DISH satelite TV

[Larry337]

I recently switched my home service from Direct TV to DISH. In the past I used a winegard MP1 carryout and a SD receiver from home to get satellite while camping. It was a hassle to reconfigure the receiver and manually point the antenna but I got good at doing it and it did work, most times. I havent tried yet to set up DISH. I understand I need a different receiver, a 211z, which I'm fine with. My question is should I try and use the cheap MP1 I already own or just buy the automatic Tailgater. I have found a bundle which includes the VQ2510 and 211z for $350. I'm okay with that price if it works well. I'm leary of using the old MP1 because I'm not sure I have the patience if setup becomes difficult. The bundle seems relatively plug and play. Also the VQ2510 has been replaced by the VQ4510 but I have searched and can't find any real difference. Should this be of any concern. I have found a VQ4510 bundle for 425 but dont see anything to justify the extra $75.

[Bill_Satellite]

Larry337 wrote:
Just curious, if the dish is automatic aiming how important is it to have a dish pointing app? I never used an app with my manual pointing MP1 and always found the signal.

It's not really that important in most cases. The app is not perfectly accurate but it can help if you are in deep trees and you are trying to figure out where to place the antenna. In most cases you can simply use the general relationship between you and Texas (DirecTV) or S. CA (Dish) to surmise which area of sky needs to be clear.

[Bobbo]

I use my dish pointing app to find the hole in the trees. VERY useful for that.

[Larry337]

Just curious, if the dish is automatic aiming how important is it to have a dish pointing app? I never used an app with my manual pointing MP1 and always found the signal.

[Larry337]

goducks10 wrote:
I just recently bought a Winegard Pathway X2 along with the VP211z. I have been a loyal DTV guy for many many years. They pi$$ed me off a little when I was venturing into the RV portable sat thing, so I dropped them and went with Dish.

All I can say is so far I'm extremely pleased with the switch. I also love the X2. Takes about 8 mins or so to run thru the setup.

You will really enjoy the X2. Doesn't get much easier.

I have a Droid phone so I went with the Dish Pointer Pro for $19.99. A little spendy but well worth it.

Similar story here, my contract ran out years ago, still had my original equipment, paying full price, they got greedy over something silly so I said goodbye. Got Dish the next day with all the new customer perks. DTV tried to call and make it right, I just said too late. But they spend millions on advertising.

Anyway, I dont have Iphone so thanks for the tip, I'll look for an android app.

[goducks10]

I just recently bought a Winegard Pathway X2 along with the VP211z. I have been a loyal DTV guy for many many years. They pi$$ed me off a little when I was venturing into the RV portable sat thing, so I dropped them and went with Dish.

All I can say is so far I'm extremely pleased with the switch. I also love the X2. Takes about 8 mins or so to run thru the setup.

You will really enjoy the X2. Doesn't get much easier.

I have a Droid phone so I went with the Dish Pointer Pro for $19.99. A little spendy but well worth it.

[I_rv]

sat 61.5 is locals in hd and all other channels in sd,sat 72.7 has all other channels in hd,sat 77 is no longer needed,if you get a portable dish and aim manually its the 1004 ea,not hard at all to aim. and you can change the lnb to receive western arc sats. ebay has best deals for dish equipment.

[GoPackGo]

If you have an apple phone, suggest that you spend $5 and get the DISHFORMYRV app. It uses the phone's camera to project 2 sets of 3 each red balls onto the sky, showing you where the eastern arc (3) and western arc (3) Dish satellites are located. This allows you to set your X2 in the best location to access those satellites.

Works like a charm.

[Larry337]

I placed my order, 445 delivered. I guess I'll just keep the MP1 as a backup, or in case I go back to DirectTV.

Thanks for everyone's input.

[TechWriter]

Dutch_12078 wrote:

TechWriter wrote:

Dutch_12078 wrote:

TechWriter wrote:

Get an automatic. Manually aiming a dish is more difficult with DISH than DirecTV.

I'm curious why aiming his MP1 at a Dish satellite would be more difficult than aiming it at a DTV satellite?

I believe most of DirecTV's SD programming can be had on sat 101°.

This summer I backed our Jeep into my neighbor's very old 18" single LNB DirecTV dish . . . bent the LNB arm and cracked the tripod. A little duct tape later . . . his 18" is pulling in 90% signal strength . . . and I swear his dish was pointed right at our RV, not the sky.

Anyway, DISH usually has 3 sats -- so you might find yourself manually adjusting the single-sat MP1 from one sat to another. Imagine . . .

. . . you've settled into bed for the night . . . scrolling through the DISH channel guide . . . oh, I'd like to watch this show . . . dang! the show's on a different sat! I'll have to go outside again and adjust the MP1 again! You betcha.

