DirecTV SWM3 Slimline Dish on Tripod--How Hard Is It to Aim?

It really depends on your tripod as to how well it will work.

I just upgraded to HD and had the same dish your speaking of placed on my tripod by the installer. He had a short stub mount that was 2" that I put on the tripod and attached it with screws. So far there have been no loss of signal with winds gusting to 53 mph and steady at 25 mph.

If you are using a roof type tripod (small foot print) you are going to have headaches with signal loss. This is the Tripod I use. It's very easy to setup on uneven ground to achieve plumb.

I've been using this tripod for about 7 years and it has never tipped over or had a LOS caused by wind. The large foot print really stabilizes it. You will have to add a short 2" pipe to attach the dish.

Depending on where I am and how long I will be in the same spot I will put a screw awning hold down in the ground in the center of the tripod and attach a bungee but most times I hang a gallon jug of water under it and it's fine.

X3 on a tripod from www.tv4rv.com. I have a Slimline dish, SWM Whole Home system. I use Dishpointer pro for working around trees and other obstructions and then the signal meter on the DirecTV receiver. How do I see the TV screen from when I'm out aiming the dish? Baby Monitor camera aimed at my television and the remote outside with me. Works great and is cheaper than a meter than works with SWM.

nomad297 wrote:
It's easy. Go to www.tv4rv.com to make it as easy as possible.

Bruce

+1

It's easy. I recommend a good tripod like a surveyors adjustable tripod. Easy to level and VERY stable. Like sold on TVRV. I use Dishpointer and the meter in the box.
I have the SWM 3.

Hard/easy? Depends on the tools you choose to use. Personally I use three tools. Dishpointer pro on my phone to find a good location. Align-A-Site mounted on the dish to get close. Birdog meter to fine tune. All of these are done before I bother to hook up the receiver. When I hook up the receiver and do the setup procedure for the receiver it is locked in and done. The nice thing is that I do not have to plumb or level the tripod before hand. Then Align-A-Site compensates for out of level.

RoyB wrote:
Are you sure DirecTV is going to pick up your local BROADCAST STATIONs when on the road. I haven't used my DIRECTV setup in awhile now but when I was using it on the road I would lose my LOCAL PROGRAMING for the NATL BROADCAST stations as soon as I left my ZIPCODE area.

I could call DIRECTV and have them change my local area but I don't think they like doing this very many times...

When you leave the spot beam area you will no longer get the locals and the spot beam covers large areas. I've gotten SF locals in central Oregon which is about 500 miles. When changing locals DTV asks me for the address and usually the county. They keep track of previous addresses and the change is much quicker for those.

If you live in the NY or LA areas then apparently you can get the 4 major DNS stations without getting DNS authorized. Others have posted that these are SD only.

It's easy. Go to www.tv4rv.com to make it as easy as possible.

Bruce

Folks, unless you are way north in the US you DO NOT need the big slimline dish to get HD now that you only need sats 99, 101, 103. A 18x20 multi sat dish which has the tilt adjustment plus a SL3 lnb (which bolts right on) is all you need (see my first post). You can use your old 18" tripod and if it has adjustable legs which you really need to plum the mast. If you put one leg 180 degrees from the sat azimuth you can fine tune the elevation by changing this leg's length slightly once you get a signal.
OP, with a little practice it's not that hard to get the three usable signals you need for Direct HD.

I have a dish antenna on a tripod and I found it very inconvenient to aim. Elevation is hindered by being very front-heavy so it requires muscleing it to aim. Azimuth was somewhat easier but still crude.

So I built screw-type adjustments using faucet handles and all-thread. I still use the signal meter, but I try to set up outside a window where I can see the TV screen also.

Are you sure DirecTV is going to pick up your local BROADCAST STATIONs when on the road. I haven't used my DIRECTV setup in awhile now but when I was using it on the road I would lose my LOCAL PROGRAMING for the NATL BROADCAST stations as soon as I left my ZIPCODE area.

I could call DIRECTV and have them change my local area but I don't think they like doing this very many times...

After the NATL BROADCAST went to DIGITAL TV mode I just stopped bring along my DIRECTV setup and now we watch the local NATIONAL BROADCAST stations (CBS-NBC-etc) using our OTA BATWING antenna setup from the local towns... These digital HDTV signals are in full blown high definition full screen mode and is FREE to the public.

Just wanted to be sure you have checked with DIRECTV and will be able to get the local NATIONAL BROADCAST stations like you think you can???

Things may have changed with DIRECTV over the past few years
Just saying...
Roy Ken