Dish Tailgator

Seems about half the people that buy the tailgater love them and say how great they are. The other half hate them and claim they are just junk. Some reviews say if you point the outside of the case in a specific direction they work better. Because of so many bad reviews I'm holding off with my purchase.

We bought one...without the help of a dealer......hooked it up, set it out and works beautifully. We're in AZ..... Make sure you aim the handle to the north... :) :) One day we had problems getting the 2nd sat. for some reason. we hadn't moved it, but it was gone. DH moved the Tailgater to the east 2 feet and we're in business again. :) :)

The Tailgater must be able to "see" the 110, 119 and 129 satellites which can be a real challenge on the East Coast since they are so low and so far West. Dish uses 3 additional satellites to provide programming to their East Coast customers located at 61.5, 72.7 and 77. I believe only 2 are necessary these days, however. Local Network programming is also broadcast from these satellites so reception would be impossible with the Tailgater.
The new Winegard Pathway X2 can receive programming from both the Eastern and Western Dish satellites.

amandasgramma wrote:
We bought one...without the help of a dealer......hooked it up, set it out and works beautifully. We're in AZ..... Make sure you aim the handle to the north... :) :) One day we had problems getting the 2nd sat. for some reason. we hadn't moved it, but it was gone. DH moved the Tailgater to the east 2 feet and we're in business again. :) :)

Good morning Amandasgramma,

Which Dish satellite receiver do you have? I am also in AZ in Salome: 35 miles east of Quartzsite and 100 miles west of Phoenix. I am interested in a Tailgator. I presently use a tripod and a oval dish shape Dish approved dish.

Thanks,

LeRoy

My Tailgator works great! However if I let it sit too long unused I have to call Dish and have them send out a signal to get it working again. They have excellent customer service anytime 7 days a week. If you have questions or a problem give them a call. They will check it out for you.

B.O.

The Tailgater works with the 211 receivers, vip211k, vip211z, etc.
As far as setting it with the handle in a certain direction, it does not matter. I took the cover off to watch how it works (it was out of warranty and I am an engineer and can't help myself :)). When first powered up and the location selected on the menu screen, the dish began rotating, moved in almost a complete circle, then settled back into a southerly direction, then began incremental up/down, side to side movements until it got the best signals for the 3 satellites, then stopped moving. Programming came on shortly afterward.

When I first got mine I set it up in my driveway to test it out. I had a clear southern view and pointed it in an approx southern direction (handle pointing north). It did not find any satellites. I disconnected power from the receiver and re-positioned the Tailgater to point directly south. Rebooted the receiver and voila it found the Sats. Might just be a coincidence but from then on I made sure it pointed south and I have had no issues with it. I did have to send back my receiver as that did develop some issues.

Homeless by Choice wrote:

amandasgramma wrote:
We bought one...without the help of a dealer......hooked it up, set it out and works beautifully. We're in AZ..... Make sure you aim the handle to the north... :) :) One day we had problems getting the 2nd sat. for some reason. we hadn't moved it, but it was gone. DH moved the Tailgater to the east 2 feet and we're in business again. :) :)

Good morning Amandasgramma,

Which Dish satellite receiver do you have? I am also in AZ in Salome: 35 miles east of Quartzsite and 100 miles west of Phoenix. I am interested in a Tailgator. I presently use a tripod and a oval dish shape Dish approved dish.

Thanks,

LeRoy

:) Hi neighbor. We have the Dish VIP211K receiver. I believe. DH isn't here to confirm. We bought it from Walmart in Parker....took about 3 days to get it!!!!! :) I absolutely LOVE this one. To not have to "find" the sats is a blessing.

Hi neighbor. We have the Dish VIP211K receiver. I believe. DH isn't here to confirm. We bought it from Walmart in Parker....took about 3 days to get it!!!!! :) I absolutely LOVE this one. To not have to "find" the sats is a blessing.

I have the VIP722K. I will have to find out what the differences are.

Thank you,
LeRoy

The VIP 722 has a built in DVR and most importantly will not work with the Tailgater. As far as I know you must have the 211 to use with the Tailgater. As usual I could be wrong :^0