Fixed or Portable Satellite System

We have a satellite dome and if I was to do it over I would have a portable unit that finds the satellites all by itself. I spent too much time in the old days trying to point my old dish.

Sandia Man wrote:
We use a HD satellite dish on a homemade stand to acquire Directv HD programming which current dome systems are unable to receive. There are roof mounted automated dish systems that can receive Directv HD content, currently they are too cost prohibitive for most RVing budgets, and of course require an unobstructed southern view of the sky.

We do lots of forest camping where being able to move our dish comes in handy when trying to shoot between the trees, only remember a time or two where I couldn't attain a signal. With a clear view to the south I can be up and running in just a few minutes viewing all the same channels we get at our house, locals too if we are within a few hours from home.

In a perfect world I would prefer to have both as a matter of convenience, nothing wrong with being able to automatically lock in satellites that provide HD content, and nothing wrong with using the portable to do the same thing instead of moving your rig around in hopes of watching HD sat tv.

And as stated here and in another post, if you want HD and portable automatic, then you must go with Dish and not Direct. I have the Pathway X2 and am very happy with it. It also has a huge advantage in trees in that you can point it to the Eastern or Western sats dependent upon where the opening is. And if you can see the Eastern Sats, then all HD channels are on one sat and both of you can watch different programming (i.e. DW flipping from Food Network to Halmart to .... - Driver on ESPN) without controversy and both the driver and DW are happy!

To get Direct HD you either have to spend over $2,000 for the automatic or use the manually pointed tri-pod slimline deal.

I use a manually aimed portable 3 satellite dish that I chose for the low cost compared to an automatic portable. I can usually set it up in less than 15 minutes, and so far, I've only needed to use 100' of coax once to find a good view. Most of the time, 50' or less is all that's needed.

Howdy!

We have a dome satellite on of 5er now. The next one will deffinitely be portable automatic satellite. If you have dish the new Winegard Patheway X1 or X2 are the way to go. The problem with DirecTV is you cannot get HDTV with any dome or portable dome satellite. But you can get SD with VuQube Flex which is portable automatic satellite.

"Happy Trails"
Chiefneon

I have a full size DirecTv Slimline dish and a tripod setup I purchased from www.tv4rv.com. I am a pro at setting up the dish and getting a good signal wherever I am. As another said, the dish may not be close to my camper, but that's the point -- you are very limited on signal availability with a unit mounted on your rig. I, too, have never been skunked.

Bruce

When we traveled in the 5th wheel I used a roof mount at first years ago when It only had one satellite but later opted for a tripod mount with 120' of dual RG6 for both our receivers.
No automatic will fill our needs in the Van RV. Aiming isn't so hard once you learn the easy way and the easy way differs with different folks.

We use a HD satellite dish on a homemade stand to acquire Directv HD programming which current dome systems are unable to receive. There are roof mounted automated dish systems that can receive Directv HD content, currently they are too cost prohibitive for most RVing budgets, and of course require an unobstructed southern view of the sky.

We do lots of forest camping where being able to move our dish comes in handy when trying to shoot between the trees, only remember a time or two where I couldn't attain a signal. With a clear view to the south I can be up and running in just a few minutes viewing all the same channels we get at our house, locals too if we are within a few hours from home.

In a perfect world I would prefer to have both as a matter of convenience, nothing wrong with being able to automatically lock in satellites that provide HD content, and nothing wrong with using the portable to do the same thing instead of moving your rig around in hopes of watching HD sat tv.

We have a portable manual dish. Make sure you understand some of the limitations of the "portable automatic" antennas. We like to pull in all three sats. on Dish so that we can record off of more than one sat. at a time. I would buy a automatic dish today if they could see more than one sat. at a time.

We have a King Done mounted on the roof of the MH and carry a tailgater. We plan on upgrading the king dome to a Winegard Traveler antenna soon.

I like my Winegard Carryout. Watch for sales. I got mine for less than $500.