but DirecTV has it built in.
WhitehouseLV
Explorer III
Sep 14, 2013
What do you use to lock it to keep it from growing legs. Kwim. Also is there a device that allows you to switch channels from any location in the TH. If the receiver is mounted in the main living room but kids later on want to watch something from the garage or I want to watch something from the bedroom you'd have to have line of site with remote.
dpkimmel2001
Explorer
Sep 12, 2013
I've been using the Dish Tailgater with the VIP receiver since late last year. When we aren't using the Tailgater I plug the receiver into our dish at home. I keep it active all the time so I've never really had to have them ping it. If you are worried about arriving at a remote location with an unauthorized receiver just take the 10 minutes at home any day prior to departure and have it authorized. It shouldn't be an issue then when you get there. As far as boondocking goes..... I hear ya. I guess we are all somewhat spoiled when we have to wait the 10 minutes for our HD TV? I hate it too but it's worth the wait.
flyinguy68
Explorer
Sep 12, 2013
nayther wrote:
I see a vip211z offered on ebay, is it still compatible with the portable dish antennas like tailgater and vu cube?

I had never heard of the z model until now so I jumped on the Dish forums. They (Dish) are saying that YES it is compatible.

This is the thread I read:VIP211Z on Dish forums

*NOTE: careful of the misinformation posted by a customer. There is still a charge of $40 for DVR add on, and the 211Z Does support SD & HD, as clarified by the Dish Support Team.
nayther
Explorer
Sep 12, 2013
I see a vip211z offered on ebay, is it still compatible with the portable dish antennas like tailgater and vu cube?
BB_TX
Nomad
Sep 12, 2013
WhitehouseLV wrote:
flyinguy68 wrote:
odis wrote:
We have the tailgater and love it. But if you have trees no signal. Also seems like every time we use it we have to call dish and get them to "ping" it before it will work. Every time you get a different person and have to go thru the spill, is it facing south, any obstructions, cables connected ect. Doesn't take that long but you would think you set it out there and go. Also some channels that you have at home won't work like local channels.
But I still love it. Have used it in Florida, Mississippi,Tennesse,Alabama.
Jim

Ditto but I was told by Dish that it is the receiver. If it sits dormant and doesn't receive updated programming that they have to send it a re-authorization signal. Anymore when I turn it on and get the message "programming not authorized" I call them up and tell them I'm powering up a dormant receiver and I need an authorization signal sent. Cuts through their automated troubleshooting questions real quick :)

Not very fond of that. What happens when your camping in a place with no cell service. Don't know where y'all camp but up here in MT & WY it doesn't take much to get out of cell service.

The system is OK powered down for a month or so before it needs reactivating. If yours has been down for that long and you plan a trip where cell service is limited, you should consider setting the system up to make sure it is activated before you leave. A 5 minute call is all you need to get it restarted.

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