Automatic Dish?

[quasi]

I've decided I'm through with the meter and phone apps to point my dish and I'm going to get an automatic antenna. There's a bunch of possibilities but I have a question. How important is it to have the ability to use western arc satellites? That will trim the field down a little. I have a 211z for my trailer since Dish has decided not to offer anything for the Hoppers. Anything else I should be aware of?
TIA
Jim

[Dutch_12078]

Bill.Satellite wrote:
I would like to hear about anyone who has ever been able to get the Trav'ler to work with the EA LNB as well. I think this poster is saying something else, I just can't figure out what.

Bill, do I recall that the Trav'ler can be manually dialed in to receive the 72.7 sat? Or was it the 61.5 sat? I believe that only aimed the center LNB though, since there's no manual control over the skew I think.

[Dutch_12078]

GoPackGo wrote:
I've been fultiming for about 4 years now with a Pathway X2.

There are two reasons that being able to access both the eastern sats and the western sats is a Good Thing.

1. In some parts of the country it can be difficult for the antenna dish to see the 3 western arc sats because of where they are located in the sky - but the eastern set is more accesible.

2. There have been times when trees, campers, or some other obstacles blocked the dish's view of the western arc sats, but not the eastern arc set. I still remember being located close to a high ridge one time. My phone app showed the western arc sats being located behind the ridge but the eastern set was above it. It's great when you have two options.

Exactly, and at least on the east coast, that 10 degree or so higher elevation for the eastern arc sats alone can make the difference between a signal and no signal. We've been on sites where the higher elevation let the dish "see" over the trees just within the length or width of our campsite. Having the arc choice adds a lot of aiming flexibility.

[Bill_Satellite]

I would like to hear about anyone who has ever been able to get the Trav'ler to work with the EA LNB as well. I think this poster is saying something else, I just can't figure out what.

[GoPackGo]

I've been fultiming for about 4 years now with a Pathway X2.

There are two reasons that being able to access both the eastern sats and the western sats is a Good Thing.

1. In some parts of the country it can be difficult for the antenna dish to see the 3 western arc sats because of where they are located in the sky - but the eastern set is more accesible.

2. There have been times when trees, campers, or some other obstacles blocked the dish's view of the western arc sats, but not the eastern arc set. I still remember being located close to a high ridge one time. My phone app showed the western arc sats being located behind the ridge but the eastern set was above it. It's great when you have two options.

[Larry-D]

We're using the Winegard Pathway X2 with the 211z receiver with 200' of satellite quality coax. So far no problems with being able to get a straight shot out from under the trees with that much coax, been close a couple of times. Signal strength has not been a problem.

[ljr]

Sultan1966 wrote:

ljr wrote:

Sultan1966 wrote:
We are on our 2nd rig with same setup, a Winegard Travlr with Dish Hopper 3 and 1 Joey. I carry a Eastern Arc LNB if I need it but use Western Arc for the most part.

I'm probably misunderstanding you but do you have an EA LNB assembly that works with the Trav'lr? Where did you get it?

Did you install new LNBs for the Hopper 3 yourself or did the Trav'lr come that way.

I bought Eastern Arc LNB at our local DISH authorized shop for $40 or so, in case I ever need it and the one that came on the Travlr was replaced with Western Arc by DISH service person and I kept the what he took off. Whenever we move to a new location we just start a chat session and give them a physical location where we are for local channels. 2nd rig we have done this on so obviously it was simple 2nd time around.

If you ever successfully aim your Trav'lr with an EA LNB assembly please post. I've been trying to figure out how to do that for years and Winegard insists it won't work.

[Sultan1966]

ljr wrote:

Sultan1966 wrote:
We are on our 2nd rig with same setup, a Winegard Travlr with Dish Hopper 3 and 1 Joey. I carry a Eastern Arc LNB if I need it but use Western Arc for the most part.

I'm probably misunderstanding you but do you have an EA LNB assembly that works with the Trav'lr? Where did you get it?

Did you install new LNBs for the Hopper 3 yourself or did the Trav'lr come that way.

I bought Eastern Arc LNB at our local DISH authorized shop for $40 or so, in case I ever need it and the one that came on the Travlr was replaced with Western Arc by DISH service person and I kept the what he took off. Whenever we move to a new location we just start a chat session and give them a physical location where we are for local channels. 2nd rig we have done this on so obviously it was simple 2nd time around.

[steveh27]

Thank you TechWriter for the links, very reasonable. I wonder about trying that where my tailgater has problems....

[TechWriter]

steveh27 wrote:
What is the black box on top of the arm in front of the dish?

Super Buddy sat meter

steveh27 wrote:
How much did the dish cost?

DISH 1000.2 Western Arc dish

DISH 1000.2 Eastern Arc LNBF

Sat dish tripod

[ljr]

Sultan1966 wrote:
We are on our 2nd rig with same setup, a Winegard Travlr with Dish Hopper 3 and 1 Joey. I carry a Eastern Arc LNB if I need it but use Western Arc for the most part.

I'm probably misunderstanding you but do you have an EA LNB assembly that works with the Trav'lr? Where did you get it?

Did you install new LNBs for the Hopper 3 yourself or did the Trav'lr come that way.

[Sultan1966]

We are on our 2nd rig with same setup, a Winegard Travlr with Dish Hopper 3 and 1 Joey. I carry a Eastern Arc LNB if I need it but use Western Arc for the most part.

[Bill_Satellite]

No. Going only to 72.7 is an option that allows both receivers to watch whatever they like but you can't get the Network programming. You can still select EA or WA and you would get all the programming but both receivers have to be watching programming coming from the same satellite.

[tyoungs]

Those of you that like the Pathway X2 - I see that when you hook up 2 receivers it only goes to one satellite (72.7) according to the info on the Wineguard site. Is that correct and does that create an issue? I thought about doing the X2 instead of a traveler to be able to access both western and eastern arc, but if it only goes to 72.7 when you hook up 2 receivers it seems to defeat the purpose. I have 2 211Z receivers and 2 lines form my Carryout going into the coach, one to each receiver.

[ljr]

The need for Eastern Arc depends on your travel and viewing habits. I rely on satellite reception of local channels for the broadcast networks and local news.

During the last year I've travelled the Eastern and East Central US. The majority of that time I've used a portable dish rather than my Trav'lr. I spent most of the previous year in the West. I never needed the portable dish.

If I had it to do over I would not have a Trav'lr with Dish. I'd probably have switched to Direct.