Dish network satellite help

Based on how long it took a Hopper's sig meter to respond, I would tend to agree but the Pathway is the bees knees.

Big Katuna wrote:
I am totally content with DISH and my Winegard Pathway with HD.

I'm sure you are. But if you want to go the 'hard dish' way, DTV seems easier. With practice, of course. :)

2oldman wrote:
Boy, after reading all this I think I'd be tempted to get Directv instead.

Had Directv for years. There is not a carry out auto dome for Directv HD.

I am totally content with DISH and my Winegard Pathway with HD.

TechWriter wrote:

Big Katuna wrote:

I switched to DISH and used my Hopper with a tripod and found that it was much more difficult as the signal meter in the Hopper is much slower to show a signal. I was sweeping the sky too fast for the receiver to lock on.

I shortly thereafter bought a Winegard Pathway x 2 and a 211Z box and could not be more pleased.

Best $400 spent in awhile.

If you include your tripod and dish (which you no longer use), then you're into this for at least $600 (X2 + tripod + dish).

That $400 could have been used to buy a great sat meter.

I bought my Pentax surveyors tripod used for about $30 if I remember, I made my dish adapter bracket from scrap aluminum, the 211Z was $80 but can be sold for half that, the dish was free.

I thought about a meter but it was about the same price as the Pathway and all I do is carry it out and connect it.

Thanks all! Heading out to go camping in about 20 min.! We'll see if today is the day I get it to work!

Boy, after reading all this I think I'd be tempted to get Directv instead.

Big Katuna wrote:

I switched to DISH and used my Hopper with a tripod and found that it was much more difficult as the signal meter in the Hopper is much slower to show a signal. I was sweeping the sky too fast for the receiver to lock on.

I shortly thereafter bought a Winegard Pathway x 2 and a 211Z box and could not be more pleased.

Best $400 spent in awhile.

If you include your tripod and dish (which you no longer use), then you're into this for at least $600 (X2 + tripod + dish).

That $400 could have been used to buy a great sat meter.

I setup Directv for many years.

No auto carryouts work with a Hopper BUT there are carryouts for a DISH 211. More on that below.

I switched to DISH and used my Hopper with a tripod and found that it was much more difficult as the signal meter in the Hopper is much slower to show a signal. I was sweeping the sky too fast for the receiver to lock on.

I assume you have looked up and set the tilt and angle. I assume you have the tripod and shaft to the dish perfectly level.

I use the eastern arc so I look for sats 61.5 and 72.7 trans 1-5.

Then you scan very very slowly not moving the dish for 30 seconds at a time until you get a sig.

I shortly thereafter bought a Winegard Pathway x 2 and a 211Z box and could not be more pleased. You connect it, turn it on and you have a lovely menu asking if you if you want to lock onto the eastern or western arc, you click and go do something else.

Best $400 spent in awhile.

I always suggest setting up at home first that way you have your home satellite antenna available to mimic settings. This way you could test your equipment and ensure your RV passes satellite signals unhindered to your receiver, our rig was supposedly satellite ready but connecting to our single exterior coax input would still not allow passthrough of sat signal to sat receiver. Simple 10 minute mod took care of this issue.

We have changed back and forth between Directv and Dish network several times and pointing the sat antenna doesn't differ much between the two services, although Directv is a bit more forgiving and easier to point IMO. With either you are trying to peg the center satellite which is 119 for Dish. We always use the signal meter on the receiver and a $5 compass to get all the same channels we have at home.

The kit you linked should get you all your subscribed channels, for Dish network it is paramount to have mast plumb to start the set-up. Winegard has an adjustable tripod that has a level within the mast greatly simplifying the plumbing process. After we plumb the mast we mount our sat antenna and use compass to set azimuth. Connect coax and turn on receiver to ensure we are getting signal to inside of RV.

Something to note are that sat antenna parameter settings don't differ all that much even a few hundred miles away, we set-up our sat antenna at home over 2 years ago and have traveled throughout the four corner states as well as Cali and Texas and after locking in sat 119 only required very minor tweaks if any to lock in 110 and 129. Locking in 119 requires proper elevation and azimuth, skew only matters for 110 & 129.

Get into the dish pointing window after setting up your sat antenna and connecting coax, and run a check switch to get the ball rolling. Then use compass to lock in 119 first, with a plumb mast this only takes a couple of minutes. Select 110 and 129 to verify they are also locked in, they might require minor tweaking but often times are locked in as well if skew is properly set beforehand. With practice it becomes easy.

I've setup the 1000-2 with a single HD dish receiver, so maybe my tips will help somewhat. My learning curve was somewhat long when I first got the 1000-2.

If you don't have the setup manual for the 1000-2, get it from here:
dish 1000-2 setup

From the above manual, "Peak the dish for the strongest possible signal on the 119°W satellite signal using the azimuth
and elevation settings".

The 119 LNB is the center one, so place tinfoil over the other two lnb's to insure that you're getting a signal only from 119.

I used a signal meter like the one in your kit. It works and will help, but unfortunately it will pick up any sat if you aim the antenna incorrectly. It also requires frequent adjustment to properly register signal strength. For this reason, I also used the Dish setup menu for peaking the signal. If your receiver has the sound that increases as the signal gets better (on the setup menu), consider using two cell phones to allow you to hear the peaking tones while moving the antenna.

The other thing I had to learn (I was experienced with the dish SD antenna setup) was that the HD antenna must be moved very slightly and then left in that position for a few seconds to allow the dish setup software to register the new position. You can not just swing the antenna.

Good luck, and keep trying.

Fred