I put the Wingman on the Batwing, installed a Sensar Pro and even built my own HD antenna that I can put 20 feet up on a pole and there are still plenty of places we camp on the congested east coast where I can't get OTA. Yeah, I know, "what do you need TV for anyway, you're camping. blah blah blah". Swing by the campsite and tell that to the DW. She's the one inside watching TV.Our next big trip will be out west - along the very top of the lower 48 to Seattle then back south through Utah, the Grand Canyon and then back east. The topic of OTA TV came up in the planning and I said I doubt we'd have any, plus the Verizon signal will be spotty enough so that internet streaming won't always be an option.It looks like Dish Tailgater and Hopper will be a good choice. What do I need to know? Do you just plug in the dish to the cable tap on the coach and say the heck with park cable, or did you run a separate cable to the Hopper and switch to it on the bomb?

jplante4 wrote: Yeah, I know, "what do you need TV for anyway, you're camping. blah blah blah". Don't you just get *so* tired of hearing that?

I don’t believe a Hopper will work with a Tailgater. I use a Winegard Pathway as it can get both eastern and western arcs increasing your chances of getting a signal. Use a Wally sat box. Add a usb had drive and you have a dvr. Very easy to use. The Wally recognizes the Pathway and a menu for it. I connect mine via the RV house cable.

Go to the Dish for my RV website and look at the combinations. Since the antenna (dish) is powered by the receiver not all receivers will work. I too would recommend the Winegard Pathway since you're on the east coast it would be best (better signal strength) if you can access the eastern satellite arc. On your trip you'll probably reach a point that the western arc is better. The bigger the receiving antenna the better the signal strength. On one of our TT I installed a dedicated coax for the satellite and use a VIP211Z receiver. On the other I used a satellite connection already installed and use a Wally receiver. The important thing is that the coax from the antenna has to run directly to the receiver.

Big Katuna wrote:I don’t believe a Hopper will work with a Tailgater. I use a Winegard Pathway as it can get both eastern and western arcs increasing your chances of getting a signal. Use a Wally sat box. Add a usb had drive and you have a dvr. Very easy to use. The Wally recognizes the Pathway and a menu for it. I connect mine via the RV house cable.X2 ^^. This page will tell you which receivers are compatible with which mobile antennas:Dish antennas. receiversWe use a Pathway X2. As Big Katuna mentioned, it will automatically acquire both the Eastern and Western arc satellites. It also has a larger reflector than the Tailgater and, thus, pulls in a stronger signal. Keep in mind that all the mobile antennas except the Trav'ler are single LNB antennas and can only be pointed at one satellite at a time. (The Trav'ler will will pick up all three satellites simultaneously.)Rob

jplante4 wrote:I put the Wingman on the Batwing, installed a Sensar Pro and even built my own HD antenna that I can put 20 feet up on a pole and there are still plenty of places we camp on the congested east coast where I can't get OTA. Yeah, I know, "what do you need TV for anyway, you're camping. blah blah blah". Swing by the campsite and tell that to the DW. She's the one inside watching TV.Our next big trip will be out west - along the very top of the lower 48 to Seattle then back south through Utah, the Grand Canyon and then back east. The topic of OTA TV came up in the planning and I said I doubt we'd have any, plus the Verizon signal will be spotty enough so that internet streaming won't always be an option.It looks like Dish Tailgater and Hopper will be a good choice. What do I need to know? Do you just plug in the dish to the cable tap on the coach and say the heck with park cable, or did you run a separate cable to the Hopper and switch to it on the bomb?The most important thing to know is that the Hopper WILL NOT work with ANY of the portable dome style antennas.You also cannot use the Cable connection in the RV without modifications and in some RV's you cannot use it all all. Running a new cable is your best option. Just run a short coax from where the receiver will be to any convenient outside location and you will be able to connect the antenna coax to that and have a good run and good connection. If you want to use a Hopper you will have to bring along a home style antenna mounted on something like a surveyors tripod and manually point and adjust the antenna at each location. If you want to stick with a dome then you will want a 211 series or Wally receiver. These are single tuner and all TV's will need to watch the same channel (unless you get 2 receivers) but you can add a hard drive to the receiver so that it can record when you are away or sleeping, etc.

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31 Replies

Bill_Satellite
Explorer II
Mar 25, 2018
Range Maggot Bob wrote:
Larry-D wrote:
Go to the Dish for my RV website and look at the combinations. Since the antenna (dish) is powered by the receiver not all receivers will work.

I too would recommend the Winegard Pathway since you're on the east coast it would be best (better signal strength) if you can access the eastern satellite arc. On your trip you'll probably reach a point that the western arc is better. The bigger the receiving antenna the better the signal strength. On one of our TT I installed a dedicated coax for the satellite and use a VIP211Z receiver. On the other I used a satellite connection already installed and use a Wally receiver. The important thing is that the coax from the antenna has to run directly to the receiver.

We just got the Wally receiver and the newest auto satellite finder called the Playmaker. Only thing wrong with this setup is that the Wally only handles one TV. We did get the Playmaker dual, but you have to run a separate coax to your second TV. Now I guess I'll have to run it through the bedroom window with one of those flat coax adapters. I almost wish I had gone with the big dish on the tripod; it used to only take me about 5 minutes to find a satellite with DirecTV, but we don't have that anymore.

