Ok, I'll through in my two cents. Fist fiver about 14 years ago had a dish on a tripod. I got lucky a few times finding the birds. Most of the time is was a royal pain. Dogs loved to "mark" it. Got a semi automatic Winegard roof mount next. It worked fairly well except for the trees.
2007 MH came equipped with a KVH R4. Royal pain in the you know what. Finally pitched it and bought a Winegard Travler. Just plain stupid easy one button setup.
Then we added a TT to the fleet for summer boondocking in Colorado's back country. We're lucky to see a handful of people. Cell service? Forget it. Over the air TV? Forget it.
Bought a Tailgater. Works great. Takes about 15 minutes to find itself, the birds and download the program guide. We carry about 150' of cable to sometimes work around the trees.
Yes it only works with specific receivers. But it is very light and portable. As for theft, we pitch it inside the door of the TT or in the seat of the truck when leaving for the day to hike or ATV. It has a handle that you can put a chain or bike cable through to lock it to a tree, picnic table, RV jack, etc.
We turn the Tailgater on and off as needed with Dish. Cheap enough.