Ahh, ok, I was thinking of it from the standpoint of finding a single satellite. With Dish, nearly everything except the locals can usually be found in HD on 72.7. That's where I usually aim our single LNB manual rooftop dish for short overnight stops when I don't need the 1000.4 triple LNB dish.

To be honest, I don't believe the "bedroom scene" I described is correct . . . the program guide would only display the programming for that one MP1 sat. For example, if the MP1 was locked on 110°, the program guide would only show the programs for that sat.

So you'd never know what you were missing on those other sats.

C'est la vie.

[Dutch_12078]

TechWriter wrote:

Dutch_12078 wrote:

TechWriter wrote:

Get an automatic. Manually aiming a dish is more difficult with DISH than DirecTV.

I'm curious why aiming his MP1 at a Dish satellite would be more difficult than aiming it at a DTV satellite?

I believe most of DirecTV's SD programming can be had on sat 101°.

This summer I backed our Jeep into my neighbor's very old 18" single LNB DirecTV dish . . . bent the LNB arm and cracked the tripod. A little duct tape later . . . his 18" is pulling in 90% signal strength . . . and I swear his dish was pointed right at our RV, not the sky.

Anyway, DISH usually has 3 sats -- so you might find yourself manually adjusting the single-sat MP1 from one sat to another. Imagine . . .

. . . you've settled into bed for the night . . . scrolling through the DISH channel guide . . . oh, I'd like to watch this show . . . dang! the show's on a different sat! I'll have to go outside again and adjust the MP1 again! You betcha.

Ahh, ok, I was thinking of it from the standpoint of finding a single satellite. With Dish, nearly everything except the locals can usually be found in HD on 72.7. That's where I usually aim our single LNB manual rooftop dish for short overnight stops when I don't need the 1000.4 triple LNB dish.

[Glenalt]

I just bought a X2 bundle from B&H Photo for $446 delivered. It's suppose to be there here tomorrow and I'll check it out.

[creeper]

TechWriter wrote:

Neither. Get the Winegard Pathway X2. It supports 2 receivers (like the VQ4510) but the Pathway X2 can receive all of DISH's sats -- the VQ4510 & 2510 can only receive DISH's "Western Arc" sats (see below) . . .

DISH uses two sets of satellites called the Western Arc (sats 110°, 119°, 129°) and the Eastern Arc (61.5°, 72.7°, 77°). If you want to get all of DISH's HD programming (including localTV stations), as a very general rule of thumb, you need the WA sats west of the Mississippi and the EA sats east of that river.

Since you're in Ohio, having the ability to get the Eastern Arc sats may be important for you.

Agree with this, I also went with the Pathfinder X2 for a few reasons. One line for power and signal. Larger dish, gets you better signal and not as prone to weather. The ability to get the eastern arc and western arc. Some parts of the country you have to use the eastern arc as the western arc is nearly impossible to get. Just was camping last week and the entire western arc was blocked by forest. Just used the eastern arc. It's nice to have that option.

IT switches between sats very quickly when need be. I also carry a regular dish that I can aim manually if I have to shoot it through a small hole in the trees.

I love this, got tired of manually aiming the dish. Have to have HD on a 40" tv.n:)

[Us_out_West]

Good choice on the Pathway X-2.

[Larry337]

TechWriter wrote:


Anyway, DISH usually has 3 sats -- so you might find yourself manually adjusting the single-sat MP1 from one sat to another. Imagine . . .

. . . you've settled into bed for the night . . . scrolling through the DISH channel guide . . . oh, I'd like to watch this show . . . dang! the show's on a different sat! I'll have to go outside again and adjust the MP1 again! You betcha.

I'm realizing that now, pplmotorhomes has the Pathway 2 with receiver for $445, I think I'm gonna bite the bullet, thanks again.

[TechWriter]

Dutch_12078 wrote:

TechWriter wrote:

Get an automatic. Manually aiming a dish is more difficult with DISH than DirecTV.

I'm curious why aiming his MP1 at a Dish satellite would be more difficult than aiming it at a DTV satellite?

I believe most of DirecTV's SD programming can be had on sat 101°.

This summer I backed our Jeep into my neighbor's very old 18" single LNB DirecTV dish . . . bent the LNB arm and cracked the tripod. A little duct tape later . . . his 18" is pulling in 90% signal strength . . . and I swear his dish was pointed right at our RV, not the sky.

Anyway, DISH usually has 3 sats -- so you might find yourself manually adjusting the single-sat MP1 from one sat to another. Imagine . . .

. . . you've settled into bed for the night . . . scrolling through the DISH channel guide . . . oh, I'd like to watch this show . . . dang! the show's on a different sat! I'll have to go outside again and adjust the MP1 again! You betcha.