I recently switched my home service from Direct TV to DISH. In the past I used a winegard MP1 carryout and a SD receiver from home to get satellite while camping. It was a hassle to reconfigure the receiver and manually point the antenna but I got good at doing it and it did work, most times. I havent tried yet to set up DISH. I understand I need a different receiver, a 211z, which I'm fine with. My question is should I try and use the cheap MP1 I already own or just buy the automatic Tailgater. I have found a bundle which includes the VQ2510 and 211z for $350. I'm okay with that price if it works well. I'm leary of using the old MP1 because I'm not sure I have the patience if setup becomes difficult. The bundle seems relatively plug and play. Also the VQ2510 has been replaced by the VQ4510 but I have searched and can't find any real difference. Should this be of any concern. I have found a VQ4510 bundle for 425 but dont see anything to justify the extra $75.

Using Dish there are 2 sats to find with one oval dish. HD think there are 3. I have heard that setting up Dish is more difficult than Direct. I set up Dish manually. Most times it is easy but sometimes a little frustrating.

WyoTraveler wrote:Using Dish there are 2 sats to find with one oval dish. HD think there are 3. I have heard that setting up Dish is more difficult than Direct. I set up Dish manually. Most times it is easy but sometimes a little frustrating.I dont know a lot about the technology but I have read this before and thats why I think my manual MP1 may be limited, thinking I need an automatic dish.

I have dish and I use the dish HD unit that uses sats 110, 119, 129. I got the dish from a guy that did not use it for 20 dollars and you can get them on ebay for around 40 to 50. The HD set up takes a little more fine tune then if you just use the Dish 500 (for non HD ch). I use it on a tri pod and it works great every time. I use dish finder on my i pad and aim it southwest adjust it left and right till I have a strong signal and go with it. Plus dish has the Dish for my RV and I get the same channels as at home on the road for just 7 dollars a month and you can turn it off for the winter and back on again in spring if you wanted. So I love my Dish set up. hope that helps.

I use a Winegard Pathway X2, portable automatic antenna and a VP211K receiver that I take from my den when traveling. Only one coax cable (carries both the signal and power) is needed. To set up all I do is place the antenna with the handle roughly pointing north, attach the cable to the portable satellite connector in my service bay, attach the receiver to a portable satellite connector in an inside cabinet, plug in the receiver and turn on the television. A message comes up on the television asking what state I am in. When I click on the state the antenna automatically searches for each satellite and locks on each. When that is finished, it automatically downloads the program guide. I don’t have any extra charge from Dish since I use one of my home receivers. Here’s some info from their website.

Don't rule out FREE or CLEAR TV. Since the NATL BROADCAST went to digital high def TV free to the public it is great to use with your crank up OTA BATWING UHF setup...The TV SIGNALS are full blown digital high def HDTV... These are only the Natl Broadcast line-up but each station can have at least 6 sub channels which they load up with various things as old movies, WX related item, etc...There is a place and time for SAT TV, CABLE TV, and FREE TV...Roy Ken

DISH satelite TV | Good Sam Community

Bill_Satellite
Explorer II
Sep 30, 2015
Thanks for clarifying that I was correct about there being few (only 36 in the entire US) markets which would require 77.
Dutch_12078
Explorer II
Sep 30, 2015
Bill.Satellite wrote:
SOME=FEW. IF (big IF) you change locals EVERY TIME you move then 77 might come into play from time to time. On those rare occassions you can use the OTA antenna for locals. It's simply not a big deal any more no matter how many times you post "not true" to all the posters who give this information.