Every satellite TV setup requires 2 receivers if you want different programming one different TV's. The Wally can be used with more than 1 TV but both TV's will be watching the same channel. The problem you may run into with the dome and 2 Wally's is that Dish uses 3 satellites and the dome can only "see" one at a time. If you want to watch 2 different channels on 2 different TV's the programming must be coming from the same satellite or one TV or the other is out of luck.
Range_Maggot_Bo
Explorer
Mar 25, 2018
Larry-D wrote:
Go to the Dish for my RV website and look at the combinations. Since the antenna (dish) is powered by the receiver not all receivers will work.

I too would recommend the Winegard Pathway since you're on the east coast it would be best (better signal strength) if you can access the eastern satellite arc. On your trip you'll probably reach a point that the western arc is better. The bigger the receiving antenna the better the signal strength. On one of our TT I installed a dedicated coax for the satellite and use a VIP211Z receiver. On the other I used a satellite connection already installed and use a Wally receiver. The important thing is that the coax from the antenna has to run directly to the receiver.

We just got the Wally receiver and the newest auto satellite finder called the Playmaker. Only thing wrong with this setup is that the Wally only handles one TV. We did get the Playmaker dual, but you have to run a separate coax to your second TV. Now I guess I'll have to run it through the bedroom window with one of those flat coax adapters. I almost wish I had gone with the big dish on the tripod; it used to only take me about 5 minutes to find a satellite with DirecTV, but we don't have that anymore.
FirstTracks
Explorer
Mar 24, 2018
As mentioned, a Hopper will not work with a Tailgater. If you want a DVR for a Wally, you simply plug in an external drive. Personally, my inverter is turned off while I'm sleeping at 3 a.m.
Big_Katuna
Explorer II
Mar 24, 2018
I am not sure why or where the "RG 59 doesnt work" myth comes from.

I have seen training and install videos that specifically say its ok to use existing house cabling.

I have used 100" of 59 many times not including whats inside the rv.
Bill_Satellite
Explorer II
Mar 24, 2018
wa8yxm wrote:
I do not know if the HOPPER can power a Tailgater.. I have a VIP211 that I'm not using. (I USE Ota).. but I also use DVR's cause I don't watch TV at 3am and some of the good shows are .. Well, 3am)

However this is Generic: Many RV's do have dedicated "Sat-TV" cables. they may go to the roof to to a connection down below

Rooftop installs suffer from "Signal Eating Tree" syndrome. Not good

Ground mounts can often get around said tree.

RG-6 Cable is specificed for Sat work
Many RV's are wired with less expensive RG-59

Thus I recommend you install your own dedicated cable in most cases.

You CANNOT use a Hopper with a Tailgater or any other dome style antenna. RG-59 will also work so if that's what's inside, and it's wired correctly for satellite it will still work just fine. You may only be able to go 100-150 feet instead of 200 feet but the reduction will be minimal.
wa8yxm
Explorer III
Mar 24, 2018
I do not know if the HOPPER can power a Tailgater.. I have a VIP211 that I'm not using. (I USE Ota).. but I also use DVR's cause I don't watch TV at 3am and some of the good shows are .. Well, 3am)

However this is Generic: Many RV's do have dedicated "Sat-TV" cables. they may go to the roof to to a connection down below

Rooftop installs suffer from "Signal Eating Tree" syndrome. Not good

Ground mounts can often get around said tree.

RG-6 Cable is specificed for Sat work
Many RV's are wired with less expensive RG-59

Thus I recommend you install your own dedicated cable in most cases.
Bill_Satellite
Explorer II
Mar 24, 2018
AllegroD wrote:
Bill.Satellite,
Isn't there a challenge moving between Eastern and Western Arc.

OP, Have been using Dish "pay as you go" for years. Works great. You can go simple. Look at the Winegard Pathways X2 and the Wally.

Isn't what a challenge? Your X2 can move between EA and WA. If you are referring to a tripod style antenna, very, very few people actually "need" EA so the WA setup will cover 99% of US and much of Canada and Mexico and is required for AK.
lryrob9301
Explorer
Mar 24, 2018
FirstTracks wrote:
Big Katuna wrote:
if you have a dish pointer app,
You can hold your smartphone up and find a hole in the trees or mountains

I've tried most available on Android, and found the free Sat Director app to be the best UI for me. It's really handy! Around here I usually find the western ARC satellites in the southwestern sky rather than west. Plus, my idea of where "south" is isn't always accurate. ;)

Here is an app from Winegard that will find both OTA stations and Satellites. Works either on smart phones or tablets and is free:
Wnegard TV App
Edd505
Explorer
Mar 24, 2018
I just bought the Tailgater & Wally, it auto aims (point the handle north) I was told it will receive both west & east. I try to stay left of the staples (open the atlas to the US map) but I do venture further to visit family. my 5W has a separate coax system for satellite.
FirstTracks
Explorer
Mar 24, 2018
Big Katuna wrote:
if you have a dish pointer app,
You can hold your smartphone up and find a hole in the trees or mountains

I've tried most available on Android, and found the free Sat Director app to be the best UI for me. It's really handy! Around here I usually find the western ARC satellites in the southwestern sky rather than west. Plus, my idea of where "south" is isn't always accurate. ;)

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