DISH TAILGATER???

Have it, works as advertised. If you have dish at home ,cost seven dollars a month. Can make a phone call or use chat to turn on and off

joelyn wrote:
ANYONE HAVE THE TAILGATER BY DISH for their Rv to use just when u r doing some camping once in a while???? does it work as they say after u buy the equipment that u only pay for when you activate it... If not used for 3 4 months there are no charges for anything? any pros or cons about the system and service???
thanks...

It's not really made by DISH. It's made by King Controls (King Dome) and it works very well. It works with the same software as used by the Winegard Playmaker and they both work very well. You might have to wipe the morning/evening dew off the dome from time to time and a rainy day can ruin your football game but that's true of all domes.
The DISH pay-as-you-go plan allows you to sign up for 1 month of service at a time. There are no fees after your month is up if you don't renew for another month.

The older Tailgater only get the western arc of birds. When we were north of 42° latitude, we were on the eastern arc. The newer Tailgater is supposed to get both arcs. Check and make sure it does.

DISH is great. Don't want to use the service? Don't pay the bill. Turn it on when you need it. Also their customer service is excellent.

Well not sure any more, but before we started full timing we could fire up the service on a Friday and cancel that Sunday, and only need to pay for those three days next time we fired it up to have the full months payment on record.
I have heard rumors that you need to pay for the full month now, I hope someone else has correct experience with short usage times.

Since I have Dish at home, I take my home receiver box, use my tailgater, and have no extra charges. I do call to change locals if traveling far, also no extra charges.

Tailgater and dishformyrv pay by the month are two different things.

The Tailgater is the automatic antenna. I have had one for 9 years and it has worked great. Until a couple years ago when started sometimes having a problem locking on to the satellites. In that case I pull out the old manual tripod mount antenna. Some have posted the Pathway X2 auto antenna is better than the Tailgater.

Dishformyrv pay by the month programming plan works great also. I call or chat and pay for a month I want to use the service. At the end of the month I simply do not pay for the next month and they disconnect the service until I call and pay again. Just do not authorize them to use auto pay from your credit card or they will charge you every month whether you use it or not.

I notice Dish has a one time fee of $40 to add a DVR. Is it truly one time? If you start and stop the service does the DVR fee ever get recharged?

Thanks for ALL THE RESPONSES, LOOKS LIKE DISH WILL BE OUR CHOICE.... WILL SHOP AROUND FOR ANY SALES on the tailgater. will not need it now until feb or so.
thanks again for all the help...

DarkSkySeeker wrote:
I notice Dish has a one time fee of $40 to add a DVR. Is it truly one time? If you start and stop the service does the DVR fee ever get recharged?

The $40 fee to add an external hard drive and DVR functions to the Wally or VIP 211 series receivers is truly a one time thing per account. Even if you replace a 211 with a Wally or add a second receiver and hard drive, you won't be charged again.

joelyn wrote:
Thanks for ALL THE RESPONSES, LOOKS LIKE DISH WILL BE OUR CHOICE.... WILL SHOP AROUND FOR ANY SALES on the tailgater. will not need it now until feb or so.
thanks again for all the help...

If you want a better option than the Tailgater, take a look at the Winegard Pathway X2. It has full Dish eastern and western arc satellite reception capability, and the larger reflector means less rain fade. Having both arc reception choice means more aiming opportunities on heavily treed campsites.