Purchasing a portable satellite antenna, which one????

Mondooker wrote:
When you use a portable satellite dish where do you hook it up, through the wet bay?

I ran 2 new hookups, one in the wet bay, and one on the passenger side basement next to the door. They are labeled Sat input, and are run into the driver side overhead, where the sat receiver is located, with a wall hookup on each side. We do have to change the feed from driver, or passenger, or roof now, depending on which one is in use. I have over 100' for the carryout, and use an extension cord for the power supply when using that much coax. If going farther than that, I recommend a tripod with multi LNB dish, and up to 250' of coax. Your mileage may vary.

usersmanual wrote:

time_to_go_now wrote:
Be certain you can get local programs with whatever you choose.

why?

Because it's nice to have the local news and weather available for the area you're in, as well as getting the big five network programming.

Yes if you have a connection there. It is usually labeled "satellite" or "tripod". Be aware the Pathway X2 does not like long cable runs. I have issues if I try a run more than 50 feet.

When you use a portable satellite dish where do you hook it up, through the wet bay?

OK, I just went through this same process for a permanent mount auto dish on the roof, for when there is a clear view of the southern sky. We have a Winegard Carryout that has a separate power supply. Unless we got a carryout or carryout G2, we would have to reconfigure the receiver each time we switched for the roof mount, to the portable one. Their are many auto locate dishes that are much cheaper than the G2, but the G2 uses the same receiver setup and has a larger dish reflector, and less susceptible to rain fade. Both of the carryout's can only receive one sat at a time, which is not a problem if you are using a single tuner receiver, without any DVR capability. When/if you have a DVR function, the dish will switch sats, when the recording process is active, and on a different sat from what you are currently viewing. I though about getting a traveler to access all available sats at once, but unless you have a high end DVR, it would be a waste, so we decided to go with the G2 for a permanent mount. Yes, we do need to change inputs when we change from roof to carryout.

What is the least expensive option to get either one of the popular satiate providers? Not an "in motion" stye, just something you can set up when parked? I like the idea of not having it on the roof if there's a good option?

I have a Winegard Roadtrip antenna permanently mounted on our RV. I also have an older Winegard Carryout G2. The dish on my Carryout antenna is larger than the dish on my Roadtrip antenna.

When we have a lot of rain I have to use my Carryout antenna because of the bigger dish and stronger signal. If all things are equal I would buy the largest dish. That said the dishes might be the same size.

Safe travels. JD

time_to_go_now wrote:
Be certain you can get local programs with whatever you choose.

why?

Bill.Satellite wrote:
However, the Quest is for DirecTV only while the Winegard can be changed from Dish to DirecTV in case you change your mind or want to sell it in the future.

The Quest can be converted to Dish with the purchase of a $100 add-on that replaces the power injector. Not ideal, but better than spending another $300 for a whole new dish.

No matter what you choose you can almost always get local programs using your OTA antenna. If that option is critical you are much better off signing up for Distant Network Services (DNS) which will allow you to receive the Network programming no matter where you travel. No, it won't necessarily be "local" but local is not usually as important as Network. What the heck do I care if I watch Dancing with the Stars from NY or St. Louis. It's the same show.