If I recall correctly, there are 36 markets with locals on the Dish 77 sat. We've been in 5 or 6 locations where we could see the 72.7 and 77 birds, but not 62.5 at the same time. Getting the locals on 77 was a plus when they were available. Especially in weak OTA conditions...
Dutch_12078
Explorer II
Sep 30, 2015
There have been a few occasions when I could only see a single satellite with our tripod mounted triple LNB dish. All of those times I was able to hit either 72.7 (EA) or 129 (WA), so we at least got the majority of the available non-OTA HD channels. So far, we've never landed on a site where I could not find at least one bird, although we did have one COE site in PA where a strong wind gust would move a branch enough to knock out our signal momentarily. Having the ability to see both arcs is a big plus in my book.
Robocop
Explorer
Sep 29, 2015
Bill.Satellite wrote:

Maybe I missed it, but if you are talking about receiving Dish while in Canada we need to start an entirely new topic!

No. Sorry to steal the thread with my own queries. I still managed to get 110/119 off of Highway 60 in Whitney, Ontario at Algonquin Provincial Park. The Tailgater did great once I found the ONE and ONLY spot that got me above and through the trees. Most Canadians have Bell or Direct. But most had not seen a Tailgater so it was a subject of discussion.
Bill_Satellite
Explorer II
Sep 29, 2015
Robocop wrote:
Bill.Satellite wrote:
The Eastern Arc satellites are substantially closer together but they are a bit off the East Coast so how far West you travel will make getting these difficult but you can then use the WA. Having the option for both is great if you spend a lot of time on the Eastern Seaboard. You can do the same thing with an open faced antenna and simply swap out the EA and WA LNB's. It's just a matter of how much work you want to do.

Understood. I've discussed many options while in Canada last week with a cable tech guy as we kept looking for best line of sight for his open face and my Tailgater 4 hours north of the border. I spend more time East and thinking about saving a few bucks, going open face as the option when line of sight is not up to par for the Tailgater. But the Pathway is so inviting.

Maybe I missed it, but if you are talking about receiving Dish while in Canada we need to start an entirely new topic!
Bill_Satellite
Explorer II
Sep 29, 2015
SOME=FEW. IF (big IF) you change locals EVERY TIME you move then 77 might come into play from time to time. On those rare occassions you can use the OTA antenna for locals. It's simply not a big deal any more no matter how many times you post "not true" to all the posters who give this information.
TechWriter
Explorer
Sep 29, 2015
Bill.Satellite wrote:
The Eastern Arc satellites (only 61.5 and 72 are required these days . . .

Not true. Some local stations are on 77.
Robocop
Explorer
Sep 29, 2015
Bill.Satellite wrote:
The Eastern Arc satellites are substantially closer together but they are a bit off the East Coast so how far West you travel will make getting these difficult but you can then use the WA. Having the option for both is great if you spend a lot of time on the Eastern Seaboard. You can do the same thing with an open faced antenna and simply swap out the EA and WA LNB's. It's just a matter of how much work you want to do.

Understood. I've discussed many options while in Canada last week with a cable tech guy as we kept looking for best line of sight for his open face and my Tailgater 4 hours north of the border. I spend more time East and thinking about saving a few bucks, going open face as the option when line of sight is not up to par for the Tailgater. But the Pathway is so inviting.
Bill_Satellite
Explorer II
Sep 29, 2015
An open face antenna does not allow you to find those satellite that were blocked by trees when using your Tailgater. The Eastern Arc satellites (only 61.5 and 72 are required these days) are substantially closer together but they are a bit off the East Coast (in line with Eastern Maine) so how far West you travel will make getting these difficult but you can then use the WA. Having the option for both is great if you spend a lot of time on the Eastern Seaboard. You can do the same thing with an open faced antenna and simply swap out the EA and WA LNB's. It's just a matter of how much work you want to do.
creeper
Explorer
Sep 29, 2015
No automatic dish is going to help you in forested areas if the sats are block. I have the X2 and it's great. It gives me the option to use the eastern arc when something blocks the western arc.

In forested areas a tripod and a manual dish is often the only option. At times I've had to shoot the signal through a small hole in tree cover and often it's a mater of moving the dish a foot or two just to clear a branch.

In that case I use my cellphone to get a general area of the sats, then use an Align a site to find a hole in the tree cover and align manually.

BTW, the X2 has a bigger dish for easier acquiring of sats and help in heavy rains.

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